Upcoming
Events
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event on Onzuka.com?
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(All events on Oahu, unless noted)
July 9-12
BJJ World Cup (CBJJO)
(BJJ)
(SESC gym, Salvador, Brazil)
3/26/04
Shooto Hawaii 2
(MMA)
(Campbell H.S. Gym)
Sometime
between Arnold-Gracie & Pan Ams
Pac-Rim BJJ tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Hawaii)
3/5-7/04
Arnold
Schwarzenegger World Gracie Professional Submission Championships
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Columbus, Ohio)
2/15/04
First Maui Invitational
of Jiu-Jitsu
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kahului, Maui, Hawaii)
Punishment
in Paradise II
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Campbell H.S. Gym)
2/13/04
Amateur
Fighting Compeition 5
(Toughman)
(Campbell H.S. Gym)
2/7/04
Ring of Honor 3
(Sub Grappling)
2/6/04
Super
Brawl 32
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
1/31/04
UFC
46: Super Natural
(MMA)
(Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, NV)
1/24/04
Ring of Honor 2
(MMA)
(Oahu)
1/19/04
Second 2 None Submission Grappling Tournament
(Sub Grappling)
(Oahu)
2004
12/31/03
"INOKI BOM-BA-YE 2003"
(Kobe Wing Stadium, Kobe, Japan)
(MMA)
12/31/03
UFC "Ultimate New Year's Eve"
(MMA)
Pay per View
Pride's Special Otoko Matsuri 2003
(MMA)
(Japan)
K-1
(Kickboxing & MMA)
(Japan)
12/27/03
Rumble On The Rock 5
(MMA)
(Hilo, Hawaii)
|
|
December News Part
2
Wednesday
night and Sunday classes (w/ a kids' class) now offered!
 
For the special Onzuka.com
price, click on one of these banners above! |
Quote
of the Day
"Always be eager to learn, no matter how successful you
might already be. In the Millionaires' Club, we sometimes invite
a billionaire to come talk to us. He says, 'You're doing okay,
but come on. How about if you really poured it on!'"
Jim Rohn, American Businessman, Author, Speaker, Philosopher
|
VASQUEZ
INJURED IN TRAINING; STREBENDT TO FIGHT SERRA IN LIGHTWEIGHT
BOUT AT UFC 46: SUPER NATURAL, JAN. 31
Ultimate Fighting Championship To Present 8-Fight Card
Live On Pay-Per-View On Super Bowl Saturday From Mandalay Bay
TICKETS
NOW ON SALE!
LAS
VEGAS, December 18, 2003….Ultimate Fighting Championship
(UFC) lightweight fighter Javier Vasquez (8-1-0 in mixed martial
arts) from Ontario, Calif., suffered a torn anterior cruciate
ligament in his knee in training and has been forced to withdraw
from his scheduled bout with Matt Serra (10-3-0) from Long Island,
N.Y., at UFC 46: Super Natural, Saturday, January 31, at the
Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Serra will fight Gerald Strebendt (7-3-0) from Los Angeles, Calif.,
in the lightweight feature bout that is part of an all-star,
eight-fight card that will be LIVE on pay-per-view at 10 p.m.
EST on Super Bowl Saturday night.
Tickets, $350, $250, $150, $75 and $35, are now on sale at the
Mandalay Bay Events Center box office in Las Vegas, at all Ticketmaster
locations, www.ticketmaster.com and www.mandalaybay.com. Tickets
also may be purchased by telephone at 1-877-632-7400 or 1-702-474-4000.
Purchases are limited to eight per person and are subject to
transaction fees. UFC 46: Super Natural will be available on
pay-per-view on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network, TVN, Echostar,
Bell ExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada. The suggested retail
price is $29.95.
In the main event, new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture
(12-5-0 in mixed martial arts) from Portland, Ore., will defend
his title for the first time against Brazilian phenom Vitor Belfort
(11-3-0) from Rio de Janeiro and in the co-main event, Welterweight
Champion Matt Hughes (36-3-0) from Hillsboro, Ill., will defend
his title for the sixth time against top-ranked Hawaiian BJ Penn (6-1-1) from Hilo.
The Serra-Strebendt match up pits two fighters who are both exciting
submission experts. Serra is a veteran with superb ground fighting
and submission skills. He has trained for years with Brazilian
martial arts guru Renzo Gracie and was the first American fighter
to earn a black belt in Gracie jiu jitsu. Strebendt also is a
jiu jitsu fighter who is strong on the ground. "I'm a Matt
Serra fan. "I have seen all his fights. This is going to
be fun for me. If I get on top of Matt, he will be in trouble.
It's going to be a great fight."
The remainder of the UFC 46: Super Natural card includes a heavyweight
re-match between Las Vegan Frank Mir (6-1-0) and 6'10" Wes
Sims (6-2-1) from Columbus, Ohio; two welterweight bouts featuring
former champion Carlos Newton (13-7-0) from Newmarket, Ontario,
Canada, against Renato
Verissimo
(4-0-0) from Hilo, Hawaii, and Karo Parisyan (17-2-0) from North
Hollywood, Calif., versus Canadian Georges St. Pierre (5-0-0)
from Montreal, Quebec; a middleweight match between Lee Murray
(8-1-1) from London, England, and Jorge Rivera (7-1-0) from Milford,
Mass., and another lightweight fight between undefeated Hermes
Franca (8-0-0) from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and Josh Thomson (23-1-0)
from San Jose, Calif.
Source:
UFC |
Congrats
to Eben Kaneshiro!
Kaneshiro beats BJJ Black Belt Daniel Lima
Fearless 2: Bad Blood
PhilSports Arena, Phillipines
Dec. 13, 2003
1.
Brent Velasco (Muay Thai) vs. Lorenzo Sengco (Baritan Martial
Arts) - LIGHT FLYWEIGHT
WINNER:
Brent Velasco (opponent could not answer 2nd round bell)
2.
Deo Anacio (Strikes & Submissions) vs. Meliton Tizon (Wrestling)
– FLYWEIGHT
WINNER:
Deo Anacio via Guillotine Choke (1st Round)
3.
Lino Tagacay (Ringside Gym) vs. Steven Ramos (Mandaluyong Boxing
Gym) – FLYWEIGHT
WINNER:
Lino Tagacay by rear naked choke (1st round)
4.
Rey Asperin (Stanley’s Defense Studio) vs. Rene Rapisora
(Wrestling) – FLYWEIGHT
WINNER:
Rey Asperin (Opponent Disqualified for intentional foul)
5.
Toby Reyes (New Breed Academy) vs. Rency Calvelo (Suntokaran
Todo Bakbakan) – FLYWEIGHT
WINNER:
Rency Calvelo via Referee stoppage (3rd round)
6.
Ronald Alava (Suntokaran Todo Bakbakan) vs. Lloyd Llamas (Stanley’s
Defense Studio) – LIGHTWEIGHT
WINNER:
Ronald Alava via Referee stoppage (2nd round)
7.
Rodrigo Asiong (Muay Thai) vs. Larry Baluyan (Strike & Shoot)
– WELTERWEIGHT
WINNER:
Rodrigo Asiong via Referee stoppage (1st round)
8.
Roy Iguin (Stanley’s Defense Studio) vs. Jeffrey Torrico
(Team Desdichado) - MIDDLEWEIGHT
WINNER:
Jeffrey Torrico via referee stoppage (2nd round)
9.
Carlo Hizon (Suntokaran Todo Bakbakan) vs. Mark Vives (Carlson
Gracie Team) – MIDDLEWEIGHT
WINNER:
Mark Vives via decision
10.
Eben Kaneshiro
(New Breed
Academy) vs. Daniel Lima (Fight Club Jiu-Jitsu) –FLYWEIGHT
WINNER:
Eben Kaneshiro by decision
11.
Erwin Tagle (Submission Sport) vs. Myles Vives (New Breed Academy)
– FLYWEIGHT
WINNER:
Myles Vives via straight arm bar (2nd round)
Source:
PinoyMMA |
Royce
Gracie in Japan Rules are set
Royce Gracie has been in Japan for a few days now training for
his 'date' with Hidehiko Yoshida on New Year's eve Pride Shockwave
2003.
Latest
word is that they have finally settled on the rules, summary
of the highlights below:
-
3 x 10 minute rounds
-
No Judges decision if both fighters are still figthing at the
end of the 3 rounds it will be a draw
-
Pride rules for strikes, regular MMA fight
-
If a fighter is KO clean, ie., completely out on the ring, the
referee can stop the fight
-
If a fighter is knocked down on the mat due to a strike but still
conscious, a 10 count will start and the fighter must get up
by the end of the count or the fight is over
-
The referee cannot interfere in the event of a submission attempt
ie., choke, arm-lock etc.
Source:
ADCC |
TITO
STEPS UP TO THE PLATE AND SIGNS TO FIGHT LIDDELL
What a difference 24 hours makes. MMAWeekly.com told you yesterday
that Tito Ortiz had not signed a contract to fight against Chuck
Liddell for UFC 47. Well hopefully you were with us on the SoundOff
Forum yesterday as we had breaking news on the situation.
MMAWeekly.com
contacted UFC President Dana White yesterday afternoon and asked
officially if the contract had been signed. White's response...a
simple "yes."
This
means a solid doubleheader for UFC 47 as Tim Sylvia will face
Andrei Arlovski for the UFC Heavyweight Title, then Tito will
face Chuck for a shot at the Randy Couture vs Vitor Belfort winner.
Many fans have wanted to see the fight and if things go well
(knock on wood) then we will FINALLY see the fight we've waited
for. Chuck Liddell vs Tito Ortiz..
Source:
MMA Weekly |
Actual
News Stories About Rafiel Torre
MMA "journalist" arrested for murder
Rafiel Torre, the former writer from ADCC news, has been arrested
and charged with first degree murder:
Torre, who pled not guilty, is being represented by the public
defender in the case.
Until
now, Torre was best known for his famously bad "gonzo"
interviews of MMA fighters, getting destroyed by a purple belt
in the original ADCC submission wrestling championships, having
a very "suspicous" fight in King of the Cage and for
having falsely claimed to have earned a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black
belt from his father. However, around the time of the alleged
murder, Torre completely dropped out of the MMA fight scene and
had not been heard from for several years.
While
rumors that Torre might have a connection to the murder of his
girlfriend's husband had floated around the Internet for quite
some time, the arrest marks the first time Torre was definitively
connected to the crime.
If
found guilty, Torre faces a possible death sentence.
Source: Whaledog
Rancho man awaits
arraignment in killing
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A Rancho Cucamonga man is set to be arraigned
today on charges he murdered his girlfriend's husband two years
ago.
Rafiel
Torre, 39, faces charges that could bring him the death penalty
if he is convicted of killing 32-year-old Bryan J. Richards,
who was found strangled in the bed of a pickup truck outside
a Rancho Cucamonga supermarket Dec. 22, 2001.
Sheriff's
homicide detectives arrested Torre Friday.
He
appeared in West Valley Superior Court briefly Tuesday afternoon.
Judge Mary Fuller appointed the Public Defender to represent
him and delayed his arraignment until today so his attorney could
be present.
Detectives
believe Torre killed Richards so he could maintain his love affair
with Richards' wife. Torre's body was found in the parking lot
of the Albertson's supermarket at Carnelian Avenue and Foothill
Boulevard.
Anyone
with information on the case is asked to call Sgt. Tom Bradford
or Detective Brad Toms of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's
homicide detail at (909) 387-3589.
-
Rod Leveque, (909) 483-9325
Source:
DailyBulletin.com
Accused murderer
pleads not guilty
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - Rafiel Torre, 39, of Rancho Cucamonga pleaded
not guilty in West Valley Superior Court Wednesday to murdering
his girlfriend's husband.
He
has been charged with first-degree murder and one special circumstance
claiming he committed the murder for financial gain.
Bryan
Richards, 32, of Rancho Cucamonga was found dead in the bed of
a truck on Dec. 22, 2001, in an Albertsons parking lot.
Investigators
believe that Torre killed Richards to continue an affair with
Richards' girlfriend.
-
Lisa B. McPheron, (909) 483-9354
Source: DailyBulletin.com |
Female
MMA fight rocks Meca X
Endend some minutes later the press-conference and weighing for
Meca X, that will be held next Saturday, in Curitiba. The press-conference
big time was the changing in the rules of the female fight between
the BJJ black belt Carmem
Casca-Grossa and
the BJJ brown belt and Boxer Ana Carolina. It won't be allowed
kicks and punches with the fighters on the ground. The change,
asked by Ana Carolina during the meeting, was contested by Casca-Grossa,
but it's confirmed.
TATAME.com
team is in Curitiba to bring during the hole weekend the best
of this Meca X. Stay tuned!
COMPLETE
CARD (subject to change):
-
Nelson Jaca vs Ângelo Tilapa;
-
Waldir Cabeça vs Rafael Tatu;
-
Jadson Costa vs Marcelo Nigue;
-
Marcelo Pitbull vs Delson Pé-de-Chumbo;
-
Carmem
Casca-Grossa
vs Ana Carolina;
-
Fabricio Morango vs Junior Besouro;
-
Jorge Patino Macaco vs Luiz Brito;
-
Daniel Acácio vs Roberto Godói;
-
Nilson Castro vs Carlos Baruk.
Source:
Tatame |
Catching
up with Stephen Quadros
Stephen
Quadros is best known to mixed martial arts fans as one half
of Pride FC's original broadcast team. Along with "El Guapo"
Bas Rutten, the two provided commentary for the first ever Pride
all the way to Pride 26. Even with his popularity, Quadros was
replaced right before one of Pride's biggest events ever, the
opening round of the heavily anticipated Pride FC middleweight
tournament. We recently caught up with Stephen Quadros to find
out why Pride decided to replaced him with Damon Perry right
before "Total Elimination."
MMAFighting.com:
Why were replaced by PRIDE FC?
Stephen
Quadros: I honestly do not know. I always showed up to work on
time and did my job in a professional manner. I got along outstandingly
well with my broadcast partner, Bas Rutten. I had not asked for
more money. I represented the event well in my day to day life.
I was well liked and respected by the fighters. And I suppose
you could say that I have knowledge of what I was speaking about
because of the fact that I am a practitioner, teacher and trainer
of kickboxing and MMA, an author of books about MMA, (Bas Rutten's
Big Books of Combat), and I have been the editor of two different
fight magazines, "Kickboxing Ring Report" and "Fightsport
With Stephen Quadros"... as well as having written feature
stories for virtually every major PRINT martial arts magazine
in the US: Inside Kung Fu, Black Belt, Grappling and Full Contact
Fighter. I have been involved in the sport of MMA in a powerful
way since it's inception here in the US in 1993. Bas Rutten and
I together had garnered a reputation as having a unique and dynamic
chemistry, being entertaining while we played off each other,
as well as complimenting one another knowledge wise. Our joint
commentary and interaction was known internationally as one of
the strong points of the show. I have tremendous confidence in
my abilities to do this type of work. And I had even more confidence
in the team of "El Guapo" and "The Fight Professor".
I really enjoyed working with Bas. So as you can figure, I did
not agree with the move. After all, I did not fire myself. The
fact is, I was a good soldier for the company. I would have been
very happy to have done Pride broadcasts till I retired, ala
Chick Hearn with the L.A. Lakers. I have many great memories
from Pride.
I
suppose you could draw your own conclusions based on the following
facts:
The
US producer that Bas & I had worked with for 3 years, left
after the first show of this year (2003). He was replaced by
a guy from Detroit. I did one show with the new producer and
then two weeks after I returned home from Japan I received a
call from a Dream Stage USA employee and informed that they were
going to "...try another commentator". I was not given
a "reason". My replacement apparently, is also from
Detroit...
I
enjoy calling the action on fights and feel it is inevitable
that I will be doing it again, probably sooner than later. I
feel I am good for the sport of martial arts when I work as a
host and a commentator. I would love to commentate on boxing
as well. Sometimes these things take time though. We shall see
what the future holds...(Laughs).
MMAFighting.com:
What have you been up to since your departure from PRIDE?
Stephen
Quadros: Since I left Pride I have worked on two feature films
and guest
starred on two network episodic dramas. I co-starred in "The
Last Run", a whacky film comedy starring Fred Savage that
will be out next year.
I
did all the fight choreography on "Legend of Pit Fighter"
which stars Dominiquie Vandenberg from "Gangs of New York",
Steven Bauer of "Scarface" and "Traffic"
and Stephen Graham from "Snatch". "Pit Fighter"
is unique in that is the first independent film financed by 20th
Century Fox. It's got my mark all over it. I am very excited
about that one!
My
episode of "CSI: Miami" airs on January 5th, 2004.
I appear near the end of the show and got to work with David
Caruso, who I have always liked as an actor. He was really great
to work with, made me feel very much at home.
The
episode of "Karen Sisco" that I am in, will air after
the show resumes in March of 2004. I'm not sure on the date of
that one.
I
have some REALLY interesting gigs brewing for next year. Check
my website periodically for updates on that. (http://StephenQuadros.com)
MMAFighting.com:
Any last words to all your fans?
Stephen
Quadros: I would like to say THANK YOU to all the people around
the globe who have stood by me. I really appreciate every bit
of support that you have given me. I can assure you...the best
is yet to come!
Source:
MMA Fighting |
Quote
of the Day
"The virtue of man ought to be measured, not by his extraordinary
exertions, but by his everyday conduct."
Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662, French Scientist, Religious Philosopher
|
Fighters'
Club TV Episode 17 Just Cut!
Tuesdays 6:00PM on
Channel 52 (Oceanic Cable)
Just when you thought we couldn't possibly get any better, along
comes
episode 17. It's action packed from start to finish--and showcases
our best
"acting" yet.
Fighters' Club TV
has also recently been named Olelo's "Best
Sport's Program of 2003"!
Fighters'
Club TV Episode 17 features:
-Highlights
from Rumble on the Rock (Oahu)
-Ross Ebanez vs. Gabe Casillas
-Renato "Charuto" Verisimo vs. Gil Castillo
-Gilbert Melendez vs. Stephen Palling
-Ronald Jhun vs. Shawn Taylor (+ intvw w/ Ron)
-DeFranco vs. Deshaun Johnson
-BJ Penn vs. Takanori Gomi (+ intvw w/ BJ--his personality shines
through in
this one!)
-intvw w/ UFC president Dana White on BJ's fights and ROTR
Technique
of the Week (back by popular demand)
-Enson "Yamato Damashii" Inoue
and,
stay tuned for the credits where you can see out-takes of your
favorite
personalities: Mike and Chris Onzuka, and Mark Kurano mess up
their
lines--not to mention, Chris doing his Ludacris impersonation.
This
Episode will air for the next 4 Tuesdays (Dec 23rd, 30th, and
Jan 6th
and 13th).
Comments,
Questions, and Suggestions to: fightersclubtv808@hotmail.com
We're
still looking for that "right" female to help host
the show--resumes
w/ pics attached to the same address.
Happy
Holidays from the TOUGHEST SHOW ON TELEVISION!
|
Inoue
Brothers on the Mend: Egan’s Ribs and Enson’s Abs
 
MMAWeekly’s Mick Hammond was able to catch up with Enson
Inoue from Japan earlier this week and was given an update on
the status of Enson’s brother Egan following his loss to
Jason Miller at Superbrawl 32 in Hawaii on December 5th. According
to x-rays taken after the fight, Egan has sustained two broken
ribs on his left side as well as a broken finger from the fight.
For
those of you who were unable to witness it, Egan was dominating
the fight throughout the first two rounds before getting caught
in a turtle position with Miller raining down thunderous strikes
to Egan’s sides. Unable to stand under his own power, the
fight was halted as Egan could not answer the bell for the 3rd
round and the victory was awarded to Miller. At this time, it
is not known how long Egan will be out of action.
Enson
also said that he is currently recovering from an abdominal injury
he suffered earlier this year in a pro wrestling match for New
Japan Pro Wrestling. When asked about his participation at any
of the events being held on New Year’s Eve, Enson said that
Antonio Inoki’s people contacted NJPW about possibly using
him for the annual Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye, however nothing can be confirmed
at this time.
He
has however confirmed his semi-return to MMA competition with
a Vale Tudo rules exhibition fight on January 10th in Guam. Currently
there is no opponent set, but according to Enson, it might be
Soichi Nishida whom Enson defeated at Pride 5 back in April of
1999.
When
asked about his future in MMA beyond January, Enson responded,
“I know I do not have a lot of time left, it’s coming
up on two years now that I’ve been inactive, but I want
to get in there and see if I can still fight.”
He
continued by saying, “I would like to get in at least one
more fight in Hawaii for T.Jay (Thompson, promoter and owner
of the Superbrawl organization), and I would like to return to
Shooto as well since it is where I started out.”
However,
Enson stated he will most likely take a few smaller fights before
attempting to get into the ring with the likes of a Wanderlei
Silva or Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
DIN
THOMAS VS AMAR SULOEV
In
another MMAWeekly exclusive, MMAWeekly.com has learned that Din
Thomas will face Amar Suloev on December 31st in K-1. Thomas
will be giving up a lot of weight in this fight.
Traditionally
Thomas has cut weight to fight in the UFC at 155. For this matchup
he will no doubt put on weight and you would think he could be
somewhere in the ball park of 165-170.
While
Suloev cut weight to fight in the UFC at 185, he has been known
to fight around 200 pounds. He fought Chuck Liddell at 205. So
why would Thomas accept this fight? Money. K-1 has gone all out
to take care of the fighters financially in this show and Thomas
will make a big pay day in this fight as he will try to out quick
and out move his opponent.
Now
with the news right here on MMAWeekly that Din Thomas and Amar
Suloev will battle it out, it looks as though the upcoming K-1
fight card is pretty well set.
In
addition to Din Thomas vs Amar Suloev...
Bob
Sapp vs. Akebono (K-1 rules)
Genki Sudo vs. Butterbean (MMA rules)
Alexey Ignashov vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (MMA rules)
Ernesto Hoost vs. Montanha Silva (K-1 rules)
Francisco Filho vs. TOA (K-1 rules)
Cyril Abidi vs. The Predator (MMA rules)
Tom Howard vs. Christopher "Phoenix" Midoux (MMA rules)
Source:
MMA Weekly |
|
INJURY
UPDATE ON JAVIER VASQUEZ
Is
Javier Vasquez Done Fighting?
Just
a few days ago, MMAWeekly.com reported that Javier Vasquez is
indeed out of UFC 46 due to another ACL tear. Last night, MMAWeekly
was able to catch up with the former King of the Cage champion
and get the word from the man himself about his injury, where
he's at now, and plans for his future.
According
to Javier, his knee had been "feeling a little weird"
after his fight with Robert Emerson in Las Vegas on November
14th. He had it checked and his doctor said it was a little loose
but okay to go ahead and train on. Then, last Tuesday, while
doing some sparring, Javier planted his leg and took a Thai kick
that caused the ACL to immediately tear.
Javier
says that the ligament is torn completely through and that the
miniscus is also damaged requiring surgery. He did verify that
this is the third time that he has torn the same ACL. He hopes
to have surgery on it later this week or sometime next week.
Right
now, he says that, "It feels fine on the ground. I have
full mobility and no pain. It hurt when it happened for like
10 minutes, then it was fine." In fact, if it were up to
him, Javier says that he would forge ahead and still fight Matt
Serra at UFC 46. He said, "[I'd] let him take me down and
tap him from my back. But my family would kill me."
It
sounds as if he might even be able to back up that statement.
According to business partner, John "The Rev" Jensen,
"He's a freak. He's my hero. He's not human. On Saturday
[just 3 days ago and post-injury], we had open mat at the school
and he was tapping out all the top guys."
As
for the future, there's been a lot of speculation with many people
saying that Javier has now retired. Well, that's true... and
it's not. "I'm not completely ruling out fighting again,
but I'm definitely taking at least a minimum of a year, year
and a half off," says Javier. So he's at least temporarily
retired with "two asterisks."
One
way or another he'll be back though. Javier said that a big factor,
besides the knee feeling good, was whether or not MMA goes mainstream
bringing with it better paydays to offset the potential risks
to his knee. If the knee heals and feels amazingly good, mainstream
or not, he might fight again just to reach his goal of fighting
in the UFC, even if it's not for his ultimate goal of a UFC title.
If
that doesn't happen? If he never fights MMA again? "Then
I'll just go and win Abu Dhabi," said Javier. "No gi,
there's no one out there that can beat me on a good day."
At least the injury to his knee hasn't hurt Javier's confidence.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
|
CRO
COP REPORTS THAT HE'S OUT OF DECEMBER SHOW
According
to a message from Mirko Cro-Cop Filipovic himself on his website,
the Croation fighter will not fight for Antonio Inoki or any
other promoter on December 31st.
Mirko
said, "I have been advised by my physician... to refrain
from intense training for 2 weeks and to allow my back to recuperate
from an injury that has been bothering me for a while."
He
went on to state that, "From now on, I will be communicating
with any promoters directly, for the year 2004." Mirko believes
he will be able to come back renewed and ready to become the
champion in the upcoming year.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
PAT
SMITH VS PAUL BUENTELLO FOR KOTC TITLE
Pat Smith will be returning to the ring at the end of January
when King of the Cage goes on the road to Florida. Smith will
be challenging current King of the Cage heavyweight champion
Paul Buentello. Buentello just won the title from Bobby Hoffman
in their rematch in November.
Although
Smith was slated to face Frank Mir at UFC 45 in Connecticut,
there was one big hurdle in the way... the Nevada State Athletic
Commission had suspended him back in 1996. The suspension stemmed
from Smith's participation on a boxing card and had never been
cleared up, so he was left off of the UFC 45 card.
His
bout with Buentello still faces that same hurdle, as most commission's
honor each other's suspensions. Smith had been working diligently
to get the suspension lifted before UFC 45, but just ran out
of time. That shouldn't be a problem this go around with plenty
of time left to clear things up, but Smith's bout with Buentello
is contingent upon setting things straight with Nevada.
Though
Smith is a long time veteran of the MMA scene - he first appeared
at UFC 1 back in 1993 - this will be his first time fighting
for King of the Cage and only his second bout since 1999. He
made his return to the ring in October of this year defeating
Allan "A-Dawg" Sullivan in Sven Bean's Ring of Fire
promotion
Source:
MMA Weekly |
HEAT
II Report: Griffin and 'Draculino' steal the show!
by: Luca Atalla
Last Thursday night, nearly 4,000 people went to Ginasio Machadinho,
in Natal, Brazil, anxious to watch Carlao Barreto vs. Travis
Wiuff and Allan Góes vs. Gustavo Ximu, the main events
of the second edition of Heat Fighting Championship II. The night
ended with the fans talking about the performances of Forrest
Griffin and Vinicius 'Draculino', who finished their fights earlier
than predicted.
Unable
to prevent Travis Wiuff’s takedowns, Carlao Barreto stayed
with his back on the ground playing the guard throughout the
match. barreto tried some arm attacks with little effectiveness.
After three rounds (1 x 10m + 2 x 5m), looking bloody as his
face had little cuts above both eyes, the judges had no doubt
about giving the decision to Travis.
The
seventh match of the card, between Allan and Ximu, was ruined
by a referee mistake. After seven minutes of a non-stopping action,
Allan attempting a shoulder lock (kimura) when referee Evilasio
Feitosa told the fighters to standup (before that, he had already
stopped the fight twice for no reason). The Brazilian Top Team
fighter didn’t hear the order and kept the move while Ximu
clearly stopped. Ximu then tapped and Allan celebrated. He didn’t
accept the referee’s decision to keep the fight going on,
walking away from the ring.
The
referee raised Ximu’s arm, but even the Ruas Vale-Tudo fighter
was unhappy with this way to earn the victory.
Two
other fights overshadowed the main show. In the first one, Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt Vinicius Draculino made his much anticipated
debut in MMA and won impressively by choking local idol Kleber
Gaudino after he controlled the whole fight with tight positioning
and no mistakes.
American
Forrest Griffin returned to Heat after a victory over Ebenezer
Braga in the first edition. Like the first time, he didn’t
disappoint the crowd. In a little more than one minute Griffin
demolished Paredao (Big Wall, in Portuguese) with an accurate
right punch to his opponent’s chin.
The
night didn’t finish so happy for the American, although.
Griffin left the ring holding his left arm and realized that
he had broke it blocking a powerful punch in the beginning of
the fight, as a x-ray proved. The unfortune wasn’t enough
to make him lose his mood: ‘I had a vacation appointed already,
so I was not suppose to train for a while anyway.’
Heat
FC 2
Date: December 18th
Place: Natal, Brazil
COMPLETE
RESULTS:
-
Dinarte Silva (Kimura/Nova Uniao) Defeated Charles Andrade (Gracie
Barra/PB) - Judges decision
-
Vinicius Draculino (Gracie Barra/BH) Defeated Kleber Galdino
(Kimura/Nova Uniao) - Arm Choke 1st Rd
-
Alexandre Vaca (Kimura/Nova Uniao) Defeated Marcelo Uirapuru
(Gracie Barra/BH) - Judges Decision
-
Sergio Junior (Combate Real) X Fabio Bolinho (Kimura/Nova Uniao)
- Draw
-
Forrest Griffin (The HardCore Gym) Submited Edson Paredao (Nova
Geracao) - KO 1st Rd
-
Ebenezer Braga (Ruas Vale Tudo) Defeated Erik Wanderlei (Gracie
Barra/BH) - Judges decision
-
Gustavo Ximu (Ruas Vale Tudo) Defeated Allan Goes (Brazilian
Top Team) - Verbal Submission
-
Travis Wiuff (Dave Menne academy) defeated Carlos Barreto (Brazilian
Top Team) - Judges decision
Source: ADCC |
Christmas
Dream From WANDERLEI SILVA!
by: Julio Heller
In a very special moment, the Champion of the Pride Grand Prix,
Wanderlei Silva visited an orphanage with 150 children in a modest
neighborhood in his hometown Curitiba. Our Champion was touched
by the affection of the children, who shouted “VICTORY”
and “CHAMPION” all the time.
Wanderlei
spent a few hours with the children, giving gifts and candy to
the little one's and autographs for the adults. The manager of
the orphanage said that it was the best Christmas in the last
10 years. A few words from Wanderlei: “It’s good to
help our brothers and to remember how difficult my childhood
was and to value all the wonderful things that I’m living
today”.
Source:
ADCC |
TWO
MATCHES ANNOUNCED FOR PRIDE FC SHOCKWAVE
by: Turi Altavilla
LOS ANGELES, California – Two more matches are official
for PRIDE FC’s SHOCKWAVE 2003 show, scheduled for December
31, 2003 from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
In
the first bout, legendary Japanese superstar Hayato “Mach”
Sakurai will take on PRIDE FC veteran Daiju Takase. Sakurai is
known as one of the most exciting middleweight fighters in mixed
martial arts and is a veteran of both the UFC and Shooto (he
was Shooto’s reigning middleweight champion for more than
three years). This will be his PRIDE FC debut. Takase is a hard-nosed
PRIDE FC veteran who is coming off two impressive performances---a
triangle choke victory over the highly regarded Anderson Silva
at PRIDE FC “Bad to the Bone” and a hard fought loss
to Rodrigo Gracie at BUSHIDO. Takase first gained fame for fighting
600-pound Sumo wrestler Emanuel Yarborough in 1998.
In
the second announced match, Ryan Gracie will face Wataru Sakata.
Young Ryan Gracie is one of the rising superstars from the world
famous Gracie fighting family and is the second Gracie added
to the fight card. Ryan Gracie’s aggressive fighting style
has garnered him three victories in the PRIDE FC ring, including
his last, which was his most impressive---a quick KO victory
over Kazuhiro Hamanaka at BUSHIDO. Sakata is a mixed martial
arts veteran from the Rings organization and boasts a well-rounded
striking and grappling game. This will be his PRIDE FC fighting
debut.
Headlining
the fight card will be the long-awaited rematch between Royce
Gracie and Hidehiko Yoshida. These two submission artists battled
at SHOCKWAVE 2002 and the result was the controversial finish
in which Yoshida was victorious via gi choke, though Gracie protested
that he did not tap and was not unconscious. This rematch continues
the epic rivalry between Gracie Jiu Jitsu and Japanese Judo,
which began over 50 years ago when Helio Gracie fought Masahiko
Kimura in a match to prove who had the superior fighting style.
SHOCKWAVE
2003 Fight Card:
- Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Royce Gracie
- Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Daiju Takase
- Wataru Sakata vs. Ryan Gracie
(Fight
Card Subject to Change)
More
matches to be announced soon!
Though
SHOCKWAVE 2003 will not be available in North America via pay
per view, travel packages are available on pridefc.com and a
DVD of the event will follow in the first quarter of 2004.
For
more information on PRIDE FC, visit pridefc.com!
Source:
ADCC |
III
Black Belt Challenge Results
by: Kid Peligro / ADCC JJ Editor
Joe
Moreira's III Black Belt Challenge Results:
The
event was great in front an enthusiastic crowd. Quick results
below!
Marcelo
Cavalcanti v Alex Pavilhao - Pavilhao 2 x 0 by sweep
Waldomiro Perez (Marcus Vinicius) x Gustavo Moreira (Joe Moreira)
- draw
Ricardo 'Hellraiser'Texeira ( Joe Moreira) x Daniel Coyote (
Brazil Team ) - Ricardo Teixeira by sub, choke from the mount
Dartanian Bagby ( Wander Braga ) x Martin Sanchez ( Joe Moreira
) -Dartagnian 10 x 0
João Silva ( Aloisio Silva ) x Jared Weiner ( Lloyd Irvin
) (Rematch from the US Nationals) - Joao Silva by foot lock,
in what scan best be described as a war!
Icah Medina ( Rigan ) x Chris Smith ( Charles Gracie ) - Icah
2 x 0
Paulo Guillobel ( Machado ) x Joao Cunha ( Ralph Gracie ) - Guillobel
by flying arm-lock sub 1 min 30 secs.
Ricardo Barros ( Ralph Gracie ) x Julio Nardon ( Renato Magno
) - Ricardo wins by 12 x 0
Cassio Werneck x Mark Kompaneyets ( Marcus Vinicius ) - Cassio
14 x 2
Wander Braga x Fabio Vinelli ( Machado ) Wander by advantages
3 x 2
Source:
ADCC |
THE
BALL IS IN TITO'S COURT....
MMAWeekly.com has learned that a proposed photo shoot for the
UFC 47 poster has been canceled. The reason? Four fighters were
contacted to do the poster, four contracts were sent out to these
fighters....Tim Sylvia, Andre Arlovski, Chuck Liddell and Tito
Ortiz.
Three
of those contracts have been sent back to the Zuffa offices.
Sylvia...signed, Arlovski.....signed, Liddell....signed, Ortiz....contract
still missing.
It
was believed that the Ortiz contract would be sent to Las Vegas
by Thursday night. That deadline has come and gone. It's believed
now that Zuffa will have no choice but to cancel the upcoming
photo shoot for the poster because Ortiz hasn't signed.
So
what if Ortiz gets the contract in today? That's the million
dollar question. As of late last night nothing had been sent
in or signed. The interesting part is on the underground forum,
there was a thread wishing Chuck Liddell a happy birthday.
Ortiz
himself jumped on that thread and said he would give the Iceman
a birthday beating. Tito has been talking the talk, but as of
yet hasn't walked the walk in signing the deal.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
Former
ADCC Writer Rafiel Torre Arrested for Murder
This was out of the daily bulletin newspaper in Ontario, California.
Rancho
man awaits arraignment in killing
RANCHO
CUCAMONGA - A Rancho Cucamonga man is set to be arraigned today
on charges he murdered his girlfriend's husband two years ago.
Rafiel
Torre, 39, (had a 1-0 MMA record), faces charges that could bring
him the death penalty if he is convicted of killing 32-year-old
Bryan J. Richards, who was found strangled in the bed of a pickup
truck outside a Rancho Cucamonga supermarket Dec. 22, 2001.
Sheriff's
homicide detectives arrested Torre Friday.
He
appeared in West Valley Superior Court briefly Tuesday afternoon.
Judge Mary Fuller appointed the Public Defender to represent
him and delayed his arraignment until today so his attorney could
be present.
Detectives
believe Torre killed Richards so he could maintain his love affair
with Richards' wife. Richards' body was found in the parking
lot of the Albertson's supermarket at Carnelian Avenue and Foothill
Boulevard.
Anyone
with information on the case is asked to call Sgt. Tom Bradford
or Detective Brad Toms of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's
homicide detail at (909) 387-3589.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"The first basic ingredient of leadership is a guiding vision.
The leader has a clear idea of what he wants to do - professionally
and personally - and the strength to persist in the face of setbacks,
even failures."
Warren Bennis, American Psychologist, Management Educator, and
Consultant
|
ULTIMATE
FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP TO PRESENT ANNUAL BASH: ‘ULTIMATE
NEW YEAR’S EVE’ ON PAY-PER-VIEW, DEC. 31
Six-Hour
Show To Feature Best Bouts, Top Fighters During UFC’s 10-Year
History
LAS
VEGAS, NEV., December 16, 2003…. For the ninth consecutive
year, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will bring viewers
the ultimate pay-per-view event on the ultimate night of the
year: Ultimate New Year’s Eve. This annual six-hour fight
show will feature the very best action and top mixed martial
arts fighters of the last 10 years on pay-per-view starting at
10 p.m. EST, Wednesday, December 31.
Ultimate
New Year’s Eve will be available on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish
Network, Bell ExpressVu, Echostar, TVN and Viewer’s Choice
Canada for the suggested retail price of $24.95. An encore performance
will begin immediately after the telecast.
This
classic show will provide a memorable trip through 10 years of
UFC history and will include fights from UFC 1: The Beginning,
held in November 1993, up to UFC 44: Undisputed, September 26,
where a packed house at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas
saw 40-year-old Randy Couture continue his legendary career by
defeating Tito Ortiz for the light heavyweight championship.
Fight highlights from 2003 alone will include “New York
Bad Ass” Phil Baroni’s war with U.S. Olympic Wrestling
Silver Medalist Matt Lindland; Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes’
successful title defense against Sean Sherk, and both of Light
Heavyweight Champion Couture’s title winners over Chuck
Liddell for the interim belt and Ortiz for the undisputed championship.
UFC
legends like Ken Shamrock, Bas Rutten, Don Frye, Tank Abbott,
Dan Severn, Oleg Taktarov and Royce Gracie also are featured.
Top mixed martial artists such as Ortiz, Vitor Belfort, Liddell,
Pat Miletich, Carlos Newton, Mark Kerr and Dave Menne all make
their way once again to the Octagon in these vivid highlights.
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), headquartered in Las Vegas,
Nev., is the world’s premier mixed martial arts sports association.
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the UFC programs six live pay-per-view
events yearly through cable and satellite providers. In addition
to its U.S. distribution on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network,
Echostar, TVN, Bell ExpressVu and Viewer’s Choice Canada,
UFC events are distributed internationally through WOWOW, Inc.
in Japan, Globosat in Brazil, Main Event Television in Australia
and Sky Network Television in New Zealand. Zuffa, LLC licenses
the distribution of UFC video games through Crave Entertainment
and TDK Mediactive and its fight show DVDs through Studio Works
Entertainment, a Ventura Distribution company.
The
UFC’s next live PPV event will be UFC 46: Super Natural
at 10 p.m. EST, Saturday, January 31, during Super Bowl weekend
from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev. For more
information, visit the web site at www.ufc.tv.
Source:
ADCC
|
|
Royce
Gracie Leaves for Japan
Royce
Gracie left his home in California yesterday; destination: Japan
to face Hidehiko Yoshida in Pride Shockwave 2003. Along with
Royce on the trip was his brother Royler who has helped with
the training and preparation.
Brother
Rolker and other training partners have left from different parts
of the World to meet up with Royce in Japan. Word is that Royce
spent his last day training in the US with his brothers Royler
and Rickson!
Source:
ADCC |
Joe
Moreira's Black Belt Challenge Final Line-up!
Joe
Moreira's Balck Belt Challenge has a complete and final line-up:
Waldomiro
Perez (Marcus Vinicius) x Gustavo Moreira (Joe Moreira)
Ricardo 'Hellraiser'Texeira ( Joe Moreira) x Daniel Coyote (
Brazil Team )
Dartanian Bagby ( Wander Braga ) x Martin Sanchez ( Joe Moreira
)
João Silva ( Aloisio Silva ) x Jared Weiner ( LLoyd Irvin
)
Ed Keller ( Joe Moreira ) x Chris Smith ( Charles Gracie )
Paulo Guillobel ( Machado) x Joao Cunha ( Ralph Gracie )
Wander Braga x Fabio Vinelli ( Machado )
Ricardo Barros ( Ralph Gracie ) x Julio Nardon ( Renato Magno
)
Cassio Werneck x Mark Kompaneyets ( Marcus Vinicius )
The
event will take place at the Hollywood Casino in LA, CA. Call
Joe for more information or tickets at 949-254-3554.
Fights
starts at 8 pm.
Source:
ADCC
|
12
hours with Rodrigo Nogueira
Pride
star Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is only 12 hours away from setting
his life upside-down: that's how long it takes to go by bus from
Rio de Janeiro, where Minotauro trains with his teammates in
Brazilian Top Team, to the city of Victoria da Conquista, in
the warm and friendly state of Bahia, where he was born.
After
a 12 hour journey, taking a bunch of fighters with him, the former
PRIDE champion 'Minotauro' will try his hand at something ehere
he is far less-experienced. Alas, hew is a brave professional:
meet promoter Mr. Nogueira! 'Minotauro' goes home to organize
his first MMA show, the I Conquista Fight.
With
big help from his local friend Omar Maron, the show will happen
next Saturday, December 20th, and it will bring great names of
the MMA and muay thai national scenes, including Evangelista
Cyborg, who had a great debut in Pancrase Hybrid 5 last May.
'My
idea is to give an opportunity to Brazilian fighters to show
what they've got. Vale-tudo or MMA is certainly one of the sports
that has been developing the most in Brazil. So we will be introducing
great fighters such as Junior Buscape, Hudson Rocha and Black
Diamond, considered to be the greatest revelation in the state
of Bahia's rings', states Nogueira.
'We
still have some surprises, but the event's production won't be
below any of the latest good shows that have been made in Brazil',
ended Minotauro.
Complete
card (subject to change):
MMA:
Evangelista Cyborg (Brazil Dojo) X Claudio Godoi
Junior Buscapé (BTT) x Danilo Sherman (Nova União)
Marcelo Salazar (BTT) x Alexandre Lima (Ricardo Carvalho)
Hudson Rocha (BTT) x Claudio Alcantara (Ricardo Carvalho)
Jone Eduardo (Boxe Thai) x Marcilio Marcio (Ricardo Carvalho)
Gabriel 'Pigmeu' Barros (Bushido Omar Maron) x Wil Ribeiro(Boxe
Thai)
Cesar Profeta (Bushido Omar Maron) x Not Confirmed Yet
Muay
Thai:
Diego Braga Alves (Ruas Vale-Tudo) x Gerson Silva (BTT Nikolai)
Aluizio M. de Barros (RVT) x Emanuel Davi (BTT Nikolai)
Rodrigo Aladim (Vander Valverde) x Manuel Fonceca (Artur Mariano)
Emerson Mendes (Anderson França) x Clovis Mileo (Artur
Mariano)
Source:
ADCC
|
Inoki
BOM BAY YE: 'Cyborg' out
The
return of Evangelista 'Cyborg' to the ring for the big INOKI
BOM BAY YE event will have to wait: expected to be on the card
of Inoki BOM-BA-YE 2003, on the night of December 31st, the Brazilian
ended up being discarded from the traditional show organized
by Antonio Inoki. 'I received a phone call from Wallid and he
confirmed that I am out. He said that with that whole battle
for the audience among the 3 events, Japanese television [Nippon
TV] is in charge of everything, even the fighter`s selection.
I didn't like it. Wallid's explanations didn't convince me, but
there`s nothing I can do' said Cyborg.
'Cyborg'
made his debut this year in Pancrase Hybrid 5, last May. He won
his bout by knockout over Osami Shibuya. He thrilled the Japanese
press, who were enthralled by the 26 year-old fighter who showed
up with a fight style similar to Wanderlei Silva. 'I affecyed
my relationship with Pancrase to fight in the BOM-BA-YE, and
interrupted the therapy on my shoulder. It has been bruised since
the beginning of the year', declared 'Cyborg'. Not one to be
wasting time, or the extensive training period of late, Cyborg
has agreed to be part of the main fight in Minotauro`s tournament,
the I Conquers Fight, in Bahia, this Saturday.
Source:
ADCC
|
'Tis
the Season
Eschewing
conventional wisdom, I actually enjoy the winter months. Yes,
even being a die-hard East Coaster. My pathetic constitution
can't tolerate the summer heat. I sweat out any soaked-in fun
through my pores. Spring? Fall? These are reject seasons, preludes
to the real thing. Nope: winter is where it's at. There's no
better feeling than braving the elements and then returning to
the warmth and security of one's own home.
Oh,
and of course: Christmas. Though it's a fine, fine holiday, I
stopped getting excited when my tastes became too eclectic for
my family to satisfy. (You try telling Mom you need a Japanese
import Sakuraba cell phone cozy.) I just smile and nod when I
receive the inevitable gift certificate. Still don't have the
heart to tell them cash is best.
And
so Christmas has now become a day of giving. If I didn't get
off on that, it'd be quite a slog. And in that spirit, I thought
now would be a great time to bestow pseudo-treasures on all the
MMA notables. No refunds, no exchanges.
For
Dana White & Zuffa...
A twenty-minute phone conversation with Vince McMahon on building
and maintaining interest in your enlisted athletes. Whether you
like his product or not (and I don't), McMahon is the greatest
promoter from any angle in the last hundred years. He turned
Hulk Hogan into an icon as recognizable as Mickey Mouse; he built
larger-than-life characters that didn't seem capable of existing
anywhere but the ring; and when his key cash cows defected to
WCW, he took rookies and repeated the process successfully.
Zuffa
has sanctioning, opportunities, and solid financial backing.
What they don't have is a marketing team whose sole purpose is
to make people care about their fights. Combat sports are not
popular: its athletes are. Unless fans care about what's going
on in the ring, and have an emotional investment in the outcome,
you're going to wind up with the piddling buyrates the UFC has
suffered in recent years. Fights arrive with all the excitement
of a C-SPAN conference.
Television
would open up a whole new landscape for MMA, but I fear Zuffa
is not prepared to make a major push, and will instead assume
that the mystique of the sport is what sells. That ideal died
somewhere around 1996, when dejected customers turned away, realizing
that they probably weren't going to see a televised homicide.
Now it's up to personalities to overcome the stigma of the sport
being boring.
You
want to follow boxing's lead? Fine, except for one minor little
detail: a caged ring is just as ugly a visage as ever. As ardent
followers, sure, we're conditioned to accept it. Too bad most
people who don't follow MMA with a religious fervor think it's
beyond obscene. Go ahead and stick Jim Lampley in the booth:
he's still commentating on a cage fight. You can't polish a turd.
Keep
the cage if you must: just don't think for a second it's not
an anchor worse than ten McCains put together.
It's
time to ditch the putrid TV ads and PhotoShop disaster posters,
and devote some serious energy to creating a new intrigue about
the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Mr.
McMahon on Line Two.
For
Kazushi Sakuraba...
A retirement pension. Yeah, yeah: a paunchy Saku out-finessed
perpetual underachiever Kevin Randleman. While it was great to
see him finally notch a victory, I fear that Randleman's He-Man
build only served to motivate Saku into thinking he can hang
with the big boys. Fact is, he can't. An umpteenth mauling at
the hands of Vanderlei Silva would be inexplicable. There's chatter
he may face Frank Shamrock at a Vegas Pride show in the new year.
Despite Frank's virtual retirement, Saku is still in for a KO
loss, and it should be his last.
For
K-1...
A total blackout on US television. While the kickboxing organization
was never exactly a paragon of virtue, 2003 saw it turn into
a complete sideshow. Frustrated at the lack of talent on display
by their pointman, Bob Sapp, the org saw fit to opt for silly
disqualifications and blatant rules bending in order to keep
his record respectable. Much of the same applied to waning boxing
star Frans Botha, who also took the DQ way out when in trouble.
Then gullible fans were lured in by the presence of Mike Tyson,
who got millions to be paraded around and act like he might actually
fight.
And
let's not forget the freak show of the millennium: Genki Sudo
vs. Eric "Butterbean" Esch. 200 lbs. separates these
two, and while I expect Sudo to go for a standing rear-naked
choke to end it, the potential for horrible injury is too great
for any responsible promoter to sanction.
Here's
to 2004 and an early death for K-1's hopes of US success. What
a bunch of jackals.
For
Sudo Himself...
Two solid brass balls. Despite the ghoulish nature of the match,
Sudo is entering the most sensational David/Goliath bout of all
time. I hate being put in a position to give him credit for a
fight that shouldn't even happen, but I can't help but be impressed
by his mettle.
For
MMA Internet Trolls...
A Real Doll, which purportedly simulates the look and feel of
a real woman.
For
Tito Ortiz...
A copy of the Eagles' "Hell Freezes Over," in honor
of his alleged upcoming bout with Chuck Liddell.
For
Pride...
A cattle prod. Though the freak show baton seems to have been
passed off to K-1, Pride dropped the ball big time by blacking
out Royce Gracie's return to MMA for US fans. Promoted properly,
this could've been a sensational coup for Pride, and one that
could've helped build brand recognition in the States. Instead,
the fight was made at the last minute, and the card for the New
Year's Eve program hasn't even been finalized yet. Their 2000
Grand Prix installment was a hit on DirecTV, even though they
bungled promotion and mentioned Royce only in passing.
Royce
can captivate thousands of people who haven't seen this style
of fighting in years. For many, he was the only reason for watching.
Perhaps they'd have a renewed interest in your product if he
was used as the bait. Smarten up. Signing fights weeks before
the air date is a joke.
For
MMA Journalists..
A copy of "Grammatically Correct: The Writer's Essential
Guide to Punctuation, Spelling, Style, Usage and Grammar"
by Anne Stilman. It's required reading for self-fancied journalists
who seem to think the only pre-requisite for reporting on the
sport is an interest in it. I can't fathom how some of these
folks even made it through grade school: their mangled diction
is an embarrassment to the entire community.
It's
not hard, guys. If you can't be bothered to write above a fifth
grade level - and that's being generous - how can you possibly
expect to have a respected voice in this sport?
For
Matt Hughes...
Some competition. BJ Penn deserves credit for challenging himself
and stepping up in weight to take on the welterweight terror,
but Hughes himself isn't going to have much trouble. Why not
make the move up to 185 and get excited about fighting again?
For
Max Kellerman, Al Bernstein, ESPN and Fox Sports...
A free night at Scores. Mainstream media is loathe to admit that
MMA is a credible entry into the sports world, but these fine
folks have no problem debunking creaky misconceptions. Kellerman
usually sides with the MMA fighter over the boxer when such hypotheticals
are brought up; Bernstein got paid to be host of the UFC infomercial,
but hey, an endorsement is an endorsement; those TV nets do wonders
for humanizing the athletes.
For
Quinton Jackson...
A swear jar, for which a year's earnings might be able to feed
a small country.
Finally,
for Randy Couture...
A full-scale replica of Captain America's shield, in honor of
Randy's impressive achievements inside the Octagon and out. At
age 40, Couture reinvented himself as the greatest light heavyweight
in history, and quite possibly the most accomplished fighter
of all time. Has he lost? Of course. But his wins (Vitor Belfort,
Mo Smith, Kevin Randleman, Pedro Rizzo, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz)
far, far outweigh any blemishes.
More
importantly, Couture is class. MMA fighters don't need shaved
heads, tattoos, and a cocky strut to garner attention.
Pay
attention to yourself the next time Randy is on TV representing
this sport. If you don't feel a swell of pride, you must be catatonic.
Source:
Maxfighting |
Quote
of the Day
"You don't get to choose how you're going to die, only how
you're going to live."
Joan Baez, 1941-, American Singer, Songwriter |
Javier
Vasquez tears his ACL- OUT of UFC46
MMAWeekly
can confirm that Javier Vasquez has torn his ACL. Vasquez did
it in training early in the week. Vasquez has told close friends
he is considering retirement from the sport, but could still
compete in events like Abu Dhabi. Either way Vasquez will take
a step back from the fight game and could retire. MMAWeekly.com
has had it confirmed that this is the THIRD time he's torn his
ACL to the same knee. Truly unbelievable!
WHO
WILL SERRA'S OPPONENT BE?
Early
word was that Alberto Crane was the lead candidate, but it looks
as though both Matt Serra and Crane have teachers who work together
in the jiu-jitsu game and in jiu-jitsu that is a big deal so
the fight won't happen. Shooto may have some answers this weekend.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
UFC
Tidbits: Tito Ortiz/WWE; Couture-Klitschko
Some random mainstream UFC-related notes:
Tito
Ortiz was sitting camera-side near the front row at Thursday's
WWE SmackDown! (taped on Tuesday) in San Diego, California. After
the show concluded, Tito Ortiz was brought in the ring with WWE
superstar Rey Mysterio and put over to the crowd by some of the
other wrestlers.
Randy
Couture was mentioned during "Friday Night Fights"
this past Friday night. During the show, host Max Kellerman was
asked who would win a fight between Randy Couture and Heavyweight
boxer Viatli Klitschko. Kellerman quickly replied Couture --
easily, but mentioned Klitschko would "slaughter Couture"
with 18 months of grappling training.
Source: MMA News |
YVES
EDWARDS AND
SHONIE CARTER SIGN WITH WEC
World
Extreme Cagefighting has announced their next show for January
16th at the Palace Casino in Lemoore, California. WEC President
Scott Adams told MMAWeekly quote, "This will be a great
card coming up. We have signed some great fighters including
Yves Edwards and Shonie Carter and we expect to sign a handful
of top level fighters this week."
Edwards
who is coming off an impressive victory in the UFC will face
Doug "The Demon" Evans at 155. Shonie Carter will be
fighting in the 170 pound weight class but no opponent has been
named as of Sunday Night.
Female
Kickboxing Champion Kerri Crothers will make her cagefighting
debut and fan favorite Olaf will be fighting in this event at
the Palace Casino as well. . For tickets call 866-4-Palace or
visit www.thepalace.net for more information.
MMAWeekly
will have a few more big names competing on the card tomorrow
as well.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
NEWTON
NOT FIGHTING ON DECEMBER 31ST
Despite
published reports stating that Carlos Newton will face Hayato
Sakurai on December 31st, MMAWeekly.com has learned that those
reports are false.
Newton's
management has clarified that Carlos will not be fighting Sakurai
in Japan on December 31st. The fight was offered to Newton to
face Sakurai, but Newton instead will fight on the UFC card in
January
Source:
MMA Weekly |
NINJA'S
RETURN TO MMA
Meca
World Vale Tudo 10
December 20, 2003
Curitiba, Brazil
It's
been awhile since we saw Murilo Ninja Rua, but this week he prepares
to face Alexandre "Cafe" Dantas in the World Vale Tudo
event this week.
Complete
Card (Subject To Change):
Murilo
'Ninja' Rua vs. Alexandre 'Cafe' Dantas
Nilson de Castro vs. Carlos Baruch
Rafael 'Tatu' vs. Valdir 'Cabeca'
Marcelo Dourado vs. Ivan Batman
Delson 'Pe-de-Chumbo' vs. Marcelo 'Pitbull'
Gabriel 'Napao' vs. Claudio Godoy
Roberto Godoi vs. Daniel Acacio
Luis Brito vs. Jorge Patino 'Macaco'
Fabricio Morango vs. Junior Besouro
Jadyson Costa vs. Marcelo Nigue
Luiz Kbelinho vs. Adriano Nasal
Carmem 'Casca-Grossa' vs. Ana Carolina Pinho
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
"What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you
say."
Ralph Waldo Emerson , 1803-1882, American Poet, Essayist
|
AFC
5 New Weight Class!
February
15, 2003
Campbell High School
There is a new weight class for AFC 5.
Lightweight 160 & under - 4 Man Tournament ($500.00)
Middleweight 160 - 200 - 8 Man Tournament($1000.00)
Heavyweight 201 & over - 4 Man Tournament ($500.00)
Now the lightweights do not have to fight a 200 lber anymore.
In the last AFC, there were two fighters around 150 lbs. They
did great, but ended up being overpowered. Now there is a chance
for a number of fighters to enter this event. It is a toughman
type of event (boxing) with one takedown per round. The takedown
really can shift the fight so if you would like to try your hand
at a very safe event to see just how it feels to get in the ring
with the possibility of winning $500 or $1,000, this is the event
for you!
Don't
think that you have to be a great stand up fighter. This is an
amateur event so you will be matched with other amateurs. This
can be a first step in to entering MMA. The field for the last
AFC was very close as far as technique level. Everyone wears
headgear and boxing gloves to ensure the fighters' safety.
Check
out http://www.afchawaii.com for more details and
to enter this competition!
Don't
forget about the amateur Shooto event coming up as well (http://www.shootohawaii.com)!
Both
events are looking for fighters so contact them quickly to ensure
you spot!
|
Wanderlei
Silva -
More on BRAZIL's Fastest Rising MMA Star!
PRIDE
GP and Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva is on the cover
of three Brazilian MMA Magazines in the month of December, TATAME,
GRACIE MAGAZINE and NOCAUTE. Also in December, there is a special
report on Wanderlei in the pages of VEJA MAGAZINE, the most important
weekly magazine in Brazil, with more than 1 million copies distributed.
The title of the report is 'The God of Vale Tudo' and Wanderlei
takes time to tell the readers how the sport is professional
in Japan, and how much respect the fans there have.
To
talk about rumors for next year, we found the champion in a very
'cool' moment in his house, playing with his action figure and
autographing the gloves and shorts that he used in the two fights
of the Pride Grand Prix to send them to Japan, for a virtual
auction on a japanese website. Wanderlei is very happy with the
attention of the Brazilian media. He wanted to let the fans know
that he plans to fight in Pride USA's event in Las Vegas. The
idea to go to the USA for a week of promotions in January is
also developing quickly.
WANDERLEI
EARNS MORE HONORS IN HOMETOWN
After
earning a diploma from the Brazilian JJ Federation, Wanderley
received another tribute in his hometown of Curitiba. This time,
the Chamber of Commerce of Curitiba, issued a special honor for
his victories and for the promotion of his city and country in
2003.
During
the dinner in Wanderlei's honor, the champion's team took the
opportunity to discuss the future of Wanderley and a marketing
plan being developed to promote his image in Brazil and overseas.
The plans for 2004, including the promotional tour for the USA
in January, were the main points of discussion at the meeting.
Source: ADCC
|
GUSTAVO
'XIMU' MACHADO IS THIRSTY FOR HIS HEAT FC 2 BOUT AGAINST ALAN
GOES
Coming
off from a loss to UFC veteran Benji Radach in King Of The Cage
28, RVT member Gustavo 'Ximu' Machado is focused on getting back
his motivation. The task will not be easy, since 'Ximu' will
face a renovated Allan Goes, who is also looking for one important
victory to finish 2003 in style! This epic battle scheduled for
next Dec. 18th at HEAT FC 2.
'Ximu'
gave this interview below, with the condition that we not touch
on the issue of Babalu's departure from Ruas Team, and the rumors
over Ximu's departure as well.
Denis
Martins: Describe the KOTC 28 fight? It seemed like you were
not there mentally. 'XIMU': Man, when I go to fight, I go very
well trained, prepared mentally and physically. But prior to
that fight against Benji Radach, I had some problems in my family
that disturbed me mentally. I was not focused in the fight. I
was good physically and bad mentally. My mind was in Brazil.
It is not excuse for my defeat, but everybody knows that I did
not fight as I should.
Denis
Martins: I know you did not know anything about Radach. Was that
the main problem for you? 'XIMU': It was no problem for me. I
am confident in my technique regardless of what my opponent does.
I was with my soul in Brazil, only my body was in that cage.
Denis
Martins: Did not you realize your mental state backstage at the
KOTC 28? 'XIMU': I tried to get past it but I could not. I went
to KOTC 28 to honor my contract. That is the way I think. I value
honor. I would rather be beaten badly than avoid a fight. That
is the way I am. Radach beat me, so good for him. I did fight.
When the fight was over, I did not think about how I fought.
I was only thinking about my family problems in Brazil that were
bothering me.
Denis
Martins: You already let everyone know you wanted to fight in
the UFC. Was the defeat to Radach a double-defeat since if you
had beaten him, you might have had an opportunity to fight in
the UFC? 'XIMU': I know that. I had performed well in my prior
KOTC fight (KOTC 25 versus Nathan 'The Rock' Quarry) and I had
heard that if I had success against Radach, I would have a chance
in the UFC in a preliminary bout. I will have an opportunity
again.
Denis
Martins: Do you have any interest in a rematch? 'XIMU': Of course.
That is like asking a monkey if it wants a banana (laughs). But
I have to work to get that opportunity. I will take my first
step back on that road on December 18th in the Heat Fighting
Championships 2. God will help me to perform well.
Denis
Martins: Did you know that Radach was KO'd by a novice fighter
(Danny Lafever, 1-0) in the Ultimate Ring Challenge 6? 'XIMU':
Yeah, I did hear that. It happens when you are a fighter. I do
not know how Radach felt after our fight, but if he thought since
he KO'd me, he could beat anybody, he was totally wrong.
Denis
Martins: Heat FC 2 is your fight and you are fighting a member
of the Brazilian Top Team. Is this a time for double redemption?
'XIMU': I am very well prepared. Allan Goes is tough and he has
fought everywhere, he fought in Extreme Challenge, UFC, Pancrase,
and Pride. I know if I beat him, I will erase my last performance
and the international doors will open themselves up for me.
Denis
Martins: In the past when a Brazilian fighter fought in an international
event and then in a national event, it seems that his career
was going down hill. Do you think this has changed? 'XIMU': I
think Heat FC is already one of the best events in the world.
Actually we have Meca, SHOOTO Brazil and the Heat FC. They are
all good examples of national events with high level exposure.
Denis
Martins: You were originally scheduled to face Ikuhisa Minowa
in Brazilian SuperFight 1. Why did this not happen? 'XIMU': We
had already agreed to the fight but without explanation they
put in Silmar Rodrigo. I heard they wanted Minowa to take an
easier match and fight a tougher fighter in his next bout. I
do not know if it is true, but Rodrigo is a tough fighter and
he but Minowa on the canvas a few times in the first round. Minowa
got the knee-bar in the second round.
Denis
Martins: The second edition of the Brazilian SuperFight is in
April. Would you like to fight there? 'XIMU': Not in April. I
think Minowa will defend his middleweight BSF belt against Jorge
'Macaco' Patino in April. I would like to fight with the winner
of that bout.
Denis
Martins: Is there any special reason for you in going for the
BSF title? 'XIMU': BSF is a Brazilian event and I do not have
a title in Brazilian MMA. That is why.
Denis
Martins: Back to the Heat FC 2 show and your bout with Goes.
What are your expectations? 'XIMU': I will focus on this fight
like it was the beginning of my career. When you are a rookie,
you have a lot to prove and show your value. I will try to fight
with the same will I had in the KOTC 25. I respect Goes, but
in the ring I will try to run over him and dictate the pace from
the start of the fight.
Denis
Martins: Thank you for your time. Is there anything else you
would like to say? 'XIMU': I want to fight without any deceptions
for my fans this time and I would like to thank my sponsors,
UNAMAR Clube (www.UNAMARCLUBE.com.br) and Vitamians&Minerals.
I would also like to reply to what Nathan Quarry said about me
here in ADCC News. He said he deformed my face and yes, he did.
But this was with an illegal elbow to the eye. He also said I
stalled during the fight. Man, I fought in the KOTC, in a small
cage, against tough fighters. I adopted my style to beat him.
He did not avoid my game so he is not that smart. Also, I believe
he has a background in Wrestling, since he trained with the Team
Quest, but he did not have the ability to sprawl away from the
shoot and takedown of a Luta-Livre/Muay Thai fighter. I think
he should think before he speaks from now on. If he wants to
fight me again, he needs to work hard and focus on himself like
I am doing.
Source:
ADCC
|
Fanning
the Flames as the HEAT is Coming:
Time for the "all new Carlos Barreto" to show his magic
again!
Use
to fighting in the biggest MMA shows on earth such as PRIDE and
the UFC, Carlos Barreto has a long story in the sport, being
competing as a professional since 1996. A Jiu-Jitsu black belt
under Carlson Gracie, and fighting out of the Brazilian Top Team,
Barreto has wins over names such as Kevin Randleman, Mikhail
Illoukhine, Dan Bobish and Tra Telligman, he was often criticized
for being a boring fighter, mostly relying on his ground skills
only. As times changed in MMA Carlos found out what he needed
to change and started dedicating himself to Muay Thai with an
intensity rarely seeing on a pure Jiu-Jitsu fighter, even venturing
himself on K-1 Brazil early in 2003. In his attempt to prove
his new fighting style the tall Brazilian fighter engaged in
a true war against American Ben Rothwell, who fought Tim Sylvia
to a decision, at HEAT FC 1, where both fighters traded strikes
viciously and he ended up scoring his first knockout ever with
a nice high-roundhouse kick in dramatic fashion. Now, with high
goals set for 2004 another challenge presents itself in front
of Carlao [as he is known in Brazil] facing UFC veteran Travis
Wiuff at HEAT FC 2 next December 18th. Feeling more than ready,
Barreto shared his views on his fight at HEAT FC 1 and his upcoming
task at HEAT FC 2, as Full Contact Fighter is burning high and
spreading the fire as HEAT FC 2 is coming up this Thursday!
FCF:
Your last fight was at HEAT FC 1 against Ben Rothwell, where
you won by knockout. What can you tell us about the experience
of fighting in a new show and against someone who accepted an
open fight against you?
Carlas Barreto: Ben Rothwell was a big surprise for me. People
told me he was a weak opponent who wouldn't give me much trouble,
however nowadays in Mixed Martial Arts there is no such thing.
Everybody is well trained and everybody is willing to win badly,
and I know I'm a guy that has somewhat of a name abroad so beating
me in a fight is always interesting for anyone's career. So,
he came after me with everything he had, even reminding me of
Sylvester Stallone in Rocky, where I would hit the guy hard and
he would always come back, and the harder I would hit him the
more he would try to get me! I thought "Oh my God, this
guy is a mutant! He is taking all my power!" (Laughs) So
I found Rothwell a talented guy, who will have a great future
if he trains hard. It was a good fight for me, It pushed me to
my limits and showed that to fight me my opponent has to be well
prepared, cause I try hard and I believe a lot in my own talent.
The event itself was well organized and well ran, and the fight
was great for me.
FCF:
You punished Rothwell a lot during that fight, even scoring a
knockdown before the final knockout. However, there was a moment
where Ben took you down and you seemed to have ran out of gas.
What went trough your mind at that specific moment in the fight?
CB: When I attempted a takedown, already tired, and he managed
to sprawl and force me down, getting in side-mount position,
I thought "It's time for me to hold him down, cause I have
the advantage on the ground, I know all the tricks here, so I'll
make him spend some energy here and recover my cardio, to get
back to stand-up fighting" Cause I was looking for a KO,
since I had trained for that. I didn't get scared at that point,
I only knew that if I would keep fighting in that rhythm I would
ran out of stamina, since the fight started out with a lot of
intensity, which is rare for a heavyweight fight. So I tried
not to use any power at that point and just make him spend energy
while I was saving it. So this is what happened, we ended up
getting to our feet again, and I scored the knockout with a high-kick
to his head. I hope this can also happen at HEAT FC 2, and I
can show my Muay Thai moves again. But if I can't do it, my Jiu-Jitsu
is getting better and better and I'm ready to secure a submission
as well.
FCF:
Speaking of Muay Thai, you have been training it a lot for quite
a while already, and some people were resisting in believing
in your new found Muay Thai skills. What was the importance for
you of winning the fight against Rothwell by such a beautiful
knockout instead of a submission?
CB: It was very rewarding without a doubt. It was satisfactory
due to all my work and dedication with Muay Thai, all the work
professor Paulo Nikolai has been doing with me at Brazilian Top
Team. I already have some submissions in my record, and to add
a knockout is always good. I got very happy to see that all the
work we did paid off. I fought at K-1 Brazil with only seven
months of Muay Thai training, risking myself against experienced
fighters and managed to do a good showing. Months later I fought
MMA in HEAT and was able to show what I learned trough the tough
trainings with Paulo Nikolai. I hope in my next fight I'll be
able to show even more of my Muay Thai, since I think I'm not
a bit better of a Muay Thai fighter than I was at HEAT FC 1.
FCF:
Speaking of HEAT, you have a fight against Travis Wiuff coming
up at HEAT FC 2 next December 18th. What do you expect of Wiuff
as an opponent?
CB: I don't have much info about Travis Wiuff. The only fight
of his I saw was against Vladdy Matyushenko at the UFC. Travis
is a big guy, a heavy and strong guy, but I think he lacks a
bit on the stand up fighting. He is however very strong physically.
I think it's going to be a classic match-up, against the technique
of Jiu-Jitsu and the explosive power of Wrestling. I think we're
going to do a good fight, and if the fight goes to stand up action
I trust my Muay Thai. I hope he has been training stand up cause
he is going to eat some shots.
FCF:
Are we going to get back to the old days of Kevin Randleman vs.
Carlos Barreto?
CB: Maybe! Who knows, maybe I'll get a triangle choke. The thing
is that I trained a lot for this fight, a lot of Muay Thai and
a lot of wrestling. I trained a lot of Greco-Roman Wrestling,
which is something that I love doing, and I can tell you first
hand that next year I'll be competing in some Greco-Roman events
in 2004.
FCF:
Speaking of training, how was your preparation for this fight,
and what changed in your preparation for your fight at HEAT FC
1 in relation to this fight now at HEAT FC 2?
CB: At HEAT FC 1 I was changing my physical trainer, so I was
adapting to his style and we weren't exactly on the same pace.
Now I'm more used to his work and I'm sure I'm in better shape
than I was at HEAT FC 1. Technically we are doing the same work,
since at Brazilian Top Team we have nowadays a section for Jiu-Jitsu,
a section for Wrestling and a section for Muay Thai. We have
been doing it all to be able to do the best possible in the ring.
Winning is a consequence of the work, and we've been working
hard. I trust myself, I trust my team and I trust in God. I'm
sure that everything will go well on December 18th, with one
more win to the Brazilian Top Team and one more win to Brazil.
FCF:
You have been fighting as a heavyweight in MMA for a long time
already, and this is one of the most appealing divisions for
the fans. How have you been following the heavyweight scene in
MMA as of now, and where do you see yourself placed in this field
for 2004?
CB: I'm seeing a lot of good people that have been keeping themselves
among the top heavyweights in MMA for a long time already, like
Pedro Rizzo and Minotauro, who are very good fighters with a
high technical level. I think Tim Sylvia is also a extremely
tough guy! You also have Cro Cop who have been improving a lot
and Fedor who is a nightmare for any contender. I think the level
is very high and the fighters are getting always better trained
and stronger, and nowadays we Brazilians have to train even more
cause they are already knowing our ground tricks. As for myself,
I think that first I have to defeat Travis Wiuff. This is one
more step in getting my career back to the top, so if I beat
him you can count that Carlos Barreto will be back to the top
shows abroad. I hope that in 2004 I'll be fighting either for
the UFC or PRIDE, but my first goal now is beat Travis Wiuff
in great fashion.
FCF:
Your name has been appearing a lot in the MMA press in Brazil
lately. People have been talking about a fight between you and
Assuerio Silva, others are talking about new shows wanting you
over. So, what can you tell us about your future after HEAT FC
2?
CB: Look man, my main objective now is HEAT FC 2. This is what
I have been thinking about. I have a commitment with HEAT FC
2, and I have been training very hard for this, not only for
my personal satisfaction but also for my fans. After HEAT FC
2 you can ask me this question again, but now my target is called
Travis Wiuff, who is a huge American wrestler who I'll have to
beat anyway.
FCF:
You are very well known and have a lot of supporters in the city
of Natal, where HEAT takes place. What do you expect from the
fans there for your fight against Wiuff?
CB: I think they have to be there doing a lot of noise and supporting
me, cause I'll give my blood and my soul inside the ring next
December 18th. I know he is coming with everything he has, cause
he is a young and strong guy who is willing to conquer his space
in the scene, but man there'll be no other way! I'm going after
him with a lot of aggressiveness and a lot of will, either on
the ground or standing up the fans can expect a great spectacle!
FCF:
The show will also feature other great match-ups, such as your
teammate Allan Goes facing Gustavo Ximu from Ruas Vale Tudo,
bringing back the old Luta-Livre vs. Jiu-Jitsu rivalry. What
do you expect from the other fights of the show?
CB: I think the fighting card of the show is top level and is
living up to international standards. I hope the fighters will
do well, put on a good showing and please everybody. Allan has
been training hard, and is showing amazing cardio. I think Ximu
will have to do something unbelievable to beat Allan Goes. I
believe a lot in Allan, cause he is a great fighter who fought
in the best shows in the world, and is going to come back to
the top with everything he has. I think this will also be a classic
fight, and I bet my chips on Allan Goes.
FCF:
Any final messages for the fans abroad who didn't have the chance
of watching you fighting with your new fighting style yet?
CB: I'm a guy that thinks ahead a lot. I'm sure the fans abroad
will have the chance of seeing my fighting live a lot of times
in the future, cause I'm coming back for real. I changed my training
completely, I changed my way of thinking about fighting, and
I'm sure the fans in the USA, Japan, Europe and even here in
Brazil will see a Carlos Barreto getting always stronger, faster,
more aggressive and a fighter who is willing to give a good spectacle
for the fans, putting on entertaining fights and going after
the opponent no matter what. I hope the fans will support me
and wish me good luck, cause I have been working hard to give
them entertainment. Carlos Barreto is back and working hard,
so I count with your support next December 18th for HEAT FC 2,
where I'm going to kick some ass!
FCF:
The best of luck for you and thanks for the interview!
CB: Thank you Eduardo!
Source:
FCF
|
"Shaolin"
Subs Hansen to Win SHOOTO Crown
Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro secured the SHOOTO welterweight
crown Sunday evening in Tokyo, Japan by submitting Joachim Hansen
with an arm-triangle choke 2:37 into the second period. Undefeated
in nine career fights, Ribeiro's third victory of 2003 was clearly
his most important. Throughout the one-plus round contest, Ribeiro
controlled Hansen on the mat, using his superior Brazilian jiu-jitsu
skills which forced an end to Hansen's short-lived title reign.
Stopping
Hansen, who beat Takanori Gomi in August to become the first
non-Japanese 154-pound champion in SHOOTO history, instantly
propels "Shaolin" to the top of the division with BJ
Penn's decision to move up in weight for a January Showdown versus
UFC champion Matt Hughes.
Several
matches before the Ribeiro-Hansen showdown, Caol Uno, who vacated
the 154-pound SHOOTO belt in December 2000 in order to fight
Jens Pulver for the UFC lightweight crown, announced intentions
to return to the organization in which he once rose to prominence.
Uno could earn a title shot as early as the middle of 2004.
Joining
Ribeiro in victory was fellow Brazilian Alexandre Franca "Pequeno"
Nogueira, who implemented his trademark guillotine choke in submitting
Rumina Sato less than a minute into the first period. Defending
a single-leg takedown, Nogueira, SHOOTO's 143-pound champ, transitioned
into a guillotine choke and clasped tight around Sato's neck.
The submission came forty-one seconds into the non-title fight.
Mamoru
Yamaguchi decisioned Yasuhiro Urushitani (29-28 on all three
scorecards) to win the SHOOTO bantamweight title to go along
with his featherweight belt.
Results:
Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro def. Joachim Hansen submission
(arm-triangle choke) 2:37 R2
Alexandre Franca Nogueira def. Rumina Sato submission (guillotine
choke) 0:41 R1
Mamoru Yamaguchi def. Yasuhiro Urushitani unanimous decision
3R
Robson Moura def. Junji Ikoma unanimous decision 3R
Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Ryan Bow TKO 4:21 R1
Hideki Kadowaki def. Bao Quach submission (rear-naked choke)
4:40 R3
Masato Shiozawa def. Alex Khanbabian submission (rear-naked choke)
1:04 R2
Source: Maxfighting
|
UNO
LEAVES THE UFC; BACK TO SHOOTO
Before the 12/14 Shooto show in Chiba, Tokyo started, Uno was
on the mat preparing one of his fighters to fight that night.
On the big screen it was saying Uno Has Come Back. Well, later
that night MMAWeekly's Scott Butler reported that Uno entered
the ring and announced that he was leaving the UFC and that he
is going back to Shooto.
Caol
Uno was quoted as saying "I want to fight the winner of
Hansen vs Ribeiro" to the receptive audience. Look for this
fight to happen soon. Shooto wants to continue to focus on the
lighter weight classes especially in 155 and 145 and Uno helps
bring more depth to the weight class.
Source: MMA Weekly |
PULVER'S
TWISTED ENTRANCE INTO BOXING
For years, Jens Pulver has dreamed of becoming a pro boxer. On
Saturday night in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the dream came true...
but not without the typical problems with the sport.
Pulver's
first scheduled opponent pulled out, citing he couldn't afford
another loss... he then lost a second and third. His fourth opponent,
driving to Iowa from Texas, got caught in a snow storm... and
three local potential opponents produced no positive results.
So,
an hour before the start of the show, it looked like the 5-hour
drive through an ice storm was for nothing. That's when promoter
Fred Berns suggested a no-contest fight with legendary Buck Smith,
a fighter who is in the Guiness Book of World Records with the
most victories (195) in the history of the sport.
Monte
Cox, Pulver's manager, has known Buck for more than 20 years
and even used him a couple times when he was promoting boxing
shows.
"I
thought it was a great idea," Cox said. "Smith is so
experienced, and so clever... even though he had a 25 pound weight
advantage, I thought it would be good experience for Jens...
and much better than not fighting at all."
Berns
wanted three 90-second rounds, actually shortening the fight
to help out Pulver. Although Berns is a close friend and former
partner with Cox, he did not understand that Pulver is a well-conditioned
athlete, who was going as many as 20 rounds at a time in training.
Anyway, it was settled on four 3-minute rounds.
"Smith
didn't think Pulver would be tough... he couldn't believe Pulver
had no amateur or pro boxing experience. He told Jens, 'If you
get tired, just slow down and pace yourself.' I had a feeling
Smith was in for a surprise."
The
first round was great... lots of combinations from both guys...
it was by far the most active fight on the card. Then, in the
second round, Pulver started landing more and trapped Smith in
the corner and landed several hard body shots.
"I
was standing back with the manager of the arena... and when Jens
started hitting the body, I told the guy that Jens might be going
too hard," Cox said. "I knew Smith was having trouble
with the pace, after all, he took the fight on an hour's notice,
while Jens trained for 2 months."
As
the second round ended, Pulver stopped punching and turned toward
his corner... Smith then hit him with a late shot to the head
that dropped Pulver. He got up right away, but had a puzzled
look on his face.
"The
ref was upset... he pushed Smith and was taking a point away,"
Cox said. But when he realized it was a no-contest fight, he
went over to look at Jens and halted the fight... he told Jens
he would have DQ'd Smith if it was a real fight."
Smith
apologized and later told Pulver he was landing some hard shots.
"The problem is that Smith didn't expect anything from Jens,
so he told him to go all-out, figuring he'd have no trouble,"
Cox said. "Jens did what he was told and it caught Smith
by surprise. I'm not trying to brag up Jens, but he looked really
good out there and I know Smith felt like he had been set up.
"Jens
asked about the late punch and I told him that's how a guy with
more than 200 pro fights tells a rookie that he should respect
his elders," Cox said. "I still think it was great.
Jens got six minutes of solid work against a very tough and experienced
guy... a guy who has fought Brazier, Chavez, McGirt and Duran."
Pulver
says his main sport will remain MMA, but definitely wants to
keep boxing.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"While troubles will come, they are always temporary --
nothing lasts forever. Thus, there is the famous legend that
King Solomon, the wisest man of all times, had a ring inscribed
with the words, This too shall pass."
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
|
SHOOTO
- Complete Results From Japan...
December 14th, 2003
Tokyo Bay N.K. Hall, Chiba, Japan
As
had been hinted at by rumors from Japan, Former champion Caol
Uno was in attendance and was re-introduced to the crowd. Another
great show!
COMPLETE
RESULTS // CLASS A - 3 Rounds:
- Masato Shiozawa vs. Alex Khanbabian: Shiozawa by Choke, RD
2.
- Bao Quach vs. Hideki Kadowaki: Kadowaki by choke, RD 3.
- Robson Moura vs. Junji Ikoma: Moura by Judges Decision.
- Ryan Bow vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri: Kawajiri by KO, RD 1.
- Yasuhiro Urushitani vs. Mamoru: Mamoru by Judges Decision.
- Alexandre
'Pequeno' Nogueira vs. Rumina Sato: Nogueira by Guillotine, RD
1.
TITLE
BOUT / Welterweight:
- Joachim
Hansen vs. Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro: SHAOLIN by Choke, RD 2.
Source:
ADCC |
Red
Devil FT invades Japan for BOM BA YE!
December 5th, 2003 // Ice Palace “Ledoviy”, St. Petersburg,
Russia
7th Worldwide Mix-fight M-1 Championship “Russia v. World
– Ice Storm”
The
main event of the recent M-1 championship was the fight for the
championship belt between Arman Gambarian (Red Devil FT) and
Fatih Kocamis (Germany) in the light heavy weight category. The
othermain event featured a super fight between Gilbert Yvel (fighting
for Red Devil FT) and Daniel Tabeira (SHOOT Spain). Arman Gambarian
and Fatih Kocamis met for the second time, as their first fight
ended in a draw. This was a very active fight. from the first
minute, the advantage was Arman`s, but Fatih Kocamis ended the
fight by technique knockout in the 8th minute of fight. Gilbert
Yvel and Daniel Tabeira engaged in a ground fight mainly, and
it ended in a draw.
One
of the highlights of the event was the signing of a contract
between Red Devil FT and PRIDE champion Fedor Emelianenko.
Fedor
Emelianenko was a European champion in sambo in1996, Russian
champion in 1997 in judo, and he is the former owner of Japan's
RINGS organization's heavyweight belt. He is the current owner
of Pride FC heavyweight title.
Fedor`s
young brother Alexander, also signed a contract with the Red
Devil club. He has participated in several Japanese tournaments
and has also interested Japanese promoters. The signing of these
2 contracts will place Red Devil FT firmly among the elite teams
in the entire world.
Also
of note was an official contract signed between Amar Suloev and
the Japanese promoter from Inoki International Inc. The organizers
of Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye event, to be held 31st of December 2003 in
Kobe (Japan). On this event, Amar Suloev will fight for Russia
together with new fighters of Red
Devil FT club – the brothers Emelianenko (Fedor and Alexander).
Source:
ADCC |
|
Minotauro:
'My brother is a better striker and grappler than Sakuraba'
Pride
FC fans can feel the mounting excitement regading the upcoming
show on December 31st. Rumors of the possible fights are everywhere,
with Brazilian stars like Antonio Rogerio 'Minotouro' training
hard to face the latest challenges when they are confirmed.
Although
the match is not confirmed yet by Pride FC, Rogerio's twin brother
Rodrigo Nogueira 'Minotauro' spoke with us about a fight between
Minotouro and Japanese idol Kazushi Sakuraba, both left-handed
fighters at 205 lbs.
Nogueira
knows it will be a hard bout: 'Rogerio is coming from two surgeries
on his arm and he has been more than five months with his arm
immobilized. He will be training for one whole month but will
fight with 70% of his capability'.
Those
who say Minotauro is already looking for excuses are totally
wrong: 'Still, in my opinion Rogerio is a better striker and
grappler than Sakuraba is. The Japanese fighter is only more
experienced'. According to his brother, Minotouro (6-1) is about
to do what nobody has ever done: 'He will submit Sakuraba on
the ground. He is also ready to exchange punches and kicks, and
I think it will be a great stand-up fight because both of them
are left-handed. Sakuraba is better at take-downs, but my brother
shall have no dificulties in sweeping him, and then finish the
Japanese fighter'.
Source:
ADCC |
The
Response from FEDOR's CAMP
Almost three days ago the Pride FC released an official statement
to the world, formally protesting what it perceived to be a major
breach of contract involving Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Inoki
and his Bom-Ba-Ye promotion and themselves. Pride’s assertions
were simple: “We have had an exclusive contract for Fedor
Emelianenko’s appearances in our mixed martial arts events,
through his agent, since his appearance in PRIDE 21 “Demolition”
on June 23, 2002.” That press release launched what has
probably become one of the biggest topics of international discussion
in the history of Mixed Martial Arts. Fans pontificated whether
or not the Pride FC Heavyweight champion would be allowed to
return to the organization if indeed he performed in a competitors
show. When things didn’t seem as if they could become any
more confusing, Pride FC fanned the flames of controversy by
allowing middleweight sensation Kazushi Sakuraba to appear in
Japan’s Sports Navi Magazine publicly sporting Fedor’s
Heavyweight championship belt.
In
the early hours of Friday December 13th, Miro Mijatovic, the
worldwide promotional manager for both Mirko ‘Cro Cop’
Filipovic and Fedor Emelianenko contacted me in response to Pride’s
press release with the following statement: “Needless to
say, we do not agree with the statements made by Pride in relation
to the situation of the contracts between themselves and Fedor
and Semmy. Pride press release contains a number of errors and
incorrect statements. If you have any questions, I would be happy
to answer them for you and your readers.” After following
up with Mirko on the matter, I received his official response
to Pride’s press release as part of an exclusive.
Fedor’s
Contractual Situation
Dear
Ron,
Thank
you for giving me the chance to clarify some confusion that seems
to exist around Fedor's contractual situation. To clear this
up, I would like to repeat what I said at the original press
conference here in Japan last Monday 8th December 2003.
But
before I get to that, let me first confirm that I never threatened
to pull either Mirko or Fedor from Pride. In fact, I will always
be open to offers from any promoter for any fighters that I have
contracted.
In
relation to the contractual situation, as you may know, Fedor
originally was represented by Russian Top Team (RTT). I understand
that due to some problems with this management, Fedor decided
to terminate his relationship with RTT and signed a management
contract with Red Devil.
On
5th December 2003 we signed an exclusive, multi-fight contract
with Fedor and his new management, Red Devil. We also signed
contracts with the exciting up and coming Red Devil fighters,
Fedor's brother Alexander and Amar. These contracts were in both
English and Russian because Fedor (and Alexander and Amar) do
not read nor understand English.
Fedor
told me that he has never signed any fight contract with Pride.
Fedor has never seen the alleged contract nor does he know the
contents of the alleged contract, which was shown by Pride at
their press conference. If this alleged contract was signed by
his previous management, RTT, then because he does not know and
cannot read the contents nor did he authorize his previous management
to sign the contract, that contract was not authorized nor agreed
to by Fedor.
Since
Fedor is not a party to the contract, Pride has no legal rights
or claims against Fedor; Pride must make any legal claims against
their contractual counterparty - Russian Top Team, for alleged
breaches of contract. This has nothing to do with Fedor.
Therefore,
we do not see any legal impediments to Fedor's fighting in the
future under our contract.
I'm
sure that Fedor's fans are looking forward to seeing Fedor return
to the ring on 31 December 2003 at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 and then
to a full schedule of events in 2004
Miro
Mijatovic
Tokyo, 13 December 2003
Source:
ADCC |
Joe
Moreira's Black Belt Challenge Line Up
Wednesday's
Joe Moreira Black Belt Challenge has announced their line-up.
The event will take place at the Hollywood Casino in LA, CA.
Call Joe for more information or tickets at 949-254-3554
Ricardo
Barros v TBA
Ed Keller v Chris Smith
Marc Kompaneyets v Cassio Werneck
Waldomiro Jr. v Martin Sanchez
Joao Silva v Daniel Golot
Paulo Guillobel v John Cunha
'Valtinho' Nagakawo v Jared Weiner
Wander Braga v Fabio Vinelli
Ricardo 'Hellraiser' v Dartanian Bagby
Source:
ADCC |
Summer
Combat Jiu-Jitsu Postponed
Again Due to Rain
A
great idea goes bad due to the elements as the Summer Combat
Jiu-Jitsu is once again postponed due to rain. The event started
and some fights were held bu had to be stopped because of a rain
storm in Sao Paulo.
Notables
Terere defeated Marcello Garcia by advantage to reach the final
while on the other sideo of the semifianl in the light will have
Fredson Alves v Reinaldo Ribeiro (they were fighting wwhen the
rain forced the posponement).
In
the medium it will be Saulo Ribeiro v Damien Maia and Fabio Nascimento
v Gabriel Vella, while in the heavies Pe de Pano v Guigo and
Fabio Leopoldo v Xande Ribeiro compete for the prize.
A
new date will be announced this week for the event!
Source:
ADCC |
|
Angelo
Araujo Makes New Year's Cut!
Pride
has been working hard to book fighters in the New Year's war
between organizations, and another matchup has been confirmed
yesterday at the Brazilian Top Team academy. Thr Inoki Bom Ba
Ye show has invited IVC Venezuela 16 man tournament runner up
Angelo Araujo on the card for December 31st.
Angelo
was supposed to fight in Korea last November, but that show was
postponed. Now Angelo is taking on Fedor's little brother, the
Pride Bushido veteran Alexander Emilianenko, who at that time
fought and defeated another brazilian, Assuerio Silva.
Angelo
stated that he is in very good shape and ready for this battle
between 2 big, young fighters. 'I'm ready to match what ever
he brings. This is my chance to debut in Japan and I won't waste
it!!!!' Stated a very focused Angelo.
Source:
ADCC |
Quote
of the Day
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the
death your right to say it."
Voltaire, 1694-1778, French Historian, Writer,
|
|
Minotouro
faces Sakuraba at Pride!
Brazilian
Top Team confirm its presence on December 31 Pride. According
to them, Rogério Minotouro faces the Gracie Hunter Kazushi
Sakuraba in the Saitama Super Arena. The Rodrigo Minotauro twin
brother is out of the ring since March 16, when he submitted
the Japanese Kazuhiro Nakamura by an armlock. Sakuraba was at
Pride Final Conflict, on November 9, when Saku submitted Kevin
Randleman also by an armlock.
Source:
Tatame |
AFC
5 date announced!
The
Amateur Fighting Competition's fifth event has just been set
for February 13, 2004. The event will take place at Campbell
High School Gymnasium. Any fighters interested in competing in
this variation of a toughman event can contact the promoters
through the web site.
http://www.afchawaii.com
The
promoters are planning to run these events more often, so there
will be plenty of opportunities to win that $1,000 cash or gift
certificate prize!
Source: Event Promoters |
Royce
Gracie Interview
PRIDE: In your first fight with Yoshida, he was attempting a
finish called "SODEGURUMA." Was Yoshida successful
with "SODEGURUMA" and did you ever at all pass out?
Royce Gracie: He was not successful at all! He faked the move,
but he never completed the move or put any pressure. I was never
out! He faked the attempt, then told the referee I was out. He
is a liar, a total liar.
PRIDE:
What do you think of the following comments by Yoshida: "I
did not want to kill Royce, that's why I told the referee three
times that he had passed out. I was on top of him, so the referee
could not see Royce's face. That's why I made a call."
Royce
Gracie: He's a fucking liar. It's the biggest lie. That's all
I have to say.
PRIDE:
You usually use the closed guard for defense, why did you use
the open guard against Yoshida? Were you confident that he would
not pass your guard?
Royce
Gracie: If you look at the video tape, in the first seven seconds
I had a foot lock, so that's why I kept the open guard. I wanted
to go for foot locks. If I closed my guard I knew he could not
pass my guard, but my strategy was to go for his legs, so I went
with the open guard.
PRIDE:
What do you think of the following comments by Yoshida: "In
the rematch, I will win COMPLETELY and PERFECTLY. Whether he
passes out or I get a submission, I do not know how I will finish
him, but I will win completely this time.''
Royce
Gracie: Good. I hope he doesn't use the referee this time. Lets
just fight.
PRIDE:
Yoshida has now been in Mixed Martial Arts for over a year. What
do you think of his transition and progress into MMA?
Royce
Gracie: I have my doubts (laughing). I don't know if his fights
look real to me. The only real fight for me was when he fought
Wanderlei (Silva). The others, I have my doubts (laughing).
PRIDE:
Did you see his match with Wanderlei Silva at Final Conflict?
What did you think?
Royce
Gracie: I saw it. I think it was his first real fight! (laughing)
PRIDE:
Do you have any new techniques or strategies for your upcoming
match with Yoshida? If you're not going to change anything at
all, please let us know your thoughts behind this.
Royce
Gracie: My strategy from the first match was working. The train
was right on track. I don't have a reason to change a thing.
I was going to catch him last time, this time I will catch him
for sure.
PRIDE:
You have said in the past "I can die for the Gracies."
If you get caught in the perfect submission, would you tap out
or admit the loss?
Royce
Gracie: If it's a perfect submission with no way out, I will
tap.
PRIDE:
Why do you insist on special rules to fight in PRIDE FC?
Royce
Gracie: I never want anything special. I got fucked once by the
referee. I don't like to leave my destiny in the hands of others.
I want the referee out of my way, I want nothing special. I'm
not going to fly 12 hours to Japan, and miss Christmas and New
Year's with my family to get robbed.
PRIDE:
You predicted that Wanderlei Silva would win by KO against Yoshida
in the PRIDE GP FINAL CONFLICT 2003. Instead, it went to a decision
and during the match Yoshida showed an improved striking ability.
If Yoshida decides to strike the way that Sakuraba did in your
match with him, what will your counter strategy be? Have you
been working on your striking?
Royce
Gracie: I will show you guys on December 31st.
PRIDE:
You lost to Sakuraba in a grueling match that went for 107 minutes.
If you fight Yoshida in a match with no time restriction, is
it going to be an advantage or disadvantage for you?
Royce
Gracie: It's an advantage. I don't think he can last in a match
without a time limit. He's too fat. He doesn't have the endurance
to last that long.
PRIDE:
Do you have any predictions for your match with Yoshida? How
do you want to finish? Which round? What minute?
Royce
Gracie: I want to make him bleed. I want to hurt him for being
a liar.
PRIDE:
If you were to defeat Yoshida, what would be your next goal?
Maybe a rematch with Sakuraba?
Royce
Gracie: I don't know. It's up to my manager. I'll fight who ever.
PRIDE:
You were recently inducted into the new UFC Hall of Fame at the
UFC's 10th anniversary show, UFC 45: Revolution. Is there a possibility
that you'd fight in the UFC again? Would you represent the UFC
in a match against a PRIDE FC fighter?
Royce
Gracie: I'm no man's fighter, I'm a Gracie fighter.
PRIDE:
The PRIDE FC Heavy Weight Grand Prix takes place next year. Any
interest in participating in that event?
Royce
Gracie: Not yet!
Source:
Pride |
Royce
Gracie Interview
By Kid Peligro
The buzz in the MMA World lately has been the return of the legendary
Royce Gracie against Japanese hero Hidehiko Yoshida. The rematch
will be the main event in Pride's Shockwave 2003 show on December
31st.
Royce
and Yoshida last faced each other in the original Shockwave on
October 2002. The match ended in controversial fashion with a
referee stoppage that was challenged as premature by the Gracie
Camp and ever since that day fans have clamored for this rematch.
We
caught up with Royce this past Wednesday and followed him around
for an day witnessing his training, etc and were able to slip
in a few questions:
KP-
Your name in fight history is set and you don't have anything
else to prove so why are you fighting?
Royce- I love fighting! I love this.
KP-
In the latest issue of Gracie Magazine with you on the cover
you stated that you might never fight again. What made you change
your mind?
Royce- I was in my corner, quiet, not thinking about anything
and then Pride came to us with the offer: 'Do you want to fight
Yoshida? I immediately took it! That fight was stuck in my throat
and I wanted to clear it.
KP-
What were you thinking about the events that took place in the
first Shockwave?
Royce- I was very disappointed! If something like that could
happen to me then it could happen to anyone. I had that entire
thing stuck in my throat! Now Pride came through and I believe
they want to make things right! They are a great organization
and that was a blemish in their record and they want to make
it right!
KP-
You are taking this fight very seriously, do you have a special
motivation besides wanting the rematch?
Royce- Yoshida has been talking a lot of trash, he has been saying
that he is actually going to choke me out or knock me out. Because
Pride has admitted that the fight shouldn't have been stopped,
it was in the contract that the referee couldn't stop the fight.
This time it is no judges, no referees and no doctor's stoppage.
This time it is going to be a war!
KP-
This time around it is going to be an MMA match with Pride rules
on striking and 10 minute rounds, any thoughts on that?
Royce- This is even better, MMA is what I do best. I believe
in a Jiu-Jitsu or a Grappling match there are people that can
give me a hard time, but when it become NHB and punches and kicks
are flying, then it is a different beast and that is what I like
and that is what I am good at!
KP-
During the fight Yoshida told the referee that you were out and
that lead to the disputed stoppage. To this day he insists that
you were out and you obviously dispute that. Does that give you
an extra incentive?
Royce- He is a lier and I want to hurt him. This is personal
now and I am going to hurt him!
KP-
Now the talk is about unlimited rounds!
Royce- That is good for me and bad for him. I like it!
KP-
Has your training been any different that before?
Royce-The training is the same. People talk about having to train
with the best fighters and I don't believe so. You and I went
to see Oscar de La Hoya prepare for Vargas fight and he wasn't
training with the #1 ranked fighter, in fact he was sparring
with his regular sparring partners. He had a great coach and
his regular fighters. Tyson doesn't bring Holyfield to spar to
prepare to fight with Lennox Lewis. He brings partners that help
the ponts he wants. I believe you need great coaches more than
anything!
KP-
You ususally like to have at least 3 months to prepare and you
took this fight on much shorter notice, did that change your
preparation for the fight?
Royce- I took this fight on short notice because we had some
unfinished business to take care. I just stepped up the training
schedule, but nothing has changed.
KP-
You are bringing your cousin Rodrigo to help with the training.
He has fought in Pride with great success. What does he add?
Royce- Rodrigo is a good guy and he has great presence. He has
had good success in Pride, he is used to the rules and I like
being around him. I also wanted to bring Ryan but I am not sure,
he has been negotiating to fight in the event as well so he has
his own preparation to take care.
KP-
Is the unlimited rounds thing all settled?
Royce- Pride offered it to us and we have accepted so I beieve
that is the way it is going to be.
KP-
Anything else you want to add?
Royce- Watch out because this is going to be a war! Royce then
turns to his son Khor and says: 'In order to . . .' And Khor
goes: 'Achieve what you want you can never give up!' Be there
and see what is going to happen!
Source:
ADCC |
|
Jackass
visits Gracie Humaita
The
stars of the movie Jackass made a visit to the Gracie Humaita
Academy earlier this week. They were in Brazil while filming
new episodes for the show on MTV and decided to stop by and spread
their 'terror' at the Academy.
Royler
was excited to meet the cast and crew and so were his students:
'These guys are crazy and the students were all stoked, especially
the young ones as they see these guys on TV all the time! Check
out the picture below!
Source:
ADCC/Kid Peligro |
Summer
Combat Jiu-Jitsu Day One Postponed due to rain
by: Kid Peligro
The
first day of the new Summer Combat Jiu-Jitsu was postponed due
to rain. The outdoor event had to be postponed due to heavy rain
and will take place tomoorrow beginning at 4:00PM. The entire
event goes down tomorrow! There were two modifications from the
originally announced card as Marcelo Pupo replaced Daniel Moraes
in the light and Fabiano 'Pega-Leve' replaced Marcio Corletta
in the Heavies. Check out the brackets below!
Light
Weight below 76Kg:
Fernando
Tererê x Feijão
Marcelo Gracia x Marcelo Pupo
Teco Shinzato x Mário Reis
Marco Barbosa x Reinaldo Ribeiro
Medium
Weight - below 88Kg:
Saulo
Ribeiro x Roberto Godoi
Demain Maia x Eduardo Santoro
Gabriel Vella x Rodrigo Pinheiro
Jorge Patino-Macaco x Fábio Nascimento
Heavy
Weight above 88Kg:
Marcio
Pé de Pano x Matheus Miranda
Luis Gulherme( Guigo ) x Fabiano 'Pega Leve'
Fabrício Werdun x Fábio Leopoldo
Alexandre Ribeiro x Adrano Camolesi
Black
Belt Challenge Update
We
were informed by Cleber Luciano that he and Macaco will not be
participanting in the Black Belt Challlenge. The vent is scheduled
for this Wednesday December 17th in LA, Ca.
Source:
ADCC |
PRIDE
FC NEWS (Press Release) 12/11/03 by: Turi Altavilla
PRIDE
FC NEWS
From Dream Stage Entertainment - December 11, 2003
LOS
ANGELES, California – Dream Stage Entertainment is officially
protesting claims and reports made by the Nippon Television Network
Corporation of Japan, the company holding the December 31, 2003
event, “Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003.” These claims and reports
are regarding the appearance of fighters with whom we have exclusive
contracts.
Announcements
have been made that fighters such as Semmy Schilt and Antonio
Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira would participate in the
“Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye.” This was despite the fact that our
company has exclusive contracts with both fighters, which would
prevent them from appearing in this event.
It
has also been reported that the appearance of Fedor Emelianenko,
another PRIDE FC fighter, has been finalized for the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye.
We have had an exclusive contract for Fedor Emelianenko’s
appearances in our mixed martial arts events, through his agent,
since his appearance in PRIDE 21 “Demolition” on June
23, 2002. Under this contract, Fedor Emelianenko has fought in
six matches and officially obtained the title of current PRIDE
FC Heavyweight Champion. This fact is well known throughout the
MMA world. It has also been reported that Fedor Emelianenko has
cancelled his contract with his former agent and signed a contract
to appear in Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye through a new agent. It seems that
Fedor Emelianenko’s new agent has declared that our exclusive
contract, and its validity, no longer exist due to the end of
the contract between Fedor Emelianenko and his former agent.
Our company however, believes that the contract, which Fedor
Emelianenko himself signed, is both valid and on going.
Likewise,
there is a similar dilemma with Semmy Schilt, now scheduled to
appear at the “Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye.” We have a worldwide,
exclusive contract with Schilt regarding MMA events. According
to this contract, he is not permitted to fight in any MMA event,
other than our own, within Japan, for the duration of the contract.
Dream
Stage Entertainment has not received a single inquiry from the
promoters of Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye regarding any of these contractual
issues. It should be easily foreseeable to a promoter that a
current champion, participating in another organization’s
event, on the same day of an event put on by the organization
in which he is a champion, would be rife with background problems.
We plan on taking legal measures regarding the appearance of
Fedor Emelianenko in Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye.
For
Nippon TV, as a producer and promoter, to announce these Inoki
Bom-Ba-Ye appearances, without any investigation into facts or
rights, is a problem both legally and morally, as well as a violation
of journalism ethics. We believe that, as a promoter, there is,
at a minimum, a duty to have a completed contract with a fighter.
Announcing a fighter’s appearance without a contract will
cause problems later, starting with ticket sales. If a fighter
was announced as a participant but then became unable to appear
due to contract problems, it would be a fraudulent act against
those who purchased tickets as well as bring liability under
both civil and criminal law. Aren’t these announcements
of fighter participation, based upon uncertain issues, an act
of fraud against the viewers, the fans and the world in general?
This
New Year’s Eve will feature three different mixed martial
arts broadcasts, an unprecedented event in our sport’s history.
We hope that this will bring about a new level of enthusiasm
into the MMA world. We believe that this enthusiasm will be born
from the three producers and the three promoters combining their
various knowledge and unique creativity. However, we hope that
this competition can be conducted with fairness.
Source:
ADCC |
Cristiano
Marcelo on Wanderlei's Black Belt - Answering the Critics
text & photo by Marcelo Alonso / Team Tatame
Considered one of the most technical black belts under the legendary
Royler Gracie, Cristiano Marcelo decided to move to Curitiba
two years ago and he became responsible for training the Chute
Boxe team on ground skill. The results of his excellent job were
on display at the last Pride GP, when the eventual champion Wanderlei
Silva impressed everybody with his ground game. The fruits of
Marcelo's labor were also on display at the recent Storm Samurai
event, where five new guns from the Chute Boxe Team made very
impressives debuts in Vale-Tudo, showing great skill both on
the ground and in the stand up.
After
giving a black belt in Jiu Jitsu to Wanderlei Silva, Marcello
was criticized by some of Jiu-Jitsu community in Brasil. Last
week, he answered the critics: 'I think Jiu-Jitsu people should
look to ChuteBoxe without prejudice. They have to understand
that Wanderlei having a black belt is a big honour for our sport
because he will always defend our art. The truth is that he is
already defending Jiu Jitsu much more than most other Jiu-Jitsu
people. Actually, nowadays I think nobody defends the Jiu-Jitsu
flag better than Wanderlei and Minotauro'.
Source:
ADCC |
CARLOS
NEWTON TO BATTLE RENATO
VERISSIMO
IN WELTERWEIGHT FEATURE BOUT AT UFC 45: SUPER NATURAL, JAN. 31,
IN LAS VEGAS
Hermes
Franca To Meet Josh Thomson; Matt Serra To Fight Javier Vasquez
In Lightweight Action LIVE On Pay-Per-View From Mandalay Bay
Karo
Parisyan, Georges St. Pierre In Welterweight Match On Super Bowl
Saturday Night
TICKETS
NOW ON SALE!
LAS
VEGAS, NEV., December 11, 2003…Former Ultimate Fighting
Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Carlos Newton will return
to the Octagon to meet Brazilian Renato "Charuto" Verissimo in one of the feature
fights of UFC 46: Super Natural LIVE on pay-per-view at 10 p.m.
EST, Saturday, January 31, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center
in Las Vegas. UFC 46: Super Natural is presented by Miller Lite
beer, its title sponsor.
A second welterweight match will pit judo specialist Karo Parisyan
against Canadian newcomer Georges St. Pierre and in two lightweight
bouts undefeated Hermes Franca will meet submission specialist
Josh Thomson and veteran Matt Serra will take on Brazilian jiu
jitsu fighter Javier Vasquez.
In the main event, new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture
(12-5-0 in mixed martial arts) from Portland, Ore., will defend
his title for the first time against Brazilian phenom Vitor Belfort
(11-3-0) from Rio de Janeiro and in the co-main event, Welterweight
Champion Matt Hughes (30-3-0) from Hillsboro, Ill., will defend
his belt for the sixth time against top-ranked Hawaiian BJ Penn (6-1-1) from Hilo.
The eight-fight card also will feature a heavyweight re-match
between Las Vegan Frank Mir (6-1-0) and Wes Sims (6-2-1) from
Columbus, Ohio, and a middleweight bout between Lee Murray (8-1-1)
from London, England, and Jorge Rivera (7-1-0) from Milford,
Mass.
Live event tickets, $350, $250, $150, $75 and $35, are now on
sale at the Mandalay Bay Events Center box office in Las Vegas,
at all Ticketmaster locations, www.ticketmaster.com and www.mandalaybay.com.
Tickets also may be purchased by telephone at 1-877-632-7400
or 1-702-474-4000. Purchases are limited to eight per person
and are subject to transaction fees. UFC 46: Super Natural will
be available on pay-per-view on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network,
TVN, Echostar, Bell ExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada. The
suggested retail price is $29.95.
Newton (13-7-0) from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, has been a big
fan favorite since his UFC debut in 1998. He became the welterweight
champion in May 2001 with a decisive win over legend Pat Miletich
but then lost the title in November when Hughes began his remarkable
victory streak. Newton's outstanding submission skills were evident
in his last UFC fight when he defeated highly-regarded Pete Spratt
with an armlock in just 1:45 of the first round at UFC 40: Vendetta.
Verissimo (4-0-0), who will
be making his UFC debut, is a Brazilian jiu jitsu specialist
who grew up in Rio de Janeiro but now fights out of Hilo, Hawaii,
and trains with Penn. He is known for his ferocious ground game
and outstanding stamina. A former water polo player, he started
jiu jitsu training 10 years ago and began kickboxing and wrestling
when he moved to the U.S. He says it has been his dream to fight
in the UFC for some time and he knows Newton is a very experienced,
technical fighter. "But, I'm really looking forward to fighting
him."
Parisyan (17-2-0) from North Hollywood, Calif., made a huge impression
in his UFC debut in September at UFC 44: Undisputed when he defeated
veteran Dave Strasser in just 3:52 of the first round with an
arm bar. Renowned for his judo technique (he is a black belt
at just 21), he already is a 2004 Olympic qualifier in the sport
and is hopeful of making the U.S. team. When he is not training
six days a week, Parisyan is a Hollywood stuntman and has appeared
in such productions as U-Boat, Ultraviolet and Tucker.
St. Pierre (5-0-0) from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, also is making
his UFC debut. He is a strong wrestler with excellent Brazilian
jiu jitsu skills with three victories by knockout and two by
submission. He is the current TKO Canadian Welterweight Champion
and is coming off a decisive submission victory over veteran
Spratt. St. Pierre openly admits that one of his biggest heroes
is Couture, with whom he will now share the same stage.
The Franca-Thomson fight could be one of the most exciting on
the card. Franca (8-0-0) from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and the American
Top Team by way of Fortaleza, Brazil, has been unstoppable in
the UFC. He won a unanimous decision over talented Rich Crunkilton
in April at UFC 42: Sudden Impact, and followed with a powerful
knockout in September of Japanese veteran Caol Uno at 2:46 of
the second round at UFC 44: Undisputed. Franca is at the top
of his game and he can dominate a fight on the ground with his
submission skills or standing up with his punching power.
But, in Thomson, "The Punk," (23-1-0) from San Jose,
Calif., Franca will face a mirror image. Known for his speed,
fast pace and aggressive style, Thomson also is coming off a
huge win at UFC 44 where he knocked out a very good fighter,
Gerald Strebendt, in just 2:45 of the first round. "But,
Franca had the big knockout of Uno, so I know I will be the underdog
again," he says. You get the feeling that is just the way
he likes it.
The Serra-Vasquez fight also pits a wily veteran against a talented
first timer. Serra (10-3-0) from Long Island, N.Y., has fought
all over the world. He has trained for years with Brazilian martial
arts guru Renzo Gracie and was the first American fighter to
earn a black belt in Gracie jiu jitsu. Vazquez (8-1-0) from Ontario,
Calif., is a well- rounded fighter who also is a black belt in
Brazilian jiu jitsu. "Matt has good submissions and is very
aggressive. That is just how I fight. This bout will display
our ground fighting abilities and will answer the question: Who
is the better black belt?," he says.
Source:
FCF |
QUINTON
VS ARONA?
 
MMAWeekly's Scott Petersen reports from Japan that Quinton Jackson
vs Ricardo Arona could happen as soon as December 31st in the
Pride SP show. There have been on going talks but nothing has
been signed as of yesterday.
The
two fighters were supposed to face one another in the Pride Grand
Prix but Arona was forced out due to an injury and his teammate,
Murilo Bustamante, stepped in and took on Jackson.
Jackson
of course won that fight and followed it with a win over Chuck
Liddell. Jackson then lost to Vanderlei Silva in the final of
the Pride Grand Prix. If this fight does come off then the winner
most likely would get a title shot against Silva.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
Pride
Shockwave Press Conference
A
press conference regarding the New Year's Eve PRIDE SPECIAL 2003
was held in Tokyo on December 1st. With three different fighting
events broadcasting on the same night, a lot of attention has
been placed on PRIDE. PRIDE's first shot of the battle was fired
here with the announcement of a rematch between Hidehiko Yoshida
and Royce Gracie.
Their connection began in August of last year. It was the pro-debut
for Hidehiko Yoshida, an Olympic Gold Medalist and his first
opponent was none other than Royce Gracie. The official account
was that Yoshida beat Royce by choking him unconscious with a
sleeve-choke. However, it was not so simple. As soon as the referee
stopped the fight, Royce was on his feet, declaring that he was
not out. Additionally, he protested that the fight should be
declared a no-contest on the grounds that the contract forbid
referee stops. Unfortunately for Royce, the decision was not
overturned.
Since
then, Royce has continued to petition PRIDE for rematch. Although
he was not scheduled to fight in October's PRIDE Bushido, when
he heard that Yoshida would be Team Japan's coach, he came to
Japan as the coach of Team Gracie and challenged Yoshida, "Yoshida,
don't run from me. That fight isn't finished yet."
Royce's
request was finally realized and a rematch was set-up. Yoshida
also had a lot of motivation for their fight, "I feel that
fight isn't over yet. Honestly, I've got some injuries but I
will fight through them. I want to settle everything this time."
Their
last match-up had no striking to the face while standing and
no striking on the ground at all. This time however, the match
will be held under regular PRIDE rules. However, the rounds are
expected to be unlimited 10-minute rounds with no doctor stops
and no referee stops, similar to the Sakuraba/Royce fight. This
will be a decisive fight.
Regarding
the event's concept, DSE President Sakakibara commented, "We
don't plan on losing the New Year's Eve battle. I think PRIDE
has shown the true face of fighting men this year. I was that
face to be out there on New Year's Eve as well." PRIDE has
Wanderlei Silva, who won the November 9th Grand Prix, and Antonio
Nogueira schedule to fight and it looks like it will be a line-up
of PRIDE All-Stars."
PRIDE
General Director Nobuhiko Takada also gave an explanation regarding
the absence of Kazuhiro Sakuraba, who was scheduled to attend
the conference. "Sakuraba really wants to fight on New Year's
Eve. However, it is true that his right leg is injured. I think
that he is having a little trouble now, both physically and mentally."
Takada also explained that there would be an announcement soon
to announce whether Sakuraba will actually fight on New Year's
Eve.
Q&A
PRIDE
Fighting Championships: What is your condition like now?
Hidehiko
Yoshida: I've only done light training since the fight in November.
The real training will start from today.
PRIDE:
What do you think of your fight with Silva?
Yoshida:
Everyone tells me that it was a good fight but I feel nothing
but regret. If you don't win, you are a loser.
PRIDE:
And the fight with Royce?
Yoshida:
I want this fight to decide everything. He had some objections
the last time so I want to completely choke him out or submit
him this time.
PRIDE:
Have the rules been decided yet?
Sakakibara:
Striking will be under normal PRIDE rules. There won't be any
referee stops or doctor stops. The rounds are still under consideration
but it will probably be like the Sakuraba vs. Royce fight. Basically,
under vale tudo rules.
PRIDE:
Would you accept unlimited rounds?
Yoshida:
Of course.
Sakakibara:
There are also television considerations. If they will fight
5 hours for us, we only need this one fight! (laughing) Regardless
of the number of rounds, I want them to fight like men.
PRIDE:
If there are unlimited rounds, do you think your fighting style
will change?
Yoshida:
I don't think it's really relevant. If I need to strike, I will.
I want to finish this. That's all I want to do.
PRIDE:
What about Sakuraba?
Takada:
There have been reports that Sakuraba is wondering whether to
fight or not. That is not true. The only thing Sakuraba wants
to do is fight. Despite his desires, the condition of his right
instep is not very good. He's troubled now because of that, both
physically and mentally. I think there will be an answer within
a few days.
Post-Conference
Q&A with President Sakakibara
PRIDE:
What is happening with the card?
Sakakibara:
It's being constructed as we speak. We've made many offers and
expect it to be fixed within a week.
PRIDE:
There have been rumors of a 4th match up between Silva and Sakuraba.
Sakakibara:
I know that Sakuraba would like to fight Silva again but I don't
want to let them do too much. Silva just had surgery on his elbow
and to be honest, I don't want him to have a hard fight right
now.
PRIDE:
What kind of card will it be?
Sakakibara:
I want it to be a card that shows what it means to be a man.
It will be around 8 or 9 fights.
PRIDE:
Will there be more revenge matches?
Sakakibara:
Not necessarily.
PRIDE:
Will Yoshida and Royce be the main fight?
Sakakibara:
I don't know yet. We've won't be able to beat (K-1's) viewer
rate for Akebono VS. Sapp. I'm sure that will be their final
match so we have to work around that.
PRIDE:
There's also been talk of Nogueira fighting in Inoki's event.
Sakakibara:
Won't happen. That's just the newspapers making up stories. Nogueira
has an exclusive contract with PRIDE. So, there's no chance of
him fighting in another ring. Mirko, on the other hand, doesn't
have an exclusive contract. However, no one knows if the Inoki
Event will continue to be held next year and Mirko himself has
expressed an interested in fighting Fedor and gaining the PRIDE
Heavyweight belt so I'm sure he will continue to participate
in PRIDE.
PRIDE:
What does next year's schedule look like?
Sakakibara:
We are planning to hold the Opening Round of the Heavyweight
Grand Prix in April with the Final Round in June. If those dates
don't work out exactly, I still want to have the Grand Prix finished
by August.
PRIDE:
What about Las Vegas?
Sakakibara:
We are planning to have an event there on March 26th.
PRIDE:
It's going to be a tight schedule for the Heavyweights.
Sakakibara:
Yes, it certainly will be. If Nogueira fights on New Year's Eve,
we may not have the title match in February and have a Fedor/Mirko
fight instead. We are concentrating on making the Heavyweight
Grand Prix a success next year. I think this will bring out new
strengths in all 3 of them.
Source:
Pride |
Amateur
Pride
The
referees and judges of PRIDE have come together to assist in
the development of the next generation of PRIDE fighters. The
first Amateur Exchange Meeting was held in November. The goals
were to foster exchange of MMA techniques and provide a sparring
opportunity that would benefit the amateur fighters. Additionally,
they made selections for fighters to appear in the first amateur
PRIDE event, PRIDE Challenge 1. The event is scheduled to take
place in January 2004.
Only 21 people were present due to the short notice. However,
there was a large group of trainers, referees, Olympic athletes
and MMA fighters present to teach the up-and-comers about weight
training and conditioning, wrestling and sparring.
"I'd
like to have an amateur competition about once every three months.
It should be a neutral ring where fighters of any style and organization
can test themselves, just like the real PRIDE", PRIDE Rule
Director and Referee, Yuji Shimada commented.
"Fighters
with no affiliations are also welcome. It's basically impossible
for someone just starting out to jump into the main PRIDE event
but we would like to raise some new fighters that are skilled
enough to compete in THE BEST and DEEP'S Future Fight. That's
the path to PRIDE. We want to hold events across Japan in order
to bring in a wide variety of competitors." Shimada went
on to explain that these exchange events will be held approximately
once every two months, along with seminars put on by the coaches
that have created today's PRIDE fighters.
Source:
Pride |
Quote
of the Day
"What you possess in the world will be found at the day
of your death to belong to someone else. But what you are will
be yours forever."
Henry Van Dyke, 1852--1933, American Protestant Clergyman and
Writer
|
Shooto
Hawaii is back!
Kids welcome to compete!
(This is the first event's poster)
Shooto Hawaii will hold its second event on March 26, 2004. Shooto
Hawaii will be focusing on amateur bouts. Kids are welcome to
compete. There will also be some pro fights but they are focusing
on amateur Shooto to develop the fighters instead of just throwing
them into the ring.
The
equipment that Amateur Shooto requires is headgear, gloves, shin
guards, groin cup and mouthpiece. There will be NO punching on
the ground. 2 x 3min rounds. The event will be sanctioned by
International Shooto Commission in Japan.
The
event promoters are currently putting the card together and if
anyone is interested in competing they can email the promoters
through the website:
Shootohawaii.com.
Source:
Event Promoter |
Kamole's
Eben Kaneshiro fighting in Fearless Fighting II
Fearless II: Mixed Martial Arts Championship: Bad Blood
Phil Sports Arena, Phillipines
December 13, 2003
Daniel
Lima -a BJJ Black Belt under Edson Carvalho, XFC Current Bantamweight
Champion, Pan-American and Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Champion
- hailing from Brazil and representing his own school, Fight
Club Jiu-Jitsu, will be facing off against Fearless 1 veteran,
Eben Kaneshiro from the USA - BJJ Brown Belt, Superbrawl Veteran,
NAGA Champion, and Pan-American Jiu-Jitsu Medalist, representing
New Breed Academy/ BJJ Revolution Team
Pre-Fight Interview: EBEN KANESHIRO
Fearless
1 Veteran Eben Kaneshiro, who made short work of Muay Thai fighter
Jonarh Junio, returns to the Octagon on Dec. 13 at Fearless 2
to face Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt and current Bantamweight
Extreme Fighting Champion, Daniel Lima. This match should be
a very technical match between two solid Brazilian jiu-jitsu
practitioners with excellent mixed martial arts skills. We caught
up with Eben for a brief interview.
You
are set to fight Daniel Lima, a BJJ Black Belt with several impressive
accomplishments. How do you feel about the fight?
I
think this will be a good fight with alot of action.
How
are you training for the fight? With whom are you training with?
I've
been training at New Breed, with John Ouano, John Ramirez, Charlie
Valencia, Dave Rivas and the rest of the team. Myles Vives has
been here training for about a month too.
Could
you give our readers a little more background about yourself?
What you do for a living, your martial arts background, accomplishments,
etc.?
I'm
a merchandiser for Macy's department stores. As for my martial
arts training I'm a brown belt in jiu jitsu, been training for
about five years. I've also been working on wrestling and striking
for about a year. I'm 2-0 in MMA. I've done lots of jiu jitsu
tournaments, won some, lost some but there's too many to remember.
I also think I should let the ladies know that I'm a black belt
in bed.
I'm
sure you take a lot of pride in that last tid bit! About your
opponent, being that both you and Daniel Lima are high ranking
grapplers, do you think the match will be a tough ground match?
Are you looking to light things up standing as well?
If
the fight goes to the ground I think it will be a technical fight.
But if it stays on the feet I have no problem throwing some leather.
Are
you following a special diet, fitness or weight training program
for your fight?
Just
trying to keep the fat and sugar intake down. Eating lots of
protien and carbs. My training has been focused more on conditioning.
I've never been one to hit the weights.
In
Fearless 1 you fought a muay thai fighter – Jonarh Junio
– and easily dismantled him on the ground. Could you briefly
run us through that match?
Being
that he was a muay thai fighter I wanted to stay away from his
knees and bring it to the ground. I got a take down and moved
to side control but he hit me with an illegal knee so they stood
us back up. I got another takedown got the mount and finished
the fight with some strikes.
Are
you training differently and have a different strategy approaching
Fearless 2 since you are facing an opponent whose forte is on
the ground instead of standing?
No,
my training is the same. I plan on fighting my game and doing
what I do best.
Being
here in the Philippines your last trip how was your experience?
Did you enjoy your stay? Is there anything you are looking forward
to doing this time around?
I
had a great experience. I've always wanted to visit the Philippines
because I have alot of fillipino friends and they always told
me I had to go check it out. Last time we left the day after
the show but this time we're staying a couple more days so I'm
looking forward to seeing some of the sights and of course enjoying
the night life.
Having
trained internationally, how would you compare the talent of
those you have trained and rolled with in the Philippines with
others from different countries? Would you say that the Philippines
is still far behind?
The
talent in the Philippines is good. MMA and jiu jitsu is a fairly
new thing for the Philippines but they have picked it up very
quickly and I think soon the talent will be just as high as any
other country.
Thanks
for your time Eben!
Source:
Angel Santiago/Pinoymma.com |
Jens
Pulver Makes Boxing Debut & Comments on BJ Penn-Matt Hughes
Jens Pulver will be making his professional boxing debut this
Saturday in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The fight will be four rounds
against a 6ft. 147lb. opponent. Jens game plan is to slip inside
the jab and work the body. He said that, "I will take five
to give one." Pulver has been putting in 20 plus rounds
a day in preparation for the fight.
He
said training for boxing is easier that for MMA because you don't
have to worry about the ground game. Jens said his next MMA fight
will probably be with "Shooto" in March against a Japanese
fighter. Pulver talked about the upcoming B.J. Penn vs. Matt Hughes fight in the UFC. He
predicted, "B.J. is gonna get destroyed." He went on
to say, "He has no idea what he is going up against."
He did say that Penn is the best 155lber right now. When asked
how a Ludwig vs. Penn fight may play out, Jens stated that Ludwig
would get "Whooped." The last person you want on top
of you is B.J., even if you are Matt Hughes, according to Pulver.
Source: MMA Weekly |
JKD
Unlimited international training camp
JKD Unlimited international training camp. Please mark your calendars!
LOCATION:
Honolulu, Hawaii
DATES: March 5th, 6th, and 7th 2004
PRICES: pre-registration rates until Feb 7th.
High
Performance Members: $199
JKDU members: $219
Non members: $269
Please
check our website jkdunlimited.com for more details. You can
also register online. Or you can send a check or money order
to
JKD
Unlimited,
4224 Waialae Ave. #5-128,
Honolulu, Hawaii 96816.
Besides
the great training, we will hold a submission grappling tournament
for those who want to enter. This will also be the opportunity
for many of our JKDU members to take tests for phase levels as
well as instructor levels. E-mail with any questions. We hope
to see you there!
Aloha,
Burton and Sarah Richardson
Source: ADCC |
MANY
FIGHTERS THOUGHT TO BE IN, WILL BE OUT OF DECEMBER 31ST FIGHTS
Unless things change quickly, don't look for American Top Team
members Ricardo Liborio and Din Thomas to fight on December 31st
in K-1. It looks like both opponents for the ATT fight team have
backed out, so unless they can find another opponent for Thomas
and Liborio it looks like Din and Ricardo most likely won't be
on the card after all.
Rodrigo
'Minotauro' Nogueira will not be fighting on any of the December
31st shows due to an undisclosed injury he sustained in his last
fight with Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic.
According
to Minotauro, the injury will require three months to heal, and
that he has plans to return in April. Minotauro is currently
on vacation with his family, and also stated that he is not going
to abandon PRIDE anytime soon according to sanspo.com.
Source: MMA Weekly |
GENKI
SUDO vs BUTTERBEAN in K-1
By Monty DiPietro
TOKYO,
December 10, 2003 -- The lineup is slowly but surely taking shape
for the K-1 Premium 2003 Dynamite, the "Fighting Festival
on New Year's Eve" which will rock the Nagoya Dome this
December 31st.
The
headline bout, of course, is the meeting between Bob "The
Beast" Sapp and former Sumo Yokozuna (Grand Champion) Akebono.
But this week, a couple of other announcements were made.
It
has been announced that Genki Sudo, a 25 year-old unorthodox
fighter from the "Beverly Hills Jiu-jitsu Club," will
take on rotund American Butterbean in a 3min x 5round MMA bout.
Butterbean was destroyed by Mike Bernardo under K-1 rules in
his last appearance in Japan, while Sudo surprised a lot of people,
staying with Albert Kraus for three rounds at the K-1 World Max
at the Budokan event. It will be interesting to see how these
very different fighters match up on New year's Eve.
It
was also announced that the all-Japan 2003 under 96k wrestling
Champion Yoshihiro Nakao will compete at the event. In the Shin
Takanawa Press conference, Nakao hoisted K-1 Event Producer Sadaharu
Tanigawa in the air to show the assembled media that he is a
force to be reckoned with. Nakao's opponent has yet to be determined.
Finally,
the big news of the week came when it was revealed that Belorussian
star Alexey Ignashov will make his MMA debut at the Nagoya Dome
against a yet-to-be-announced opponent.
Ignashov,
sparring partner Sam Greco of Australia, and trainer Marco Cavalcante
of the Varig Gym in Brazil, speaking through a variety of interpreters,
answered questions from the media at Gold's Gym on Omori, near
Kawasaki:
Marco
Cavalcante, how would you describe Alexey's MMA training?
Cavalcante:
"I'm very impressed, Alexey's dedication is very good, his
level is high, he has learned quickly and he is ready to go"
You
also worked with Mirko CroCop, how would you compare the two
fighters?
Cavalcante:
"Mirko is powerful with the left punch and high kick, but
Alexey can do anything. He is far more powerful, I'm not kidding,
in one year Alexey could be an MMA champion!"
Sam
Greco, what is your role here and what do you think of Alexey?
Greco:
"I'm here to assist Alexey and also to help myself, if I
get a chance to compete on the same day. As for Alexey, I think
whatever style, K-1, MMA, or whatever, you have to have the fighter's
instinct, and Alexey does. He is very fast, good with his body
work. I have only been working with him a short while but I am
very impressed!"
Alexey,
how do you feel about MMA?
"MMA
is new for me and I like new things so I am excited"
How
is the training going?:
Ignashov:
"I can use some of my K-1 skills, but I am also learning
new things. Marco is a great trainer I am learning a lot from
him, jiu-jitsu and all sorts of styles. It is very interesting
for me."
K-1
Event Producer Sadaharu Tanigawa said he envisions the New Year's
Eve event as a showdown between Sumo, Boxing, K-1, Judo, Karate
and Wrestling champions, and so there are plenty of negotiations
now in progress. Tanigawa mentioned Francisco Filho and Francois
Botha as possible K-1 fighters at Nagoya Dome, and said the balance
of the card will be announced within a week.
Source: Sherdog |
John
Lewis
Joe "The Hustler" Blaze
Recently
I got the chance to play catch up with WFA promoter and mixed
martial arts veteran John Lewis. You may remember him from the
successful career he had. An active John Lewis has been involved
with the sport since the beginning and continues to do his part
to help get the sport where it belongs. The mainstream.
JB:
Whats going on big dog?
JL:
Nothing much man. Just hanging in there. Whats up with you?
JB:
Chillin. I wanted to ask you a couple questions since you have
been in the shadows of MMA lately. Not really in the shadows
since you have been training a lot of fighters. Your voice hasn't
been heard since the last WFA show. So whats up with the WFA?
JL:
It still exist. Instead of doing shows without TV or without
any of that stuff all the way in place I had to take a step back.
I just put more time into some deals I am working on right now
to make out some more money. Meaning TV shows or whatever. I
have all kinds of different projects in the works right now.
I just had to do things in the right order. Or else I was going
to do a couple of more shows and it might not work out. It is
going really well and hope to get all done. I plan on maybe doing
another show in the beginning of next year.
JB:
Is there any truth to the rumors of John Huntington pulling out
of the promotion?
JL:
Nah Nah. He is right there with me.
JB:
We know Chuck Liddell came up to Vegas to train with you for
his last Pride fight.You were in his corner for his fight which
he lost to Quentin Jackson. It had to be tough for you because
you trained with him. Do you agree with what Dana White said
that Chuck didn't execute the gameplan and thats the reason why
he lost?
JL:
I don't think it was the gameplan. I think...um. I think things
in the fight didn't work out the way we thought it would. We
needed to mix it up a little more. A more overall game. More
wrestling and more jiu jitsu. We trained for it all. Unforunatly
the situation we were in it and the circumstances we were under
it didn't work out the we planned it to. We got in a downward
spiral and it was hard to come back from it all. I think it is
going to take a little bit of time and he should train for fun
a little bit. I want Chuck to do some grappling tournaments.
Just to get him to compete in more grappling tournaments. He
is really, really good on the ground. He just doesn't get to
show it much. I think that would be a good idea as well. It already
has a real solid game and to be honest it is just the way things
go that way.
JB:
You know both fighters pretty well do you think Tito and Chuck
will happen? And who do you pick as the winner?
JL:
(Laughs) Um...I do think so. It seems like the next fight for
Tito. If Tito wants to fight in the UFC I feel thats the next
fight for him. Which I am sure he does and I know he deserves
to fight in the UFC. It will have to be against Chuck.
JB:
John I hate to put you on the spot man. I feel at times like
I am the only one that thinks Tito isn't ducking Chuck. Since
you are close to both fighters and know them so well. Do you
think Tito is ducking Chuck?
JL:
You know I don't want to touch that question. They are both friends
of mine. They both have reasons why that fight hasn't happened.
Whether it is something that satisfying to the audience. I mean
Tito has his own reasons. In his own mind they are legitimate
and thats all that matters and is the bottom line.
JB:
Have you been training any fighters lately that we have not known
about you training with?
JL:
I am getting Gilbert Yvel ready for a fight in Russia I think
it is December 6th. I am not sure. I was working with Marvin
Eastman who was supposed to fight in the Shooto show here in
Vegas. A lot of guys I am working with.
JB:
John anything you want to say to your fans or friends in closing?
JL
: Thanks for all the years of support. Without you guys I dont
know how I could get through all the down times. Thanks again!-MMARR-
Source: MMA Ring Report |
PANCRASE
- Latest Official Rankings
(as of 12/10/2003)
[Open-weight]
the 10th Open-weight K.O.P. Josh Barnett (U.S.A./New Japan Pro-Wrestling)
#1 Yuki Kondo (PANCRASEism)
#2 Semmy Schilt (Holland/Golden Glory)
#3 Yoshiki Takahashi (PANCRASEism)
#4 Sanae Kikuta (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#5 Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#6 Nathan Marquardt (U.S.A./Colorado Stars)
#7 VACANT
[Super
heavyweight(221lbs. and over)]
the 1st Super heavyweight K.O.P. VACANT
#1 Semmy Schilt (Holland/Golden Glory)
#2 Ron Waterman (U.S.A./Team Impact)
#3 Tim Lajcik (U.S.A./Gladiators Training Academy)
#4 Hideki Tadao (RJW/CENTRAL)
#5 Jun Ishii (Chojin Club)
#6 Jimmy Ambriz (U.S.A./New Japan Pro-Wrestling) *IN!
#7 KENGO (PANCRASEism) *DOWN from #6
[Heavyweight(199lbs.~under
221lbs.)]
the 1st Heavyweight K.O.P. Yoshiki Takahashi (PANCRASEism)
#1 Tsuyoshi Ozawa (Zendokai)
#2 Katsuhisa Fujii (UFO)
#3 Jason Godsey (U.S.A./I.F. Academy)
[Light
heavyweight(181lbs.~under 199lbs.)]
the 3rd Light heavyweight K.O.P. Yuki Kondo (PANCRASEism) *NEW!
#1 Sanae Kikuta (Pancrase GRABAKA)
*DOWN from the 2nd L.Hvywt. K.O.P.
#2 Ricardo Almeida (U.S.A./Renzo Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy)
#3 Akihiro Gono (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#4 Nilson de Castro (Brazil/Chute Boxe Academy)
#5 Daisuke Watanabe (PANCRASEism)
#6 Ikuhisa Minowa (freelance)
#7 Yuki Sasaki (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#8 Keiichiro Yamamiya (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#9 Evangelista Cyborg (Brazil/Academia Budokan)
#10 Osami Shibuya (PANCRASEism)
[Middleweight(165.7lbs.~
under 181lbs.)]
the 4th Middleweight K.O.P. Ricardo Almeida (U.S.A./Renzo Gracie
Jiu Jitsu Academy)
*NEW!
#1 Nathan Marquardt (U.S.A./Colorado Stars)
*DOWN from the 3rd M.wt. K.O.P.
#2 Izuru Takeuchi (SK Absolute) *DOWN from #1
#3 Crosley Gracie (U.S.A./Ralph Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy) *DOWN
from 2
#4 Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism) *DOWN from #3
#5 Kazuo Misaki (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#6 Hidehiko Hasegawa (SK Absolute) *UP from #7
#7 Shonie Carter (U.S.A./AIKI Training Hall) *UP from #8
#8 Yuichi Nakanishi (freelance) *UP from #9
#9 Eiji Ishikawa (Pancrase GRABAKA) *IN!
#10 Jake Shields (U.S.A./Cesar Gracie Academy) *IN!
[Welterweight(152.5lbs.~
under 165.7lbs.)]
the 1st Welterweight K.O.P. Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#1 Koji Oishi (PANCRASEism)
#2 Takafumi Ito (PANCRASEism)
#3 Kenichi Serizawa (Wajutsu Keishukai Suruga Dojo)
#4 Satoru Kitaoka (PANCRASEism)
#5 Hiroki Nagaoka (MMA Dojo DOBUITA)
#6 Yuji Hoshino (Wajutsu Keishukai GODS)
#7 Takuya Wada (SK Absolute)
[Lightweight(141.4lbs.~
under 152.5lbs.)] VACANT
[Featherweight(under
141.4lbs.)] VACANT
Source: ADCC |
“Sometimes
It’s the Little Things – Reaction Time”
By Matt “Wiggy” Wiggins
Ok,
last time around we looked at Guard Training. Now, let’s
see if we can’t get you a little quicker “off-the-ball”
(so-to-speak).
Often,
a good Reaction Time is something that you’re either born
with or you’re not. Some people are just naturally quick
and can react to things, while others are just naturally slow.
While genetics may play a part in how quick you’re capable
of being, you can certainly train to get faster than you are
now.
Believe
it or not, I feel one of the best ways to improve reaction time
is by thinking “outside the box” (as they say) and
trying other things outside of MMA. Try a few of the activities
below (one of which you probably already do!), and see if your
reaction time doesn’t improve.
Racquetball/Handball
Remember
the early Rocky movies? Rocky Balboa (played by Sylvester Stallone)
ALWAYS had a racquetball/handball with him. There was a reason
for this.
If
you’ve never played racquetball or handball, I challenge
you to go to your local sporting goods or department store and
buy a can of racquetballs. Go to a parking lot or a playground
and try to “dribble” the ball (like you would a basketball).
Know what will happen? You’ll be running all over the place
chasing that damn ball, that’s what. When you get tired
of that, go throw it real hard against a brick wall and see what
happens. I won’t even get into how fast the ball moves in
a racquetball court…
If
you’re inexperienced at any of these, you’ll probably
find yourself much like a character from a Looney Toons cartoon.
You know, standing in mid-air over a canyon when they realize
they’re not standing on anything. Then they’re running
and clawing at air, trying to make their way back to the cliff,
only to fall anyway…
But
give yourself a couple weeks. You’ll find yourself quicker,
reacting to ball’s movement easier, and best of all, anticipating
which direction the ball might go.
Beanbag
Tossing
Remember
the old beanbag tossing game you had when you were a kid? Well,
go up to the attic and dig it out. You’re going to find
a new use for the beanbags.
You
and your partner will stand 3-4 feet apart, facing each other.
One partner has all the bags and throws them, one at a time (but
in rapid succession) at the other’s head. (How hard you
throw the bags is up to you. ;-) The other partner then, keeping
his hands either at his sides or his fists up (as if to shadowbox),
bobs, weaves, and ducks so that the bags miss hitting his head.
The partner throwing should be throwing them fast enough so that
it’s a struggle for the other partner to miss them all.
Turn it into some “fun” by seeing which one can hit
the other the most.
You
can also do this by trying to catch each beanbag with the same
hand. The first partner throws each bag in a different place,
making them tough to catch. The first bag might be at the head,
the next at the knees, the next way out to the left, etc. They
are thrown in rapid succession while the other partner tries
to catch each one with the same hand. That sort of thing…
Video
Games
Yes,
I mean this, and no, this isn’t just a ploy for guys to
use to convince their wife/girlfriend/parents to buy them that
new PS2 or X-Box game for Christmas. Various studies have shown
that video games (as long as you’re not spending all day
on them) can improve hand-to-eye coordination – a large
factor in reaction time.
What’s
even better than video games are the various other games (other
than video) that you find at the local pizza parlor or arcade.
Many of these games test reaction time and hand-to-eye coordination.
A perfect example of this is the game with all the small light
bulbs in a huge circle. The light travels from bulb to bulb in
rapid succession, and the object is to hit a button when a particular
bulb is lit. This game is great for enhancing timing, reflexes,
and reaction time.
Think
I’m crazy? I was watching a replay of an episode of MTV’s
“Cribs” a few weeks ago, and they were touring the
home of Roy Jones, Jr. When they got to RJJ’s game room,
he pointed out his Air Hockey table, mentioning that when he
was “coming up,” he used to play Air Hockey all the
time to sharpen his reflexes.
So
guys, plead for those new video games now – because now,
you have a real excuse, hehe.
Train
Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard.
A
strength athlete for 11+ years and moderator of the Strength
and 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 |
Stephane
Patry Part 3 of 3
Arnold "The Sushiboy" Lim
The dust
hasnt settled on the aftermath of the Shut up and FIght show
in Vernon B.C getting cancelled and already the speculation is
running rampant. MMARR had a chance to talk with Stephane Patry
who is now affiliated with the MFC and sitting in the centre
of the storm. We talked with him at 1:00 Am in the morning and
had some interesting things to say about himself, broken promises,
Joe Ferraro, J.T McCarthy and the Shut up and Fight promotion.
We have part ywo of this three part interview.
MMARR:
J.T McCarthy mentioned on the underground about a conversation
that you had with him and this is quoted from Mr. McCarthy’s
post on the underground.
“Hmmm,
that's funny, I remember you telling me last night that you had
JUST gotten off the phone with the Vancouver Boxing Commission.
You remember ? During the same phone call you made to me laughing
out loud about how the event was cancelled ? You don't remember
saying to me: "...LOL !!! I hope you had a clause in your
contract stating that you get paid even if the event doesn't
happen LOL !!! This is comical J.T. COMICAL LOL !!!"
Did
you say this to J.T McCarthy?
S.P:
That was just towards J.T, not towards Shut up and Fight. I mean
as soon as J.T received a contract from Shut up and Fight, he
started calling me how I was a Fucking this a Fucking that, and
a this and a that, and how good Shut up and Fight was treating
him compared to us. The next day I found out that Shut up and
Fight was cancelled, so thinking of J.T I had a smile. I called
him and when I talked to him I said that they got shut up. Like
I said I probably should have think twice before I said that
to him, I think they are now using that to pretend I had anything
to do with it. But this phone conversation is redirected to J.T
because, like I said Joe left with a lot of dignity. He left
by explaining his reasons and J.T left without saying anything,
just happened to read that on the underground so they way J.T
left and the way Joe left are two different things.
MMARR:
He mentioned also that you had just got off the phone with the
Vancouver Boxing commission. Did you ever say that and did you
ever call the boxing commission?
S.P:
I said that, and what had happened was I spoke with a few people
about this Vancouver commission thing. I spoke with Jason Darrah
who had no idea what was going on, and I spoke with David Lea
who told me he didn’t think that it was going to affect
the Vancouver Boxing commission. Then when J.T told me that we
think it’s Fucked, everything got Fucked, for the whole
province of B.C because of Mark Pavelich and I told him no. The
Vancouver boxing commission will not stop regulating MMA because
Vernon did an illegal show. That is pretty much why I talked
to them. I didn’t say I called them when I talked to them
I was just off the phone with somebody that was telling me that
Vancouver wasn’t going to stop that because of something
that happened in Vernon.
MMARR:
So you were or you weren’t talking to the commission?
S.P:
I actually called the commission, I called a lot of people today
I called the Vancouver commission today. I called the city officers
I called the RCMP I called the offices of the premier of B.C
trying to find out what happened.
MMARR:
This is after it already got shut down?
S.P:
Yeah, because when Jason Darrah started accusing Mark before
I was going to do everything, I wanted to talk to everybody,
I asked Jason Darrah what is your proof that Jason Darrah did
it? He said well we spoke with the city officers we asked them
afterwards after they decided to shut us down, was the name of
the guy Mark? Tey said yes. They are basing all their accusations
on that. On that city officials thing, saying his name is Mark.
I tried to get an answer from the boxing commission from Vancouver
I couldn’t reach them. The RCMP told me there was no complaint
filed by citizen. So they decided to stop the show without a
complaint filed. So that leads me to believe that Mark has nothing
to do with it. They would never tell me the name of the person
who made a complaint but they would tell me if there was a complaint
or not. The RCMP clearly told me there was NO complaint. The
show wasn’t cancelled because of a complaint from a citizen.
MMARR:
Is there anything that you would like to say to Shut up and fight
now that their show is cancelled?
S.P:
I hope they learn from that. The MMA community is very small
in Canada, like I said the community is small but the country
is large. There is space for everybody in the country as long
as Promoters don’t start putting on dates on the same date
and the same city we can all help each other. I know right now
that Leslie Dickens is misled by a lot of people who are directing
his headaches towards me or Mark or whatever. Time will tell
that we had nothing to do with it. It is just sad how this underground
forum is sometimes, setting everybody apart, splitting everybody
apart. If you look at the last 24 hours of the UG, there are
a lot of different posts but those were made by 4 different people,
4 different people plus 2 ex employees of our organization that
are a bit bitter.
MMARR:
Is there anything you would like to say to the Underground forum?
S.P:
I think the UG should be used as information forum, it should
be used as a place for fans, for fighters, and promoters, to
express themselves and help the sport grow. The underground forum
is decaying the last few years. [It is] a place for people to
unleash their anger and I don’t think it is good for the
sport. I learned right now for the last time I will never go
on their again to argue with people because it is useless, some
people on their have no life, they are just their to create Chaos.
I keep saying that I will not go back on the UG but I always
end up going their again but this time. I had this thing locked
who holds the password to my Laptop. Even if I want to go on
the MMA forum I can’t go their anymore. I am relieved now,
but you know the same thing happened to Dana (White President
of the UFC) on the underground the only reason that Dana White
was going their was to keep close to the fans, to stay close
to the fan base. Every time he would try to defend one of his
points, he would get all those idiots talking shit to him and
he decided not to go their anymore. That was my whole purpose
to go there. But right now everyone there thinks I am a crook,
I am a this, I am a that. But you know at the end of the day
I sleep well and I can look at myself in the mirror. There have
been financial difficulties but that happens with every company,
it happened with us unfortunately, but we worked our asses off
to get through it and we are one of the highest paying promotions
in the world. That is why we get higher level fighters fighting
for us. That is why our fighters get to a higher level promotion,
like Loiseau and St Pierre, because they get the right money
to train to get there. You have guys like (Duane) Ludwig, like
(Pete) Spratt, like (Jeremy) Horn, you have all these guys fighting
for us, because we pay them what they are worth. It is not like
we are paying peanuts and on top of that we are not paying guys.
We are paying major league purses and unfortunately January was
a bad show and hopefully that reputation will not follow us.
Some people are like. “Ludwig thinks Stephan is a this and
a that”, but you know what, I talk with Sven Bean every
day, I spoke with Ludwig recently everything was good, Ludwig
will be back. I learned from January and I think that will never
happen again, I put myself in the position where if a sponsor
backs out it won’t hurt us, it wont hurt the fighters. Like
I said, we learned from January, and as I learned from January,
I hope that Shut up and Fight will learn from December.
MMARR:
Have you ever on the underground had a name other then your own
name (multiple screen names) and tried to post other views?
S.P:
That happened once, when the whole January thing, somebody whose
name was…let me think…dog….something dog. It was
his first post and he was talking shit about us. It had dog in
it. Like sled dog or something, so I made a name that was sled
cat and I and I answered to this guy with that once. Other then
that, I never had another screen name. S.P: There are people
that keep mentioning Monte’s name or Sven’s name on
the Underground. I talk to Sven everyday we have a great relationship,
I talk to Monte everyday, we have an awesome relationship. My
relationship with Monte has not changed. Some people are like
“There hasn’t been a Monte Cox fighter in the last
two shows, there is probably something going on with Monte and
Stephane” but it is not. Monte and I have an agreement,
me and Monte, have different things together and that is between
me and Monte, and Monte’s guys are going to come back at
the next show and the reason they were not there at the last
two shows is, January I lost so much money. I said you know what,
In the next few shows, I will concentrate myself on the Canadian
talent, but I will have one international fight on each card.
The first show, was Spratt and St Pierre, and unfortunately St
Pierre got hurt and we had to redo that fight in November. The
only reason was we wanted to focus on Canadian talent for two
shows, in Sept and Nov. January we will be back with our International
crew and people will see Jason Black, Jeremy Horn against Loiseau,
and Rich Franklin,. Those three names are some pretty big names.
MMARR:
You talked again about Monte not being on your shows and we have
heard it before with the fighters not getting paid are you close
to getting all of Monte’s fighters paid.
S.P:
Monte’s fighters have been paid. Monte’s fighters have
all been paid. The business deal I have with Monte has nothing
to do with fighters. It’s the business deal we have together
has nothing to do with fighters. As you know I did a show with
Monte in Hawaii. It was a co-promotion with me, Monte and T.J
Thompson. As well as some other stuff, In January Monte paid
some of the flights, we had two last minute flights for cornermen
in January, that Monte took care of. Like I said that is a business
deal between me and Monte and it has nothing to do with fighters.
Like I said I have a very good relationship with Monte and sometimes
Business should not interfere with friendship, what I have with
Monte is more then business, it is friendship as well, when the
whole thing exploded on the internet today was Monte who gave
me some advice on how to weather the storm. There are so many
things people don’t know.
MMARR:
…..
S.P:
There is something that I want to add, the focus should be on
the fights, should be on the fighters, should be on the champions,
should be on the matchmaking, should be on how they train, should
be on who is coming up, should be on the rankings, and stuff
like that. Whatever happens on the business side of it like the
purses, how a card is getting promoted or cancelled or whatever
that is part of the business that shouldn’t be on the UG.
( It should be) behind closed doors of the fight organizations
themselves. Technically if Leslie Dickens felt like this show
was shut down because of an outsider because of somebody calling
he shouldn’t have went on the UG with that. He should have
called Mark Pavelich, and tell him, “Mark did you do that?
Yes or No?” “I didn’t do that.” Lets sit
down with the City and find out what happened. Now we all look
like kids. Sometimes I said that, and even me, I look like a
kid today. It is hard to hold yourself when you are being accused
of doing something you didn’t do. I pretty settled that
tonight from my laptop. ( locking himself out of the UG)
MMARR:
Is there anything you would like to say to the TKO fans? The
people that have supported you over the years?
S.P:
They have been very supportive and Thanks for the support, they
shouldn’t let themselves be distracted like things like
that. We give them the top fights. We think that we give them
the best show, the best athletes. These guys are not training
for which company they are training for, they are training to
give the best show out there. At the end of the day TKO fans
will get the same thing they got in September and November, quality
fights, and that is why the fan is buying a ticket. I don’t
think that anybody buys a ticket because “Hey, lets buy
a ticket to this show because Stephan Patry is ringside.”
I don’t think anybody buys a ticket because of that.
Source: MMA Ring Report |
Quote
of the Day
"He who angers you conquers you."
Kenny, Sister Elizabeth, pioneer in the treatment of Infantile
Paralysis and polio
|
Rumble
on the Rock
December
27, 2003
Hilo, Hawaii
The card is yet to be released, but the event is coming fast.
You know that the Penns will put together a solid card with an
excellent production. Harris Sarmiento of the 808 Fight Factory
and fighting machine is rumored to fight Kaynan Kaku of BJ Penn's
MMA.
We will post the card once we get it |
Ring
of Honor
Ring of Honor is tentatively set for January 24, 2004 and Ring
Of Honor Grappling tournament on Feb 8, 2004, the day after Superbrawl.
The main-event right now is Deshaun Johnson vs. Joe Stevenson,
current King of the Cage 155 lb. world Champion. We will keep
the events half MMA and half Kickboxing because of the great
response from the schools and that what they want so we will
stay with and mix it up every 2 months with the grappling tournament.
At
the end of 2004 we will hold a ROH State Championship and hope
to get all schools from every Island involved. All interested
schools can email me at kai@808ff.com and we will start putting matches
together.
|
Royce
and Yoshida may fight until one taps
The
very expected rematch of Royce Gracie against Yoshida, scheduled
to Pride Shockwave II, on December 31st, may have one more surprise:
the fight may be WITHOUT a limit of rounds. The information was
given by GRACIE Magazine's partner in Japan, Gong Magazine, and
was confirmed by Royler Gracie, brother and coach of Royce.
'It's
the newest perspective of the fight indeed. The interesting point
of this is that it was offered by Pride. I didn't understand,
I think it will be worse for Yoshida,' said Royler Gracie, as
he was rushing to Tom Jobim Airport, in Rio de Janeiro, from
where he flew to LA to meet Royce before they depart to Japan.
Royce
and Yoshida fought in the first edition of Pride Shockwave, in
August of 2002, event that attracted more than 90,000 people
to National Stadium of Tokyo, the biggest audience of vale-tudo
in the whole History.
In
that occasion, it was not allowed to hit the face and the fight
was stopped when Yoshida told the referee that Royce had passed
out. Royce stood up right after showing he didn't sleep but Yoshida's
victory was confirmed by the organization.
This
time, there's no restrictions about punches and kicks on the
face.
Source: ADCC |
UFC
46 Preview: Spratt out, St. Pierre in
Yet
again, a Canadian underdog has thrown a monkeywrench into the
plans of a UFC bound fighter, this time being TKO Canadian Welterweight
Champion George St. Pierre doing the tossing with his convincing
win over veteran Pete Spratt. This fight was originally supposed
to take place at TKO 13 but a late injury by St. Pierre caused
him to withdraw, pushed the fight back to the November 28th.
Going into this fight, Spratt was scheduled to take on Karo Parisyan
in UFC 46 in January.
You
would think Spratt would exude confidence coming off his win
at UFC 42 over Robbie Lawler when Lawler verbally submitted to
an injury. Spratt didn’t seem himself coming into the fight,
starting with his taped introduction where he simply stated he’d
rather be at home with his family enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday,
but he was there to finish unfinished business with St. Pierre.
Spratt uncharacteristically simply faced his corner and kept
his head hung as St. Pierre entered the ring, just raising his
hand when his name was called. Once the bell rang the fight was
less like Spratt against Lawler in UFC 42 and more like Spratt
against Carlos Newton in UFC 40.
To
the surprise of no-one, St. Pierre quickly took Spratt down but
Spratt did show improvement since his last two UFC fights. When
Newton fought Spratt he went straight to side mount with no resistance.
When Lawler took Spratt down Spratt had Lawler in a loose half
guard. This time when St. Pierre took Spratt down Spratt went
for a tight half guard which it took St. Pierre a little bit
of time to pass. As St. Pierre tried to mount Spratt tried to
reverse St. Pierre, but St. Pierre slid to Spratt’s back
and Spratt tried to stand, giving St. Pierre and opportunity
for a rear choke attempt. Spratt kept his arm over St. Pierre’s
and rolled with St. Pierre still secured with double hooks. Spratt
managed to roll over into St. Pierre’s guard but St. Pierre
reversed Spratt and managed to get behind Spratt again. Spratt
tried to stand as St. Pierre hit him in the face and St. Pierre
finally got the arm under Spratt’s neck for the choke. Spratt
tried falling backwards in what appeared to be a desperate attempt
to dislodge St. Pierre but it was too late and he quickly tapped.
Now
St. Pierre has been confirmed as taking Spratt’s place in
the January 31st UFC. There is precedent for this in the form
of David Loiseau beating Tony Fryklund when Fryklund was supposed
to be in, and Duane Ludwig beating Jens Pulver when Pulver was
waiting for his Shooto contract to finalize. Can St. Pierre join
Loiseau on the international stage when he takes on Karo Parisyan,
or is St. Pierre still a talented up-and-comer whose true ground
skills haven’t yet been tested at the international level
and may fall short? Watch UFC 46 “Supernatural” to
find out. In the meantime Spratt takes on Chris Lytle on January
2nd in IL in a battle that may determine who returns to the UFC
and who goes back to the drawing board.
Source: ADCC |
Brazilian
duel is the biggest attraction of the HEAT FC 2: Evolution
The
beautiful city of Natal will shake next December 18th, as the
HEAT FC 2 will take place, with the highly anticipated duel between
Brazilians Gustavo 'Ximú' and Allan Góes. On top
of that, it the fans are looking forward to seeing 'Carlão'
Barreto, Ebenezer Braga and Forrest Griffin on the card. Another
notable happening is the MMA debut of oldtime jiu-jitsu champion,
Vinícius 'Draculino'. Look below for the complete card.
Heat
FC 2: Evolution
Natal, Brazil
December, 18th, 2003
Main
Event:
- 'Carlão' Barreto (Brazilian Top Team/Brazil) x Travis
Wiuff (USA)
- Allan Góes (Brazilian Top Team/Brazil) x Gustavo 'Ximú'
(Ruas Vale Tudo/Brazil)
- Forrest Griffin (HardCore Gym/USA)x Edson 'Paredão'
(Nova Geração/Brazil)
- Ebenezer Braga (Brazil Dojo/Brazil) x Eric Wanderlei (Gracie
Barra - BH/Brazil)
- Marcelo 'Uirapuru' (Gracie Barra - BH/Brazil) x Alexandre 'Vaca'
(Kimura/Brazil)
- Vinicius 'Draculino' (Gracie Barra- BH/Brazil) x Kleber Galdino
(Kimura/Brazil)
- Fábio 'Bolinho' (Kimura/Brazil) x Sérgio Junior
(Combate Real)
- Dinarte Silva (Kimura/Brazil) x Charles Andrade (Gracie Barra
– PB/Brazil)
Source: ADCC |
Horn
Decisions Lister, Retains KOTC Light Heavyweight Belt
SAN
JACINTO, Calif., December 6 -- Moving up in weight from 185 --
where he currently holds the King of the Cage middleweight title
-- to 205 pounds, Dean Lister faced the toughest test of his
skills of his young career in Iowa-based KOTC light heavyweight
champion Jeremy Horn.
The
first round began with Lister throwing a high kick to Horn's
head, which Horn easily blocked. The fighters circled each other
for only a moment before Lister shot in and landed a double-leg,
taking Horn to the ground. Despite being on his back against
a grappler the likes of Lister, Horn remained calm and began
working a butterfly guard against his opponent. At some point
during the takedown or the succeeding groundwork, a deep cut
was opened near the hairline of Lister.
Taking
the cut in stride, Lister attacked by reaching under Horn and
trapping his arm underneath his body. When Lister reared back
to punch Horn, he found himself in a rapidly constricting triangle.
With blood literally pouring from his cut, it looked very bleak
indeed for the Abu Dhabi champion.
Twisting
his body, Lister avoided an armbar and summoned enough strength
to slam out of Horn's triangle. Using the escape to open an opportunity,
Lister quickly took Horn's back and began attempting to sink
a choke. Horn remained relaxed and fought off several attempts
by Lister to set the choke. At one point Lister had his arm under
Horn's chin, but Horn had removed the hooks from the back mount,
and was able to rotate out of the choke, into Lister's guard.
With this, the referee stood the fighters up so that the doctor
could inspect Lister's wound.
Horn
wasted little time in attempting to pass Lister's guard upon
the restart, and nearly managed to mount Lister, who was able
to defend against the attempted positioning. The remainder of
the round saw both fighters working hard to out position each
other, with both of them gaining and losing the advantage on
several occasions -- although it was becoming very clear even
as early as the start of the second round than Lister's strength
was fading.
After
sending a flurry of punches downrange at Horn's head in the middle
of the second round, Lister was able to attach a front choke
around the neck of Horn. Though Horn attempted to roll out, he
was initially unsuccessful as Lister rolled with him.
With
determination, however, Horn was able to pull his head out of
the choke win a manner that should have been accompanied by a
"pop" sound effect. With the fight wearing on, Lister's
strength began to fade -- though his heart did not. It became
a struggling uphill battle for Lister as Horn repeatedly out
positioned him on the ground, peppering Lister with elbows and
knees at every opportunity. Throughout the assault, however,
Lister was able to launch small but effective counter-offenses
against Horn, including a very nice flurry of punches from a
clinch while standing.
Near
the end of the fight, Lister was unable to successfully get the
takedown off a shot, though he was still remotely effective in
the clinch. Throughout the fight, Horn displayed exactly what
having over a hundred fights in the bank will do to for a fighter's
game. With a distinct calmness, Horn would look over his opponent
toward his corner, which included Matt Hughes. This strategy
and calmness repeatedly resulted in Horn being able to reverse
positions or continue maintaining present ones.
Though
Lister did not take the light heavyweight belt home, he stood
tough against the veteran Horn and displayed tremendous heart
throughout the fight. At any time Lister could have taken the
easy road out by saying that the blood was in his eyes, yet he
fought on to the finish. In the end, Horn earned a decision from
the judges and retained the light heavyweight belt.
Matt
Stansell lost a very close split decision against Jimmy Smith.
Both fighters brought smart, exciting games into the cage and
faced each other well. Stansell displayed extremely proficient
jiu-jitsu, though Smith caught Stansell several times with punches.
On one occasion in particular, Stansell threw a leg kick that
did not land and Stansell spun with the kick only to catch a
right hand from Smith. The shot put Stansell against the fence
warding off blows until he ducked and ran out of harms way.
If
the Horn versus Lister fight had not been as exciting as it was,
the fight between Victor Valenzuela and Shad Smith would easily
have been the most exciting fight of the night. Both fighters
brought awesome games into the cage and proceeded to pound each
other for ten minutes. Smith gained the upper hand late in round
one and refused to relinquish it. Valenzuela looked to regain
his momentum on several occasions, as Smith's cardio looked suspect
at times. Smith was able to maintain the advantage and proved
superior in all aspects of the game. Valenzuela refused to surrender,
however, and consistently answered back with hard hits of his
own, including a picture perfect right that landed on the chin
of Smith late in the second round. Had it landed earlier, when
Valenzuela had more heat to put behind it, the fight may very
well have had a different outcome. As it was, Shad Smith won
a well-earned, hard fought unanimous decision.
Jeremy
Horn def. Dean Lister majority decision 4R
Larry Landless def. Paul Castelloni verbal submission 2:58 R1
Harris Sarmento def. Logan Layton tapout (strikes) 3:08 R1
Jimmy Smith def. Matt Stansell split decision 2R
Manny Reyes def. Jason Dickenson submission (front choke) 0:55
R1
Shad Smith def. Victor Valenzuela unanimous decision 2R
JJ Pugsley def. Brent Mackey submission (side choke) 1:32 R1
Carlos Garcia def. David Gallegos (failed to answer bell) 5:00
R1
Josh Gaskins def. Tony Llamas submission (armbar) 4:35
Mike Seal def. Michael Martin KO 0:23
Gus The Ripper def. Reggie Ore decision
Manny Tapia def. Manuel Sawyze submission (rear-naked choke)
2:07 R1
Caleb William def. Gary Ingram submission (triangle choke) 0:34
R1
Source: Maxfighting |
DECEMBER
FIGHTERS AND BROADCASTERS POLL
Our new MMAWeekly Fighters and Broadcasters Poll has been released
for the month of December. Some fighters on the rise, others
fall.
In
the Heavyweight Division, Minotauro Nogueira moved up a couple
of spots and Fedor is your undisputed #1 fighter. Tito and Chuck
drop, while Vanderlei and Quinton move up, the 185 pound division
is a mess with no clear number one since Bustamante lost, some
shake up at 170, and BJ Penn is the top dog at 170 for now.
DECEMBER
RANKINGS
HEAVYWEIGHT
DIVISION - (210-265 lbs.)
1. Emelianeko Fedor - 96 Points (7 first place votes)
2. Minotauro Nogueira - 87 Points (2 first place votes)
3. Tim Sylvia - 80 Points
4. Mirko Cro Cop - 71 Points
5. Josh Barnett - 57 Points (1 first place vote)
6. Andrei Arlovksi - 41 Points
7. Pedro Rizzo - 27 Points
8. Frank Mir - 23 Points
9. Cabbage
Correia - 22 Points
10.Gan McGee - 15 Points
Others receiving votes - Heath Herring - (13), Justin Eilers
(10) Ricco Rodriguez (4) Vladimir Matyushenko (2)
LIGHT
HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION - (205 lbs.)
1. Randy Couture - 100 Points (10 first place votes)
2. Vanderlei Silva - 90 Points
3. Quinton Jackson - 68 Points
4. Chuck Liddell - 53 Points
5. Vitor Belfort - 50 Points
6. Tito Ortiz - 49 Points
7. Dan Henderson - 41 Points
8. Ricardo Arona - 21 Points
9. Babalu Sobral - 19 Points
10 Jeremy Horn - 18 Points
Others
Receiving Votes - Rich Franklin 17, Murilo Rua (8), Kevin Randleman
(8),
MIDDLEWEIGHT
DIVISION - (185 lbs.)
1. Matt Lindland - 89 Points (3 first place votes)
2. Murilo Bustamante - 84 Points (4 first place votes)
3. Sakuraba - 70 Points (3 first place votes)
4. Evan Tanner - 44 Points
5. Phil Baroni - 43 Points
6. Anderson Silva - 33 Points
7. Jorge Rivera - 32 Points
8. Paulo Filho - 25 Points
9. Niko
Vitale - 23 Points
10.Phillip Miller - 21 Points
Others
receiving votes - Tony Fryklund (20), Joe Doerksen (17), Dave
Menne (16), Lee Murray (14), Benji Radach (13), David Loiseau
(5), Jermaine Andre (4)
WELTERWEIGHT
DIVISION - (170 lbs.)
1. Matt Hughes - 100 Points (10 first place votes)
2. Sean Sherk - 82 Points
3. Carlos Newton - 75 Points
4. Robbie Lawler - 47 Points
5. Jason Black - 45 Points
6. Ricardo Almeida - 32 Points
7. Nathan Marquardt - 28 Points
8. Karo Parisyan - 26 Points
9. Frank Trigg - 23 Points
10.Jake Shields - 17 Points
Others
receiving votes - Pete Spratt - (15) , Dennis Hallman- (14) Hayato
Sakurai (13), Nick Diaz (10), Georges St. Pierre (8), Chris Lytle
(5), Shonie Carter (4), Spencer Fisher - (2)
LIGHTWEIGHT
DIVISION - (155 lbs.)
1. BJ Penn-
95 Points (8 first place votes)
2. Bang Ludwig - 71 Points (2 first place votes)
3. Hermes Franca - 70 Points
4. Joaquin Hansen - 64 Points
5. Takanori Gomi - 53 Points
6. Din Thomas - 53 Points
7. Yves Edwards - 44 Points
8. Genki Sudo - 36 Points
9. Shaolin Ribero - 25 Points
10. Caol Uno - 23 Points
Other
receiving votes - Dokojonosuke Mishima- 13 Points, Jens Pulver
- 13, Matt Serra - (10) Josh Thompson (9), Jason Maxwell (8)
Rich Clementi - (7), Jorge Gurgel - (3),
Source: ADCC |
Broadcasting
‘Dream Team’ for History-Making Atlantic City Card
Barry
Tompkins, Col. Bob Sheridan, Jim Hill, Tom Joyner, Tavis Smiley,
Chris Byrd, Virgil Hill, Wally Matthews & Ron Borges to Announce
Record-Setting Telecast of Five World Championships, Saturday,
Dec. 13; Emmy Award-Winner Jim Spence to Executive Produce
NEW
YORK, Dec. 8, 2003—Don King’s decision to televise
five of the eight world championship bouts on his Dec. 13 “Night
of the Undisputed” fight card from Atlantic City’s
Boardwalk Hall on his own KingVision Pay-Per-View Ltd., has led
to the formation of a never-before-seen all-star broadcast team
led by Emmy Award-winning Executive Producer Jim Spence.
Spence
worked at ABC Sports for 25 years, his last 8 years as Sr. Vice
President in charge of the day-to-day operation, and was instrumental
in making Wide World of Sports the pre-eminent sports show in
America where they won four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement
in Sports Programming. Jim won an Emmy for his production of
the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
He
left ABC 17-years ago to form his own production company -- Sports
Television International -- the producers of this history making
pay-per-view event.
King
made history with Spence in 1975 when they presented the first
$1 million fight on network television on ABC when Heavyweight
World Champion Muhammad Ali met Ron Lyle in Las Vegas on May
16, 1975.
“We
brought the first $1 million fight to home television at ABC,
and we’ll make history again by being the first to televise
five world championship title fights around the globe on Dec.
13 from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City,” King said of Spence.
“The broadcast team we have put together for ‘Night
of the Undisputed’ is unparalleled in the history of the
sport.”
The
unprecedented number of five televised world championship title
fights has led to an earlier-than-normal start time for the pay-per-view
broadcast of 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, which will be broadcast domestically
and internationally by KingVision. The exciting night of championship
boxing will be distributed domestically by HBO Pay-Per-View and
KingVision as well as internationally by DK International Sales.
The show will be televised by KingVision Pay-Per-View, Ltd. The
other three world championship fights will begin at 5:00 pm ET.
VOOM
will provide the exclusive high-definition television (HDTV)
presentation of “Night of the Undisputed,” the first
HDTV sports special to be delivered by the nation’s newest
satellite television service.
The
large number of televised fights has also led to a larger broadcast
team as well. King and Spence have asked Barry Tompkins and Col.
Bob Sheridan to share the blow-by-blow descriptions.
They
will be joined by International Boxing Federation Heavyweight
Champion Chris Byrd and longtime WBA light heavyweight champion
and former WBA cruiserweight champion Virgil Hill, who will provide
on-air analysis.
Former
NFL great and current CBS broadcaster Jim Hill will host the
broadcast with Boston Globe writer and columnist Ron Borges adding
analysis and perspective.
Nationally
syndicated radio hosts Tom Joyner and Tavis Smiley will serve
as roving reporters. New York Sun Columnist and ESPN New York
radio host Wally Matthews will also be part of the broadcast
team.
Sheridan
has handled announcement duties on King’s international
broadcasts for three decades and will add to his record for world
title fight broadcasts—now well over 700. Joining Sheridan
as part of the international team will be two former world champions
in Felix Trinidad and Roberto Duran.
Tompkins,
a recipient of six Ace and four Emmy Awards as well as the Sam
Taub Award for Boxing Commentator of the Year, continues to be
well known for Pac-10 and FOX Sports Net broadcasts. He has also
recently experienced a national renaissance as the result of
the re-broadcast of some of his most memorable fight calls on
HBO’s Legendary Nights 30-year fight retrospective series
where Tompkins can be heard bellowing his signature phrase “how
do you like it?” during pivotal moments, which have become
part of boxing lore.
Tompkins
has also covered five Olympic Games, 20 Super Bowls, six World
Series, 14 Wimbledon Championships, six French Open Tennis Championships,
three U.S. Open Tennis Championships, three NCAA Final Fours,
The Masters and countless championship boxing matches.
Hill
is also an Emmy Award winner who has become a staple in Los Angeles
after spending the last 27 years as a sports reporter, anchor
and commentator -- the last 23 years at KCBS-TV. He has previously
hosted numerous boxing events for Don King Productions.
Joyner
hosts the No. 1 urban radio show in America with five million
people tuning in weekly in over 100 markets via ABC Radio Networks.
He also holds the distinction of being the first African American
inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.
Smiley
is the host of the nationally broadcast Tavis Smiley Show. Smiley
was named by Time Magazine as one of America’s 50 most promising
young leaders.
Borges
is a longtime writer and columnist for the Boston Globe who received
the prestigious Nat Fleischer Award in 1994 for Boxing Writer
of the Year recognizing excellence in boxing journalism by the
Boxing Writers Association of America.
Matthews
is currently a sports columnist for the New York Sun and co-hosts
his own sports radio talk show with Tom Keegan weekday afternoons
on ESPN New York affiliate WEPN. He is a two-time winner of the
Associated Press Sports Editors Award for Column Writing; won
the Nat Fleischer Award in 1995; co-hosted The Last Word sports
show on FOX; and was a reporter at the Olympics for NBC in 1992
and 1988.
Duran
-- one of the greatest fighters of his generation, and of all-time,
the legendary Panamanian is one of only 4 fighters to hold 4
different world titles— lightweight (1972-79), welterweight
(1980), junior middleweight (1983) and middleweight (1989-90).
'Tito'
Trinidad -- the pride of Puerto Rico, and, along with Roberto
Clemente perhaps the two greatest athletes to hail from that
country, was a former IBF and WBC 147-pound world champion and
WBC and IBF 154-pound champion.
The
telecast will be produced by Rob Beiner, who was a producer at
ABC Sports for many years and is currently producing the Friday
Night Fight Series on ESPN2. The Director will be Larry Kamm,
who was an award-winning director at ABC Sports, where he worked
for over 30-years.
He’s
currently directing college football for ABC Sports. He won the
Director’s Guild of America’s “Lifetime Achievement
Award” in 1995.
While
the live event is sold out, the local Atlantic City blackout
has been lifted and The Night of the Undisputed is available
locally on Pay Per View through local cable operators and it
is also available via closed circuit in Atlantic City.
Boxing
fans across the country will be able to view the Pay Per View
telecast of Undisputed Middleweight World Champion and World
Boxing Association Super Champion Bernard “The Executioner”
Hopkins against three-time and current WBA Middleweight Champion
William Joppy; WBA Super Champion and World Boxing Council Welterweight
Champion Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga facing International
Boxing Federation Welterweight Champion Cory Spinks—the
winner becoming the undisputed world welterweight champion; former
heavyweight world champions Hasim “The Rock” Rahman
and John “The Quietman” Ruiz squaring off for the WBA
Interim Heavyweight Championship; former IBF Junior Welterweight
Champion and current World Boxing Organization Junior Welterweight
Champion Zab “Super” Judah meeting WBO Latin American
and Caribbean Lightweight Champion Jaime Rangel; and undefeated
WBA Super Welterweight Champion Alejandro “Terra” Garcia
defending his crown against undefeated No. 1 WBA contender “Tremendous”
Travis Simms.
The
three remaining non-televised world championships will feature
WBA and IBF Light Flyweight Champion Victor “El Acorazado”
Burgos facing WBA Light Flyweight Champion Rosendo “El Bufalo”
Alvarez; IBF Junior Bantamweight Champion Luis “El Demoledor”
Perez putting his title on the line against former IBF Junior
Bantamweight Champion Felix “Macho” Machado; and undefeated
WBC Cruiserweight Champion Wayne “Big Truck” Braithwaite
defending his crown against WBA and WBO Latin Champion Luis “El
Lenador” Pineda.
Source: ADCC |
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