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July 9-12
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3/13/04
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3/5-7/04
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2/15/04
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in Paradise 2
(MMA & Kickboxing)
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2/13/04
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Fighting Compeition 5
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2/8/04
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2/7/04
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1/31/04
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46: Super Natural
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(Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, NV)
1/24/04
Ring of Honor 2
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Campbell H.S. Gym)
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)
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)
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December News Part
3
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Quote
of the Day
"Hold
on to your dreams for they are, in a sense, the stuff of which
reality is made. It is through our dreams that we maintain the
possibility of a better, more meaningful life."
Leo Buscaglia, American Expert on Love, Lecturer, Author
|
Onzuka.com
Wishes Everyone a Happy New Year!
Thank you
for making Onzuka.com and Fighters Club TV explode in popularity
this past year. We appreciate all the great comments we have
been receiving and thank you for your support. Please feel free
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us
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will be more than happy to post them.
We hope everyone has a great New Years! Stay safe and don't drink
and drive, unless you are drinking non-alcoholic eggnog. I love
that stuff!
|
All
3 Super Show's Fight Cards
PRIDE SHOCKWAVE 2003
Pride SP card line-up (in match order):
December 31st, 2003
Saitama Super Arena
Omiya, Japan
1.
Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
2. Heath Herring vs. Giant Silva
3. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai vs. Daiju Takase
4. Akira Shoji vs. Murillo Ninja
5. Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Royce Gracie
6. Don Frye vs. Gary Goodridge
7. Wataru Sakata vs. Daniel Gracie
8. Yuki Kondo vs. Mario Sperry
9. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Ronnie Sefo
10. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
INOKI
BOM-BA-YE 2003
Kazayuki Fujita vs. TBA
Josh Barnett vs. Semmy Schilt
Stefan Leko vs. Kazunari Murakami
Yasuhito Namekawa vs. Masayuki Naruse
Tadao Yasuda vs. Ricardo Liborio
Rich Franklin vs. Ryota Machida
Amar Suloev vs. Din Thomas
Hiromi Amada vs. Pedro Rizzo
Alistair Overeem vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Alexandre Emelianenko vs. Angelo Araujo
Hiromi Amada vs. Pedro Rizzo
K-1
PREMIUM 2003 DYNAMITE
Bob Sapp vs. Akebono
Francois Botha vs. Yusuke Fujimoto
Ernesto Hoost vs. Montanha Silva
Francisco Filho vs. TOA
Jan Nortje vs. Masayuki Naruse-MMA
Genkie Sudo vs. Butterbean-MMA
Alexey Ignashov vs. Shinsuke Nakamura-MMA
Cyril Abidi vs. Sylvester Terkay-MMA
Kristof Midoux vs. Tom Howard-MMA
David Khakhaleishivili vs. Yoshihiro Nakao-MMA
Source: MMA Weekly |
Rickson
in Japan for K-1
by: Luca Atalla
The official press conference for K-1's Dynamite New Year's Eve
show went smoothly as usual. The news of the day was the announcement
that Rickson Gracie would be at the Nagoya Dome to watch the
fights. In addition to that, a live satellite broadcast from
Hawaii will have Mike Tyson sending a message to all fans.
Inside
the ring, an exciting night is expected. The main event will
pit former Sumo Yokuzona Akebono, from Hawaii, versus former
NFL player Bob Sapp. Sapp attended the press conference with
his arms tied and a mask like the one worn by Anthoby Hopkins
in the movie 'Silence of the Lambs'. K-1 superstar Ernesto Hoost
will face Brazilian giant (and former basketball player) Montanha
Silva. One of the organisation's hottest new fighters, Biel-
Russian Alexey Ignashov will make his MMA debut versus pro-wrestler
Shinsuke Nakamura.
Former professional boxer Francois Botha will take on Yusuke
Fukimoto (K-1 Rules), while French top MMA fighter Kristof Midoux
is set to face American pro-wrestler Tom Howard, in the event's
opening match. Another interesting match up is the one that puts
former Barcelona Olympic Judo Gold Medal Winner David Khakhaleishivili,
from Georgia, versus amateur wrestler Yoshihiro Nakao. Brazilian
Kyokushinkai Karate expert Mauricio da Silva will replace an
injured Cyril Abidi in a MMA match against the huge pro-wrestler
'The Predator'.
K-1
Dynamite!!
31 December 2003
Nagoya Dome, Nagoya, Japan
Starts at 16h local time
COMPLETE
CARD:
K-1 matchups:
- Bob Sapp vs. Akebono
- Ernesto Hoost vs. 'Montanha' Silva
- Yusuke Fukimoto vs. Francois Botha
- Francisco Filho vs. TOA 'The Samoan Beast'
MMA
matchups:
- Alexey Ignashov vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
- Genki Sudo vs. Eric 'Butterbean'
- Mauricio Silva vs. The Predator
- David Khakhaleichivili vs. Yoshihiro Nakao
- Tom Howard vs. Christopher Midoux
- Jan 'The Giant' Nortje x Masayuki Naruse
Source: ADCC |
|
MERCER
NO SHOWS JAPAN EVENT
Inoki's
show has taken a bit of step backwards. In a bizarre story, former
Heavyweight Boxer Ray Mercer has not showed up in Japan as he
missed his flight to face Kazayuki Fujita.
Nobody
knows who will step in to fight Fujita, but according to various
published reports the top candidate seems to be Tsuyoshi Kosaka.
It will take a large chuck of change however. According to Zack
Arnold at Puroresu Power he said quote "There are questions
as to which pro-wrestler will be sacrificed to Fujita. Here's
a dark horse candidate - Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, and at a cost of a
million dollars."
In
other news Fedor Emelianenko vs. Yuji Nagata is official. It
will be very interesting to see the legal ramifications in the
future because of what happened by DSE. Cyril Abidi has dropped
out and is replaced by Mauricio Silva in his match against Sylvester
Terkay.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
PRIDE
SP PREVIEW:
IS ROYCE STILL A FORCE IN MMA?
Royce Gracie. That's all you need to say. Everyone knows that
name... or, at least, they know of the Gracie part of the name.
The family has been around from the start of vale tudo in Brazil
and Royce has been there since the beginnings of modern day mixed
martial arts when UFC 1 gave birth to today's modern style of
combat.
Royce
Gracie won the very first UFC tournament... and the second...
and the fourth. He defeated fellow legend Ken Shamrock, whom
he was inducted with as the premier entries into the UFC Hall
of Fame. He has defeated Kimo, Keith Hackney, Dan Severn, and
Nobuhiko Takada. His only loss, in fourteen bouts, is to Japanese
fighting legend Kazushi Sakuraba. His grappling expertise is
second to none.
And
yet, his reputation as one of the best fighters in the world
has consistently been questioned by the recent MMA community.
The predominate argument being that Royce is from a different
time when no one understood his art of Gracie Jiujitsu; that
he fought when fighters were stuck in one dimensional styles,
not the well-rounded skill sets of today's fighters.
Since
his infamous draw with Ken Shamrock in 1995, Royce has fought
under MMA rules only twice, his loss to Sakuraba and a win over
Takada. Also among that time was his controversial loss in a
special rules "jacket" match with his opponent on New
Year's Eve, Hidehiko Yoshida.
This
match is primarily a war of retribution for Royce. He has the
opportunity to exact a measure of revenge for the loss to Yoshida,
his foremost interest, and he has the opportunity to prove to
the critics that he is still one of the best fighters in the
world and that Gracie Jiujitsu still has its place in the sport.
Royce
is one of the most amazing ground technicians in the world. Where
he may have some trouble is with the strength that Yoshida possesses.
He will need to get this one to the ground and keep Yoshida from
gaining a dominant position where his strength would be a big
factor.
Royce
cannot knock Yoshida out, if Silva couldn't do it neither will
Royce. His best chance is to work and wait for a mistake by Yoshida
to capitalize on, something he is extremely good at; otherwise,
he will have to remain very active and hope for the decision
win, something that isn't too probable.
Win
- Art Jimmerson - Submission - UFC 1 - 11-12-1993
Win - Ken Shamrock - Submission (Rear Naked Choke) - UFC 1 -
Win - Gerard Gordeau - Submission (Rear Naked Choke) - UFC 1
Win - Minoki Ichihara - Submission (Gi Choke) - UFC 2 - 3-11-94
Win - Jason DeLucia - Submission (Arm Bar) - UFC 2 - 3-11-94
Win - Remco Pardoel - Submission (Gi Choke) - UFC 2 - 3-11-94
Win - Pat Smith - Submission (Punches) - UFC 2 - 3-11-94
Win - Kimo Leopoldo - Submission (Arm Bar) - UFC 3 - 9-9-94
NC - Harold Howard - (Threw in the Towel) - UFC 3 - 9-9-94
Win - Ron Van Clief - (Rear Naked Choke) - UFC 4 - 12-16-94
Win - Keith Hackney - Submission (Arm Bar) - UFC 4 - 12-16-94
Win - Dan Severn - (Triangle Choke) - UFC 4 - 12-16-94
Draw - Ken Shamrock - UFC 5 - 4-4-95
Win - Nobuhiko Takada - (Unanimous) - Pride - 1-30-2000
Lose - Kazushi Sakuraba - TKO (Corner Threw in the Towel) - Pride
- 5-1-2000
Source: MMA Weekly |
ANOTHER
CHANCE FOR YOSHIDA TO SILENCE DOUBTERS
Though he has only four actual mixed martial arts bouts under
his belt, Hidehiko Yoshida sure draws a lot of the attention
afforded the sport. A highly decorated Judoka with an Olympic
gold medal and multiple world championships, Yoshida started
to draw the attention of MMA fans when he fought to a controversial
ending with Royce Gracie in a special rules "jacket"
match. With Royce's reputation in MMA, many fans were immediately
crying foul.
His
first entry into a full rules MMA bout with Don Frye faired Yoshida's
reputation no better. Frye fought uncharacteristically and many
fans were sure the Pride was protecting their countryman and
that the fix was in. The story didn't change after a quick finish
of Kiyoshi Tamura in the opening round of the Pride Middleweight
Grand Prix.
Everything
seemed to change when Yoshida went toe-to-toe with Pride Champion
Wanderlei Silva for 15 minutes in the semi-final round of the
Grand Prix with Silva winning the decision. Yoshida earned more
respect in that loss than in his first 3 MMA bouts combined.
Now,
he gets a chance to silence the critics. Yoshida faces MMA legend,
Royce Gracie, in a full MMA rules match. No one has really questioned
whether or not he has the ground game to roll with Royce, but
after his bout with Silva, many may wonder if Royce has the stand-up
game to trade kicks and punches with the much stronger Yoshida.
After
weathering the storm of Silva's awesome striking, Yoshida would
seem to come into this bout the more impressive of the two on
the feet. The two appearing to be a stalemate on the ground,
and with strength on his side, Yoshida may do well to defend
Royce's takedown attempts and strike with him.
If
he can come out of this one with a clearly clean finish for the
win, Yoshida would silence the naysayers and solidify himself
as one of the top fighters in the world.
Win
- Don Frye - (Ref Stoppage Arm Bar) - Pride 23 - 11-24-2002
Win - Masaaki Satake - (Front Choke) - Bom-Ba-Ye 12-31-2002
Win - Kiyoshi Tamura - Submission (Gi Choke) - Pride - 8-10-2003
Lose - Wanderlei Silva - Decision (Unanimous) - Pride - 11-9-2003
Source: MMA Weekly |
PRIDE
SP PREVIEW:
YUKI KONDO VS MARIO SPERRY
Review by Niko Motiee
 
Yuki Kondo (PANCRASEism) vs Mario Sperry (Brazilian Top Team)
Perhaps
the most intriguing match-up on any New Years Eve card is this
battle between the Brazilian grappling legend and the explosive
Pancrase star. Kondo has spent the better part of the last 8
years establishing himself as the most polished Japanese stand-up
fighter, while repeatedly capturing a number of King of Pancrase
titles. Having accumulated convincing victories over Semmy Schilt,
Frank Shamrock, Guy Mezger, Ikuhisa Minowa, Masakatsu Funaki
and Sanae Kikuta, Kondo brings instant credibility to this Pride
event [as much or more than any other native Pride has brought
in over the last three years]. Mario Sperry has overcome several
minor injuries over the last year, and will attempt to re-establish
himself as a player in the title picture with a win over the
red hot Kondo.
Initially
Sperry was set to fight Don Frye, but due to this being Gary
Goodridge's swan song, the match-ups were accordingly altered.
In actuality, Kondo had hoped to parlay his dominating late November
performance against Sanae Kikuta into a fight with Brazilian
Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva. Unfortunately, Silva was
ruled out due to surgery to correct minor elbow inflamation.
Nevertheless, if Kondo wins this fight convincingly, Sakikabara
and company will most likely grant Kondo's wish of a bout with
the Axe Murderer (that is if Mr. Ozaki of Pancrase, who has been
known to be stingy with the distribution of his fighters, allows
it).
The
thing that makes this fight so appealing is the contrasting styles
that both fighters bring into the ring. Kondo is the protypical
dynamic striker, with a multitude of flying knees, kicks, alongside
a devastating left hand. Several fighters have commented to me
over the years that being hit by Kondo is unlike anything else
they had experienced throughout the course of their MMA careers.
They, like all fight fans who have seen Kondo in action, marvel
not only at his lightning quickness, but his deadly striking
precision.
Contrastingly,
Sperry epitomizes submission grappling. Sperry's Jiu-Jitsu technique
has long been heralded by peers and fans alike. Sperry has the
nuances of grappling down to an art [as evidenced by his unmatched
instructional videos]. However, unlike some Jiu-Jitsu based fighters,
Sperry also is a strong wrestler, with a wide variety of takedowns
in his grappling arsenal. His striking is not up to par with
Kondo's, but he has shown himself to be adequate in taking (see
Ninja-Sperry) and delivering strikes.
The
key to this fight is simple, how quickly can Mario Sperry take
this fight to the mat? One thing Sperry does so well on the ground
is control his opponents entire body. If Sperry can land a takedown
(it could be a leg trip, but Kondo has deceptively strong upper-body),
he could position himself to initially strike Kondo, and then
submit him. However, Sperry should not only be weary of shooting
for a leg (Kondo could easily catch him with a flying knee or
barage of knees after a sprawl), but he should not take Kondo
lightly on the mat. Kondo exhibited oustanding groundwork in
his first bout with Kikuta earlier this year (which is one of
my top 5 fights of the year), and has shown himself to be quite
adept at scrambling out of precarious positions.
It
is pretty safe to say that Kondo will almost immediately throw
a high kick or a flying knee out of the gate, so Sperry should
have his guard up early. Sperry should also be very weary of
Kondo's left hand, [specifically his left hook]. One thing Sperry
can not revert to is attempting to exchange strikes in the heat
of the moment (like he did against Ninja Rua), because he will
inevitably get put on the mat. However, if Mario (who is normally
a strong tactician) can stick to the gameplan of smothering Kondo's
offense by taking him down, he can win this fight.
In
the end, this fight can most likely go one of two ways. Either
Sperry continually lands takedowns, controls Kondo (who is smaller
than Sperry) on the mat, and wins a decision, or Kondo decimates
Sperry on their feet. Let us also remember Pride's recent stringency
towards action on the mat. If Mario is not *incredibly* active
in a dominant position on the ground, this fight will get stood
up. DSE wants an action packed fight that will keep Fuji TV viewers
tuned in, and the Saitama fans energized (not to say Mario can't
do that with his superb submission skills), so Sperry must continually
look for the finish if he grounds Kondo. While it is also interesting
to note Paulo Filho's (Sperry's teammate) decision victory over
Kondo (where Filho controlled Kondo on the mat), it is also pertinent
to point out how much Kondo has improved since 2001. Nevertheless,
I look for this fight to go the full three rounds, with Kondo
receiving a close (perhaps split) decision.
Source: MMA Weekly |
New
Year's Eve Preview - Part II
By Jason Probst
Talk
about competition making for a better product. It’s going
to be a great New Year’s Eve in Japan where three major
fight cards, featuring mostly mixed-martial arts action along
with some K-1-style competition, will be aired on three of the
largest terrestrial Japanese television channel.
Dueling
PRIDE’s intriguing card (today’s featured breakdown)
are Antonio Inoki’s Bom-ba-ye show and a much-ballyhooed
K-1 effort, including the talk of the island nation: Bob Sapp
versus Sumo Yokozuna, Akebono.
With
some of its biggest stars (Sakuraba, “Rampage,” Yoshida,
Herring …) competing on 12/31, PRIDE has pieced together
the most meaningful event of the night, the repercussions of
which will surely be felt throughout the coming year.
Hayato
Sakurai vs. Daiju Takase
Like the bigger Takase here in a good match of submissions aces.
Takase is one of those little guys that’s used to taking
on monsters, and Sakurai was the last guy to be a betting favorite
over Matt Hughes (imagine that!). Take Mach by decision.
Daniel Gracie vs. Wataru Sakata
Gracie versus a Japanese guy, wow, what an idea! Is it just me,
or do Japanese surnames always have 50% vowels? Sakata only needs
to spell “TAP,” and he’ll do just that. Gracie
by submission.
Gary "Big Daddy" Goodridge vs. Don "The Predator"
Frye
Billed as a retirement match for “Big Daddy” Goodridge,
who’s probably fought more top fighters than most. He loses
and goes down swinging, and brings the ruckus, so to speak. This
is their third meeting, with Frye scoring two stoppages.
Don
Frye should be smart and take this one to the ground, but Frye
admittedly is too macho in trading shots. Take Frye by decision.
We’re all getting a little older … but Frye’s
Magnum P.I. moustache will always rock harder than front-row
seats to Molly Hatchet.
Quinton
Jackson vs. Ikuhisa Minowa
This could be grim. If you’ve ever seen a big dog tear up
a little dog, you’ve seen it before. Minowa’s record
of 23-17 shows he’s tougher against American fighters, who
haven’t submitted him nearly as often as you would expect
given his numerous stoppage losses to his countrymen (draw your
own conclusions). He’ll probably bulk up to 190 pounds from
his usual 180, which won’t help much.
Jackson
is on a roll right now and showed how tough he is with performances
against Murilo Bustamante, Chuck Liddell and Vanderlei Silva.
This is a fight where he can do pretty much anything he wants,
and he should bang Minowa around before taking him out in the
first round.
Mario
Sperry vs. Yuki Kondo
A hard one to call, pitting “The Zen Machine” against
Kondo, one of the most active top-level Japanese fighters in
the sport. At one time Sperry was one of the top grapplers in
the game, and was a threat to submit anyone; but his MMA career
never really took off and we didn’t see him as often as
we would’ve liked. Go with Kondo by decision, especially
since it’s in Japan and he’s been competitive against
heavyweights.
Hidehiko
Yoshida vs. Royce Gracie
It would be a clever move if Yoshida showed up without the gi
in a surprise move. Or somebody got KO’d from standup without
it ever going to the ground. It would also be cool if I was being
stalked by Christina Aguilera, an equally probable scenario.
This
one is going to be a gi-fest, grappling match, and it’s
got rules that are so anti-striker as to completely eliminate
the possibility of someone being beaten with strikes. Going to
the canvas will prompt a ten count, and the ten-minute rounds
guarantee a Gracie guard-fest. It’ll be tough for Royce
to overcome Yoshida but hopefully this one will at least have
a definitive ending, unlike the controversial first one.
Go
with Yoshida by decision. His confidence is rightfully high after
his showing against Silva in the PRIDE Grand Prix, and he’ll
control the action and land a few strikes on the ground en route
to a decision.
Source: Maxfighting |
Quote
of the Day
"You
don't become enormously successful without encountering some
really interesting problems."
Mark Victor Hansen, American Motivational Speaker, Author
|
Help
One of Hawaii's Best Raise Funds For The Olympics
Taylor
Takata is selling t-shirts in order to raise funds so that he
can make it to the 2004 Olympics. We don't have a picture of
them, but they are black with red lettering. It says "Takata"
and Judo with a picture of two guys throwing each other on the
back. They are pretty cool.
The cost is $14 for kid sizes, $16 for adult sizes, and $17 for
XXL.
If you are interested, you can contact Zack Pang via e-mail (zackpang@yahoo.com) or call him at 551-4421.
Taylor would like the orders, if any, asap so he can give the
printer an accurate count without over or under ordering.
For those of you that have never heard of Taylor, he is one of
the best Judoka at the Shobukan (off Liliha Street), the same
dojo that the Sunada's came from. Taylor has more Judo titles
than you can count and I think I still have a piece of Tatame
stuck in my back from over 6 years ago when he just about threw
me through the floor.
|
Fighters'
Club TV Episode 17 Tonight!
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 email address.
Happy
Holidays from the TOUGHEST SHOW ON TELEVISION!
|
Brazilian
Portuguese Classes
Farrington Community
School for Adults
SPRING SESSION 2004
Registration
Dates: Jan. 7-17, 2004
Monday-Thursday 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Saturday 8:00 a.m.-12:00 noon
$24.00 plus
books
Ph# 832-3595
Saturday classes start on 2/7/04
Beginner classes 8:00 a.m. Advance 10:00 a.m.
|
Ring
of Honor 2
(MMA &
Kickboxing)
Campbell High School Gymnasium, Ewa Beach, Hawaii
January 24, 2003
$15.00
in advance and $20 day of the event
Tickets at all participating schools or call 671-4140 or 330-9484.
Here
is the tentative card subject to change.
Kids
Kickboxing 3 x 1 minute rounds
55.lbs Tristin Kamaka (808 Fight Factory) vs. Tristin Prebra
(Ewa Beach Fight Club)
Adults
Kickboxing 3 x 1:30 minute rounds
170.lbs Teddy Piko (808 Fight Factory) vs. Ryan Oasay (House
of Pain)
Adults
Kickboxing 3 x 1:30 minute rounds
130.lbs Kai (808 Fight Factory) vs. Hans Lee (Animal House)
Amateur
MMA 2 x 3 minute rounds
155.lbs Nestor (Bulls Pen) vs. Chase (BJ Penn Mixed Martial Arts
Academy)
Adults
Kickboxing 3 x 1:30 minute rounds
140.lbs Nick Corriera (Makakilo Kickboxing) vs. Kaniala Stanton
(Ewa Beach Fight Club)
Amateur
MMA 2 x 3 minute rounds
145.lbs Brandon Antolin (Jesus Is Lord) vs. Kevin Delima (Bulls
Pen)
Adults
Kickboxing 3 x 1:30 minute rounds
140.lbs Josh Baker (House Of Pain) vs. David Balicao (Hawaii
Self Defense)
Amateur
MMA 2 x 3 minute rounds
130.lbs Geraldo Arevalo (808 Fight Factory) vs. Ikaika Silva
(House of Pain)
Adults
Kickboxing 3 x 1:30 minute rounds
155.lbs Royce Akiona (House Of Pain) vs. Ben (Hawaii Self Defense)
Amateur
MMA 2 x 3 minute rounds
170lbs. Russell Strong (BJ Penn Mixed Martial Arts Academy) vs.
Jason Nicholson (808 Fight Factory)
Kids
Kickboxing 3 x 1 minute rounds
57.lbs Kai Kamaka III (808 Fight Factory) vs. Kiana Baker (House
Of Pain)
Amateur
MMA 2 x 3 minute rounds
160.lbs Robert Villapando (808 Fight Factory) vs. Ben George
(Bulls Pen)
Adults
Kickboxing 3 x 1:30 minute rounds
180.lbs Scott Redoble (Hawaii Self Defense) vs. Allan Ulip (Animal
House)
Amateur
MMA 2 x 3 minute rounds
185.lbs Ron Foster (808 Fight Factory) vs. Ryan Baqui (Kodenkan)
Adults
Kickboxing 3 x 1:30 minute rounds
185.lbs Andy Ahsing (Ewa Beach Fight Club) vs. Shelton Guerro
(House of Pain)
Amateur
MMA 2 x 3 minute rounds
140.lbs Shane Nelson (BJ Penn Mixed Martial Arts Academy) vs.
Ryan Lee (Bulls Pen)
Adults
Kickboxing 3 x 1:30 minute rounds
170.lbs Alvin Ulip (Animal House) vs. TBA
Main
Event:
Professional MMA 3 x 5 minute rounds
170lbs. Ron Jhun (808) vs. TBA
Source: Event Promoter |
Ring
of Honor 3
(Submission
Grappling tournament)
Campbell High School Gymnasium, Ewa Beach, Hawaii
February 8, 2003 (the day after Superbrawl)
$30.00
in advance and $40.00 the day
There
will be matches for 3rd and 4th Place. There will be team awards
for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.
Source: Event Promoter |
'Pe
de Pano' Speaks!
by: Luca Atalla
MARCIO
'PE DE PANO' CRUZ SIGNS TO FACE JEFF MONSON IN A BATTLE OF ADCC
CHAMPIONS AT THE SUBMISSION WRESTLING OPEN 1 ON FEBRUARY 28th,
2004!
Controversy
has been added to the Submission Wrestling Open 1! Multiple BJJ
World Champion and ADCC over 98.9 kg champion Marcio 'Pe de Pano'
Cruz is the first big name to officially sign for SWO 1, an event
scheduled for Florida, USA, this Feb 28th. The match will be
held under official ADCC Submission Wrestling rules, a format
both Cruz and his opponent are familiar with. 'Pe de Pano' will
face former ADCC worldchampion Jeff Monson in one of the event’s
superfights.
'Pe
de Pano', known for his hot mouth, began the interview in a calm
tone, saying he’s very happy to participate in a submission
wrestling tournament again, since he spent the second half of
2003 competing with a gi. But the soft words finish there!
As
he starts to talk about his opponent, the heat rises right away.
the outspoken one states ‘Monson is a very tough guy indeed.
Especially because he doesn’t like to go for it, he stalls
a lot. Are the rules exactly the same as the ADCC World Submission
Wrestling Championship?’ he asks. Not waiting for the answer,
he resumes: ‘If so, I am the winner already! Those rules
are amazing!’
Cruz
bought up another incident from the ADCC 2003 World Championships.
On the possibility of Monson losing his temper and getting naked
after the bout like he did in Sao Paulo last May, 'Pe de Pano'
is emphatic: ‘Another man’s nudity is not my business,
but if he needs to lose to get naked, he can start undressing
right now.’
Pe
de Pano finishes: ‘But get naked like he did is easy. I
want to know if he can take off his trunks over his head this
time,’ finishes Cruz as he signs the contract to participate
in the tournament.
The
Submission Wrestling Open 1 is on!
Source: ADCC |
New
Year's Eve Preview - Part I
By Jason Probst
Talk about competition making for a better product. It’s
going to be a great New Year’s Eve in Japan where three
major fight cards, featuring mostly mixed-martial arts action
along with some K-1-style competition, will be aired on three
of the largest terrestrial Japanese television channel.
Dueling
PRIDE’s intriguing card are Antonio Inoki’s Bom-ba-ye
show and a much-ballyhooed K-1 effort, featuring the talk of
the island nation: Bob Sapp versus Sumo Yokozuna, Akebono.
Here
are the breakdowns of the latter two, with a PRIDE preview to
come Tuesday.
Inoki
Bom-Ba-Ye
Riddled with threats of lawsuits from Pride because of their
claimed exclusivity rights to Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio Nogueira,
Inoki’s show still offers guaranteed matchups that are decent.
The latest reports have Fedor and Nogueira off the card because
of contractual obligations, and it’s been a game of musical
chairs with matchups.
However
there are still compelling matches, and here’s a look at
those that are solid, all of which are MMA.
Josh
Barnett vs. Semmy Schilt
Barnett
beat him once, and he’ll beat him again, as Schilt’s
still basically a huge kickboxer with limited takedown defense.
Barnett by submission, first round. Too bad he’s been AWOL
in the states since beating Randy Couture in UFC 36, because
he might be the best heavyweight out there.
Rich
Franklin vs. Ryoto Machida
Take
Franklin by decision. His ground skills should carry him through
a long fight and back up his solid standup as Machida opts for
a floor war.
Alistair
Overeem vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Overeem
brings a lot of takedown defense into his match with Vladdy,
and this could be a repeat of Matyushenko’s fight of Andrei
Arlovski if he can’t take it to the mat early.
Amar
Suloev vs. Din Thomas
Tough match for smooth, skilled Din Thomas, who steps up in weight
vs. Suloev. However, have a feeling here Thomas is getting better
with each fight; pick here is Suloev in tough distance win.
Kazuyuki
Fujita is also fighting on the card versus an opponent to be
named.
K-1
Show
(Kickboxing Fights)
Bob
Sapp vs. Akebono
Akebono might have edge in foot speed given his sumo background,
but getting punched by Sapp should be a weird experience for
him, if not a memorable one. This freak show is the draw of the
K-1 card, and even a hardened MMA observer like myself will be
guilty scanning the net for the results.
Take
Sapp by knockout or DQ after Akebono reverts to form, tossing
him down and squishing him.
Ernesto
Hoost vs. 'Montanha' Silva
Badman Hoost has too many weapons, skills for bigger but raw
Silva. Little axe chop down big tree.
Shannon
Briggs vs. TBA
Briggs by knockout in what may be a seminal crossover fight,
building toward larger things.
Francois
Botha vs. Yusuke Fujimoto
The Japanese love to see Americans -- any American -- in against
their own. Maybe it’s some lingering love-hate relationship
with our culture? Who knows. Botha may replicate Butterbean’s
first round KO of Fujimoto, but then again, he never had that
much power. Take Fujimoto by hard-fought decision.
Francisco
Filho vs. TOA 'The Samoan Beast'
Filho is a top K-1 fighter, take him by knockout, and nickname
cancellation, in two.
MMA matchups:
(MMA
Fights)
Genki Sudo vs. Eric 'Butterbean' Esch
For freak show rating, this might even surpass Sapp-Akebono.
Lord help little Genki if he falls to guard against Esch, whose
340-pound frame (or 320, or 380, depending on when he’s
last eaten) is twice his size. It might be an interesting object
lesson to see if an armbar or leg lock can be executed and implemented
properly against such a huge opponent (imagine Sudo going for
an omo plata against Bean’s pumpkin-sized shoulder), but
we’ll go with Sudo and the rear-naked choke in two rounds,
after some posing and general bizarre feeling out in the first.
It
should resemble a walrus fighting a terrier, albeit a terrier
with good submissions.
Other
fights on the card are mostly kickboxers doing MMA and serving
as filler for the night:
Alexey
Ignashov vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Cyril Abidi vs. Sylvester Terkay
David Khakhaleichivili vs. Yoshihiro Nakao
Tom Howard vs. Christopher Midoux
Jan Nortje vs. Masayuki Naruse
Source: Maxfighting |
Sakakibara
Press Conference
"There
is one Japanese fighter that I would like to face Sakuraba, no
matter what it takes, and I'd like for the media to help me."
That was what Dream Stage Entertainment's President Nobuyuki
Sakakibara had to say to reporters gathered at the 12/23 press
conference held at DSE headquarters. He didn't mention any names
but there's no doubt that he's talking about a tough-minded fighter
who wears red shorts.
Kondo versus Sperry, Minowa versus Rampage, Goodridge versus
Frye … it was right after Sakakibara announced these fights
that he really got warmed up. "There were rumors that Sakuraba's
opponent would be Rogerio Nogueira. Rogerio is definitely a candidate
but DSE feels that there is one guy even more appropriate for
this event. We've been constantly after him, asking him what
it would take to fight for us in this event. He's a Japanese
fighter. We at DSE will give our absolute best but we will need
the help of the fans and the media."
It
was an unusual statement. Even without saying a name, it's obvious
whom he's talking about. Sakuraba's mentor, PRIDE FC General
Director Nobuhiko Takada, admitted that he was a man among men.
To make this public appeal is a big gamble for PRIDE FC as they
are still in the negotiation-stage.
Asked
why the fighter didn't immediately accept the New Year's Eve
fight, Sakakibara replied, "I don't know. If he has a reason,
it's probably personal. He's not the kind of guy to be in a hurry
just because of the money or the size of the event. He doesn't
really like to fight in events with giant themes or with other
Japanese fighters. But, that's exactly why we want to see him."
Sakuraba
has already agreed to fight him. According to DSE, Sakuraba said
he would fight him even if it weren't finalized until the 30th.
If the negotiations fail though, there'll be nothing for him
to do but wait and it may be trouble for the company broadcasting
the event, Fuji Television. Realistically, negotiating up till
the day before the fight is impossible but according to Sakakibara,
he plans on pursuing this fighter until the last possible minute.
The
hardheaded guy with the red shorts has already refused DSE several
times, however, DSE has been refused by him before but was finally
able to successfully negotiate his appearance in the past. Sakakibara
says that he's going to keep on pushing the offer until he gets
thrown out of the negotiating room.
Sakuraba
versus the mystery fighter was the most requested match-up by
the fans participating in the 11/9 fan survey at the Tokyo Dome.
"This is one of the greatest Japanese match-ups ever, right
up there with Yoshida versus Tamura." Sakakibara continued,
"This is a card that I want to make happen at any cost."
President
Sakakibara has a lot on his mind. The eyes of the martial arts
world will be on the New Year's Eve fights. It seems his willingness
to do anything to help the MMA world led him to ask for assistance
from the media this time.
After
hearing about Sakuraba, the mystery fighter said, "If the
fans want it, the media wants it and we want it, and that voice
is loud enough, I'll fight." The fans want it, the media
wants it and his opponent, Sakuraba, wants it. The only thing
left is for him to make a decision.
Additionally,
President Sakakibara addressed the reports of the PRIDE FC Interim
Heavyweight Champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's appearance in
another event. "We received a request for that but we haven't
held any discussions. We've officially refused to let Fedor Emelianenko
participate but have decided to loan Semmy Schilt to them. DSE
wants to be helpful and share our strengths as much as possible
but they cannot continue to decide things in such a one-sided
manner. Nothing has been decided at all about Nogueira's appearance."
Source: Pride |
Shockwave
Press Conference
A press
conference was held on December 23rd at Dream Stage Entertainment's
headquarters to announce three fights for the upcoming December
31st PRIDE SHOCKWAVE 2003 show. Two former Pancrase fighters,
Ikuhisa Minowa and the current Pancrase Light-Heavyweight Champion,
Yuki Kondo, will stand in the PRIDE ring. Additionally, PRIDE
FC's gatekeeper, Gary Goodridge, will fight in his retirement
match.
The battle for the New Year's Eve spotlight continues and PRIDE
FC has started firing back, as some very big Japanese names will
be appearing on the SHOCKWAVE card.
Yuki
Kondo … He's Pancrase's fighter ace and defeated Sanae Kikuta
on 11/30 to become the "King Of Pancrase" Light-Heavyweight
Champion. After seeing the fight, DSE President Nobuyuki Sakakibara
declared it as the best Japanese vs. Japanese fight of the year.
His
opponent in PRIDE FC, is none other than the head of the Brazilian
Top Team, Mario Sperry. Sperry suffered a recent loss to the
younger Murilo "Ninja" Rua, but is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu
master with victories over such formidable opponents as Igor
Vovchanchyn, Wataru Sakata and Andrei Kopylov.
Although
Kondo's appearance was arranged rather quickly, he remains confident.
"I was already training as if I would have a fight. Nothing
changes because my opponent has been decided. My training theme
is to be able to fight anyone, anytime." Finally the curtain
will be opened and PRIDE FC fans will be able to see the flying-knee
and "the brute", Kondo's vicious left hook, that took
out Kikuta in one hit. It looks like Kondo may have his eyes
set on PRIDE FC's Middleweight Champion, Wanderlei Silva, too.
"I don't want to just have one fight and say, okay, that's
it. I want to connect this fight with something in the future."
If he gets through Sperry, Silva will be one step closer. Kondo
is generally thought of as being one of a very small handful
of Japanese fighters that have a chance at beating Silva.
The
second Pancrase fighter is the man who calls himself a "real
pro-wrestler", Ikuhisa Minowa. He left the Pancrase organization
in May of this year, traveled to Brazil and is now returning
to Japan to fight after a 6-month training session with the Brazilian
Top Team. "He is one of the best, young Japanese fighters,"
President Sakakibara commented about Minowa, "He went to
Brazil, without being able to speak the language, and successfully
trained with the Brazilian Top Team. That is no easy task. He
is a fighter that DSE has been after for a long time." The
President of his former organization, Ozaki, readily agreed to
his appearance and Minowa has earned his first chance to climb
into the PRIDE FC ring.
It
will not be an easy climb, however. His opponent will be Quinton
"Rampage" Jackson, who placed second in the PRIDE Grand
Prix 2003. President Sakakibara seems confident about the newest
fighter to PRIDE FC, "Minowa is 85kg and Rampage is 95kg.
There is a weight difference but if there is anyone who can make
up for it, it's Minowa." Minowa himself has long expressed
a desire to fight bigger opponents, "Pro-wrestlers have
to fight opponents of all sizes. A small guy's victory over a
huge guy is the greatest win."
Both
fighters are skillful in their use of the power-bomb and fans
will have to pay close attention to see which one will slam,
and which will be slammed.
Also
of interest in the Shockwave show, PRIDE FC's gatekeeper, Gary
Goodridge, active since PRIDE 1, is going to hold his retirement
fight. According to "Big Daddy," the damage he has
acquired over his years in fighting and the physical and mental
damage he received in his loss against Fedor in August brought
him to the decision to retire.
It
was Goodridge who brought the offer to DSE. "I want to fight
again. I want my last fight to be against someone tough."
His opponent, it turns out, is one of the toughest men alive,
Don Frye. Frye has lost only once in the UFC and as one of the
toughest guys in PRIDE FC, he had no choice but to accept. Both
sides agreed upon the fight very quickly. Said Goodridge, "With
Frye as my opponent, I'm sure it will be a fitting final match."
Gary Goodridge, a man who has devoted his life to PRIDE FC, will
step into the PRIDE FC ring and stand before his fans for the
final time as a true man and as PRIDE FC's gate keeper.
This
now brings the total number of matches for PRIDE SHOCKWAVE 2003
to six matches. Excluding Sakuraba, there are 2 more Japanese
fighters that may participate in the scheduled 10 fights. "I
want to start announcing the fights tomorrow, as soon as they
are finalized." (Pres. Sakakibara)
Source: Pride |
Quote
of the Day
"Treat
a man as he is and he will remain as he is.
Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he
can and should be."
Stephen Covey, American Speaker, Trainer, Author of ''The 7 Habits
of Highly Effective People''
|
Rumble
On The Rock 5 Results!
Edith Kanakaole Tennis Stadium, Hilo, Hawaii
December 27, 2003
By Chris Onzuka - Chris@Onzuka.com
(All
of these lovelies are Tahitian dancers and can shake some booty
like you wouldn't believe)
Rumble went back to the town that it originated, Hilo, Hawaii
and brought in some of the best production ever seen in Hawaii
for an MMA event. Light racks, two large screens, an entrance
ramp, smoke, fighter video introductions and instant replay treated
those who were in attendance at this event. The event brought
a full card of twelve matches and played the entire match between
BJ Penn and Takanori Gomi. The action started off with a 4-man
lightweight tournament with a fighter from BJ Penn's academy
and a fighter from Oahu's 808 Fight Factory meeting in the finals.
Some of the highlights were the war between Villapondo and Castro
with tons of reversals and even though Villapondo controlled
the match, you had the feeling that Castro could steal it from
Villapondo at any moment. Another came via KO from the hands
of Abraham Cortes-Kalaupa being delivered to Gaven Mata. The
finals of the lightweight tournament was also a war when Villapondo
fought off Robison's take down attempts or was able to fight
his way back up to his feet and pounded Robison, while Robison
was relentless with his take down attempts and had Villapondo
in some bad positions, keeping Villapondo on his toes for the
entire fight. The Sonnen-Moore fight was pretty uneventful, with
Sonnen peppering Moore for the whole fight and Moore getting
a few take downs, but not capitalizing on the positioning. The
judges made an error awarding the decision to Moore only for
the fight to be reviewed on tape at the request of Sonnen, causing
them to reverse their position on the fight, giving Sonnen the
victory.
Lightweight
Tournament Semi-Finals:
2 Rounds - 5 Minutes:
Abraham Robison (BJ Penn's MMAA) def. Jerry Saribay (Bull's Pen)
Submission due to rear naked choke at 3:00 minutes in Round 1.
Lightweight
Tournament Semi-Finals:
2 Rounds - 5 Minutes:
Robert Villapondo (808 Fight Factory) def. Ashton Castro (Young
Guns DeLuta Club)
Unanimous Decision [(20-17), (20-17), (20-17)] after 2 rounds.
2
Rounds - 5 Minutes:
Paul Laga (Bull's Pen) def. Eric Beach (BJ Penn's MMAA)
TKO, Beach could not answer Round 2.
2
Rounds - 5 Minutes:
Abraham Cortes-Kalaupa (BJ Penn's MMAA) def. Gavin Mata (Shirotaka
Kenpo & Kajukenbo)
KO (right upper cut) at 1:27 minutes in Round 1.
2
Rounds - 5 Minutes:
Mark Rodriguez (Rudy Valentino) def. Pete Sefo (808 Fight Factory)
Verbal submission due to strikes from the cross position at 20
seconds in Round 2.
2
Rounds - 5 Minutes:
DJ Delfin (BJ Penn's MMAA) def. Eric Devers (Shirotaka Kenpo
& Kajukenbo)
TKO, referee stoppage due to rear naked choke (Devers was about
to go unconscious) at 49 seconds in Round 1.
2
Rounds - 5 Minutes:
Mike Aina (BJ Penn's MMAA) def. Mike Bickers (Vendrell's Martial
Arts)
KO (right hook) at 22 seconds in Round 2.
Pro-X
Division: 3 Rounds - 3 Minutes (no grappling)
Kaleo Padilla (Koden Kan/Kona Boxing) def. Mark Moreno (Bull's
Pen)
Unanimous Decision [(30-26), (30-26), (30-27)] after 3 rounds.
2
Rounds - 5 Minutes:
Kaynan Kaku (BJ Penn's MMAA) def. Harris Sarmiento (808 Fight
Factory)
Unanimous Decision [(20-18), (20-18), (20-18)] after 2 rounds.
Lightweight
Tournament Finals
Tournament Finals:
2 Rounds - 5 Minutes:
Robert Villapondo (808 Fight Factory) def. Abraham Robison (BJ
Penn's MMAA)
Majority Decision [(20-17), (20-18), (19-19)] after 2 rounds.
Semi
Main:
2 Rounds - 5 Minutes:
Ross Ebanez (BJ Penn's MMAA) def. Shawn Beckett (Fusion Fight
Team)
Unanimous Decision [(20-18), (20-18), (20-18)] after 2 rounds.
Main
Event:
2 Rounds - 5 Minutes:
Chael Sonnen (Team Quest) def. Homer Moore (Brausa Academy)
Unanimous Decision [(20-18), (20-18), (20-18)] after 2 rounds.
|
AKEBONO
READY FOR THE BEAST
K-1 'Premium 2003 Dynamite'
December 31st, 2003
Nagoya Dome
Nagoya, Japan
"The
image of defeating Sapp? I usually dream about it." Akebono
told the media at a press conference. "Christmas present
for Sapp? I want to give him the video of my training."
Akebono is very confident predicting a knockout against The Beast.
The
lineup has been described as a circus by many media outlets as
Sapp vs Akebono and Genki Sudo vs Butterbean are the two matches
that highlight this strange card.
-
Christopher "Phoenix" Midoux vs. Tom Howard(MMA)
- Jan "The Giant" Nortje vs. Masayuki Naruse(MMA)
- David Khakhaleichivili (Judo) vs. Yoshihiro Nakao (amateur
wrestling)(MMA)
- Cyril Abidi vs. The Predator(MMA)
- Genki Sudo vs. Butterbean(MMA)
- Alexey Ignashov vs. Shinsuke Nakamura(MMA)
- Frans Botha vs. Yusuke Fujimoto(K-1)
- Francisco Filho vs. TOA(K-1)
- Ernesto Hoost vs. Montanha Silva(K-1)
- Bob Sapp vs. Akebono(K-1)
Source: MMA Weekly |
PRIDE
FC - First Japanese Event To Announce Full New Year's Card!
by: Marcello Tetel
PRIDE FC - SHOCKWAVE 2003
December 31, 2003
Saitama Super Arena Tokyo, Japan
The
air is beginning to clear in the Land of the Rising Sun, as PRIDE
FC becomes the first of the New Year's Eve events that announces
a full card. Still to be announced are Japan's K-1 and the Inoki
BOM BAY YE events, in what has been a brutal, cutthroat competition
for TV ratings. PRIDE has beaten the other events to the punch,
revealing their full plans just three days prior to the event
occuring.
There
are rumors of further changes in the air, mainly around the opponent
of Japanese star Kazushi Sakuraba. Rogerio Nogueira is the opponent
of record for Sakuraba, but there is word Rogerio may fight Murilo
'Ninja', and Sakuraba would face Matt Lindland instead. When
Rogerio Nogueira left Brazil on the 26th of December, he was
supposed to fight Kasushi Sakuraba, but in the back of his mind,
he was aware that Pride could change the match at the last minute,
due to the pressure of the TV ratings.
When
he left Brazil, Murilo Ninja did not have an official opponent
yet. Now, his opponent will be the last victim of his brother
Shogun, Akira Shoji.
ONe
of the first changes involved Mario Sperry, who was supposed
to fight Don Frye, but his opponent switched to Japanese star
Yuki Kondo.
There
is word that Ryan Gracie is out, and his spot goes to his cousin
Daniel Gracie.
Due
to the New Year's competitions and the pressure from Japanese
TV, this year seems more frenetic than usual. Another Japanese
star, Kiyoshi Tamura was mentioned as an opponent for Sakuraba
in what would have been a classic all-Japanese bout, but they
Tamura will face Ronny Sefo as of this time.
Pride
FC wisely signed as many Japanese fighters as possible for this
card. The only matchups wihout a japanese fighter are the retirement
match for Gary 'Big Daddy' Goodridge against Don Frye and the
Heath Herring versus 'Giant' Silva bout.
Former
SHOOTO star and champion Hayato Sakurai takes on fellow countryman
Daiju Takase, who comes off a big win against highly regarded
Anderson Silva.
COMPLETE
CARD:
- Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson v. Ikuhisa 'The Punk' Minowa
- Heath Herring v. 'Giant' Silva
- Hayato Sakurai v. Daiju Takase
- Murilo Ninja v. Akira Shoji
- Royce Gracie v. Hidehiko Yoshida
- Don Frye v. Gary 'Big Daddy' Goodridge
- Daniel Gracie v. Wataru Sakata
- Ze' Mario Sperry v. Yuki Kondo
- Kiyoshi Tamura v. Rony Sefo
- Kazushi Sakuraba v. Rogerio 'Minotouro' Noguiera
Source: ADCC |
ADCC
NEWS - TOP 10 MMA Competitors
Debut of the NEW LIST
MONTHLY
TOP TEN LIST RETURNS TO ADCC NEWS
For
2004, ADCC NEWS re-introduces it's TOP TEN MMA fighters list,
to be updated monthly. A panel of 6 delegates (1 from each continent)
contributed to the voting for ADCC's Top Ten. The 'unified' weight
categories used in the USA to categorize the competitors, resulting
in ratings for 6 weight categories.
END
OF YEAR / DECEMBER 2003 - ADCC's TOP TEN MMA FIGHTERS
under
145 lbs.
#1 Alexandre 'Pequeno' Nogueira (Brazil)
#2 Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto (Japan)
#3 Jens Pulver (Team EXTREME, USA)
#4 Joao Roque (Nova Uniao, Brazil)
#5 Stephen Palling (USA)
#6 Tetsuo Katsuta (Japan)
#7 Ivan Menjivar (Costa Rica)
#8 Cole Escovedo (USA)
#9 Hiroyuki Abe (Japan)
#10 Jeff Curran (USA)
145.1
- 155 lbs.
#1 Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro (Nova Uniao, Brazil)
#2 BJ Penn (USA)
#3 Duane 'Bang' Ludwig (USA)
#4 Yves Edwards (3rd Column, USA)
#5 Hermes Franca (American TOP TEAM, USA)
#6 Joachim Hansen (Team Scandinavia, Oslo, Norway)
#7 Takanori Gomi (SHOOTO, Japan)
#8 Genki Sudo (Japan)
#9 Matt Serra (Team Renzo Gracie, USA)
#10 Din Thomas (American TOP TEAM, USA)
155.1
- 170 lbs.
#1 Matt Hughes (Team EXTREME, USA)
#2 Carlos Newton (Canada)
#3 Sean Sherk (USA)
#4 Jutaro Nakao (Japan)
#5 Frank Trigg (USA)
#6 Robbie Lawler (Team EXTREME, USA)
#7 Ray Cooper (USA)
#8 Karo Parisyan (Team Gokor, USA)
#9 Chris Lytle (Integrated Fighting, USA)
#10 Nick Diaz (Cesar Gracie, USA)
170.1
- 185 lbs.
#1 Murilo Bustamante (Brazil)
#2 Anderson Silva (Brazil)
#3 Matt Lindland (USA)
#4 Kazushi Sakuraba (Japan)
#5 Evan Tanner (USA)
#6 Masanori Suda (SHOOTO Champion, Japan)
#7 Amar Suloev (Red Devil, Russia)
#8 Ricardo Almeida (Team Renzo Gracie, USA)
#9 Yuki Kondo (Japan)
#10 Denis Kang (Soares JJ, Canada)
185.1
- 205 lbs.
#1 Wanderlei Silva (Chute Boxe, Brazil)
#2 Randy Couture (UFC Champion, USA)
#3 Dan Henderson (USA)
#4 Tito Ortiz (USA)
#5 Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson (USA)
#6 Vitor Belfort (Brazil)
#7 Renato 'Babalu' (Brazil)
#8 Rich Franklin (Team EXTREME, USA)
#9 Ricardo Arona (Brazilian TOP TEAM, Brazil)
#10 Chuck Lidell (USA)
205.1
lbs and Up.
#1 - Emilianenko Fedor (Red Devil, Russia)
#2 - Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira (Brazilian TOP TEAM, Brazil)
#3 - Mirko Filipovic (Serbia)
#4 - Tim Sylvia (Team EXTREME, USA)
#5 - Josh Barnett (NJPW, USA)
#6 - Semmy Schilt (Holland)
#7 - Roman Zentsov (Red Devil, Russia)
#8 - Andrei Orlovski (Belarus)
#9 - Frank Mir (Pires JJ, USA)
#10 - Ibragim Magomedov (Red Devil, Russia)
Source: ADCC |
Royce
Gracie News
Royce Gracie Rules Meeting: Yoshida demands shorter fight!
Late
breaking news from Japan. In about 2 hours there will be a rules
meeting and word is that Hidehiko Yoshida is now demanding 2
x 10 minute rounds instead of 3 x 10 minute rounds. Royce's camp
commented: 'It is funny isn't it, at first they offered us unlimited
rounds and we accepted it, supposedly it was accepted by Yoshida.
Then it was going to be 3 x 10 minutes and we agreed. Yoshida
even commented that Royce is the one crying about the rules but
now he is the one, just two days before the fight, requesting
a shorter match! We have always asked for less interference and
more fighting! More rounds = more fighting!'
More
to come on this late breaking development as we get news directly
from Japan!
Royce
Gracie Training on Schedule
A
fiesty Royce Gracie told us today that his training and preparation
for the big rematch with Hidehiko Yoshida is going right according
to schedule. Cousin Rodrigo has arrived already and is adding
some great insight and new energy to the team. In Japan are also
Renzo, Ryan & Daniel (Ryan was there to fight until he got
hurt and replaced by Daniel) adding to the team of Royler, Rolker,
Nono, Evaldo & Pat!
According
to his camp Royce is ready for battle! Comes December 31st it
will be a war in the ring they promise.
Source: ADCC |
Josh
Barnett Interview
By Derek Callahan
On New
Year's Eve "The Baby Faced Assassin," Josh Barnett
will continue to march on in another defense of his King Of Pancrase
Open-weight title. Although now doing some work as a pro-wrestler,
his KOP title defense will be an MMA match against the near 7-foot-tall
Semmy Schilt - a rematch of their UFC 32 outing, which Barnett
won via armbar.
FCF:
Since your leave from the UFC what have you been up to?
Josh Barnett: 6'3" so nothing has really changed. Oh and
touring on the New Japan Pro-Wrestling circuit and still fighting
in MMA in between. I dabble.
FCF:
How does what you're doing now in Japan compare to the old UFC
fights?
JB: Well I have to say that I like the rules a lot better since
there is more freedom and I also like that most fights in Japan
are judged on damage and effectiveness to end the fight, not
control. It awards the guy trying to finish and as I have only
had 2 decisions in my career so far that's good news for me.
I do miss Big John though; he was a character, literally. I told
him that I couldn't stand his character in the UFC game. His
front kick would practically kill you with one hit and [is] almost
impossible to beat. Way too aggravating. So I told him that one
day I was going to turn and attack him during a fight one of
these days. Big John, I haven't forgotten all those times you
infuriated me through that video game and I know you had this
planned all from the beginning to drive me mad. I still have
my sanity and I will savor my revenge.
FCF:
PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko ran into some trouble
with PRIDE when he tried to fight in another show. It seems as
if many of the great heavyweights are in PRIDE where there are
good fights for you. Do you foresee any similar troubles in fighting
outside of Pancrase?
JB: No, because I signed my contract with Vaseline, which makes
it easy for me to slip out of my obligations and fight wherever
I choose.
FCF:
You're facing Semmy Schilt next for the KOP title, how has your
training been altered for this fight?
JB: Well this is something that never changes, but I can say
again that I always train the same except for some emphasis towards
a weakness in my opponent. I believe that I should be ready for
any and everything.
FCF:
What are the advantages/disadvantages of fighting someone in
a rematch?
JB: Simply the fact that you have already beaten them and they
stand to gain much more than you stand to lose externally as
well as internally. Of course you are both now more familiar
with each other's styles, but that's not always a factor because
sometimes there wasn't that much you could pick up from the fight.
Maybe it was over quick or either one was not able to utilize
their strengths. Still, going in with one over them is never
going to hurt.
FCF:
What was the driving force behind your accepting this bout?
JB: They asked and he said yes. Oh and a red-hot poker.
FCF:
This is your first top contender at your weight in a little while,
how do the emotions change while facing a known threat as compared
to a lighter and/or seemingly overmatched opponent?
JB: As a fighter I understand other fighters and their strength
a lot better than someone who isn't. Kondo, Takahashi, and Ambriz
were not weak or easy opponents and weight doesn't mean as much
as people make it out to. If I won quickly or dominated a fight
it isn't because my opponents aren't good, I just trained really
hard and did what I do better than they could do at what they
do. Before me, Ambriz was undefeated and KOTC Super-heavyweight
champ with all wins by finish and 60lbs heavier. Because I beat
him in the first round laymen want to cry "bum." Kondo
was smaller, but had fought many, many times at unlimited and
had defeated Semmy three times before. Takahashi was at the top
of his game when he showed up at Ultimate Crush 2 and is known
to be a real tough guy and weighed 210, which is heavyweight.
The only people who think that those guys weren't any good are
people who aren't training for a fight. Personally I don't take
people lightly and I don't care who ranks them where or what
weight or how great people talk of him. I can tell who can bring
it and who just sings it.
FCF:
You've submitted your last two opponents and have previously
beaten Schilt by armbar. Are these stats any hint at a possible
strategy?
JB: Hell no! I don't give hints or play twenty questions. You
never know what I'll do, except that it'll be as exciting as
possible. I have to say there aren't many who can claim to have
pulled off a rolling German suplex in a fight. In fact just two
I know of. Someone already did the giant swing, and [Bob] Sapp
used the powerbomb so maybe I'll try a Death Valley Bomb. What
the hell is that you say? Guess you'll have to watch.
FCF:
After Schilt, what's next for you?
JB: You buddy. Hot sauce eating contest with the gloves off.
Loser has to rub "the Bomb: Ground Zero" in his underwear
and wear it. Then maybe PRIDE, or really anywhere that will give
me the chance to show the most exciting fights in the world.
Source: FCF |
Lindland
Not Fighting Sakuraba
The
story below probably confirms what I did after talking to Chael
Sonnen and Rob (sorry, forgot his last name) of Team Quest who
said that when they left to go to Hawaii, Lindland was not planning
on fighting anyone in Japan.
LINDLAND TALKS ABOUT JAPAN ON MMAWEEKLY RADIO
Matt Lindland will be today's featured guest on MMAWeekly Radio.
Lindland had his bags packed ready for Japan to face Sakuraba,
but things changed over the weekend. Listen to what Lindland
had to say about the situation.
Source: MMA Weekly |
FEDOR
ARRIVES IN JAPAN TO FIGHT;
WILL
THERE BE LEGAL ACTION TO STOP THE FIGHT?
Despite
DSE coming out with a Press Release warning legal action against
Fedor, Yuji Nagata vs. Emelianenko Fedor was announced for Inoki's
12/31 Kobe Wing Stadium show on Nippon TV on Monday morning.
DSE
put out a press release a week ago saying they would take legal
action against Fedor if he fought on Inoki's show. Well it appears
Fedor will fight as he arrived in Japan on a secret trip at Kansai
International Airport. According to Zack Arnold "Fedor met
and hugged Miro Mijatovic, his power agent. The two left in a
car immediately from the airport. Initially, there was only a
limited press pool at the airport to see Fedor's brother, Alexander,
arrive for the Kobe show. However, when Fedor showed up, it caused
a big stir. At first, the reasoning was he was going to second
his brother. Then the story started changing. That's the story.
A press conference will take place on Tuesday with Fedor and
Nagata present."
Source: MMA Weekly |
BARNETT
VS SCHILT II
Last time we saw Josh Barnett battle Semmy Schilt was at UFC
32 at the Meadowlands as Barnett used an armbar to finish Semmy.
Now two years later the same two fighters meet again in a MMA
fight on Inoki's show.
Barnett
has spent much time in fighting in MMA. He has fought in MMA
three times this year with wins against Jimmy Ambriz, Yuki Kondo
and Yoshiki Takahashi.
Barnett
has flourished in his pro wrestling career for New Japan Pro
Wrestling. He is up for a few awards by many members of the Japenese
Media including Rookie of the Year and Newcomer of the Year in
Professional Wrestling. He will focus on going 4-0 this year
in MMA and there could be a future fight against Minotauro Nogueira
sometime in 2004.
INOKI
BOM BA YE 2003
Inoki
Bom-Ba-Ye update
December 31st, 2003
Kobe Wing Stadium
Kobe, Japan
Main
Event (winner gets $900,000/mixed-MMA rules):
- Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Ray Mercer
- Josh Barnett vs. Semme Schiltt
- Stefan Leko vs. Kazunari Murakami
- Rene Rooze vs. Tadao Yasuda
- LYOTO (Ryoto Machida) vs. Rich Franklin
- Din Thomas vs. Amar Suloev
- Emelianenko Alexander vs. Angelo Araujo
- Hiromi Amada vs. TBA (expected to be Pedro Rizzo)
Source: MMA Weekly |
DIN
AND A.T.T. MAKE IT TO JAPAN
Din Thomas and his American Top Team crew has made it to Japan
and Din said his training has been going very well for his upcoming
fight against Amar Suloev.
American
Top Team teammate, Ricardo Liborio makes his return to MMA facing
Tadao Yasuda also on the card. Thomas told MMAWeekly "It's
great to see Liborio fight. He is one of the best in the world
and it will be cool to see him in there doing his thing.".
Thomas
will try to do his thing against the much bigger Suloev. Din
also mentioned that he isn't putting on much weight for this
fight. It looks as though he plans on weighing around 160 because
he didn't want to lose any speed by "bulking" up for
this fight. He believes Suloev will weigh somewhere around 190.
When
asked why he is doing it. Din said "I'm a fighter, that's
what I do." Thomas alluded that he was receiving a very
good pay day which was double what he has made in previous fights.
Source: MMA Weekly |
PRIDE
SP PREVIEW:
DOES MINOWA HAVE A CHANCE AGAINST JACKSON?
So it's the big question to the Japanese fans. Does Minowa have
a chance against Quinton Jackson? A chance? Yes. A prayer....not
likely.
Minowa
is one of the most charasmatic Japanese fighters in the game
today. He has been in there with some tough guys, but the biggest
problem is the fact that he hasn't beaten too many of the "big
names." Jackson on the other hand has been absolutely dominant
as of late, with his only loss to Vanderlei Silva in a stretch
that included Vovchanchyn, Randleman, Bustamante and Liddell.
With
that said Minowa is one of the most exciting fighters in MMA,
and you know the veteran, will get after it in the fight. It's
unfortunate that Minowa isn't fighting someone closer to the
185 pound range for this fight like a Renzo Gracie, but none
the less you know he will try to bring the fight to Quinton.
MINOWA
FILE: Detailed Record
-Loss
Yuzo Tateishi Decision 3-30-1996
-Win Haygar Chin Submission (Kneebar) Pancrase - 7-20-1997
- Loss Satoshi Hasegawa Decision (Unanimous) Pancrase - 7-21-1997
- Loss Yuki Kondo Submission (Toe Hold) Pancrase - 8-9-1997
- Draw Kousei Kubota Draw Pancrase - 9-6-1997
- Loss Takafumi Ito Submission (Toe Hold) Pancrase -10-29-1997
- Loss Osami Shibuya Decision (Lost Points) Pancrase - 11-16-1997
- Loss Jason Delucia Submission (Choke) Pancrase - 12-20-1997
- Loss Satoshi Hasegawa Submission (Leg Lock) Pancrase - 1-16-1998
- Loss Satoshi Hasegawa Decision (Majority) Pancrase - 4-26-1998
- Win Adrian Serrano Decision (Lost Points) Pancrase - 6-2-1998
- Draw Kousei Kubota Draw Pancrase - 6-21-1998
- Loss Evan Tanner Submission (Triangle Choke) Pancrase - 7-7-1998
- Draw Travis Fulton Draw Pancrase - 10-4-1998
- Win Daisuke Ishii Decision (Unanimous) Pancrase - 10-26-1998
- Win Satoshi Hasegawa Submission (Armbar) Pancrase - 11-29-1998
- Win Daisuke Watanabe Submission (Armbar) Pancrase - 1-19-1999
- Win Daisuke Ishii Decision (Majority) Pancrase - 2-11-1999
- Win Kousei Kubota Decision (Unanimous) Pancrase - 3-9-1999
- Draw Susumu Yamasaki Draw Daidojuku - 4-8-1999
- Draw Osami Shibuya Draw Pancrase - 5-23-1999
- Loss Jason Delucia Decision (Unanimous) Pancrase - 6-11-1999
- Win Daiju Takase Submission (Triangle Choke) Pancrase - 8-1-1999
- Win Daisuke Watanabe (Triangle Choke) Pancrase - 8-2-1999
- Win Minoru Toyonaga (Rear Naked Choke) Pancrase - 8-2-1999
- Loss Semmy Schilt Decision (Unanimous) Pancrase - 9-18-1999
- Win Adrian Serrano Submission (Heel Hook) Pancrase - 10-25-1999
- Draw Chris Lytle Draw Pancrase - 12-18-1999
-Win Massive Ichi Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Pancrase - 2-27-2000
-Win Joe Slick TKO (Cut) UFC 25 - 4-14-2000
-Win Masaya Kojima Submission (Toe Hold) Pancrase - 7-23-2000
-Win Tony Ross Submission (Armbar) 7-23-2000
-Win Brian Gassaway Submission (Toe Hold) Pancrase - 2000 Anniversary
Show 9-24-2000
- Loss Keiichiro Yamamiya Decision (Unanimous) Pancrase - 9-24-2000
- Win Magomed Ismailov Submission (Armbar) Pancrase - 12-4-2000
- Draw Ricardo Liborio Draw DEEP 2001 - 1-8-2001
- Loss Paulo Filho Decision (Unanimous) Pancrase - 3-31-2001
- Win Yuki Sasaki Submission (Toe Hold) Pancrase - 5-13-2001
- Win Kenji Akiyama Submission (Guillotine Choke) Pancrase -
7-29-2001
- Loss Sanae Kikuta TKO (Cut) Pancrase - 9-30-2001
- Win Hiroshi Shibata TKO (Cut) Pancrase - 12-1-2001
- Win Kazuki Okubo Submission (Armbar) DEEP 2001 -12-23-2001
- Draw Yoshinori Momose Draw Pancrase 3-25-2002
- Loss Mitsuyoshi Sato Decision (Majority) Pancrase - 5-28-2002
- Loss Kiyoshi Tamura Decision (Unanimous) DEEP 2001 - 9-7-2002
- Win Yuki Sasaki Decision (Majority) Pancrase - 11-30-2002
- Loss Ricardo Almeida Decision (Unanimous) Pancrase - 2-16-2003
-Win Silmar Rodrigo Submission (Leglock) -9-19-2003
Source: MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"The best way to predict the future is to create it."
Peter Drucker, 1909-, American Management Consultant, Author
|
Rumble
On The Rock 5 Tonight!
Hilo, Hawaii
December 27, 2003
Eric
Beach (BJ Penn's MMAA) Vs Paul Laga (Bull's Pen)
Abraham
Robison (BJ Penn's MMAA) Vs Jerry Saribay (Bull's Pen)
Robert
Villapondo (808 Fight Factory) VS Ashton Castro (Young Guns DeLuta
Club)
Abraham
Kalaupa (Freelance) VS Gavin Mata (Shirotaka Kenpo & Kajukenbo)
Pete
Sefo (808 Fight Factory) VS Mark Rodriguez (Rudy Valentino)
Lightweight
Tournament Finals
Mike
Aina (BJ Penn's MMAA) VS Mike Bickers (Vendrell's Martial Arts)
DJ
Delfin (BJ Penn's MMAA) vs. Eric Devers (Shirotaka Kenpo &
Kajukenbo)
Kaleo
Padilla (Koden Kan/Kona Boxing) VS Mark Moreno (Bull's Pen)
Kaynan
Kaku (BJ Penn's MMAA) VS Harris Sariento (808 Fight Factory)
Semi
Main:
Ross Ebanez (BJ Penn's MMAA) VS Shawn Beckett (Fusion Fight Team)
Main
Event:
Chael Sonnen (Team Quest) VS Homer Moore (Brausa Academy)
|
INOKI
ANNOUNCES MORE MATCHES
Inoki has been making recent announcements to his upcoming card.
Yesterday Inoki met with a few reporters about the Fujita vs
Mercer fight, as well as Stefan Leko fighting against Murakami.
Here's what the card now looks like.
Inoki
Bom-Ba-Ye
December 31st, 2003
Kobe Wing Stadium
Kobe, Japan
Scheduled
matchups:
Josh Barnett vs. Semmy Schilt
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira vs. Yuji Nagata
Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Ray Mercer
Stefan Leko vs. Kazunari Murakami
Ricardo Liborio vs. Tadao Yasuda
Rich Franklin vs. Ryoto Machida
Alistair Overeem vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Amar Suloev vs. Din Thomas
Source: MMA Weekly |
TYSON
WILL BE APART OF K-1 SHOW
It looks like Mike Tyson will be a part of the next K-1 event.
MMAWeekly's Scott Petersen reports from Japan that K-1 is going
to use Tyson via satellite to be used as a color commentator
on the Bob Sapp vs Akebono fight. Tyson is rumored to be the
man facing the winner so they will try to build this as an angle
for a future fight.
Also
they are changing rules for the upcoming Butterbean vs. Genki
Sudo fight. They have changed the round limits. The orginial
rules were to have three five minute rounds. They have no removed
a round to make it two five minute rounds which should help Butterbean.
K-1
'Premium 2003 Dynamite'
December 31st, 2003
Nagoya Dome
Nagoya, Japan
K-1
matchups:
Bob Sapp vs. Akebono
Ernesto Hoost vs. 'Montanha' Silva
Shannon Briggs vs. TBA
Francois Botha vs. Yusuke Fujimoto
Francisco Filho vs. TOA 'The Samoan Beast'
MMA
matchups:
Alexey Ignashov vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Genki Sudo vs. Eric 'Butterbean' Esch
Cyril Abidi vs. Sylvester Terkay
David Khakhaleichivili vs. Yoshihiro Nakao
Tom Howard vs. Christopher Midoux
Jan Nortje vs. Masayuki Naruse
Source: MMA Weekly |
Alessio/Santiago
battle for KOTC Welterweight belt
by: Keith Mills
Sunrise, FL - The next King Of The Cage event will take place
January 24th at the Office Depot Center, featuring two title
matches and a Superfight. One of the title matches is for the
Welterweight belt.
It’s
American Top Team taking on Bad Intentions for the Welterweight
belt as Jorge Santiago of ATT challenges current champion John
Alessio in his first Welterweight title defense. 2002 was Alessio’s
biggest year so far, with a win over Chris Brennan for the Superfight
title and a debut in Pride bringing his 2002 record to 5-0. This
year he lost his UCC (now TKO) Welterweight belt to Jason Black
by decision and won the KOTC Welterweight belt by defeating Ronald Jhun, both by decision
bringing his 2003 MMA record to 1-1. Looking back on his career
in the past three years, about the time he moved to California
and started to train with Millennia Jiu-Jitsu, his one loss was
by decision while of his seven wins 58% have been by KO or TKO,
28% have been by submission, and 14% have been by decision.
Jorge
Santiago of the American Top Team has some of the best trainers
and highly skilled teammates with which to work, but has a more
checkered career since his debut in March. Santiago started out
this year with two wins in HOOKnSHOOT by KO and submission in
March and July. In his KOTC debut in August he lost by KO to
Manvel Gamburyan in 0:31. From there Santiago picked up wins
against Derrick Noble and Laverne Clark before losing to Keith
Wisniewski by TKO in AFC December. That brings Santiago to 4-2
for the year. Breaking it down by statistics Santiago’s
two losses have been by KO or TKO while 50% of his wins have
been by submission, 25% by KO, and 25% by decision.
Although
it would be inaccurate to describe this fight as a striker versus
a grappler, there is no doubt Santiago’s style is grappling
based while Alessio has preferred the stand-up game. With Alessio’s
two decisions this year against other up-and-comers with a grappling
base and Santiago’s 33% KO/TKO loss record this one looks
to either end fast or go to a decision. Either way chances are
it won’t end in a submission.
Source: ADCC |
Minotouro
In, Minotauro Out
Rogério 'Minotouro' faces Sakuraba in Pride
by Gleidson Venga / Team Tatame
It´s confirmed! One fight on the Pride event scheduled
for December 31st will feature Rogério 'Minotouro' Nogueira
taking on Japanese idol Kazushi Sakuraba. The match was confirmed
last week and the Brazilian is has already undergone intensive
preparation!
'The
match was confirmed a bit late, almost with no time, but I will
give get there at least 98%.' states the 'Minotouro'.
Even
knowing he will face a very versatile opponent, Rogério
will go to hit him! He states 'I think I will fight with him
standing, I´m not going to bring it to the ground, I will
fight against him standing all the time. Sakuraba is a good guy,
I have wanted to fight him for years, he´s someone who
you can fight standing.'
Minotouro´s
champion brother promises a victory as well, and Minotouro also
speaks about the Japanese star's reputation as a brazilian´s
hangman. 'I will do my best to beat him, since he has disappointed
many Brazilians in the past. He made jokes about the Brazilians
and now it´s time for us to hit him real hard. It´s
Brazilian revenge and I want to return the favor to him. I hope
everybody is supporting me, because I´m going there to
win and give my best.'
This
match will certainly be one to watch come New Year's...
'Minotauro'
out of Inoki Bom Ba Ye
by: Marcello Tetel
Despite
several rumors that reported Pride FC's interim Heavyweight champion
Antonio 'Minotauro' Nogueira as fighting on the new year's eve
INOKI BOM BAY YE event, it seems that PRIDE and Inoki's organizations
could not reach an agreement.
Minotauro's
participation in the show was never confirmed 100%, although
'Minotauro' was reportedly in the process of getting his visa
for Japan, looking to perfom in the Inoki Bom Ba Ye show against
Japanesse pro wrestler Yuji Nagata. It seems that DSE and Inoki's
production did not agree about Pride Champion fighting for a
different organization, specially now with a TV audience war
going on.
'Minotauro'
was scheduled to leave Rio de Janeiro for Japan already, along
with his teammate Angelo Araujo, who will be facing Alexander
Emilianenko. Going to Japan with Araujo will be coached Bebeo
Duarte and Paulo Nikolai.
Source: ADCC |
Minotauro
guesses Minotouro's fight
"A crossed punch and end." This is what the Pride's
heavyweight champion Rodrigo Minotauro said about his brother
Rogério Minotouro's fight at Pride on December 31st in
Japan. Minotouro will face the Japanese idol Sakuraba and Minotauro
is sure about the final result. "Is it going to be a hard
fight. I cannot tell you how many rounds, but if Minotouro fights
half of what he has been training, I am sure he will win Sakuraba",
said Minotauro.
The twin brother confirms that he has never seen Minotouro so
confident in his life. "Rogério is recovering himself
and he is not 100% prepared yet, but since he found out he would
fight Sakuraba he has been training hard. In our new house, he
weak up early and start to do some jogging on the street. I am
amazed", stated Minotauro.
Source: Tatame |
SAKURABA
VS LINDLAND
MMAWeekly's Scott Petersen reports from Japan that it looks like
Sakuraba will face Matt Lindland in the upcoming Pride show in
Japan.
Petersen
talked with a few members who have been training with Sakuraba
and they confirmed the match to Petersen that it has been discussed
and looks to be signed today.
Matt
Lindland has been training, working with team mate Randy Couture,
getting Couture ready to go for his fight against Vitor Belfort
this month, so it's believed Lindland is in shape for the fight.
Once again Petersen breaks the story that Lindland vs Sakuraba
looks good to go for December 31st
Source: MMA Weekly |
RENZO
GRACIE ON WRESTLING: ALL STYLES COME DOWN TO A FIGHT, AND WE
ARE FIGHTERS
by: Eddie Goldman/ADCC Wrestling Editor
Having covered countless live events in the many disciplines
and styles that constitute the combat sports, it has always bothered
me that I rarely see the same groups of people at events which
feature these different styles. I regularly see boxing people
who still stare quizzically when I tell them that I cover wrestling,
even after explaining that it is real wrestling to which I refer.
There are still plenty of wrestling people who bristle at the
mention of any type of combat sport involving striking, be it
boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, or any other. And there
are people who frequent one or a few styles of grappling events,
but who do not venture down the road to witness wrestling. You
can add any combination of your own, and the problem will probably
still exist.
So
it was with added pleasure last Saturday when I turned around
at the New York Athletic Club Christmas Wrestling Championships
and ran into an old friend whom I am always delighted to see:
NHB and jiu-jitsu legend Renzo Gracie.
'I
can't believe how many wrestlers in good shape there are,' he
said with awe while looking at the competitors grinding away
at each other on the mat. 'So I'm having a great time, and it's
nice to see such unbelievable athletes here.'
Renzo
continued on about the way he was so impressed with the conditioning
of the wrestlers.
'What
I like a lot about them is the discipline of training,' he said.
'It's amazing. To get in such good shape, you have to really
dedicate a lot of your time into it.' He thus saw the wrestlers'
conditioning as something that the jiu-jitsu competitors should
emulate.
'Even
though we are now having a lot of guys who are getting into unbelievable
good physical condition, definitely they should have looked forward
to be athletes like those people here. They would make their
game much better,' he stated.
Unlike
jiu-jitsu in the U.S., however, wrestling already has a network
in place in the schools, as well as support on the national level
through the Olympic Training Center and the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Renzo
said that jiu-jitsu can match this kind of support. 'I can see
the jiu-jitsu, even the sport jiu-jitsu, is able to raise that
kind of money,' he argued. He urged 'the promoters to look into
it and make it happen. This will be possible, I think.'
Even
at this event, the crossover in the combat sports was obvious.
The tournament's freestyle heavyweight champion, Steve Mocco,
has been a judo player, and his array of foot sweeps showed it.
Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler Kevin Bracken, in attendance here
though sidelined with an injury, has fought on several mixed
martial arts shows. Yet the organizations running these sports
do not have much cooperation, a situation Renzo agreed should
change.
'I
believe everything comes down to one point: All those styles
come down to a fight. So we are fighters. They are fighters,'
he analyzed. 'So it's just a matter of time before we find the
perfect rules for everybody and the perfect style for everybody.'
He
continued, 'Fighting is the most entertaining sport ever. It's
much better than any other sport. And it's much better than any
ball game or anything like that. So it's just a matter of time
before it becomes huge. And I can see that in the near future.
I hope I'm still alive to see myself fighting on those kind of
competitions.'
For
himself, however, he will be taking an involuntary break.
'I
had a torn ACL,' he explained. 'It happened to me the last time
I fought in Pride, against Carlos Newton. So I'm going to be
taking a little vacation.'
But
he does not see that as simply a bad thing. 'On one hand, I won't
be able to train,' he said. 'But on the other, I will be able
to eat whatever I want, and to have sex as many times as I want,'
he added with a laugh. 'The good and the downside.'
One
of Renzo's protégés, Ricardo Almeida, has also
added to his fighting arsenal by training with wrestlers. 'Ricardo
is in unbelievable shape. He's training with a lot of good wrestlers,
and he's putting up an unbelievable fight,' said Renzo. 'He fought
the last King of Pancrase against Nathan [Marquardt].' On November
30 in Tokyo, Ricardo Almeida defeated Nathan Marquardt by a choke
at 4:53 of the first round to become the 4th Middleweight King
of Pancrase. 'It was an unbelievable fight that he came out as
the winner. So I'm very proud of him,' said Renzo.
But,
at least as of last Saturday, it was still not clear if Renzo's
controversial brother, Ryan Gracie, would be fighting on Dec.
31 at the Pride New Year's Eve show at the Saitama Super Arena
in Japan.
'Ryan
is not feeling so good,' Renzo said. 'He's having a problem in
his ribs, and I don't know if he's going to be fighting. It's
still not decided yet. But Royce is fighting his rematch against
the Japanese judo champion [Yoshida]. It's going to be fun for
some Gracies in Japan having sushi, and for the others it will
be eggnog here in America and New Jersey.'
For
himself, Renzo said that he intends to resume his own fighting
career as soon as possible. 'I want to see how my knee will come
out of this operation,' he said. 'And I will definitely be looking
forward to fight again. There's nothing that I like more than
fighting, so I can't wait to be in the ring again.'
Before
we started speaking, we had a photo taken by Gary Abbott of USA
Wrestling with 1984 Olympic gold medalist and U.S. National Greco-Roman
Coach Steve Fraser, 2000 Olympic gold medalist and 2001 World
Champion Rulon Gardner, 2000 Olympic wrestler Kevin Bracken,
and Renzo and myself.
'That
picture was my pleasure,' commented Renzo. 'I felt small near
those giants of this amazing American sport. And it's a great
pleasure.'
Also,
I must admit, Renzo was quite glad to run into me: 'It's a pleasure
to be here. Especially I couldn't believe what my eyes saw, my
dear friend Eddie Goldman.'
And
hopefully we will all start to run into all sorts of people from
the various combat sports at all sorts of different events. On
this wish, Renzo concluded, 'I agree with you 100 percent.'
--
Eddie Goldman, wrestlingeditor@yahoo.com
Source: ADCC |
Now
or never for the UFC?
The UFC
has always been the premier MMA organization in America. Indeed,
its name ("Ultimate Fighting") is a common synonym
for mixed martial arts. Since most people think that "as
the fate of the UFC goes, so goes the fate of MMA in America,"
I thought I would take a quick look at where the UFC stands heading
into the new year.
And,
to be truthful, as I look at the promotion I see a lot of problems.
First
and foremost, where is the T.V. deal? I predict that the UFC
as we know it will be dead if it does not land a deal to broadcast
a regular show on a major cable network in 2004. It will either
close up shop or be sold to a new owner. After more than three
years under Zuffa management, the UFC is supposedly still in
the red on its shows, all of which are on PPV and some of which
have had earned in excess of a million dollars at the live gates.
When you couple those losses with the UFC's inability to significantly
grow the PPV audience, you can see that things cannot continue
like this forever.
The
only thing that can turn those bad numbers around is a weekly
T.V. show that pumps up interest in the PPV events. People in
the T.V. industry will tell you that you can get such a show
any time you want if you are willing to pay for it. But, paying
to air a show requires faith that you will make a return on your
investment through merchandising, PPV, advertising, branding,
etc. Zuffa obviously does not have faith that it can make back
its money. Nor has it had the ability to sell its show to any
network. So, for now, we sit and wait to see if any network will
take a chance on the UFC.
The
failure to grow the PPV audience has been exacerbated by the
UFC's match making. The UFC has demonstrated no ability to build
up fighters in the public's eye in order to create interest in
its shows. Some fighters, such as Sakurai and Frank Trigg, have
made their UFC debuts in championship fights. How is the general
public supposed to get pumped up for a championship fight if
it has never seen the challenger? I know that hardcore MMA fans
know who these guys are and why they are great. But, that does
not mean squat when it comes to building a PPV audience.
Moreover,
the UFC does not appear to have well thought-out criteria for
deciding whether the a fighter will continue to appear it its
shows or get dropped. Really, the only thing certain about a
UFC fighter's future is that if he asks for more money, especially
if he is a champion, he will be shown the door (see Jens Pulver,
Josh Barnett and Murillo Bustamante). A UFC contract does not
seem to depend on wins or exciting fights, but rather on the
mood of UFC management. Murillo Bustamante, who was exciting,
ridiculously talented and the champion at 185 lbs. (the exact
kind of guy you want for your promotion), was shown the door
because he dared to say that he wanted to see what his market
value was when his contract expired. The UFC has to decide whether
wins or exciting fights will keep a fighter in the UFC (I vote
for exciting fights, myself). Its current system just does not
cut it.
The
discussion of champions being shown the door, of course, leads
to another major issue for the UFC. Right now it has no champion
at 155 lbs., 185 lbs. or heavyweight. The UFC does not even have
a marketable pool of good heavyweights (with the exception of
Frank Mir and maybe Andrei Arlovski) - most of who are fighting
in Japan for Pride. The fact that the UFC ended the year with
five weight classes and only two champions speaks to an incredible
lapse in management and planning. Plus, if the the UFC follows
through on its apparent intent to drop the 155 lb. championship,
despite the fact that this division one of its few areas of strength,
well . . . you probably already know my thoughts about that.
In
its defense, the UFC has complained that it simply cannot feature
enough fighters on its PPV shows to support all its weight classes.
But, the UFC cannot explain why, then, it never created a feeder
show or at least aligned with another promotion to act as its
official feeder. Imagine this . . . during a break in the UFC
action, the PPV telecast shows a highlight from a couple of fights
at its latest feeder show, and hypes the winning fighters who
will be appearing in the next UFC. At the next UFC, the UFC shows
the same highlights to remind the audience why it got excited
three months ago. All of a sudden we have interest in new fighters,
and there are tons more slots open to fighters who are angling
to get on (or stay on) the UFC's cards.
The
bottom line is that the UFC has blown the momentum it created
when Zuffa took control, helped get MMA sanctioned in Nevada
and returned the show to cable PPV. Unless the UFC turns the
corner this year, when they write the story about Zuffa's management
it will most likely be a story of missed opportunities and mismanagement.
What will make the story even sadder is that the failure of the
UFC could end up crippling the sport of MMA in America for years
to come. UPDATE: "Insiders" who have read this article
have told me that we should be hearing some big UFC news within
the next week or two. Lets hope it helps bring the much needed
spike in PPV ratings.
Source: Whaledog |
Quote
of the Day
"Your enthusiasm will be infectious, stimulating and attractive
to others. They will love you for it. They will go for you and
with you."
Norman Vincent Peale 1898-1993, American Christian Reformed Pastor,
Speaker, Author
|
Delay
in News?
Due to extraneous circumstances, our news page may not be updated
for a day or two. Mike flying to Kauai today and I will be in
Hilo for Rumble tomorrow. If I can get an Internet connection,
the page will be updated, but if not it might not be updated
until later Sunday when I fly back. We apologize for the inconvenience. |
Rumble
On The Rock Tomorrow!
Here are the fighter profiles courtesy of the Rumble staff
(I think Jodi gathered this)
Fight 12
Main Chael Sonnen VS Homer Moore
Name: Chael Sonnen
Nickname:
School: Team Quest
Record: 7-2-1
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 205 lbs
Strengths: Wrestling
City: Portland
State: Oregon
Name:
Homer Moore
Nickname: The Rock
School: Brausa Academy
Record: 19-3-2
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 205 lbs
Strengths: Submissions, Takedowns, Strength
City: Phoenix
State: Arizona
Fight
11 Semi Main: Ross Ebanez VS Shawn Beckett
Name: Ross Ebanez
Nickname: DA BOSS
School: BJ Penn's Mixed Martial Arts
Record: 4-1-0
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 170 lbs
Strengths: Submissions, Striking
City: Hilo
State: Hawaii
Name:
Shaun Beckett
Nickname:
School: Fusion Fight Team
Record: 4-3-0
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 170 lbs
Strengths: Submissions
City: Chico
State: California
Fight
10 Kaynan Kaku VS Harris Sariento
Name: Kaynan Kaku
Nickname: The Barbarian
School: BJ Penn's Mixed Martial Arts Academy
Record: 3-0-0
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 155 lbs
Strengths: Submissions
City: Hilo
State: Hawaii
Name:
Harris Sariento
Nickname:
School: 808 Fight Factory
Record: 9-3-0
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 155 lbs
Strengths: Submissions, Kickboxing
City: Honolulu
State: Hawaii
Fight
9 Kaleo Padilla VS Mark Moreno
Name:
Kaleo Padilla
Nickname: "The Pervert"
School: Koden Kan/Kona Boxing
Record: 6-3-0
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 185 lbs
Strengths: Boxing
City: Kona
State: Hawaii
Name:
Mark Moreno
Nickname:
School: Bullspen
Record: 3-4
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 170
Strengths: Boxing/Wrestling
City: Honolulu
State: HI
Fight
8 DJ Delfin vs. Eric Devers
Name:
DJ Delfin
Nickname: Different Level
School: BJ Penn's Mixed Martial Arts Academy
Record: Debut
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 140 lbs
Strengths: Boxing, Grappling
City: Hilo
State: Hawaii
Name:
Eric Devers
Nickname:
School: Shirotaka Kenpo & Kajukenbo
Record: 1-1
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 150
Strengths: Strikes and legs, Hands and feet
City: Ludington
State: MI
Fight
7 Mike Aina VS Mike Bickers
Name: Mike Aina
Nickname:
School: BJ Penn's Mixed Martial Arts Academy
Record: Debut
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 155 lbs
Strengths: Kickboxing, Submissions
City: Hilo
State: Hawaii
Name:
Mike Bickers
Nickname:
School: Vendrell's Martial Arts
Record: 0-1
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 155 lbs
Strengths: Kickboxing, Submissions
City: Kona
State: Hawaii
Fight
6 Lightweight Tournament Finals
Winners of Fight 2 and 3
Fight
5
Pete Sefo VS Mark Rodriguez
Name: Pete Sefo
Nickname:
School: 808 Fight Factory
Record: Debut
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 360 lbs
Strengths: Boxing
City: Honolulu
State: Hawaii
Name:
Mark Rodriguez
Nickname:
School: Rudy Valentino
Record: Debut
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 330 lbs
Strengths: Kickboxing
City: Hilo
State: Hawaii
Fight
4
Next Fight Abraham Kalaupa VS Gavin Mata
Name: Abraham Kalaupa
Nickname:
School:
Record: Debut
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 135 lbs
Strengths: Boxing
City: Hilo
State: Hawaii
Name:
Gavin Mata
Nickname:
School: Shirotaka Kenpo & Kajukenbo
Record: Debut
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 135
Strengths: The Lord Above
City: Hilo
State: HI
Fight
3 Robert Villapondo VS Ashton Castro
Name: Robert Villapondo
Nickname:
School: 808 Fight Factory
Record: Debut Fight
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 155
Strengths: Wrestling
City: Honolulu
State: Hawaii
Name:
Ashton Castro
Nickname:
School: Young Guns DeLuta Club
Record: Debut
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 155
Strengths: Boxing
City: Hilo
State: HI
Fight
2 Abraham Robison Vs Jerry Saribay
Name:
Abraham Robison
Nickname: The Wolverine
School: BJ Penn's Mixed Martial Arts Academy
Record: Debut Fight
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 155
Strengths: Wrestling, submissions
City: Hilo
State: Hawaii
Song: Linkin Park "Faint"
Name:
Jerry Saribay
Nickname:
School: Bullspen
Record: Debut
Height:
Weight: 155
Strengths: Boxing
City: Honolulu
State: Hawaii
Fight
1 Eric Beach Vs Paul Laga
Name:
Eric Beach
Nickname: Animal
School: BJ Penn's Mixed Martial Arts Academy
Record: 0-1
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 155
Strengths: Jiu-jitsu
City: Hilo
State: Hawaii
Name:
Paul Laga
Nickname:
School: Bullspen
Record: 0-2
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 155
Strengths: Wrestling
City: Honolulu
State: Hawaii
|
2004
Arnold World Gracie Submission Championships
The 2004 Arnold World Gracie Submission Championships website
is available for online registration and general information
www.gracieworlds.com. Please note that we have added both a Professional
Black Belt and Brown belt competition to next years event!
Source: ADCC |
UNPRECEDENTED
AND UNDISPUTED!
SUGAR SHANE
MOSLEY vs. WINKY WRIGHT
by: Fred Sternburg
WINNER
TAKE ALL IN 'THE WAR AT 154!' MARCH 13 - MANDALAY BAY RESORT
& CASINO
'HBO WORLD CHAMPIONHIP BOXING'
LAS
VEGAS, NV (December 24, 2003) - Gary Shaw announced today that
SUGAR SHANE MOSLEY, boxing's most exciting world champion, and
WINKY WRIGHT, the sport's most feared world champion, have agreed
to lay it all on the line in 'The War at 154,' to determine the
undisputed world champion in the 154-pound division for the first
time in 29 years. Unlike their predecessors who have held world
titles in the 154-pound division, Mosley, the WBC/WBA/Ring Magazine
super welterweight champion and Wright, the IBF jr. middleweight
champion, will rumble for the historic opportunity of becoming
the division's undisputed world champion, Saturday, March 13,
at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. The fight, promoted by Gary
Shaw Productions, LLC and Pound-for-Pound Promotions, in association
with Square Ring, will be televised nationally on HBO World Championship
Boxing.
'The
minute Sugar Shane won the world super welterweight title, Team
Mosley said they would only seek out the biggest fights,' said
Shaw, Mosley's promoter. 'Mosley-Wright IS the biggest fight
in their division. Everyone has had an excuse for not fighting
Sugar Shane or Winky. But when the opportunity presented itself
to fight for the undisputed title, Sugar Shane and Winky offered
not excuses, but pens to sign their contracts. This fight belongs
at Mandalay Bay, which has hosted the most memorable fights in
the history of boxing. Tony Alamo deserves all the credit for
bringing the fight to this magnificent property.'
Mosley,
39-2 (35 KOs), from Pomona, CA, (fight-by-fight record http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=004952)
captured his third world title in as many different weight classes,
September 13, 2003, in front of a sellout crowd in Las Vegas,
NV, when he overpowered WBC/WBA super welterweight champion Oscar
De La Hoya en route to a 12-round unanimous decision in their
long-awaited rematch.
The
fight, which was televised by HBO Pay-Per-View, was the second-highest
non-heavyweight pay-per-view in history, with over 975,000 buys
and $50.2 million in pay-per-view revenue. It was the second
time Mosley had dethroned De la Hoya from his world title perch,
having beaten him in 2000 for the WBC welterweight championship.
Mosley held that title for nearly two years, successfully defending
it three times.
Mosley
captured his first world championship, the IBF lightweight title,
in 1997. Mosley's lightweight title reign lasted two years through
eight successful defenses - all by knockout -- before vacating
to move up two divisions to welterweight.
'I
have accomplished a lot in my career' said Mosley. 'No one has
defeated De La Hoya twice and not many can boast three world
titles in three different weight classes. Now I want to add the
undisputed 154-pound world championship to my trophy case. History
is always a little sweeter when you add some Sugar to it.'
'I
am so happy for Winky that he has finally been given the career-defining
fight he has deserved for so long,' said Roy Jones, Jr., a world
champion in four different weight classes, including the undisputed
light-heavyweight title, AND Wright's promoter. 'I have been
in enough big fights to know that they do not come any bigger
than this one in the 154-pound division. I also know I am promoting
the Wright man in this fight. Mosley has a lot of guts stepping
into the same ring with Winky.'
Wright,
46-3 (25 KOs), a native of Washington, D.C., now residing in
St. Petersburg, FL, (fight-by-fight record http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=003600)
is in the third year of his second tour as world champion. Nearly
42% (20 to you non-math majors) of Wright's fights have been
on foreign soil earning the supremely self-confident champion
the moniker 'International Man of Misery' (to his opponents!).
Wright has fought professionally in eight different countries
on four different continents. He captured his first world title
in 1996, defeating WBO jr. middleweight champion Bronko McKart
in McKart's hometown. Wright then traveled to England, successfully
defending his title three times in succession against the top
world-rated British contenders. Wright lost his title to South
African Harry Simon via a highly controversial majority decision
in 1998. The fight, which took place in South Africa, was first
announced a 'Draw' but after a so-called 'error' was discovered
in the addition of one of the scorecards, Wright was informed
in his locker room that Simon was awarded the title via a recalculated
majority decision. After losing another controversial majority
decision to then-undefeated IBF jr. middleweight champion Fernando
Vargas in 1999, a fight the vast majority of the media and spectators
alike thought Wright won handily, Wright regrouped and captured
the IBF title vacated by Felix Trinidad in 2001. He has successfully
defended it four times.
'Shane
Mosley and I will make boxing history and personal history on
March 13,' said Wright. 'Shane and I are the only two people
in this division man enough to risk it all to become the undisputed
world champion. Trust me, I know. I have offered the same opportunity
to De La Hoya and Vargas over and over and over again. Now they
are on the sidelines where they belong. March 13 is reserved
for the big boys.'
'This
is a match-up boxing fans have long anticipated and will talk
of long after,' said Tony Alamo, Sr. Vice President of Mandalay
Resort Group (Mandalay Bay's parent company). 'My hat goes off
to Gary Shaw, the man who brought this event together, and to
these two competitive, professional athletes who choose to rise
above what others cannot, to settle in the ring the question
of who is more deserving of these championship belts. Mandalay
Bay is proud to host this historic event as it represents what
we strive to deliver to our customers above all else - Boxing
at its Best.'
The
last time the 154-pound division had an undisputed world champion
was when Koichi Wajima reclaimed the title from Oscar Albarado
via a 15-round decision, January 21, 1975, in Tokyo, Japan. Since
then, the title has been splintered with only Terry Norris, De
La Hoya and now Mosley ever holding two of the three belts simultaneously.
Source: ADCC |
SAPP
FEATURED IN NY TIMES ARTICLE
An Ex-Lineman and Wrestler Becomes a Star in Japan
By KEN BELSON - NY TIMES
OKYO,
Dec. 24 — It was a sign, Bob Sapp knew, that his self-described
Beast phenomenon had gone too far: he shaved his chest for a
television commercial and someone swept up the hair and sold
it for $500.
It
was also a sign of how far Sapp had helped take K-1, Japan's
kick-boxing league. Since arriving in Japan nearly two years
ago, Sapp, a former N.F.L. lineman and pro wrestler, has become
perhaps the most popular entertainer and sports figure in the
country. His ring name, the Beast, has come to symbolize not
only his fearsome 6-foot-7, 375-pound build, but also a media
frenzy that has turned a burly fighter into a multimillion-dollar
enterprise.
Sapp,
who will take on Akebono, a Hawaiian-born former Sumo grand champion,
on New Year's Eve in a baseball stadium, says he has fought 3
pro wrestling matches and 10 kick-boxing bouts in the last year.
He also says he has been interviewed 1,000 times, made 200 television
appearances and 10 commercials, and been the subject of four
books. Hundreds of products — from clocks to dolls to a
video game — have flooded the market with his image.
His
promoters are now trying to arrange a fight with Mike Tyson next
year; the format, K-1 or traditional boxing, is still to be negotiated.
Sapp, who is 29 and calls Seattle home, also has hopes of becoming
a Hollywood action hero.
While
Sapp ate dinner recently at a restaurant in Tokyo, dozens of
people walking by stopped to take pictures of him through the
window. Two young assistants worked on his schedule on a laptop
computer; his two daily training sessions, media appearances
and other commitments were blocked out in different colors.
"How
do you say no to that?" Sapp asked, pointing at the computer.
"It's so hard. This stuff is really selling."
The
main product Sapp is selling, K-1, was created 10 years ago by
Kazuyoshi Ishii, a Seidokan Karate school owner who wanted to
settle the age-old question: which fighting style trumps all?
Ishii set up single-day tournaments in which fighters competed
in three three-minute rounds, with the winners working their
way to a title bout.
The
K in K-1 stands for karate, kick-boxing, taekwondo and kung fu,
all styles that can be used during the short and often violent
fights. The 1 represents the winner. Knockouts are the most common
outcome, and more than a few fighters leave the ring bloodied.
The nature of the fights conjures up images of gladiators.
Sapp
is an unlikely star of the sport. After a brief and unhappy career
in the National Football League with the Minnesota Vikings, Sapp,
who is not related to Warren of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, joined
a pro wrestling league that soon folded. Ishii's organization
spotted him boxing in a celebrity event against William Perry,
the former Chicago Bears defensive lineman. Facing the prospect
of working at a funeral home, Sapp went to Japan to fight in
K-1, a sport he knew nothing about.
Although
not much of a kicker, Sapp used his size and tongue-in-cheek
character to become an instant hit with the Japanese. Purists
say his fighting style has turned the sport into a farce. Other
critics accuse him of reinforcing negative stereotypes of African-Americans;
among other things, he has appeared in advertisements eating
bananas.
Sapp's
critics are offset by thousands of fans who adore him and dozens
of companies that are eager to use his image.
"As
Sapp gets more popular, he gets more endorsements, which lead
to bigger sponsorship deals and then bigger purses," said
Daisuke Teraguchi, the international operations manager for K-1.
"It's like a chain reaction."
Sapp
missed a shot at the K-1 world championship when he was disqualified
for hitting his opponent while he was down during a match in
October. Still, Sapp received a huge round of applause when he
appeared at the K-1 World Grand Prix finals on Dec. 6; he was
there to promote the idea of a fight against Tyson.
Sapp
remains so popular that tickets for his Dec. 31 fight with Akebono
sold out in a day. The bout will be held in a domed baseball
stadium in Nagoya, a two-hour bullet-train ride south of Tokyo.
Source: MMA Weekly |
JAPANESE
NEWS AND NOTES
Puroresupower had these news and notes from many upcoming shows...
Inoki's
Show - Yuka Tsuji's opponent for her 12/31 Kobe Wing Stadium
fight is Kalliopi Yeitsidou (kickboxing). Meanwhile, Antonio
Inoki delayed revealing the full card line-up for his show. Inoki
said that if he can't announce Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for his
show, he will determine who Yuji Nagata's challenger will be
on Friday. Inoki also stated that the winner of the Kazuyuki
Fujita/Ray Mercer fight would be awarded 100 million yen ($900,000).
(K-1)
According to a news wire report posted on Sports Nippon, Kazuyoshi
Ishii's two cronies who helped him with corporate tax evasion
are likely headed to jail for a year-and-a-half. Sentencing for
the two will occur on February 17th officially, while Ishii's
sentencing will be coming in January. Meanwhile... Norika Fujiwara,
Kyoko Hasegawa, Takanohana, Rickson Gracie, Masato (Kobayashi),
Takanori Hatakeyama (famous boxer), Toshihiko Koga (Judo star),
and many other famous Japanese celebrities will appear at the
promotion's 12/31 Nagoya Dome show.
(Inoki)
Sanae Kikuta's participation on Inoki's 12/31 Kobe Wing Stadium
show is very much in the air, as Kikuta has not been interested
in the offers for opponents he has been given so far. Meanwhile,
Pancrase boss Ozaki says that he expects to appear at Inoki's
show, but hasn't made a final decision, yet.
Source: MMA Weekly |
USA
quake affects MMA community
Take
a look at this report published by our partners by MMAWeekly.com:
We
are sure many of you heard about the California Earthquakes on
the Central Coast yesterday. Many of the MMA community was affected
by this 6.5 Earthquake. The most damage was received in the small
town of Paso Robles which is a half hour north of San Luis Obispo.
San Luis is of course the home of Chuck Liddell, Gan McGee and
the fight gyms of SLO Kickboxing and the Pit which is in Arroyo
Grande.
John
Hackleman who runs the Pit told MMAWeekly "My house is a
mess right now. I have everything knocked off my walls, but everybody
is o.k. The gym is fine. Chuck and my family is o.k. so I'm alright."
SLO Kickboxing didn't sustain much damage. A few tiles hit the
floor but the gym is o.k. If you travel up north towards the
town of Paso Robles that is where you start to understand the
damage. MMAWeekly's Ryan Bennett lives just 10 minutes away from
Paso Robles and his story was of course was much different.
"I
was upstairs and felt the earthquake. I thought it would just
go away and it didn't. My house was literally moving. It just
started swaying, so I ran downstairs and told my wife and girls
to get under the door frame. My kids had a horrible look of fear
as I told them to get under the doorway. After a quick headcount
I realized my baby boy was upstairs asleep so I went running
up my staircase to get my 10 month old. Then the staircase started
swaying a foot each way. I was scared beyond belief. It was hell
just trying to get up the stairs. I grabbed my boy and my knee
buckled on the stairs because my staircase was swaying back and
forth. It feels like I tore my ACL again."
"It
was like a scene in a bad movie as the quake just continued to
get more violent. We are in cleanup mode as I have T.V.'s DVD
players and stereo's on the floor, water from my fish tank all
over the living room floor. Luckily my house doesn't have any
structural damage as the builders have constructed this place
for earthquakes. I am 10 minutes away from Paso Robles. I know
they were not as fortunate and are in much worse shape."
Source: Tatame |
Kazushi
Sakuraba Press Conference
A press conference was held at Dream Stage Entertainment's Tokyo
office to officially announce the participation of Takada Dojo's
Kazushi Sakuraba in the December 31st PRIDE FC SHOCKWAVE 2003
show. Although his injuries are not completely healed and his
opponent has yet to be decided, Sakuraba is ready to fight.
"I was thinking about just staying at home on New Year's
Eve and watching Doraemon cartoons or maybe even appearing in
a travel show. Then I came to my senses and decided that what
I want to do is fight on the 31st. I've also decided to call
myself the Vice-General Director. I hope you'll all enjoy the
Sakuraba Theatre."
Hearing
this, DSE President Nobuyuki Sakakibara commented, "I'm
glad that he has decided to fight. We've been playing catch-up
for a little while and I think this will help us strike back.
There are still some things to be worked out but I want to make
this the best New Year's Eve ever." Much to the surprise
of the reporters gathered at the conference, Sakakibara continued,
"The card has…not been finalized yet. However, time
is running out so I hope to announce the entire card in the early
part of next week."
Sakuraba
was his usual self in regard to his upcoming opponent, "My
injuries haven't fully healed so I would like to fight someone
hurt." Sakakibara also addressed this issue, "We are
going to choose an opponent while giving consideration to (Sakuraba's)
condition." Although there were rumors of a fourth match
with Wanderlei Silva, Sakakibara said that there was 0% of this
happening. Silva has recently undergone elbow surgery and will
not be prepared to fight any opponent for the December 31st show.
According
to Sakuraba, he is now at 80% and working towards complete recovery,
"I'll be fine by December 31st. No problem." There
have also been rumors of a possible match up with Kiyoshi Tamura
and Dos Caras Jr.. Either way, this will be a card worth looking
forward too.
Source: Pride |
|
12/25/03 Merry Christmas! |
Quote
of the Day
"Spending time with the ones you love during the holidays
are the best gift you can get...unless you get a Porsche 911
GT-2 Twin Turbo for X-mas."
Mike Onzuka - Philosopher, Male Model
|
Merry
Christmas!
Onzuka.com would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas! We
hope that you get everything you want, but more importantly spend
time with the people you love the most. Although it is a cliche,
it is better to give than receive so this is a great time of
the year to do something special for the unfortunate. It could
be as small as a good deed, but it will make you feel better.
A
good example of a great deed would be to tell your friends and
family about checking out Onzuka.com daily and watching Fighters'
Club TV every Tuesday at 6:00 pm.
If
you are drinking this holiday season, please don't drink and
drive. Also, take the advice of your friends and family if they
say you had too much to drink, believe them. We need all the
viewers to stay healthy in order to keep checking out our page.
God
Bless and have a fun and safe Christmas!
|
So
"The Phenom" Got Married!
By Eduardo Alonso
After
endless speculation and a long romance with his fiancée
Joana Prado, Vitor Belfort finally became a married man this
past Saturday, December 20th, in the city of Sao Paulo in Brazil.
Vitor and Joana have been living together for a long time already,
but ever since they re-started their relationship during filming
of a reality TV show called Casa Dos Artistas 2, a VIP version
of Big Brother, talks had been going on about the couple's marriage.
Keeping the flamboyant style, with Vitor being a usual guest
on Brazilian TV Shows and even soap operas, and Joana Prado being
a former Playboy Playmate, the marriage was broadcast live by
TV Record, likely the 3rd biggest TV channel in the country.
In spite of what many may think, "The Phenom" guaranteed
FCF that he is still focused on his fight against Randy Couture
at the next UFC, and the honeymoon will have to wait for after
this challenge. FCF wishes nothing but the best for the couple
in the years to come.
Source: FCF
|
KAZ
FUJITA VS BOXER RAY MERCER
According to puresopower "Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Ray Mercer
was announced at a press conference in Tokyo on 12/24. Antonio
Inoki was dressed in a Santa outfit while giving the news.
"Mercer
is demanding a 20-second rule for ground-fighting, meaning this
will be a standing fight. The fight will be five rounds at 3
minutes a piece, with 90-second intervals.
"There's
still some things needed to be worked out regarding knee-strikes,
but the format of the fight is pretty simple - mainly glove work
only. Mercer is 42 years old. Fujita has been doing boxing-only
training in Los Angeles for the last month. Yuka Tsuji (famous
female fighter in Japan) was announced for the 12/31 Kobe show.
She worked a big fight (and lost) on 7/13 for DEEP in Osaka against
Anna Michele Dantes (Brazil).
Source: MMA Weekly |
|
Ludwig
to fight for ISKA world title
On
Saturday January 10th in Castle Rock Colorado, Duane BANG! Ludwig
will make his second attempt at becoming a WORLD CHAMPION in
the sport of Muay Thai. In the main event of the Popular RING
OF FIRE series BANG! will face off against one of the top Muay
Thai fighters in the world, Thailand's Malapaiet Sitprapom.
Malapaiet
has 154 fights under his belt and is star in the European promotion
SUPERLEAGUE. He holds the IKBA World Championship and is a former
stadium champion in Thailand.
Up
for grabs will be the ISKA Light Middle Weight Muay Thai World
Title belt (153.1-159 lbs/69.6-72.3 kg). This belt has special
meaning to Ludwig. On the under card of the K-1 USA show in Las
Vegas, Ludwig first fought for this belt with the legendary Alex
Gong. This was a fight for the ages and everyone in attendance
that night was treated to a true battle of champions. Gong edged
out the decision and retained his title, while Ludwig finally
broke through to the big leagues. Gong's untimely death earlier
this year has left the title vacant.
"This
title means a lot to me. I plan to keep the title here in the
United States and keep a bit of Alex Gong's memory with it. Since
his last defense of the title was against me, I have a little
emotion wrapped up with this fight. I hope that I can keep the
title here for a lot of reasons but one reason in particular
and that's to keep it here in Alex Gong's memory." said
Ludwig. It has also been just about a year since Ludwig has been
able to fight in front of his home town fans. He has a busy year
competing for the UFC and K-1 in Japan. " I love fighting
at home.. I get a lot of energy from the crowd. Denver has some
of the best fans in the world!"
ISKA
president Corey Schafer commented "We feel that Duane definitely
should be first in line at a shot at this belt. This particular
title has such a great history and legacy, and for the fight
to be against a true Thai champion only adds to that history."
With
a fight of this magnitude only a referee like the legendary Cecil
Peoples could handle the duty. Peoples has refereed for the top
promotions in the world and has more title bout experience than
any other ref in the world.
Also
on the card is UFC veteran Brad Gumm. Gumm will be fighting at
155 lbs for the third time in his career. All of his previous
matches have been at 170 lbs and he feels that he can really
make a statement in the light weight division. Facing Gumm is
KOTC veteran and undefeated New Mexico fighter Carlos Condit.
Condit has a MMA record of 9-0. He has also fought as a professional
boxer and recently traveled to Japan to face one the top fighters
in the world in Shootboxing.
Rounding
out the main card, Jay Jack makes his long awaited return to
the ring. Jack was scheduled to fight last month in the Canadian
promotion TKO but had his opponent with draw at the last minute.
His last appearance was at ROF 7 where he beat the game Isais
Martinez (TX). Opposite Jack will be the tough Utah based fighter
Steve Gomm. Gomm is a submission stylist who recently finished
local wrestler Eric Heinz in the IFC. Gomm's last Ring Of Fire
appearance was at ROF 8 where he submitted Cruz Chacon via choke.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
SILVA
GETS BACK ON WINNING TRACK
Our
partners from Tatame have this following report regarding this
weekend's shows.
Pride's
Anderson Silva won on his first MMA fight after being left the
Chute Boxe team. It was on the main event of the 1st Conquista
Fight, yesterday night, in Vitória da Conquista, south
of Bahia state. During the event produced by the Pride champ
Rodrigo Minotauro, Silva showed a great Muay Thai with hard knees.
His opponent Diamante Negro didn't resist in the first round
and didn't return for the second one.
On
the battle of the night, Cláudio Godoy and Pancrase's
Evangelista Cyborg did a truth spectacle inside the ring. Godoy
almost submitted Cyborg at the 1R by an armlock. Cyborg reacted
at the 2R and knocked Cláudio's down. The fight got a
decision at the last roundm when Godoy punished Cyborg from the
mounted till the referee stoppage. On a fast fight, Júnior
Buscapé passed over Devanir Marques at the 1R.
COMPLETE
RESULTS:
Muay
Thai
-
Manuel Fonseca (Artur Mariano) KO'd Rodrigo Aladim (Vander Valverde)
with a kick on the rib at 0:38 3R;
- Emanuel David (BTT/Nikolai) KO'd Aloísio Barros (RVT)
at 1:19 1R;
- Anderson Júnior (Anderson França) KO'd Clóvis
Mileo (Artur Mariano) at 0:57 1R;
- Gerson Silva (BTT/Nikolai) def Diego Braga (RVT) by judges
decision;
Vale-Tudo:
-
Marcílio Márcio (Ricardo Carvalho) submitted Johnny
Eduardo (Boxe Thai) by an armlock at 3:19 1R;
- Adriano Nasal (BTT) submitted Cláudio Alcântara
(Ricardo Carvalho) by arear-naked-choke at 3:55 1R;
- Will Ribeiro (Brazil Dojo) def Gabriel Barros (Bu-shido) -
gave up at 4:05 2R;
- César Profeta (Bu-shido) KO'd Averaldo (Aloísio
Freitas) at 0:26 1R;
- Marcelo Salazar (BTT) def Alexandre Lima (Ricardo Carvalho)
by unanimous decision;
- Yuri Fernandes (BTT) KO'd Aloísio Freitas (Aloísio
Freitas) by punches at 1:06 3R;
- Júnior Buscapé (BTT) KO'd Devanir Marques (NU/Campos)
by punches from the mounted at 1:10 1R;
- Cláudio Godói (Godói JJ) def Evangelista
Cyborg (Brazil Dojo) by TKO at 2:23 3R (punches from the mounted);
- Anderson Silva def Diamante Negro (Ricardo Carvalho) - gave
up at 2R.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
FRANKLIN
TALKS FUTURE ON MMAWEEKLY RADIO
Rich
Franklin was Thursday's guest on MMAWeekly Radio with host Ryan
Bennett. Rich is fighting in the Dec. 31st, Inoki show but it
won't be against Allistar Overeem.
His
opponent will be a Japanese fighter that he knew very little
about. Franklin spoke about his groin injury and how it is progressing.
He said, it's a "slow process and a lingering injury."
The fight will take place under MMA rules and Rich leaves for
Japan on the 26th.
When
asked about the curse, meaning fighters who have gone outside
the UFC have blown chances to come back to the Octagon.... Franklin
recognized that, "If I lose this fight it could set me back."
Rich said if he wins in Japan, he expects to be back in the UFC
in 2004. He said he would fight the "big named" guys
if the money was right. If he is going to step up a level, then
he feels the pay should step up a level.
Much
of the show was dedicated to call ins. Frank Bishop called the
show and gave an update on Forrest Griffin. Griffin is fresh
off a first round victory over Edson Paredao in "HeatFC
2." Forrest broke his ulna during the fight but was still
able to knockout Edson. His arm will need a pin and possibly
six weeks in a cast. Forrest was supposed to fight Marvin Eastman
in January but that fight is now in question.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Interview
w/UFC Co-Owner - Lorenzo Fertitta
Lorenzo
Fertitta first was introduced to the sport of mixed martial arts
while serving on the Nevada State Athletic Commission. As part
of a fact-finding mission for an application to sanction events
in Nevada, Fertitta traveled to Iowa to view a series of fights.
That experience changed his perception of the sport dramatically
and ultimately led to the resurrection of the UFC.
Recollecting
the trip to Iowa, he told Forbes magazine in 2002, "The
thing that really shocked me was the quality of the fighters
. . . They were world-class athletes. I had this perception that
these were just guys getting off a barstool and trying to hurt
each other."
With
the UFC bordering on collapse in 2000, then-UFC owner, Robert
Meyrowitz asked Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta to buy a 50% stake
in the operation. They were so impressed with the sport, however,
they bought the whole company and renamed it Zuffa.
Since
then the company has held sold out shows in Las Vegas and Atlantic
City and entered new markets in Connecticut and Florida. With
each show, the UFC comes closer to establishing MMA as a legitimate,
mainstream sport. The next step is a national television deal
that would bring MMA into households across North America on
a regular basis.
Despite
all of the good news, some commentators have speculated that
the future of the UFC is questionable. Growing popularity and
success haven’t translated into more revenues and the organization
continually struggles to meet the bottom-line each show.
In
this interview with BoxingInsider.com conducted at the UFC 45
autograph session, Lorenzo Fertitta reflects on the tenth anniversary
of the UFC, comments on the financial situation of the organization,
and discusses the current state of MMA.
Boxinginsider.com:
Following the tenth anniversary show what is the future of the
UFC?
Lorenzo
Fertitta: I think the organization is on the launching pad right
now. I talk a lot about the fact that we believe we are at the
tipping point. I see a lot of positive signs. We are starting
to break through and we are getting a lot of mainstream press.
It seems like the fan support is growing constantly.
Over
the next ten years, I think we really are going to build mixed
martial arts into a mainstream sport.
Boxinginsider.com:
Are there any developments with the TV deal that you can share
with us?
Lorenzo
Fertitta: I hope so. I can't swear to you, but I hope there will
be announcements soon. We certainly are talking to a number of
different networks and there is a strong level of interest. However,
until you get the offer, sign the contract, and actually get
the product on the air, it's not done.
Boxinginsider.com:
Do you feel that Tim Sylvia testing positive for steroids was
a step back for the company?
Lorenzo
Fertitta: I feel that [the positive test] put us in a situation
where the sport cannot afford to have continued wrongs like that.
I think we got by that situation and we will continue to work
through it.
At
the same time, the fighters have to realize how serious an issue
the use of steroids has become in the sport. The athletic commissions
are going to test and the fines and suspensions are going to
keep getting more severe until they get a handle on it.
What
we're seeing is that it's extending into other sports -- baseball
is starting to take it seriously and football is starting to
take it seriously. We're fine. I think we'll get through this,
but if we continue to have problems, I would be concerned about
that.
Boxinginsider.com:
Ken Shamrock was just inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, when
do you see him returning? (Note: Ken Shamrock is a contributor
to boxinginsider.com)
Lorenzo
Fertitta: Ken is interested in coming back and fighting for us
in May I believe. We're anxious to get him back. At the same
time, we want to make sure he takes the necessary time to allow
his knee to heal correctly. So far, it looks like it is going
well and March is a good time for him to return.
Boxinginsider.com:
What is the possibility of a Ken Shamrock/Royce Gracie rematch?
Lorenzo
Fertitta: Sure -- there's always a possibility. At the end of
the day, I really don't know where Royce is or what he wants
to do with his career. There are so many issues we've had with
his return -- like when he went over and fought in Pride and
he had special rules…We're not going to do something like
that. If we were ever match-up Royce with someone, it's going
to be three-five minute rounds, UFC/Nevada rules (or wherever
we are fighting) and that's it.
Boxinginsider.com:
Is the UFC interested in working more with Pride? Would you be
interested in doing a special attraction fight, maybe with Pride
in Japan -- where you could have the special rules?
Lorenzo
Fertitta: I think there are some big opportunities. I think,
cooperatively, we can put together some big fights that the fans
want to see. The situation is no different than Bob Arum and
Don King working together at times, as well as and other promoters.
In
order to increase the exposure of the sport, I think it’s
essential that we match their top guys with our top guys and
let them go at it. I have no problem with that. I am more than
willing to challenge Pride. We'll line up our champions versus
theirs and let it rip!
Stay
tuned with boxinginsider.com for part two of our exclusive interview
with Lorenzo Fertitta.
Source:
Boxing Insider |
|
12/24/03 X-Mas Eve (Did you finish your
shopping? Last chance!) |
Quote
of the Day
"The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be
kindled."
Plutarch, 46-120 AD, Greek Essayist, Biographer
|
Rumble
On The Rock 5 Fight Card!
Hilo, Hawaii
December 27, 2003
Fighter details
coming tomorrow!
Eric
Beach (BJ Penn's MMAA) Vs Paul Laga (Bull's Pen)
Abraham
Robison (BJ Penn's MMAA) Vs Jerry Saribay (Bull's Pen)
Robert
Villapondo (808 Fight Factory) VS Ashton Castro (Young Guns DeLuta
Club)
Abraham
Kalaupa (Freelance) VS Gavin Mata (Shirotaka Kenpo & Kajukenbo)
Pete
Sefo (808 Fight Factory) VS Mark Rodriguez (Rudy Valentino)
Lightweight
Tournament Finals
Mike
Aina (BJ Penn's MMAA) VS Mike Bickers (Vendrell's Martial Arts)
DJ
Delfin (BJ Penn's MMAA) vs. Eric Devers (Shirotaka Kenpo &
Kajukenbo)
Kaleo
Padilla (Koden Kan/Kona Boxing) VS Mark Moreno (Bull's Pen)
Kaynan
Kaku (BJ Penn's MMAA) VS Harris Sariento (808 Fight Factory)
Semi
Main:
Ross Ebanez (BJ Penn's MMAA) VS Shawn Beckett (Fusion Fight Team)
Main
Event:
Chael Sonnen (Team Quest) VS Homer Moore (Brausa Academy)
|
Super
Brawl 33 Rumours!
From
the http://www.superbrawl.tv/ website - AWESOME
CARD ON THE WAY!!!
This
may be the biggest Super Brawl to date! Saturday night February
7th, the night before the Pro-Bowl. This will guarantee a house
full of your favorite NFL stars. Bring your autograph book. And
it looks like one of the strongest cards in Super Brawl history.
Vitale
to face former UFC Champion!
Strong
rumours of a Niko Vitale v former UFC Champion Dave Menne fight
to headline the card.
This is, without a doubt, the toughest opponent Vitale has stepped
into a ring with. Vitale is prepared for a war, 'I have a great
amount of respect for Dave, has been a great fighter and a great
UFC champion. But fighting at home will be exactly what I need
to defeat him.'
Menne,
who is always a man of few words was quoted as saying, 'I take
all my opponents seriously, but I will leave his island with
another victory on my record'.
Yagin
to face Pulver!
In
another treat for Hawaii fight fans, Super Brawl promoters have
secured a verbal agreement from the management of former UFC
Champion of the world, Jens Pulver to fight with 'The Fillipino
Phenom', Eddie Yagin. Yagin states, 'This is the opportunity
of a lifetime! I will be in the best shape of my life and plan
on shocking the world on February 7th!'
Pulver
is also excited. 'I am good friends with Warren Sapp (NFL Star)
and it will be fun to fight in front of him. Tell Eddie he better
be ready to throw down!'
Heavyweight
Favorite to Return to Hawaii!
The
last time Justin Eilers was in the Super Brawl ring he was cheered
wildly by the crowd after losing a controversial split decision
to Cabbage. Cabbage was booed. He plans on showing his debut
performance was no fluke. 'I will come to Hawaii with guns blazin'!
I don't care who they put in front of me, I will knock them out....guaranteed.'
Source: ADCC
|
“BIG
DADDY” FAREWELL MATCH VERSUS “THE PREDATOR” SCHEDULED
FOR PRIDE FC SHOCKWAVE December 23, 2003
LOS ANGELES, California – Three 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
his farewell match, PRIDE FC star Gary “Big Daddy”
Goodridge will face career nemesis Don “The Predator”
Frye. This will be the final mixed martial arts bout for the
veteran Goodridge who is announcing his retirement from the sport.
The 6’3”, 260-pound Goodridge was given the option
of selecting the opponent for his farewell match … he chose
Don Frye, one of the main rivals of his career. Frye dealt Goodridge
two losses early in his career: the first a submission loss via
punches at UFC 8: David vs. Goliath and the second a submission
loss via exhaustion at UFC Ultimate Ultimate 1996. As the final
match of his MMA career, Goodridge will have a chance to avenge
both of those losses. “Big Daddy” is coming off a very
quick TKO win at FINAL CONFLICT versus Dan “The Bull”
Bobish and Frye is coming off a decision loss to Mark “The
Hammer Coleman” at BAD TO THE BONE.
In
the second announced bout, Grand Prix Finalist and top ranked
middleweight contender, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson,
will face Japanese fighter Ikuhisa “The Punk” Minowa.
This match pits the powerful wrestling and striking attack of
Jackson against the submission skills of the veteran Minowa.
Jackson’s impressive journey to the PRIDE FC middleweight
tournament finals this past Fall garnered him victories over
both Murilo Bustamante and Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell.
“Rampage” was defeated in the tournament finals by
PRIDE FC champion Wanderlei Silva, but remains the top contender
for Silva’s belt in the middleweight rankings. A native
of Gifu, Japan, Minowa is a veteran of both Pancrase and the
UFC and is currently a member of the Brazilian Top Team. This
will be his PRIDE FC debut.
In
the third announced match, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu legend, Mario
“The Zen Master” Sperry will take on Pancrase star
Yuki Kondo. A prodigy of the legendary Carlson Gracie, Sperry
is an accomplished master of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. During the
late 1990s, he won numerous awards in the Abu Dhabi Submission
Wrestling Championships, including the heavyweight and absolute
divisions in 1997. This member of the Brazilian Top Team is coming
off a win against Russian fighter Andrei Kopylov at BEASTS FROM
THE EAST 2. Sperry’s opponent, Yuki Kondo, is a veteran
of both the UFC and Pancrase and has held the prestigious title
of “King of Pancrase.” His illustrious Pancrase career
has included victories over Semmy Schilt, Frank Shamrock and
Guy Mezger. This will be his debut in PRIDE FC.
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
- Gary “Big Daddy” Goodridge vs. Don “The Predator”
Frye
- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Ikuhisa “The Punk”
Minowa
- Yuki Kondo vs. Mario “The Zen Master” Sperry
- 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.
Source: ADCC
|
Royce
v Yoshida Rules Update
Update
news on Royce v Yoshida. Background: It was previously reported
by this column that Pride had introduced a 10-count in the event
of a knockdown for this match but, on Royce's request, they have
removed it from the rules.
Acording
to Royce's manager Mike Kogan: 'The referee cannot interfere
with the downed fighter except in the event of a KO; and we have
a very specific definition of what a KO is!' Royce adds: 'This
is going to be a war and I don't want anything that takes away
from the real aspects of fighting! Let the fighters decide on
who wins not the referee!'
Considering
that Royce likes to do his fighting on the ground and is clearly
not a striker, one would view this rule change as benefiting
Yoshida, who traded very good punches with Wanderlei Silva during
the Pride Grand Prix 2003!
Source: ADCC
|
St.
Pierre in January UFC causes postponement of TKO 15
Montreal,
QC - The recruiting of TKO Canadian Welterweight Champion George
St. Pierre into the January UFC show means the TKO event originally
scheduled for the day after the UFC has been postponed.
The
new date for TKO is February 13th. No new information is available
on the next fight card but at the post-fight press conference
following TKO 14 we were told that the first TKO of the new year
will feature the return of two-time UFC vet David “The Crow”
Loiseau in a defense of his World Middleweight belt. The rumor
stated his opponent may be current TKO World Light Heavyweight
Champion Jeremy Horn, as Horn continues to try to move into the
Middleweight division.
St.
Pierre replaces Pete “Secret Weapon” Spratt in the
UFC after St. Pierre beat Spratt in November’s TKO 14 by
rear choke. Spratt was scheduled to fight in the next UFC against
Karo Parisyan, but now St. Pierre’s victory has earned him
Spratt’s place against Parisyan, the KOTC and UFC vet who
fought an amazing fight against rAw’s Fernando Vasconcelos
in KOTC 22 before getting a kimura on Dave Strasser in his UFC
debut.
TKO
15 would mark over one year since Jason Black won the World Welterweight
title in his decision victory over John Alessio but the World
Welterweight belt is not to be decided on this next show. TKO
has separate belts in all divisions for the Canadian and World
champions, with St. Pierre holding the Canadian and Black holding
the World Welterweight belts. Most recent word was whether he
wins or loses, St. Pierre would fight for the World Welterweight
belt on the TKO show following his UFC debut but two weeks isn’t
enough time to prepare. Black, Horn, and Team Extreme in general
haven’t fought in the Canadian promotion since last January
when Tony Fryklund fought Loiseau and Jens Pulver fought Duane
Ludwig in fights that earned both Loiseau and Ludwig berths in
the UFC. This absence was also due to monetary disputes, which
have reportedly since been for the most part rectified.
The
third belt on the line may be the Canadian Middleweight belt.
Currently Steve Vigneault still holds the Canadian belt, despite
his loss of the Canadian Light Heavyweight belt in TKO 14 to
Patrick Cote. Latest rumor was Vigneault would defend against
Denis Kang, a fighter many fans have thought for quite some time
was one of the most underrated Middleweights on the international
stage. One week after Vigneault lost the Light Heavyweight belt,
Kang picked up a draw against Andrei Semenov in M-1 in a fight
that should have been a decision win for Kang. Now it looks like
these two Canadians will finally meet in what could be a show-stealer.
Also
look for fan favorites like Donald Ouimet and Pain Peters to
round out the card. Hopefully fans will also see a return of
Jonathan Goulet and Jeff Joslin, two fighters who put on one
of the most exciting back-and-forth battles in TKO 14 which ended
with a decision win for Goulet. Expect more announcements from
TKO Communications early in next year.
Source: ADCC
|
SHOOTO
Returns to Tokyo January 24th
SHOOTO
January 24th, 2004
Kourakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Japan's
SHOOTO returns to Tokyo at the end of January with a card that
already has 4 'A' class bouts announced. Of particular interest
to observers is the return of Nova Uniao's Joao Roque, who has
won his last 6 MMA matches, including SHOOTO wins over highly
regarded Naoya Uematsu and Hiroyuki Abe. His opponent in January
is Hiroyuki Takaya, who is 3-0 and making the jump to a 3 round
fight for the first time in his career.
Below
is the card so far, however expect more matches to be announced...
Class
A - 3 x 5 minutes rounds
Welterweight
[-70.0Kg]: Kohei Yasumi vs. Koutetsu Boku
Lightweight [-65.0Kg]: Tetsuo Katsuta vs. Makoto Ishikawa
Featherweight [-60.0Kg]: Marco Louro vs. Shuichiro Katsumura
Lightweight [-65.0Kg]: Joao Roque vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
Source: ADCC
|
FEDOR
WILL NOT FIGHT IN BOM-BA-YE
Zach Arnold of Puroresupower reports that a press briefing was
held Monday in Tokyo with Antonio Inoki announcing that Yuji
Nagata would work his 12/31 Kobe Wing Stadium show. It was then
followed with the news that Emelanienko Fedor would not work
the show.
Inoki
said that Semmy Schilt's contractual obligations to PRIDE were
cleared and he will fight Josh Barnett as scheduled. An announcement
will be made shortly on the heavyweight boxer who Kazuyuki Fujita
is facing.
CONFUSION
OVER UPCOMING SHOWS
Zach
Arnold of puresopower has this following report about Inoki's
show. "In a strange and short press conference, an announcement
was made regarding the participation of Mirko "Cro Cop"
Filipovic for Inoki's 12/31 Kobe Wing Stadium show. The press
briefing was over an hour late and key figures (Inoki, Nippon
TV producers) did not show.
Nikkan
Sports claims that through Miro Mijatovic, comments have been
made indicating that Filipovic is 'undecided' as to whether or
not he will work the show after all (he claimed a back injury
for cancellation earlier). The Japanese press is calling Mirko's
tactics "sheepish" and claim that Inoki's card (along
with PRIDE's card) are in a state of confusion.
Couple
of interesting notes from the press briefing - Kazuyuki Fujita's
current opponent being negotiated with is a boxer. As MMAWeekly
reported, Rich Franklin will be fighting. His opponent was announced
as LYOTO (Ryoto Machida). Emelianenko Alexander (Fedor's brother)
was announced for a fight on the show. When asked if Fedor's
opponent for Inoki's show would be a Japanese pro-wrestler, it
was acknowledged with a 'yes'. Yuji Nagata or Hiroyoshi Tenzan
is going to get slaughtered.
One final note. ADCC news is reporting that Mario Sperry vs Don
Frye will not happen as speculated, however they report that
Yuki Kondo has taken Frye's place.
There isn't another night in MMA to compare with what is happening
December 31st. You have some great fighters competing, you have
different organizations bidding over talent and you have possible
lawsuits on the line depending on who fightes who.
MMAWeekly
reader Charles Liebermen emailed us a possible schedule of what
fights you mma fans in Japan could expect for December 31st.
The only bad part of this card is the fact that these shows will
not be shown in America.
Here's
the list of POSSIBLE matches. Remember the full card for these
three shows have NOT been confirmed.
PRIDE 'SP'
December 31st, 2003
Saitama Super Arena
Omiya, Japan
Officially confirmed matchups:
Royce Gracie vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
Ryan Gracie vs. Wataru Sakata
Hayato Sakurai vs. Daiju Takase
Unoffical matchups:
Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
Murilo 'Ninja' Rua vs. Kiyoshi Tamura
Heath Herring vs. Dos Caras Jr.
Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Quinton Jackson
Yuki Kondo vs. Mario Sperry
K-1
'Premium 2003 Dynamite'
December 31st, 2003
Nagoya Dome
Nagoya, Japan
K-1 matchups:
Bob Sapp vs. Akebono
Ernesto Hoost vs. 'Montanha' Silva
Shannon Briggs vs. Francois Botha
Francisco Filho vs. TOA 'The Samoan Beast'
-Din Thomas vs Amar Suloev
-Kimo vs. Michael Mcdonald
MMA matchups:
Alexey Ignashov vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Genki Sudo vs. Eric 'Butterbean' Esch
Cyril Abidi vs. Sylvester Terkay
David Khakhaleichivili vs. Yoshihiro Nakao
Tom Howard vs. Christopher Midoux
INOKI
BOM BA YE 2003 - Rumors
- Takayama vs Mirko Cro Cop
- Josh Barnett vs Semmy Schilt
- Murakami vs Stefan Leko
- Rich Franklin vs. Lyoto Machida
- Emelianenko Alexander vs. Angelo Araujo Reis
- Emeliankeko Fedor vs. Kosaka
- Kazuyuki Fujita vs Mike Bernardo
- Tadao Yasuda
- Jan "The Giant" Nortje.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
LIDDELL
EXCITED ABOUT FACING TITO
Chuck Liddell just celebrated his 34th birthday and he received
his biggest birthday present to date when a fight he desperately
wanted with Tito Ortiz most likely will happen after Ortiz signed
to fight Liddell at UFC 47.
MMAWeekly.com
talked with Liddell over the weekend about the possibility of
the fight and Liddell smiled and said "I can't wait for
this fight. I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to
knocking him out."
Liddell
will resume training in January for the upcoming fight as he
looks forward to getting back into the Octagon. "I think
this break will be good, but I just look forward to getting back
into the Octagon. It's been awhile.
For
now fans will have to wait a bit as the UFC 46 card will be the
immediate focus as Randy Couture will face Vitor Belfort. The
winner of that fight could face the winner of Liddell vs Ortiz
which would be great for the Iceman.
"I
would love another shot at Randy or Vitor. Couture fought a great
fight against me and basically I didn't fight a great fight so
I would love to redeem myself against him but right now all my
focus will be to K.O. Tito."
It
was a fight many fans thought would never happen, but now if
we are lucky, the fight we've been waiting for ...for two years
will finally take place in three months.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
"Problems do not go away. They must be worked through or
else they remain, forever a barrier to the growth and development
of the spirit."
M. Scott Peck, M.D. , American Psychiatrist, Author
|
Fighters'
Club TV Episode 17 Debuts Tonight!
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 (+ interview with Ron)
-DeFranco vs. Deshaun Johnson
-BJ Penn vs. Takanori Gomi (+ interview with BJ--his personality
shines through in
this one!)
-interview with 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
with pics attached to the same address.
Happy
Holidays from the TOUGHEST SHOW ON TELEVISION!
|
Stephen
Abas Wrestling Clinic Today!
Date:
December 23, 2003
Time: 9:00 AM
Place: Moanalua High School
Price: $10 or $200 per team
This
guy is an animal. Read below to see the stats that I researched
on Stephen Abas.
Stephen Abas
Quick Bio
Three-time NCAA National Champion 1999, 2001, 2002
Four-time All-American 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002
Number 1 Ranked in the USA at 55 kg/121 lbs.
Fresno State: (2001-02) Proved himself to be the undisputed best
wrestler in the nation in the 125 division for the third time
… was consistently ranked No. 1 in the 125 division throughout
the entire season … beat Iowa's Luke Eustice 8-4 in the
finals at the NCAA Championships in Albany, N.Y., to win his
third national championship … won the West Regional Championships
and led Fresno State to a second-place finish … completed
a perfect season, going 35-0 overall and 19-0 in dual meets …
racked up 12 pins, three technical falls and nine major decision
victories … is Fresno State's first three-time national
champion and second four-time All-American … set a Bulldog
record in season win percentage (1.000) and career win percentage
(.973) … finished his Fresno State career with a record
of 144-4 … topped his brother, Gerry, in the record books
for wins in a career … led the Bulldogs to a 19th place
finish at the 2002 NCAA Championships.
(2000-01) Top ranked 125 division wrestler in the nation …
captured his second national title at the NCAA tournament and
became a three-time All-American … won the Western Regional
Championships … was the first Bulldog to go undefeated through
an entire season with a record of 34-0 … was voted among
Fresno State's Top-25 greatest athletes.
(1999-00) Took the year off from school and wrestling to train
for the 2000 Olympics. Abas placed fourth in the US Olympic Trials.
(1998-99) Captured the national title at 125 pounds, becoming
the second person in Fresno State history to earn such an honor
in wrestling … had only one blemish in his national championship
season (37-1), a loss to three-time national champion Eric Guerrero
… was the WAC champion for the second straight year …
had a dual match record of 14-1 … voted Fresno State's male
athlete of the year … ranked second in Bulldog history with
a single season win percentage of .974 … picked up the WAC
Outstanding Wrestler honor for the second year in a row …
racked up 11 technical fall victories and six pins.
(1997-98) One of the top freshman in the country … made
an immediate impact in his first collegiate season with a 38-3
overall record while going a perfect 15-0 in dual meets ... was
ranked as high as second in the nation at 118 pounds ... capped
his standout season going 5-2 at the NCAA Championships to earn
a fourth place finish and All-America honors ... was named the
WAC Wrestler of the Year and conference Freshman of the Year
after winning his first WAC championship at 118 ... opened the
season winning his first 24 matches ... took first place at the
Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, All-California Open, UC Davis
Aggie Open and at the California Collegiate Invitational ...
was named Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament at the Las Vegas
Invitational ... four times earned
|
Quick
Talk With SHOOTO CHAMPION 'Pequeno'
'The
Brazilian legend' 'by Alexandre Lobo
Alexandre
'Pequeno' has arrived home in Brazil from Japan, where he defeated
the Japanese legend Rumina Sato at the December 14 Shooto event.
The Lightweight champion impressed the Japanese public once again,
using his signature move in submitting Sato in roughly 30 seconds.
Now the Brazilian will take some time off, but he spoke to us
in this quick interview.
Tell
us about your fight against Rumina Sato. Man, the fight was really
fast.
He started by giving me a low-kick, I defended and count-attacked
with a kick to the ribs. He’s really fast, he held my leg
and took me to the ropes. Sato is a showman, and he tried to
take me down, so I took him with my typical guillotine choke.
He tried to fool me by faking and feinting, to see if I let him
go. I almost did, but I decided to wait and see if he would tap
out or sleep.
Sato
is a Japanese legend. What was the fans reaction like?
The producers are impressed. Nobody was expecting that Sato could
lose so fast! He’s so loved in Japan that, when the fight
ended, the fans from the audience tried to wake him up.
I
heard that Japanese did a tv show about your way of fighting...
It’s true! A friend of mine recorded it for me. Rumina Sato’s
trainer was the Shooto promoter Sakamato, and that is who trained
and taught him all of my techniques. I was astonished, the guy
knew everything! At the show, they talked about what I do inside
the ring, how to defend… They also put a guy like me simulating
my blows and positions.
When
will you return to the Shooto ring?
All I know is that I will probably defend my belt in August,
against 'Kid' Yamamoto. But, I can fight before that. Being out
of the ring for such a long time isn’t good.
Thanks
Champ!
Source: ADCC
|
SHAOLIN
- Quick Notes on his SHOOTO Title Bout!
Recently
returned from Japan, where he won his first MMA title, Vitor
'Shaolin' Ribeiro talked briefly with us about his December 14
Shooto bout against Joachim Hansen.
“Everything
fell into place for me like never before. During training I didn’t
get hurt and I started losing weight at the right time!”,
comments Shaolin.
Focusing
on the fight, 'Shaolin' says he knew he couldn’t be passive
inside Hansen’s guard. “I saw his match with Gomi,
when he won the belt and Gomi stayed inside the guard position.
Hansen’s punches from the bottom are really hard, so I decided
to keep moving to avoid the punches and try to pass his guard”,
reveals the new Welterweight champion. After submitting Hansen
by a Katagatami choke, 'Shaolin' was overcome with emotion. “I
was so happy that I don’t know if I shouted or just celebrated
with Dedé (Pederneiras, Shaolin’s trainer) and Robinho
(Róbson Moura, Shaolin’s partner). This title was
really important for me. I think I have established myself in
Mixed Martial Arts like I did in Jiu Jitsu. With the UFC in dissarray,
and PRIDE being for bigger guys, this is th emost prestigious
title in my weight class in te world today” states a proud
title holder. But for now, Shaolin is preparing himself for another
adventure, a barbecue with his Nova União friends on December
27th.
Source: ADCC
|
BIG
NIGHT FOR DAVID TERRELL
MMAWeekly's
Tom Call had a chance to go one on one with David Terrell who
is competing in tonight's Pancrase show in Japan...
The
Main Event for this weekends show in Japan features Japanese
Fighter Yuki Sasaki against American David Terrell. Yuki Sasaki
is a MMA veteran with fights in several organizations including
Pride, Shooto and Pancrase. Sasaki has quality wins over Alex
Stiebling and Ronald
“Machine Gun” Jhun.
Dave
Terrell fights out of Santa Rosa California and has an MMA record
of 6-1 with the only one “controvertial loss” to Vernon
“Tiger” White back in the early days of the IFC. Dave
fights for the talent rich Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.
Terrell
has been away from MMA since January 13, 2001. During the layoff
Dave earned his Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Cesar
Gracie and opened his school in Santa Rosa. David is a true full
time fighter. He trains all day and teaches at his school in
the evenings. David’s school is quite successful, he has
students of all ages from 5 to 40 years old. I was able to spend
about 10 minutes with Dave at his Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in
Santa Rosa Wed. night before he left for Japan.
I
asked about his layoff, his training, and his future fights.
Terrell’s last fight ended by TKO. A vicious head kick put
Marcos da Silva out at the beginning of the fight and he did
not answer the bell for round two. That fight was over but don’t
expect any cage rust from David as he has been very busy. When
asked about the layoff Terrell explains that he turned his full
attention on this year’s Abu-Dhabi tournament in Brazil.
David finished third after a very controversial decision to Saulo
Ribeiro. Dave is considered one of the best grapplers in the
world. He has defeated many decorated grapplers including Dean
Lister twice, Ricardo Almedia, Ricardo Cachorrao, and Pride veteran
Akira Shoji. Dave is only 25 years old and now has his eyes set
on Japan. Dave told me he loves the way the Japanese fans are
so knowledgeable about the sport and jumped at the opportunity
to fight in Japan. Dave’s eventual goal is to fight in a
PrideFC Show.
Dave
smiled with confidence when I asked him about going to Japan
to fight a very active and popular Japanese fighter in the main
event. “I don’t hear anything outside the ring once
the fight starts.” I believe the confidence comes from training
with such a solid team. Dave explains “There is someone
world class to train with everyday. Gil Castillo, Nick Diaz,
and Jake Shields just to name a few.”
Dave
has been studying Jiu-Jitsu since he was 15 years old. I believe
Dave Terrell is a future star of MMA. Hardcore fans may want
to remember the name.
TERRELL
KO'S SASASKI IN PANCRASE
American
David Terrell looked very impressive this weekend in Japan as
he defeated Yuki Sasaki by knockout in the second round. Terrell
inflicted the damage at :15 seconds into Round Two. Here's the
full results from this weekends action.
PANCRASE
2003 Hybrid Tour Results
December 21, 2003
Tokyo, Japan
Kenji
Arai vs Daisuke Hanazawa was ruled a Draw (19-20, 20-20, 19-19)
Takafumi Ito def Linson Simanjuntak by submission at 3:46 Round
1
Koji Oishi def Takahito Iida by Decision(20-18, 20-18, 20-18)
Yukiya Naito def Hur Sung Jin by submission at 2:34 Round 1
Osami Shibuya def Tsuyoshi Kurihara by Decision (20-18, 20-18,
20-17)
Eiji Ishikawa def Hidehiko Hasegawa by Decision (30-27, 30-28,
30-27)
Keiichiro Yamamiya vs Bret Bergmark was ruled draw (30-30, 30-29,
29-29)
David Terrell def Yuki Sasaki by KO at :15 of Round 2
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Catching
Up With... CHRIS LYTLE
On
January 2nd Chris Lytle takes on Pete Spratt in RSF Shooto in
Belleville, IL.
KM:
The last couple of months you have been emphasizing the standup
but this is against Pete Spratt, one of the best strikers. Are
you looking to stand with Spratt?
CL: My gameplan is always go out there and see how it is going
to go. I train a lot on standup and a lot on the ground. I’m
always wanting to test myself to see how good my standup is.
I think I know where it is at but when you get out there things
change a little bit. I’ve always felt really comfortable
on my feet lately. Right now I’m thinking I’m going
to go in there and see how it goes on my feet. I’m not going
to go out there and just say I’m going to go to the ground.
I’m going to see how it is on my feet and if it’s going
how I think it will and I like it I’ll stay on my feet,
if not I’ll try to adjust.
KM:
I was wondering if you would be so interested in testing yourself
against such a striker that you wouldn’t go for what could
be an easy win.
CL: I feel I’m probably more used to being on the ground
than he is so that is probably to my advantage. I’m sure
I’m not going to get tunnel vision on ‘I’m a standup
guy now’. I’ll take a win however I can get it. The
win is the bottom line to me, not to go out there and prove I
can stand up. I’m going to try to keep it open and do whatever.
I’ll go there to get the victory and whatever I have to
do to do that I’m going to do.
KM:
Did you hear about Spratt’s last fight against George St.
Pierre?
CL: Yeah, I heard the guy choked him.
KM:
He gave up his back twice to try to stand up.
CL: You get a really technical ground guy, that is exactly what
they want you to do.
KM:
That is pretty much how I can see the fight going with you.
CL: That is pretty much my gameplan as well. I’m going to
take any opportunity I get to end the fight. On my feet if I
get a good punch off that’s fine. If it is going to be on
the ground with a submission that is fine too. It’s not
going to hurt my ego to go to the ground.
KM:
He beat Lawler by injury and then Lawler beat you by decision.
A lot of people are going to look at you as the underdog.
CL: I love it. I just want to keep fighting people that are like
‘ah, he doesn’t have a chance’. I have no problem
with that. It keeps the pressure off me. Hopefully that is what
Pete is thinking.
KM:
It could be like when Pedro beat Barnett, Couture beat Pedro,
and then Barnett beat Couture.
CL: It’s all about matchups and styles.
KM:
Like rock/paper/scissors?
CL: Exactly.
KM:
What does this fight mean to you?
CL: He’s fought in UFC three times; I’ve fought there
too. To me we are both pretty high up in the mix in that weight
class. To me this means a lot not only for who gets right back
in the UFC probably immediately after this but where our status
is going to be. Obviously my ultimate goal is to fight for the
championship and this is a major step towards it or a major step
back from it. This fight means pretty much everything at this
point I think.
KM:
In the long term it’s like how many chances are you going
to get to take on someone of Spratt’s caliber outside the
UFC.
CL: They kind of said we’d both be back in, it’s just
the winner will probably immediately be back in. The loser is
going to have to do a few more things.
KM:
Are you looking beyond this fight in any way?
CL: No, not at all. A lot of people when they are in this position,
they try to take safe fights but I’m fighting a three-time
UFC veteran and he’s fighting a two-time so we’re both
saying ‘I’m going to lay it on the line right here’.
KM:
There is a lot more video on Spratt. It must be a lot easier
for you to scout him out than he you. Do you see that as ay kind
of advantage?
CL: Maybe. You can pick up some things from watching some tapes
and see tendencies but at the same time I remember I was fighting
in Japan a guy I’d seen a couple times on video and he was
a southpaw. I came out and was planning on doing all these things
and he came out there and fought right-handed. Kind of threw
my whole gameplan off. It can be an advantage or disadvantage.
I’ve watched some of his things and I know some of the things
he is trying to do.
KM:
Most fans are going to refer to your fight against Lawler. That
was an amazing fight! It seemed more like a sparring match at
times, the way you were clapping and stuff like that.
CL: I didn’t intend to do that. It was kind of how the fight
played out. Honestly I was expecting more of a straight-ahead
us both going at each other.
KM:
This fight is on January 2nd. Is training during the holiday
season any different for you?
CL: Only thing is it’s a little harder to get a good solid
base of people coming in at all times because everybody is busy.
Everybody I’ve been training with has been really good about
being in here right now. Holiday isn’t going to affect me;
I don’t go out and party or nothing too much anymore. New
Years Eve or whatever, I don’t care.
KM:
At least it’s not as bad as what Spratt had to endure. Spratt’s
last one was right after Thanksgiving in the US. Here it is a
food and family holiday and he had to make weight the next day
two time zones away.
CL: That is a rough thing. I’m pretty lucky right now I’m
not losing too much weight, like eight pounds or so.
KM:
But traveling for the family or whatever isn’t in any way
interfering?
CL: No. My family is pretty good about helping me out here. It
is kid of hard; you can hear I got the kids in the background
playing around here. I just feel bad it’s a little time
from them I got to miss. I figure I got to do this now.
Source: ADCC
|
DENIS
KANG... The Website!
2003 has been a good year for French/Canadian fighter Denis Kang.
Since April of 2003, he has competed in the Submission Wrestling
World Championships and he has gone an impressive 5-0-1 in Mixed
Martial Arts competition.
In
May of 2003 he won his 2nd fight in a row, defeating tough UFC
veteran Keith Rockel in Rockel's hometown by KO, and followed
that with 2 solid wins in one day at SUPERBRAWL 30 'Size Does Matter' in June. In September
he fought on Canda's TKO against well regarded Stephan Potvin
where he won impressively. Most recently he comes of a draw in
Russia against Andre Semenov, however observers have all noted
Kang's dominance throughout that fight as well.
To
find out more about Denis Kang, who is a BJJ practitioner under
Master Marcos Soares and currently resides in Vancouver,BC Canada,
look at his new website.
CHECK
IT OUT - www.deniskang.com/
Source: ADCC
|
RULON
GARDNER WIN BATTLE OF WORLD CHAMPIONS, MARANO PINS MONTGOMERY,
GABER WOWS CROWD AT NYAC CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT
NEW
YORK, Dec. 21 -- It may not have been the prettiest match ever
wrestled, but Rulon Gardner won this latest battle of World Champions
by squeaking past Dremiel Byers by an overtime referee's decision
in a 2-2 match in the 120 kg/264.5 pounds Greco-Roman wrestling
finals at the New York Athletic Club Christmas Championships
on Sunday evening. In doing so, Gardner, the 2000 Olympic gold
medalist and 2001 World Champion, kept his number one spot in
the U.S. rankings over Byers, the 2002 World Champion. Gardner
was also named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler in Greco.
An
upset took place in the women's finals at 72 kg/158.5 pounds.
Two-time World Champion Kristie Marano, who won gold at the 2003
Worlds down one weight at 67 kg/147.5 lbs., was wrestling at
this higher weight because no one else was entered in this event
at 67 kg. Marano got to the finals for the second year in a row
at this tournament, only to face two-time silver medalist Toccara
Montgomery, also for the second year in a row. While Montgomery
prevailed last year, the result was far different this time out.
After tying up the match 3-3 in the beginning of the second period,
Marano was able to turn Montgomery and pin her at 4:00. For her
effort, Kristie Marano was named the tournament's Outstanding
Wrestler in women's wrestling.
In
a rematch from the finals of the 2003 World Team Trials, Dean
Morrison scored yet another victory over Tim Hartung in the 96
kg/211.5 lbs. freestyle finals, this time by a 5-1 score. At
the Trials, Morrison won two of three matches against Hartung,
before later losing to Daniel Cormier in a special wrestle-off
for that spot on the U.S. World Team. At this tournament, Morrison
was named the Outstanding Wrestler in freestyle wrestling.
The
match between Gardner and Byers, also a rematch of the 2003 World
Team Trials finals which Gardner had won two matches to one,
began with a scoreless first period. That meant that the second
period had to begin in the clinch. Byers won the toss, meaning
he got to lock first. After a few false starts, both men locked
up. Byers momentarily forced Gardner to his knees, but neither
man broke his grip. Then they both broke their hands, with the
officials ruling that it was Byers who had broken them first,
giving a point to Gardner and a caution against Byers. Towards
the end of the second period Gardner was put down, and Byers
lifted him and began a throw. Before Byers could gain back exposure,
Gardner maneuvered so that Byers only got one point for the turn.
That made it 1-1 as regulation ended.
The
overtime also began in the clinch, as so many of these Gardner-Byers
encounters have. This time Gardner got to lock up first. But
it was Byers who again forced Gardner to his knees and forced
him to break his hands. That point put Byers ahead 2-1, just
one shy of the necessary three to cinch the win. Gardner was
then put down in the par terre position, but Byers could not
turn him. Instead Gardner, still down 2-1, now went on the attack.
He scored a takedown at the edge of the mat to tie it up at 2-2.
But since Byers was behind in passivity calls, he had to score
another point to avoid a loss. It would not happen, as his momentum
faded and Gardner held him off. The finals score was 2-2, but
since Byers had three passivity calls against him to just one
for Gardner, it was yet another victory for the big man from
Afton, Wyoming, Rulon Gardner.
One
of the most closely-watched wrestlers at this tournament was
the colorful two-time silver medalist, Karam Gaber of Egypt,
world-renowned as a man who executes some of the most spectacular
throws in wrestling. On Sunday, Gaber won his second straight
championship at this tournament in Greco at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.
by defeating in the finals Khoren Papoyan, originally from Armenia,
by a lopsided 8-1 score. Leading 2-0 after the first period,
Gaber kept up the action in the second by lifting and tossing
Papoyan from the par terre position for a huge five-point throw,
plus one more for the lift. The Egyptian wrestler thus established
himself as one of the crowd favorites for the New York onlookers
at this event for the second year in a row.
One
of the many controversies of the tournament involving officiating
came during the 66 kg/145.5 lbs. finals in freestyle. In the
match between two-time World Team member Chris Bono and Jared
Frayer, with about one minute left, Bono had narrowed Frayer's
lead to just 4-3 after falling behind 2-0 in the first period.
Frayer then seemed to begin literally running away from Bono.
As Bono looked to the officials in search of a call against Frayer
for passivity, Frayer raced back behind Bono and spun behind
him. Bono later said that Frayer had controlled him by holding
onto his singlet. Not only was Frayer not penalized for any of
this, but he was awarded a point for a takedown, making it 5-3
with time running out. The match ended 7-4 in favor of Frayer,
also an upset, but Bono was livid about the officiating.
In
the semifinal match involving Gaber and Dan Hicks, which Gaber
won 3-2, there was also a major controversy. At one point Gaber
executed an arm throw on Hicks which landed him on the mat. But
no points at all were given to Gaber, when it seemed that anywhere
between one and three should have been awarded. Objections by
Gaber's corner did not get this ruling changed.
Another
wrestler many took note of was Diletta Giampiccolo of Italy.
Wrestling at 55 kg/121 lbs., the muscular Italian defeated 2003
silver medalist Tina George in the semifinals 6-0 and then bested
Tela O'Donnell in the finals, 3-1. Giampiccolo, who has been
training in the U.S., finished 11th at the 2003 World Championships
of Freestyle Wrestling.
The
miracle run by Dawid Rechul came to an end in the semifinals,
as the former Harvard wrestler fell to Tim Hartung in the 96
kg/211.5 lbs. freestyle semifinals, 11-4. Rechul had defeated
1993 World Champion and two-time Olympian Melvin Douglas on Saturday
by a 7-4 score. Rechul did finish fourth here, as Jon Trenge
edged him in the match for third place, 4-3. Douglas, by the
way, earned the right to compete in the semifinals with a 4-3
overtime win in the repechage (wrestle-backs) over Trenge, but
chose to withdraw from the tournament, allowing Trenge instead
to advance.
While
it was no surprise that Steve Mocco took first in freestyle at
120 kg/264.5 lbs., what was noteworthy was the precision with
which he did it. He won the four matches he wrestled by a combined
score of 30-2, including two technical falls. Only Orville Palmer,
who fell to Mocco by a 4-2 margin, was able to score on him.
Mocco, a 2003 NCAA Div. I national champion at Iowa, is taking
an Olympic redshirt year to concentrate on freestyle. His performance
at this tournament demonstrated that he is making the transition
from the American collegiate style to freestyle nicely. However,
like many American wrestlers, he still seems to need more work
on wrestling from the par terre position, from which he surrendered
his only points of the tournament on a reversal by Palmer. There
were also plenty of people at this event who said that Mocco
has a good shot at unseating Kerry McCoy for the top spot at
heavyweight in freestyle on the American team when they will
likely compete at the U.S. Nationals in April and the Olympic
Trials in May. That showdown did not happen here, as McCoy was
in attendance but did not compete.
Probably
the main thing wrong with this event was that there was not enough
of it. A match like Gardner vs. Byers should have been staged
at a larger and more easily accessible arena. Several notables
attended at least portions of this event, including jiu-jitsu
legend Renzo Gracie; Wendy Hilliard, NYC2012's Managing Director,
Sports; Malaak Shabazz, the youngest daughter of Malcolm X and
Dr. Betty Shabazz; and Sports Illustrated Olympics analyst Brian
Cazeneuve. But the event was not videotaped for future showing
on television or release on video. There also was virtually no
mainstream media coverage of it, despite it featuring so many
past and future Olympians.
Still,
the wrestling was superb and many in the scattered wrestling
community got a chance to see each other in this holiday season.
With the wrestling competition at the 2004 Olympics only eight
months away, from Sunday, August 22, to Sunday, August 29, 2004,
each tournament like this is a step on the road to Athens. It
is thus the performances of the wrestlers here that will remain
as the most significant accomplishment of the 2003 New York Athletic
Club Christmas Championships.
Here
are the results of finals in those weights which had final rounds,
and the winners in those that did not:
FREESTYLE
55
kg/121 lbs.
Gold - Leroy Vega (Minn. Storm)
60
kg/132 lbs.
Michael Lightner (Dave Schultz WC) dec. Yero Washington (Sunkist
Kids), 4-3, OT, 6:33
66
kg/145.5 lbs.
Jared Frayer (Dave Schultz WC) dec. Chris Bono (Sunkist Kids),
7-4
74
kg/163 lbs.
Joe Williams (Sunkist Kids) won by tech. fall over Matt Lackey
(New York AC), 10-0, 4:16
84
kg/185 lbs.
Lee Fullhart (Gator WC) dec. Randy Pugh (New York AC), 3-2
96
kg/211.5 lbs.
Dean Morrison (New York AC) dec. Tim Hartung (Minn. Storm), 5-1
120
kg/264.5 lbs.
Steve Mocco (New York AC) dec. Mike Faust (Dave Schultz WC),
6-0
Outstanding
Wrestler - Dean Morrison
GRECO-ROMAN
55
kg/121 lbs.
Lindsey Durlacher (New York AC) won by ref. dec. over Alexei
Shaipak (Belarus), 2-0, OT, 9:00
60
kg/132 lbs.
Joe Warren (New York AC) won by tech. fall over Willie Madison
(USOEC), 11-0, 1:39
66
kg/145.5 lbs.
Harry Lester (USOEC) dec. Eduard Apelvich (Belarus), 11-7
74
kg/163 lbs.
Oleg Mivalovich (Belarus) dec. Ken Cook (Sunkist Kids), 3-2
84
kg/185 lbs.
Ethan Bosch (New York AC) dec. Keith Sieracki (US Army), 3-1
96
kg/211.5 lbs.
Karam Gaber (Egypt) dec. Khoren Papoyan (Sunkist Kids), 8-1
120
kg/264.5 lbs.
Rulon Gardner (Sunkist Kids) won by ref. dec. over Dremiel Byers
(U.S. Army), 2-2, OT, 9:00
Outstanding
Wrestler - Rulon Gardner
WOMEN
48
kg/105.5 lbs.
Mary Kelly (New York AC) won by tech. fall over Amantha Hordagoda
(Dave Schultz WC), 10-0, 2:59
51
kg/112.25 lbs.
Gold - Malinda Ripley (Sunkist Kids)
55
kg/121 lbs.
Diletta Giampiccolo (Italy) dec. Tela O’Donnell
(Dave Schultz WC), 3-1
59
kg/130 lbs.
Gold - Erin Tomeo (Sunkist Kids)
63
kg/138.75 lbs.
Gold - Sara McMann (Sunkist Kids)
72
kg/158.5 lbs.
Kristie Marano (New York AC) pinned Toccara Montgomery (New York
AC), 4:00
Outstanding
Wrestler - Kristie Marano
For
full results and much more information, go to the special coverage
section on TheMat.com at:
http://www.themat.com/specialevents/2003/nyac/default.asp/
Source: ADCC
|
Quote
of the Day
"The teacher, if indeed wise, doe not bid you to enter the
house of their wisdom, but leads you to the threshold of your
own mind."
Kahil Gibran, 1883-1931, Lebanese Poet, Novelist
|
Fighters'
Club TV Episode 17 Debuts Tomorrow!
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 (+ interview with Ron)
-DeFranco vs. Deshaun Johnson
-BJ Penn vs. Takanori Gomi (+ interview with BJ--his personality
shines through in
this one!)
-interview with 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
with pics attached to the same address.
Happy
Holidays from the TOUGHEST SHOW ON TELEVISION!
|
'KING
OF THE CAGE' BRINGS NO HOLDS BARRED CAGE FIGHTING COMPETITION
TO OFFICE DEPOT CENTER
Three
Title Fights Among Evening of Martial Arts Entertainment
SUNRISE,
FLA. - The Office Depot Center proudly announces the King of
the Cage no holds barred cage fighting competition on Jan. 24,
featuring the biggest names in the sport. King of the Cage, Inc.,
one of the nation's top three mixed martial arts pay per view
promotional organizations, teams with bodybuilding and pro wrestling's
Stonecutter Event Promotions, Inc., to bring their brand of world
championship cage fighting to the East Coast for the very first
time. This event is co-sponsored by Bodyonics Pinnacle and Cytodyne.
The
fight card includes a world title bout in the unlimited weight
class between KOTC Heavyweight Champion Paul Buentello and Patrick
Smith, an unlimited class superfight title bout between Dan 'The
Beast' Severn and Seth 'The Silverback' Petruzelli and a world
welterweight title fight between John Alessio and George Santiago.
Also among the 12 fights scheduled is a tilt between lightweight
division challenger Paul Rodriguez and Melvin Guillard.
Buentello
has fought extensively in the USWC, Extreme Challenge and the
International Fighting Championships and is the current KOTC
Heavyweight Champion of the World. Smith is a Denver native,
who uses a Tae Kwon Do fighting style. Severn is the world's
only Triple Crown Ultimate Fighting Champion. He is also the
winner of the UFC V 8-man tournament, the World Extreme Super
Heavyweight Champion and the Continental Freefighting Alliance
Super Heavyweight Champion. Petruzelli, a native of Cape Coral,
Fla., won his first national karate title at the age of 13. The
rising martial arts star trains in kickboxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu,
wrestling, sambo and karate. Alessio is the KOTC Welterweight
Champion of the World. Santiago, a Brazil native now fighting
out of the American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fla., holds a
black belt and is 5-2-0. Rodrigues is a Port St. Lucie, Fla.,
native now fighting out of Orlando. Guillard, known as 'The Young
Assassin,' is 9-0-0 in his young career.
Also
on the fight card is local fighter Manny Reyes Jr., from Miami.
Reyes has won seven NASKA titles in the last 10 years, as well
as two NBL titles, four ISKA titles, two PKC titles and three
USKA titles in point tournament karate. From 2001-2003, Reyes
went 14-0 in Full Contact Point Karate, winning the ISKA lightweight
title and the Lords of the Ring Full Contact Karate World Title.
King
of the Cage, headquartered in Los Angeles, promotes over 24 live
casino-hosted events yearly in the United States. They broadcast
four pay per view events yearly with worldwide exposure, distribute
VHS and DVDs to major stores like MusicLand, Tower Records and
Best Buy, just to name a few, and will have a video game on store
shelves next year.
Featuring
only professional, elite fighters from around the globe, 'King
of the Cage' is a competitive event, pitting warrior against
warrior in hand-to-hand battles of skill, honor and art. From
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to wrestling, Muay Thai to boxing, all styles
are encouraged, but in order to consistently win, participants
must be well versed in every aspect of the fighting game.
Office
Depot Center is the home of the National Hockey League's Florida
Panthers and host to more than 150 events annually. Owned by
Broward County, the Office Depot Center is the preeminent sports
and entertainment venue in Florida and among the best in the
world, with more than 2 million customers entering its doors
annually.
Source: ADCC
|
Minotauro
on his way to Japan
A
few hours after celebrating the success of his first promoted
event I Conquista Fight in Bahia, PRIDE star Rodrigo 'Minotauro'
Nogueira rushed to Rio de Janeiro by plane. The reason for the
quick exit was that 'Minotauro' will try to get a Japanese visa
in time to be part of the New’s Year's Eve show Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye.
Rodrigo, Pride's heavyweight co-champion, was invited by the
Inoki promoters, who apparently struck a deal with Pride’s
promoters.
Minotauro's
opponent is said to be a Japanese fighter. Rodrigo’s twin
brother, Rogerio 'Minotouro', is already confirmed for the Pride
event, miles away from Kobi, the city that will host Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye.
'Minotouro' will face Japanese idol Kazushi Sakuraba.
Source: ADCC
|
WLADIMIR
KLITSCHKO WANTS TO FIGHT FOR WORLD TITLE AFTER SCORING FOURTH-ROUND
TKO OVER DANELL NICHOLSON
RESEDA,
Calif. (Dec. 20, 2003) - Two weeks after older brother and 'People's
Heavyweight Champion' Vitali Klitschko, blew out Kirk Johnson
in two rounds, Wladimir 'Dr. Steelhammer' Klitschko needed only
slightly longer to dispatch of Danell Nicholson Saturday night
in Kiel, Germany.
Klitschko,
who was making his second start since losing his World Boxing
Organization (WBO) heavyweight title to Corrie Sanders in March,
needed a while to get his distance, but once he did he dominated
en route to registering an impressive fourth-round TKO.
'Nicholson
is a veteran and was very difficult to fight because of his experience
and because he seemed more interested in holding and clinching
and grabbing me than fighting' said Klitschko (42-2, 39 KOs),
who dropped Nicholson in the fourth with a left hook. 'It was
frustrating at the beginning and I was not satisfied at all with
the way things were going.
'But
by the third round I started to feel better. I know I hurt him
with a left hand in that round and that it was only a matter
of time after that.
'It
is not easy to look good in fights like this, but I am happy
with the result and ready to move forward.'
Nicholson,
who had a three-fight winning streak end, beat the count in the
scheduled 12-round World Boxing Association (WBA) International
heavyweight title fight, but Klitschko continued to connect with
combinations until the referee halted the proceedings at 1:44
of the fourth.
Despite
the tactics of Nicholson (42-5, 32 KOs), the accurate-punching
Klitschko could not miss as he connected on 60 percent of his
punches (52 of 87). Nicholson, who had a point deducted in the
second for holding, was 23 of 72 (32 percent).
'Now
that I have had two tuneup fights, I am definitely ready to fight
any of the world champions' Wladimir, who trained for Nicholson
in three different cities' Los Angeles, New York and Hamburg'“
said. 'It does not matter to me which champion I fight.'
'Next
year is going to be the year of the Klitschko brothers. I am
more than certain that Vitali will win the world title' hopefully,
it will be in the rematch against Lennox Lewis -- and I am confident
that I will, too.'
Both
Wladimir and Vitali, who worked his corner Saturday night, plan
to depart Germany and head to South America for vacation.
For
more information on the Klitschko Brothers, please go the official
Klitschko website WWW.KLITSCHKO.COM
Source: ADCC
|
Macaco
is the name of Meca 10
After
several changes in its card, Meca World Vale-Tudo 10 brought
the confront between Pancrase veteran Nilson de Castro and BJJ
fighter Carlos Baruk as the main event of the program that began
at midnight of last Saturday in Curitiba, Brazil. But the unanimous
decision of Baruk over Castro was not comparable with the most
exciting match of the night, between Jorge Macaco against Luis
Brito.
Macaco
started the eighth fight of the card in an unbelievable pace,
controlling the first 10 minutes of the fight in all aspects,
hitting his opponent in a few occasion with strong punches (he
got a knockdown once) and also getting the mounted position in
a couple of times. Brito had the merit of resisting, using his
Jiu-Jitsu technique to defend himself and not letting things
get worse.
Even
though the second half of the fight did not keep the same pace,
both fighters surpassed their tiredness and kept attacking, drawing
the following statement from the Pride middleweight champion
Wanderlei Silva: ‘It’s one of the best fights ever!’
In
the end, a less tired Brito got control of the fight in the final
minutes but it wasn’t enough to convince the judges, that
gave the split decision to Jorge Macaco, whose career completed
30 fights in a great fashion.
The
former partner of Macaco didn’t have the same fortune that
night. Roberto Godoi couldn’t resist the wildness of Meca
veteran Daniel Acacio and tapped after eight minutes of the fifth
fight of the night, when the winner of Meca 4, 6, 8 and 9 and
new Chute Boxe member was punishing him from the mount position.
Another
anticipated fight of the card was the bout between Ana Carolina
and Carmem Casca-grossa. It was the first time in a Meca event
that two females faced each other. The fight ended when a better
grappler Ana Carolina submitted Carmem with a shoulder lock (Americana)
from the side mount position.
Complete
results:
Nelson
Medeiros defeated Angelo Antonio by TKO at 3m of 1R
Waldir Cabeça defeated Rafael Tatu by verbal submission
after the 1R
Jadson Costa submitted Marcelo Nigue with a triangle at 2m12s
of 1R
Júnior Besouro defeated Fabricio Morango by desistance
(knee injury) at 1m50s of 1R
Daniel Acácio defeated Roberto Godói by tap-out
at 8m10s of 1R
Ana Carolina submitted Carmem Casca-Grossa by shoulder lock (Americana)
at
4m25s of 1R
Delson Pé de Chumbo defeated Marcelo Pitbull by verbal
submission at 8m
of 1R
Jorge Patino Macaco defeated Luiz Brito by split judges decision
after 3R
Carlos Baruk defeated Nilson de Castro by unanimous decision
after 3R
Source: ADCC
|
RECHUL
SHOCKS DOUGLAS, 7-4, ON OPENING DAY OF NYAC CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT
NEW
YORK, Dec. 20 -- The first day of the 2003 New York Athletic
Club Christmas International Championships was supposed to be
routine, with the top wrestlers all defeating everyone else in
their pools to set up the semifinals and then final matches for
the second day of competition. With five former World Champions
competing and a slew of World medalists to boot, the heavy action
in men's and women's freestyle as well as Greco-Roman wrestling
was all expected to occur Sunday. But this is wrestling -- real
wrestling -- and real sports without contrivances like scripts
and phony endings have a habit of developing compelling storylines
just when you least expect them.
The
first match at this tournament for 40-year-old Melvin Douglas,
a two-time Olympian and a 1993 World Champion, in his latest
comeback bid after taking time off was against Dawid Rechul.
Douglas, sporting a few day's growth of beard along with a goatee
of a few inches, was wrestling freestyle at 96 kg/211.25 pounds,
after beginning his comeback at heavyweight at the Sunkist Open
in October. His opponent, Rechul, is a talented wrestler himself,
who presently trains full-time at the U.S. Olympic Training Center
in Colorado Springs, and was an All-American by virtue of a seventh
place finish at the 2002 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships
in his last season wrestling for Harvard. But Rechul, originally
from Poland and now wrestling for the New York Athletic Club,
was not considered a major test for the returning Douglas. He
was not even ranked in the top ten at 96 kg in TheMat.com's U.S.
Senior Freestyle Rankings of Nov. 12, 2003.
Then
their match began.
Showing
little respect for the seasoned Douglas, Rechul shot in near
the edge of the mat and scored, much to the chagrin of Douglas
who complained that they were out-of-bounds. But the move had
clearly been initiated by Rechul in-bounds, and suddenly it was
3-0 in favor of this much younger man. A one-point gutwrench
by Rechul made it 4-0, and things seemed to be spiraling out
of control for the veteran Douglas.
But
there was plenty of time left for the crafty Douglas, who used
every moment allotted to him to rise from the mat when the men
were restarted, and called a few questionable injury timeouts
to stretch things out even further. Now he controlled the pace,
or, rather, lack of pace of this match, and began his comeback
in this comeback match. One point for a takedown, another for
a gutwrench, and a third shortly into the second period narrowed
the score to 4-3. After another injury timeout, everything seemed
to be in his hands.
Then,
again near the edge of the mat, Rechul struck once more with
a double-leg attempt. The two men again went out-of-bounds, with
Douglas's back again being exposed to the mat. The officials
signalled three points for Rechul. And, as if on cue, Douglas
objected once more, but also to no avail once more. With time
starting to dwindle, Rechul had pulled ahead by a 7-3 score.
Douglas
would get one more point because of Rechul being called for fleeing
the mat, but it was far too little, too late. The young Harvard
grad had upended the methodical veteran, putting a crimp in Douglas's
comeback run, while establishing himself as a force to be contended
with in the 96 kg/211.25 pounds division.
Rechul
won his other pool match, defeating Josh Pierce by a tech fall,
11-1. He thus assured himself a place in the semifinals on Sunday,
along with Tim Hartung, Dean Morrison, and another wrestler who
will be determined Sunday in the repechage (wrestle-backs) round.
Douglas could still be the one to win that last spot in the semifinals
by competing in that repechage round.
However
he does Sunday, Rechul was realistic about his chances going
in to his match with Douglas. 'I knew I was at a disadvantage
technically,' he admitted after his win. 'I didn't come in here
expecting to upset anyone like Melvin,' he added. Rechul credits
his victory to working on the 'little things,' such as countering
Douglas's duckunder attempts with double-leg shots. He had only
wrestled Douglas before in practice, but obviously had scouted
him well, which should not be much of a surprise for a wrestler
from Harvard to do.
Besides
training at the Olympic Training Center, Rechul is now doing
graduate work at the University of Phoenix in Colorado Springs,
working towards his MBA. 'I want to get better from tournament
to tournament,' he said, a task in which he apparently is succeeding
more quickly than even he expected.
The
96 kg/211.5 lbs. weight class in Greco also captured much attention
on the first day of this tournament. That was all due to the
electrifying presence of two-time World silver medalist Karam
Gaber of Egypt. Known for his spectacular throws and lifts, Gaber
did not disappoint either his throng of family and friends, or
any of the other onlookers at the New York Athletic Club who
were all transfixed on his two matches of the day. In fact, the
match schedule was even adjusted to make his second match the
final one of Saturday's competition.
Gaber's
first victim was Gary Horner of Quest. A few huge throws into
the first period made it quickly 13-0 for the Egyptian, enough
for a tech fall. Gaber, who is staying with his brother in Brooklyn
for a few weeks, returned to face Adam Wheeler of the USOEC.
Gaber opened with a couple of three-point throws, and got another
point and then a two-point turn to make it 9-0 at the end of
the first period. Many were amazed that anyone was taking him
into the second period, but when Gaber was put down, Wheeler
executed a two-point turn, proving to those skeptics that Gaber
is, after all, human. It ended 10-2, but for the second year
in a row at this event, Karam Gaber was emerging as the tournament's
biggest star.
The
much-anticipated showdown between Rulon Gardner and Dremiel Byers,
World Champion vs. World Champion, will have to wait for Sunday's
competition, probably in the Greco finals at 120 kg. Both men
were dominating in Saturday's action. Gardner even spent much
of the tournament posing for photos, signing autographs, and
even discussing politics after telling people that after the
2004 Olympics he might want to run for office. And, of course,
he said he planned to do some more snowmobiling during the holidays.
Gardner
also posed for a photo with a surprise guest at this event: Renzo
Gracie. We hope to have that photo, taken by Gary Abbot of USA
Wrestling, available soon, along with an interview with the jiu-jitsu
legend about his impressions of watching these top wrestlers
in action.
For
full results and much more information, go to the special coverage
section on TheMat.com at:
http://www.themat.com/specialevents/2003/nyac/default.asp
The
New York Athletic Club is located at 180 Central Park South in
Manhattan, at the corner of West 59th Street (Central Park South)
and 7th Avenue. For general Information about the NYAC, call
212-247-5100.
There
is a dress code to enter the NYAC through the main lobby at 59th
Street. Men must wear a shirt and jacket, and women must wear
casual business attire. Those dressed otherwise can enter through
the rear entrance at 58th Street. Make sure to tell the attendants
that you are there for the wrestling tournament, and you will
be directed to it.
Here
is the schedule for the second and final day of the 2003 New
York Athletic Club Christmas International Championships (all
times EST):
Sunday,
Dec. 21
10:00 AM - Pools and repechage for all styles in the NYAC sixth-floor
gymnasium
1:00 PM - Semifinals
4:00 PM - Championship finals
Source: ADCC
|
Quote
of the Day
"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries
or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself."
William Faulkner, 1897-1962, American Novelist
|
Sperry
to face Yuki Kondo on New Year's Eve
by: Denis Martins
Once again, the rumors in the air over the 3 major Japanese New
Year's eve events are changing. One match that has been talked
about for a long time is Jose Mario Sperry (BTT) taking on former
UFC champion Don Frye.
Apparently,
things have changed and Japanese star Yuki Kondo has taken Frye's
place. From a live crowd, in Japan perspective, this match makes
more sense, as it brings Kondo's star power - Japanese promoters
are counting on an exciting figh!
Kondo's
star is on an upswing, having recently captured the lightheavyweight
King Of Pancrase title with a KO over Sanae Kikuta. He has kept
a high pace of fights in 2003 with 5 matches. On the other hand,
Sperry has not fought since
Pride 22 last September 29th, 2002. It will be tough to pick
a winner in this one!
Source:
ADCC |
K-1
New Year's Eve Card Announced
By Monty DiPietro
TOKYO, December 16, 2003 -- The K-1 Premium 2003 Dynamite card
has been finalized -- almost. But for two or three matchups which
remain to be set, the lineup for the New Year's Eve extravaganza
was revealed today by Event Producer Sadaharu Tanigawa in a press
conference at the Shin Takanawa Hotel.
The
main event at Nagoya Dome will be a Bob Sapp vs Akebono showdown,
will be fought under K-1 rules. Other K-1 rules fights will pit
Kyokushin favorite Francisco Filho against New Zealand fighter
Toa; and four-time K-1 World GP Champion Ernesto Hoost against
a mountain of a man -- Montanha Silva of Brazil.
Four
of the seven confirmed fights on the card will be 3x5min rounds,
fought under the new K-1 MMA rules. (The rules are being finalized
and will be posted here shortly).
Among
these is a very anticipated matchup between K-1 star Alexey Ignashov
of Belarus and 2003 IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura,
who this year beat both Jan "The Giant" Nortje and
Shane Etiner in MMA bouts.
Ignashov
does not seem particularly worried -- has not even studied Nakamura
fight tapes: "I'm focused on training, " said "The
Scorpion" at the press conference, "because it's a
new world for me. I have a great trainer [Marco Cavalcante from
the Varig Gym in Brazil] and so I am confident."
Said
Nakamura: "This K-1 MMA tournament is a great chance for
me, I have been doing Jiu-Jitsu training, and my condition is
excellent."
Veteran
Pro wrestler "Green Beret" Tom Howard of California
will also step into the MMA ring: "This is the fulfillment
of a lifelong dream," said Howard. "I'm looking forward
to the opportunity to show the strength of myself as a green
beret and of pro wrestlers in K-1 MMA. This is my first MMA fight,
but I am a very big fan of all styles of fighting, I will take
any opportunity to fight in any style."
Howard's
opponent will be Team LeBanner fighter Kristof Midoux of France.
Another
K-1 MMA rules fight announced today features French kickboxer
Cyril Abidi, who will step in against "The Predator"
[Sylvester Terkay, age 31]. The Pittsburgh-born Predator weighs
in at 140kg and stands 200cm, and stomped into the press conference
with a length of heavy chain wrapped menacingly round his fist.
"I'm looking forward to grabbing a hold of somebody and
beating them up," he scowled, "just like I always do.
Pro wrestling is my number one style, but if my techniques work
here then hopefully there will be more opportunities in the future
for me to do MMA." The Predator is a former NCAA Heavyweight
Wrestling Champion who also has experience in Muay Thai and Submission
fighting.
Also
on the card is a bout between popular American fighter Butterbean
and Genki Sudo of Japan
These
are the seven confirmed fights so far, but three more are expected
to round out the card, with boxers Shannon Briggs and Francois
Botha, wrestler Yoshihiro Nakao and Olympic Judo gold medalist
David Khakhaleishvili are all likely to compete, although their
opponents and rules have yet to be announced.
Source:
Sherdog |
Vitor
Shaolin
By Alexandre Lobo
The brand new MMA champ
The
TATAME.com team had the pleasure to receive this Wednesday the
brand new Brazilian MMA champ, the Nova União fighter
Vitor Shaolin. The three times BJJ World champ brought to us
his new trophy and chated with our team. Check out the best of
this chat, that passed by the before-the fight expectation, went
to the fight nervousism and arrived at the celebration party,
with a barbercue at the end of the month.
How
was your training for this moment so important?
In
spite of saying that I was calm, the fact is that I was very
ansious to fight. The things were happening better than I thought
they could and this was scaring me. I started losing weight in
the right time and I didn't have such a good trainings before,
nor on the feet, neither on the ground. Besides, I didn't get
hurted!
Was
like this till the day of the fight?
When
I saw Joachim Hansen's fight against (Takanori) Gomi, I became
impressed with the Japanese leaving the inside the guard position
and prefering changing on the feet. Everything due to the punches
on the face from a man who was under him! At the day of the fight
I just thought: is he so strong?
How
was going over the ring?
We
started changing punches and I went to the single leg. When I
took him down, I felt myself stronger and I started moving. I
knew he punched well from the bottom and I couldn't be stopped.
If I kept moving, I could pass his guard and so it happened.
I scaped from his punches and also tried a Katagatami. During
the second round, I won the middle of the ring, but he low kicked
me. I lost my equilibrium, went to his leg and he took my back.
I tried to scape and he felt in front of me. So, I took him by
the Katagatami.
Than,
you just celebrated...
Man,
I didn't know what to do. I saw the audience shouting, Dedé
(Pederneiras, Shaolin's coach) and Robinho (Róbson Moura,
Shaolin's partner) went inside the ring, took me up and I was
out of my mind.
Why
do you think you had such a good preparation during all this
time?
Of
course, besides my team and my trainer, my friends from Jiu-Jitsu,
Boxing, Judo, Wrestling were very important for me. They handled
me when I needed. Also my mother and my fiancée were very
important. They knew how important was this fight and took all
the problems away from me. Obviously this belt was important
for me. But I also wanted it to give to my friends the opportunity
to say I know a champ
What
was the importance of Dedé Pederneiras, your trainer,
on this victory?
Dedé
is our leader and an example for us. The few I have, becomes
from him. I fight Jiu-Jitsu for ten years and he was the only
trainer that I had. He's a friend and a guy that is always where
I need.
When
do you return to the Shooto ring?
Maybe
in May or April. But in January I'm back, because João
Roque and Marcus Loro will fight on January 24.
We
received a lot of messages claiming for a celebration party,
with a barbecue...
Well,
I'll do a barbecue next December 27 and I'll invite all my friends.
I'll call for every one. I'm a stingy person, but not so much.
(laughing)
Do
you want to leave a message for your fans?
I
would like to thanks for all who taught me a position, who traind
with me. All of them were with me inside that ring I'm thankful
for it. My trainers, Luiz Alves, Cláudio Coelho, Dedé
Pederneiras, Márcio Pimentel and Jefferson, my special
thanks. It was under your orientation that I am where I am now.
Let's go to the barbecue!
Source:
Tatame |
Antoine
Jaoude
By André Araújo
On the way to Athens 2004
After
joining the first MMA tournament held in Brazil ever by K-1 organization,
the major Brazilian wrestler Antoine Jaoude has the Olympic games
in his major goals. During an exclusive to TATAME.com , the 2003
Pan Am silver medal talks about his defeat to Jefferson Tank
at K-1 MMA, about his MMA plans and his major goal, join the
Olympic Games in Athens in 2004.
How
was fighting at the first MMA event promoted by the K-1 as part
of the main event?
It
was damn good. In fact, it was a honor. I wanted to represent
Ruas Vale-Tudo and intended to win that fight to fight Japan
in December. I stepped inside the ring confident, but the rules
benefits the Muay Thai's fighters. I also got few good chances
during the fight, but I wasted it unfortunately.
How
did you assimilate this defeat?
I'm
fine. It was a hard bout and I give the honors to Tank. I didn't
adapt myself to the rules. I went there and at this time I just
have the Olympic Games on my mind.
How
come you didn't adapt yourself to the rules?
My
strategy was to taking him down and submit him, but I didn't
have enough time to do it. It was not like Pride. I couldn't
work on my ground techniques, because the time was too short.
There was no way out. I accepted the challenge and it was a great
experience for me
Talking
about the Olympic Games. How is your preparation?
We
do have the Brazilian Olympic Committee support, but I don't
have sponsors. I have been training in Brazil and I am going
to Bulgaria fighting there twice. The first one is scheduled
to February 1st and the second to 15th. I do have to be among
the four ones during the first event and the second one I have
be among the five first. I am sure I will get this trial. I want
to represent Brazil in Athens. It has been a while Brazil is
out of the Olympic Games and I want to take Brazil's name with
me.
How
is your team, the Ruas Vale-Tudo?
The
team is strong and fine. Marco Ruas and Beto Leitão are
trying to set up fights for everybody and there are lots of good
new fighters as Beição, Baixinho, Ricardo, Edu,
Diego, Jacaré...
And
about Hook'n Shoot?
After
they divided Hook'n Shoot in two divisions (west and east), I
am not sure what its gonna happen. I should fight in February
and I don't know if I will defend my title. The only thing I
am sure is that I am ready to fight.
Source:
Tatame |
Wallid
Ismael vs. Ryan Gracie feud - the facts once and for all
It seems that every couple of months a delusional Ryan Gracie
fan comes on the Internet to talk about the Wallid Ismael vs.
Ryan Gracie feud. These delusional fans say things like “Wallid
was afraid to fight Ryan,” “Wallid never chocked Ryan
unconscious,” “Wallid is a coward,” etc.
So,
in order to clear up the confusion, I present this brief history
of the Wallid Ismael vs. Ryan Gracie feud:
*
In November 1999, Ryan signed to fight Wallid in the January
2000 WEC show, and went to NY to train with Renzo. Wallid delayed
signing because he might have a fight in Pride. But, no matter,
Ryan was in “great shape” and training hard at Renzo’s.
Wallid signed the contract t fight Ryan 6 weeks before the fight,
but suddenly Ryan dropped out because he did not have enough
time to prepared for the fight. Ryan was supposedly in great
shape, had been training for the fight a month, and he still
had 6 weeks to prepare. But suddenly he could not possibly get
ready. Class, can you say cheeken?
*Wallid
and Ryan then signed to fight in the April 2001 WEC show, but
that fight fell apart after Ryan got arrested for stabbing a
man in a bar fight in February. This is the second case of Ryan
dropping out of a fight against Wallid. Class, can you say cheeken?
*In
December 1999, Wallid and Ryan got in a shouting match on Pepe
beach in Rio. No punches were thrown. A few days later, Ryan
walked into a gym where Wallid was working out. Wallid ran downstairs
to confront Ryan. Ryan was afraid that Wallid was going to kick
his ass, so he reached into his fanny pack and pretended to have
a gun in order to make sure Wallid did not jump him. Class, can
you say cheeken?
*In
October 2000, Wallid and Ryan both attended the after party for
the Bad Boy fashion show in Brazil. Ryan snuck up on Wallid and
tried to sucker punch Wallid from behind. Wallid turned around,
put Ryan in a guillotine choke, and choked Ryan unconscious.
Class, can you say owned?
Oh,
and for the Ryan Gracie jock riders, following are the original
news stories that substantiate everything I taught you (with
links, of course) in case you want to do some research for yourself.
ADCC 11/7/99:
"Ryan
Gracie informed us that he has the contract in his hands and
is ready to sign. They also said that Ryan is in great shape
and is ready . . ."
Wallid
has not yet signed the contract
-------------------------
ADCC
11/11/99
"We
weren’t able to get Wallid’s reply but were lucky enough
to get a hold of Ryan and he told us the following:'The Paraiba
(Wallid’s nickname - a disparaging slang signifying a person
from Northern Brazil) is running, he is better off signing, because
I am either going to beat him and he is going to make $10,000.00
or I am going to beat him in the streets for free and he is not
going to make anything. He said too many things and now he is
running. Sign the contract and show up.'. . ."
-------------------------------
ADCC
11/12/99:
Wallid
told us that he will have a resolution next week and will let
everyone know. He is for sure going to fight in January, he just
hasn’t decide with whom. He said that "O Pau vai comer
em Janeiro" (there is going to be a brawl in January), and
that he is going to make his enemies cry and his friends will
party hard to celebrate the success.
-------------------------------
ADCC
11/13/99:
Wallid
Ismail called us to inform us, that he is yet to make up his
mind as to which event to fight, but he also said that he will
have the big announcement on Monday. He said that he will make
a lot of people happy with the decision. He is leaving Rio on
Sunday and will arrive in Los Angeles the next day and will start
intensifying his training for the fight. Check our news on late
Monday, early Tuesday for his BIG announcement . . .
-------------------------------
ADCC
11/13/99:
Jamie
Levine, the Promoter for World Extreme Fighting show contacted
us today with more information about Wallid x Ryan Gracie . Jamie
told us that he has to have a decision from Wallid by noon Friday,
otherwise he will have to CANCEL that Fight!
--------------------------
ADCC
12/2/99
"Wallid
Ismail will face Ryan Gracie in the next World Extreme Fighting
in January 15, Wallid told us earlier this week. He is expected
to finalize the deal with matchmaker Jamie Levine today. (Levine
has left Wallid anxious for the last several days - he's been
out of town on a hunting trip!) Ryan Gracie has been signed with
WEF for a long time now, but Wallid was trying for a rematch
against Royce Gracie in Pride Grand Prix 2000, but money problems
have kept him out. Wallid and Ryan will be in the main event
of the WEF show and both are training hard. Wallid is in California
now and some of his teammates will fly there to help him train.
Look for a very high profile WEF event in Rome, Georgia!"
--------------------------------
ADCC
12/10/99
"Jamie
Levine, WEF matchmaker called us toady in regards to comments
Renzo Gracie recently made on E-Yada's netcast No Holds Barred
program. Jamie says that despite Renzo's apparent second thoughts
about letting Ryan Gracie fight Wallid Ismail this coming January
15th, WEF has a signed contract obligating him to do so. Wallid
now, according to Levine, is also committed on paper. As of Thursday
night, Levine was trying to contact Renzo, who is handling Ryan,
to straighten the matter out. "That fight WILL happen,"
Levine told us.
"It
is known that Wallid has gone to considerable expense to fly
trainers to the US for the bout. We'll have more on this soap
opera as it develops."
---------------------------------
ADCC
12/11/99
"The
Wallid x Ryan soap opera continues. Renzo contacted us and told
us that 'Ryan is already in Brazil, he had been training here
for four months and Wallid was playing games, trying to get a
fight in Pride, and that now that the Japanese have rejected
him he signed. The problem is that it was too late, beyond the
deadline. Ryan left his life in Brazil to train for this fight,
he was here for four months and he had to return to take care
of his affairs there. They can fight in April'. . . Wallid called
us and he was fuming, he said that "they are all cowards,
they can’t do that to me now. I have brought 7 people from
Brazil to help me prepare, personal trainer, a boxing trainer
and several sparring partners, all this cost me money. Backing
out at this stage is shame full and they are not going to get
away with that. His dad was saying that I was running away from
the fight, who is running now?'"
------------------------------
ADCC
12/18/99
"Let
us recap: Wallid Ismail and Ryan Gracie have a little family
pride/personal feud thing going. Both said they wanted to fight
each other. Wallid went as far as to say he would fight Ryan
for free. WEF's matchmaker Jamie Levine went to extra lengths
to find backers to put up money beyond the scope of his show's
budget and Ryan signed to fight (and began to train for) the
January 15th bout. Wallid however decided to play a little game
with the promoters of PRIDE and see if he could play Levine's
offer off against them for a bigger purse. It backfired. Wallid
passed his deadline to sign, Ryan (says H ) quit training for
the fight, and Wallid had to scramble to get the original deal
from Levine. Now Wallid has signed and is training to fight Ryan
Gracie. But hold on! Now Ryan Gracie is making excuses about
why he won't fight. He says he had quit training because Wallid
didn't sign his contract and he won't be ready by January 15th,
though he would have had six weeks (which is what it takes the
average fighter) to get prepared, besides which he had presumably
trained very hard until only a few weeks before."
----------------------------
ADCC
12/24/99
"Wallid
Ismail versus Ryan Gracie is officially off for January, 2000.
The fight will take place in April on the following WEF card,
so now fans will endure another three months of the soap opera
before seeing if the two actually fight."
----------------------------
ADCC
12/28/99
"Ryan
Gracie and Wallid Ismail almost gave a preview of the WEF main
event for April yesterday. They crossed paths on Pepe Beach and
the meeting was 100% predictable. They started bad mouthing each
other and almost fought on the spot. After some intervention
they went home, thank God!"
----------------------------
ADCC
12/30/99
A
rumors is running rampant about an incident that happened in
a Gym in Rio involving Wallid Ismael and Ryan Gracie and the
alleged use of a gun. Since this is serious business we felt
it was in the best interest of everybody to obtain an account
from sources close to the whole situation. We turned to Luca
Atalla from Gracie Magazine. We also contacted Ryan Gracie and
he said that Alexandre "Soca" Carneiro was there at
the time of the incident and here is their account of the story:
The
day before yesterday, Ryan was going in to the Academia da Praia
Gym in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro. When he arrived there
Wallid Ismael was waiting for him and challenged him to a fight.
Ryan said that he wouldn’t fight there because they were
both sponsored by the Academy and that it was disrespectful to
do so there but he’d be willing to fight the next day at
the school behind closed doors. Wallid didn’t back off and
started to charge at Ryan. Ryan reached into his fanny pack and
said you better stop, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow
and then a lot of people left. There was an of duty police officer
from the Policia Civil of Rio de Janeiro, Officer Reis (also
known as Rambo) who was working out at the Academy at the time
and officer Reis went over to Ryan and demanded to look into
the fanny pack. He opened it and all he found was a shaving kit
and deodorant! Ryan stated to me that he hates guns and doesn’t
want anything to do with them, and that he is usually at the
other end of them.
We
then contacted Luis "Bebel" Duarte from Carlson Gracie
Team who was there himself and said that he didn’t see any
gun but that no one was sure whether there was a gun or not,
and no one was going to pay to see. He did say that every time
Wallid went towards Ryan that Ryan reached into his fanny pack.
Bebel stated that he doesn’t condone either ones attitude
and we both agreed that this is not good for the sport.
Kid
hates to bring up these kind of stories because they present
a bad side of a great sport, but these things are happening and
we felt that we had to report the facts.
A
little later today we spoke to Soca as well, who saw the whole
incident, and he confirmed that there was no gun involved, period
. . .
----------------------------
ADCC
1/3/00
"Wallid
Ismail and Ryan Gracie signed their contracts for next April's
World Extreme Fighting on the Hora da Luta television program
three days ago. No shots were fired."
----------------------------
ADCC
2/14/00
"TV
Globo in Brazil has reported that Ryan Gracie was arrested today
for stabbing a man in a night club called Ilha Dos Pescadores
(Island of the Fisherman). The nightclub is just west of Rio.
"The
victims name is Marcos Vinicius. Apparently, in a brawl involving
as many as 30 persons, Ryan stabbed Vinicius in the stomach and
delivered several headbutts. The Police said Ryan the fled to
his home town - Sao Paulo, where he was taken into custody without
further inccident. No further word on the condition of Vinicius
was available.
"Ryan
is the brother of Ralph and Renzo Gracie and the half-brother
of Charles Gracie. He is noted for his high-profile grudge match
with Wallid Ismail which was to be resolved on a future WEF fight
card, but which will now most likely be put on hold. Ryan is
also infamous for an incident in which he reportedly bit off
an opponent's ear in a challenge match. We at ADCC will keep
you posted on further developements with this story!"
---------------------------
ADCC
2/20/00
Yesterday,
the chief of police Napoleao Salgado put together all the accusations
against Ryan Gracie.
Sought
as the villain of the riot at the Ilha da Fantasia nightclub,
Ryan Gracie, in his statement to the police, said that all happened
because of an heroic gesture. The fighter - accused of attacking
(punching) Mauricio Tadeu Carneiro Lima, president of the Jiu-Jitsu
League, and wounding with a knife the sales rep Marcus Vinicius
Da Rosa last Sunday night, said that he was trying to stop a
man from being beaten, when the riot started. He gave his version
in his statement yesterday, at the police department.
According
to him, Marcus had the knife and tried to stab him. Ryan denied
that he hadpunched the president of the League, at the same club,
a few moments before the incident. Ryan's father, Robson Gracie,
said that he received information that Marcus was connected to
drug dealers and was setting up an ambush to kill Ryan.
The
chief of police said that he will wait for Marcus statement to
clarify everything. In his statement Ryan said that he was at
the club when he saw a group of around fifteen men chasing a
guy he did not know. The fighter then went to protect the man,
afraid that the group would kill him. (Note from Carioca: Things
like that are becoming commonplace in Rio.) That's when Marcus,
whom Ryan says he never met before, called out to him and displayed
the knife.
"I
don't use knives. We fell down on the ground and people from
his group started to kick me on the head. We rolled and he got
cut with his own knife," Ryan said. He also denied that
he had participated in the siege of a convenience store.
"I
am always being provoked because there are way too many guys
out there that want to show off and become famous through me.
I am almost like Billy the Kid. Everyone in the west wants to
defeat Billy the Kid because he was the best. With me it is the
same. If the guys loses to me, no problem. If he wins, he beat
Ryan Gracie," said Ryan.
According
to the Jornal do Brasil, yesterday’s edition, they (the
newspaper) are starting today to keep records. Records include:
Name, Address, Rank, School, Phone numbers, Competition records.
They call it the "Fighter's Database" ...
*
* *
Behind
the mess involving jiujitsu fighters at the night club FANTASY
ISLAND, there is a much worse combat: discrimination against
homosexuals. The president of the Rio de
Janeiro
Jiujitsu league, Muricio Lima said that he was attacked by Ryan
Gracie because of a letter, published in a jiujitsu magazine
(note from Carioca: O Tatame), where he accused Ryan's father,
Robson Gracie, of being prejudiced against homosexuals. Thanks
to this letter, Mauricio was given a homage by the gay magazine
SUI GENERIS. But, according to Mauricio, that got Ryan really
mad..
"I
criticized his father, and Robson did not retaliate. I don't
get it. At the night club, Ryan said I was bad mouthing his dad
and punched me in the chin. I didn't fight back." - said
Mauricio Lima.
After
learning about what Mauricio said to the police, Ryan said, Ironically:
"Saddam (Mauricio's nickname) is an amoeba, and idiot. I
never said anything about gays. Only thing is, during my TV show
(Ring Heroes), we joked, when a guest of the show said that Mark
Kerr looked a little feminine. I have nothing against gays. Saddam,
for example, has a candid, delicate soul. Now, if he is gay or
not is not my business. Personally, I think homosexualism is
an ugly thing, two hairy men touching each other, . . ugh. Now,
two women having sex is ok!.
*
* *
Robson
Gracie, president of the JiuJitsu Federation, criticized Wallid
Ismael who had made declarations against his son and even got
into a fight with him at a tourney last year. He winked to Ryan
and stuck out his tongue, provoking him. I don't say that Wallid
is gay, but I personally would not like to have a gay son. There
are, though, brilliant individuals who are gay. Some are great
artists . . .
Wallid,
who has a fight scheduled against Ryan for the end of May, challenged:
"If his son is so Macho, I wanna see if he is going to show
to fight. Last time, he ran away"
--------------------------------
ADCC
3/27/00
Wallid,
what are you doing here in California?
Man,
I live here. Here and Brazil. I'm here for about three weeks.
I'm here to try and give Royce a rematch. He won't give me one!
His cousin Ryan is the same way. He keeps saying, "I am
going to beat Wallid." First in January, then I need more
time to train. Ryan spent only ten days in jail. Man he rested
in jail. He is not tired he is afraid I will do to him what I
did to his other family memebers. Only worse becuase this is
Vale Tudo! Royce on the other hand I used to respect. I used
to talk good about him. Now I can't talk good about him. This
guy is chicken shit of me. He won't fight me. This is bullshit!
-------------------------------
ADCC
9/20/00
Sources
in Brazil have told us of a fight that occurred between Wallid
Ismail and Ryan Gracie. It seems that on 9/18/2000, according
to witnesses Wallid was speaking to some friends at a party when
he was approached by Ryan. Ryan then allegedly struck Wallid
in the side of the face from behind. Wallid then turned and Ryan
shot in. He was put into a guillotine and choked unconscious
by Wallid. This is the story coming out of Brazil at this time.
We will update you on future news of this when we receive more
information.
---------------------------------
FC
Fighter 10/3/2000
Rio
and São Paulo are getting too small for Ryan Gracie and
Wallid Ismail. After spending time training in L.A., Wallid came
back to Brazil straight to São Paulo (he lives in Rio)
to take part in the summer fashion parade of his sponsor Bad
Boy. As soon as he got there, he met Ryan, his #1 enemy, backstage
at the event. The bodyguards had to act many times because both
spent the whole night provoking each other. In the end of the
night (around 1 am), the worst happened. Wallid gives his side
of the story, "He pretended to fight me to make the security
guard hold him. I told them to let him free because he was not
enough man to fight me face to face. When they set him free,
he disappeared. I turned around, and while I was talking with
Leonardo Vieira (Alliance black belt), he came from behind me
and tried to punch me. I was lucky enough to feel that something
was strange, and turned around in time to escape his punch. After
that, he tried to put me down but I got a guillotine choke on
him and left him unconscious." Witnesses say that Ryan was
drunk and unable to fight. It doesn't matter because the worst
happened and the case reached O Globo, the biggest newspaper
in Brazil, and once again Jiu-Jitsu was on the police pages.
Everybody is praying to see this situation resolved. Promoter
Sergio Batarelli is interested in finishing the problem in the
right place: the ring.
Source:
Whaledog |
|