Instead
of thinking about where you are, think about where you want to
be. It takes twenty years of hard work to become an overnight
success.
Diana Rankin
Media
Alert!
Championship Bout Postponed!
Looks
like all the fans looking forward to the much anticipated Super
Brawl match between Super Brawl Champion Egan Inoue and Shooto
Champion Masanori Suda will have to wait 6 more weeks!
6
more weeks to unify the belts. The bout was initially scheduled
for March 22 with both combatants agreeing to terms. But the
bout will now be held on Friday night, May 9.
It
seems the Shooto Champ may be trying to play head-games with
Inoue. In an e-mail sent to T.Jay Thompson (Super Brawl promoter)
on Thursday, Suda’s management stated Suda needed more time
to prepare. No further information was made available.
When
contacted Egan Ioue replied, “Maybe he is just scared. If
he is trying to play mind games with me it is not working. I
understand he holds the Shooto belt, but a professional fighter
should be prepared. I am working a full time job (at Merck Pharmaceuticals),
raising a family and still found the time to train. But it’s
O.K., maybe he just wants to hold onto his belt for a few more
precious weeks. I will be here waiting on May 9.”
Thompson
stated, “These things happen in the fight game. I never
have a dull moment. I am just disappointed that the fans will
have to wait till May 9 for this spectacular event. ” To
ensure the May 9, date, Suda has now signed a contract with a
considerable penalty if he misses the for any reason.
Ticket
holders to the March 22 event can return or trade there tickets
in at the Blaisdell box-office.
Source:
Promoter
Ruiz
vs. Jones
Heavyweight Championship Fight
Saturday, March 1st
6:00PM EST
Live on HBO Pay-Per-View
Hear
what Roy Jones has to say:
The big question, can I beat a heavyweight? Come on, this is
Roy Jones, Jr. you're talking about. I ain't crazy but I love
to fight. Yes, this is different. I haven't been in the ring
with a heavyweight before. Everyone wants to do what hasn't been
done, that's why I'm doing this. I don't know exactly how I'm
going to win, but I'm going to win. When he hits the canvas and
the referee counts 10... I will have said all I need to say.
It took 100 years for a dude as bad as me to be born. That says
something right there.
What's
the Champ saying...
Speed...that's
all Roy Jones, Jr. has. Roy's going to be quick, but I don't
think he's going to be quick enough. I'm going to be very aggressive
with him. I will break Roy down because I am the bigger man...and
the smaller man never beats the bigger man. I am the first Hispanic
Heavyweight World Champion in history, and I will keep my crown.
Source: HBO
Pacific
Fighting Championships
Updated Fight Card
Waikiki Shell, Honolulu, Hawaii
April 17, 2003
Here
is the PFC’s updated tentative fight card. This should be
action packed because almost every fighter on the card is a boxer
or kickboxer, so you know that leather is going to fly. Tickets
for the inaugural PFC event will go on sale on March 1st, at
the Blaisdell box office. Music group Kau’oka will also
be performing. Get your tickets early because it will be held
under the stars at the Waikiki Shell, where seating is limited.
170lbs
Paul George (Bulls Pen)
Vs.
Daris (Hard Knocks)
160lbs
Brit Collen (Kodenkan)
Vs.
TBA (Professional Training Center)
170lbs
James Kepa (Bulls Pen)
Vs.
Ata (Hard Knocks)
145lbs
John Neraveva (Bulls Pen)
Vs.
Lyndon Patricio (Westbrook Kickboxing)
205lbs
Roman Paris (Team Nanakuli)
Vs.
Jason Verdadero (Bulls Pen)
170lbs
PJ Dean (Waianae Boxing Club/Hard Knocks, AFC 2 Champion)
Vs.
John Naole (HMC)
170lbs
Blake Hottenberg (Kodenkan)
Vs.
Clifford Cumat (Bulls Pen)
155lbs
John Kukahiko (Kokenkan)
Vs.
Neal Andres (HMC)
Main
Event
170lbs
Deshaun Johnson
Vs.
Jacob Vela (Kodenkan)
Source: Event Matchmaker
UFC
41: Onslaught -- Frank Mir vs. Tank Abbott
by: Joseph Cunliffe
Frank
Mir arrived in the northeast this week leaving behind sunny 80*
desert weather to brave freezing winter temperatures and David
“Tank” Abbott. Mir and Abbott face off at “UFC
41: Onslaught” this Friday, February 28 at the Boardwalk
Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. The 4-1 Mir of Las Vegas, NV is a
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist. Seen as one of the most promising
young heavyweights, Mir exploded on the scene and captured technical
submission wins over his first 2 UFC opponents. The 8-7 Abbott
of Huntington Beach, CA is known for his quick knockout power
and has some of the most memorable KO’s in the UFC. It wasn’t
difficult to spot the UFC heavyweight at the airport Monday night.
Sporting Team Mir sweatshirts, Mir arrived with his parents,
girlfriend and trainer, Ricardo Pires. The look is definitely
more organized, a marketing aspect of fighting Mir is working
on.
Mir's
thoughts the on upcoming fight: 'The fight is going to whatever
guy can fight the style he wants and control the pace. He will
win the fight. If it’s a quick paced fight, it will be in
his favor. If it’s a slow pace fight, it will be in my favor.'
Coming
off the loss to Ian Freeman: 'I had a game plan for Ian, but
when the fight started, your ego sometimes gets a hold of you
and you try to jump in at the same pace as your opponent. I was
no where near the shape to compete at that pace of a fight. Just
the pace of the fight itself drew me out. I am now conditioned
enough to compete at a pace that is much faster than I like,
but my body can keep me there and going until I can bring the
fight into the situation I want it to be.'
Being
mentally and physically prepared: 'I’m probably more mentally
ready then any other bout. Physically I’m very strong for
once taking care of all the conditioning portions outside the
fight. The excuses aren’t as strong after a loss and it’s
hard to justify skipping training, which enabled me to come in
better form then for any other fight.'
On
training and conditioning: 'My training was inconsistent before,
which made it so I couldn’t train at a high level pace.
I’ve always been just barely trying to get into shape, but
with this fight, I had 6 weeks, which allowed me to jump up the
level of training and learn more about myself and what I was
capable of doing. It gave me more confidence to realize I’m
able to throw this many punches or attempt this many take downs,
and I’m not going to get tired. That definitely helps me
because fighting with a monkey on my back -- if I do take the
chance, will I be left out in open waters?'
Plans
for the week up to Friday: 'I took care of my physicals already,
so I’m just waiting for weigh-ins. I will get use to the
atmosphere while getting my head focused.'
Weight
for the fight: 'I will look to weigh 250 pounds for this fight.
When I trained for Ian, I trained to look good and I dieted down
to 236. I was 15 pounds lighter and looked better, but no where
near as physically sound.'
Final
thoughts: 'I have the best corner in the world supporting me
with my father and Ricardo Pires Jiu-Jitsu behind me. I showed
it works in MMA and Jiu-Jitsu tournaments. I just have to do
what they show me in practice and I will win.'
Source: ADCC
KOTC
Announces Two More PPV Bouts
by: Keith Mills
Hot on the heels of the hot Shonie Carter vs. Ronald Jhun announcement for King Of The Cage’s
May 16th pay-per-view show comes two more marquee bouts.
KOTC
Promoter Terry Trebilcock reports that Jeremy Horn vs. Vernon
White for the Light Heavyweight belt and Jimmy Ambriz vs. Eric
Pele for the Olympic belt have been signed. The event will be
held at the Orleans Arena, a 9300 state of the art facility.
When Terry Trebilcock was asked if Debi Purcell was still on
that card he responded, “No, Judy Neff doesn’t look
like she was going to be ready. Debi called us up and asked us
what we thought of her fighting in HOOKnSHOOT slightly prior
to that so that’s great. If she’s not fighting the
fight we wanted on pay-per-view we’d rather have her fight
at some other place.”
Horn/White
can be viewed as both a battle of Pride veterans, or as the KOTC
belt holder, White vs. the UCC belt holder, Horn. Both Horn and
White are 9-1 in their last ten fights, with White’s loss
in that stretch being a decision to Allan Goes in Pride, while
Jeremy’s was a decision loss to Ricardo Arona in Rings.
The main difference between these two fighters is activity, for
Horn 10 fights goes back to 8/11/01 while for White it stretches
to 8/7/99.
Eric
Pele’s long-awaited return to the ring is here! He is to
fight KOTC hed honcho Jimmy Ambriz for the belt in a match that
promises to be a cage-rattling war. Ambriz defeated Johnathan
Ivey on February 21st to retain his belt, utilizing size to keep
Ivey on the ground and deliver blows. However Pele has with wins
over Sean Alvarez by KO, Roger Neff by decision, and Wesley Correira
by submission. With John Lewis' training as a background. this
will be one of Ambriz’s toughest opponents yet.
In
other KOTC belt holder news, Super Fight belt holder John Alessio
reports he is back to training and the injury to his hand is
healed. After getting over one hand injury that postponed his
UCC belt defense back in October, to January when he injured
the other in when he fought Jason Black.
The
Middleweight KOTC belt currently held by City Boxing's Dean Lister
won’t be up until June. Dean won the belt by beating Brendan
Seguin back in August but hasn’t had a chance to defend
it yet. He competed in the October 5th US Abu Dhabi World Submission
Championships qualifier in San Diego, where Dean won his Abu
Dhabi qualifier division by winning three matches despite a knee
injury incurred in the first match. Dean reports he is completely
recovered and in the midst of arduous training for the Abu Dhabi
Worlds in May, after which he will have a month of sparring training
to prepare to defend his belt.
KOTC’s
Lightweight belt recently changed hands on February 23rd when
Alberto Crane defeated Millennia Jiu-Jitsu’s Javier Vasquez
by decision. Javi tore his ACL in roughly the first ten seconds,
but still managed to go the distance, losing his belt by unanimously.
With so much attention on the Lightweights right, with UFC holding
no less than three fights at that weight on February 28th and
HnS’s northwest belt on the line the following day, and
their world belt up for grabs March 8th, there are several options
for Alberto’s first defense.
The
aforementioned Carter/Jhun
fight is for the 170 belt currently held by Romi Aram.
KOTC’s
next card, a non-PPV one, is back in Soboba Casino on March 22nd.
Source: ADCC
Latest
Official PANCRASE Rankings (as of 2/24/2003)
[Open-weight]
the 9th Open-weight K.O.P. Semmy Schilt (Holland/Golden Glory)
#1 Yuki Kondo (PANCRASEism)
#2 Yoshiki Takahashi (PANCRASEism)
#3 Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#4 KEI Yamamiya (PANCRASEism)
#5 Sanae Kikuta (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#6 Tim Lajcik (U.S.A./Gladiators Training Academy)
#7 Osami Shibuya (PANCRASEism)
#8 Katsuhisa Fujii (UFO)
#9 Ron Waterman (U.S.A./Colorado Stars)
#10 Jun Ishii (Chojin Club)
[Middleweight(165.7lbs.~
under 181lbs.)]
the 3rd Middleweight K.O.P. Nathan Marquardt (U.S.A./Colorado
Stars)
#1 Izuru Takeuchi (SK Absolute)
#2 Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#3 Kazuo Misaki (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#4 Chris Lytle (U.S.A./I.F. Academy)
#5 Yuji Hoshino (Wajutsu Keishukai GODS)
#6 Hidehiko Hasegawa (SK Absolute) *IN!
#7 Shonie Carter (U.S.A./AIKI Training Hall) *DOWN from #6
#8 Daiju Takase (Yoshida Dojo) *DOWN from #7
#9 Takafumi Ito (PANCRASEism) *DOWN from #8
#10 Kosei Kubota (PANCRASEism) *DOWN from #9
[Welterweight(152.5lbs.~
under 165.7lbs.)]
the 1st Welterweight K.O.P. Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#1 Takafumi Ito (PANCRASEism)
#2 Koji Oishi (PANCRASEism)
#3 Kenichi Serizawa (RJW/CENTRAL)
#4 Hiroki Nagaoka (Rodeo Style)
#5 Satoru Kitaoka (PANCRASEism)
#6 Yuji Hoshino (Wajutsu Keishukai GODS) *IN!
[Lightweight(141.4lbs.~
under 152.5lbs.)] VACANT
[Featherweight(under
141.4lbs.)] VACANT
Source: Mr Oitate, Pancrase Organization
News
From Japan's SHOOTO
SHOOTO fighters are set to compete in the The 10th All Japan
Combat Wrestling Championships, scheduled for March 23rd in Tokyo,
Japan. The sight will be the Machida Sogo Gymnasium.
Fighters
that are expected to compete include Mamoru Okouchi, SAHOOTO
155 lb Champion Takanori Gomi and the legends Rumina Sato and
Hayato 'Mach' Sakurai.
Additionally,
the SHOOTO commission awarded two fighters a 'A' class ranking:
Akira Kikuchi who comes of a 1st round TKO of Toru Nakayama and
has moved his record to 6-0 is the first. Also, 7-3-4 veteran
Ryuta Sakurai was awarded the 'A' ranking, as he comes off a
second round arm bar submission over John Renken
Source: ADCC
Picking
and Grinning:
The Sherdog Fight Picks for UFC 41
With just a few days left before UFC 41, the Sherdog Team is
putting their money where their mouth is, and making their UFC
picks public. Since we know our opinion to be basically worthless,
we've rounded up "Big Daddy" Gary Goodridge, and "El
Guapo" Bas Rutten to add some worthwhile insight on these
bouts tomorrow night.
Mike
Fridley, Brett Herman, Tom Hogan (aka Meat Fist), Rob King, Brian
Piepenbrink, Garrett Poe, Greg Savage, Jeff Sherwood, and Mike
Sloan take a break from their hectic schedule of donuts and remote
controls to arguing with each other about how Tank is going to
do back in the Octagon. Mike Fridley gets bragging rights from
UFC 40, going 8-0 with his picks. Cheater.
If
you want to skip the picks, and go straight to to the riducule,
click here.
Ricco
Rodriguez defeats Tim Sylvia 10-1
Gary Goodridge: Ricco will win because Tim's a no-name tomato
can.
Bas Rutten: I don't know who Tim Sylvia is. I do know who Ricco
is, and he improved SOOOOO much the last 1.5 years, he is going
to take the fight. He's got the submissions, the decent boxing
skills, ground and pound, and let's not forget the most important
thing you need in the heavyweight devision......the stamina!
Brett Herman: Sylvia goes "Cabbage" on Ricco, Ricco
sheds a tear as Tito looks down in shame. Sylvia by TKO.
Phil
Baroni defeats Matt Lindland 6-5
Brett Herman: My Baloni has a deathwish, it's B-U-S-T-A. KO,
round 2.
Tom Hogan: Slow and boring with neither wanting to engage...
OK, maybe not. Despite his lack of confidence, Baroni by KO in
the first or second round.
Mike Fridley: Possibly the fight of the night here . Expect Lindland
to Feed Baroni his lunch on a Olympic Plate (again). Lidland
by decision.
Brian Piepenbrink: Second verse same as the first. Lindland by
decision.
David
"Tank" Abbott defeats Frank Mir 8-3
Gary Goodridge: I need Tank to keep winning so I can fight him
- look for Tank to be in excellent shape.
Brian Piepenbrink: It would be smart for Mir to "lay and
pray", but pride is a poor substitute for intelligence.
Tank by TKO.
Bas Rutten: Tank has been out too long. He really wants to show
the world that he is still here, so I think that he might be
in the best shape of his life. Still I have to go with youth
here. Frank Mir will win.
Rob King: If Mir does a England job, Tank will probably kill
him. Thankfully that's not going to happen. Mir with the second
round submission.
BJ
Penn defeats Caol Uno 8-2 (1 Draw)
Brian Piepenbrink: What do you do when you can't take someone
down and you can't knock them out? You lose. Penn by TKO, round
2.
Bas Rutten: BJ Penn, he's the man, very well rounded.
Garrett Poe: Uno's a strong crafty little fellow, he'll frustrate
Penn and win by decision.
Greg Savage: Just like I predicted before the beginning of the
tournament, Caol Uno will be the next UFC Lightweight Champ.
The strong finishing Uno should be able to pile up the points
as the fight moves into the later rounds and outlast the quicker
starting Penn.
Vladimir
Matyushenko defeats Pedro Rizzo 6-5
Mike Fridley: Do or die time for Rizzo. Will it affect his gameplan?
I expect Pedro to be more aggresive, and pay for it dearly. Matyushenko
by KO, round 2.
Gary Goodridge: Pedro will win by TKO, he's a better striker.
Tom Hogan: This will be a tough one for the Rizzo, any slip-ups
or loss of focus and he will lose this fight. Still, he's arguably
the best striker in the sport and I'm a fan, Rizzo by KO in the
second round.
Jeff Sherwood: Rizzo could KO him off the sprawl, but I see Vlady
getting him down and pounding on him. Matyushenko by KO.
Matt
Serra defeats Din Thomas 8-3
Greg Savage: Dinyero has all kinds of skills but I can really
see him having problems with Serra on the ground if his cardio
is not much improved from the Uno fight. Serra is tough as nails
and a wizard on the mat. I see this one going to Matt Serra after
a hard fought three rounds.
Rob King: Serra is another UFC fighter who is highly overrated.
Thomas via Decision.
Gan
McGee defeats Alexandre "Cafe" Dantas 10-1
Mike Sloan: Should be interesting. I like McGee by stoppage.
Whichever ref is working the fight will have to rescue Dantas
from the beating late in round 2.
Tom Hogan: His only loss is to Barnett, and he's a "giant."
Light's out in the "Cafe."
Brian Piepenbrink: McGee's arms are too long for their own good.
Dantas by Triangle, round 1.
Yves
Edwards defeats Rich Clementi 5-2
Jeff Sherwood: I'll go with Yves on this, he's got the experience.
Garrett Poe: Clementi lives in my backyard, so that makes him
invincible.
Source: Sherdog
The
Savage Truth - "Heart of a Champion"
By Greg Savage
Words
like courage, heart and intestinal fortitude get thrown around
so much in the sports world they seem to have lost their significance.
I can honestly tell you last Friday night, in New Mexico, I witnessed
a performance for the ages as Javier “Showtime” Vazquez
showed MMA fans what he is made of, fighting his heart out after
tearing up his knee just seconds into the first round of his
KOTC title bout. Although he came up on the losing end of a split
decision, Javi did little to damage his reputation as one of
the premier fighters in the lightweight division.
I
talked with his trainer and teammate Romie Aram after the match
and you could see the concern on not just his face but all the
guys from Javi’s camp at Millennia. He worried that the
fans would not realize the scope of the injury that had limited
his game and most likely would have left most fighters unable
to continue. That has not been the case as the MMA community
has shown their appreciation and support for what can only be
described as one of the gutsiest showings in MMA history.
The
thing that really makes this hard to swallow for those in the
Millennia camp is the fact that both Javi and Romie were set
to debut in the UFC in Miami in April. I have a feeling Mr. Aram
will have a little extra incentive as he makes his way to the
Octagon and I would not want to be the man standing across from
him as he will be fighting not only for himself but for his fallen
comrade.
I
really can’t express how unbelievable a performance it was.
I have had that same injury (torn acl) and I know just how painful
it is. It is unfathomable to me how that man went 15 minutes
with a fighter the caliber of Alberto Crane and even though he
lost, and pretty handily I must add, Javi showed the kind of
determination that will make him just as successful in any of
his future plans as he has been in the cage.
I
talked with Javi just a month ago about the rigors of being a
professional fighter and he told me how close he came to quitting
after his last knee injury. This is not always a glamorous life
even for fighters at Vazquez’s level. I really hope this
set back is not the final nudge that pushes this great fighter
out of our beloved game.
Word
is surgery is scheduled for next week and I am sure it will be
some time before we get a timetable or even a definite answer
to whether or not “Showtime” will be back. I would
just like to wish Javi a full and speedy recovery and let him
know his actions, even in defeat, showed the true meaning of
courage, heart and most of all guts.
Lost
in all of this well deserved attention is the man who took the
KOTC lightweight belt, Alberto Crane. Injury or not, Vazquez
would have had his hands full with this 155-pound grappling demon.
Alberto showed some slick ground skills as he rattled off submission
attempt after submission attempt.
He
may have come into this fight as a virtual unknown but he has
emerged as a contender in the ever-growing field of lightweight
fighters. As the new KOTC Lightweight Champ, I am sure he will
have the opportunity to showcase his skills in the near future.
All I can say is good luck and great job Champ.
How
about those New Mexico fighters? My partners Joey Villasenor
and Floyd Sword always told me about the tough guys back home
in the Land of Enchantment but I really had no idea. I knew both
of those guys had skills and had heard nothing of anyone else
from the area.
That
all changed last Friday night as the fellas from New Mexico racked
up an impressive 5-0 record, highlighted by Alberto Crane’s
victory and a dominant performance by Joey Villasenor who crushed
an outgunned Tony Galindo.
Another
hometown fighter that impressed was Diego Sanchez. This kid came
out and lit the place up with his intensity. He also won the
Copa Invitational (submission only) last month in Phoenix, defeating
both Jeremy Jackson and Javi Vazquez en route to the victory.
Look for him to make a push as he steps up his level of competition.
And
finally, it’s almost time for the UFC and I can’t wait.
I am not looking forward to the cross-country flight tomorrow
but it will all be worth it when the lights come on and the music
starts blaring. Unlike a lot of people I think there are some
intriguing match-ups.
First
and foremost has to be the return of the “Tank,” David
Abbott. I don’t think I would like to be Frank Mir come
this Friday evening as I see a free stretcher ride in his future,
courtesy of the real “Huntington Beach Bad Boy.” I
am not sure “Tank” can give some of the top heavyweights
much of a challenge but you can count on one thing when he gets
in the cage—someone is going to take a beating.
My
lock of the week has got to be Caol Uno at +250 last time I checked.
As long as he doesn’t try some stupid flying high kick at
the start of the match and can get past oh, say the 20 second
mark, he should be able to get the fight to the mat where he
can work his ground game. Uno always finishes strong and Penn
has proven to be stronger earlier in his fights, thus I have
concluded it will be Uno by decision after five tough rounds.
You
heard it hear first and remember I picked Uno to win this whole
tournament back in September, you can look it up. It is a shame
whoever wins this title will be considered a paper champion—and
believe me they will—in light of the fact that both of these
guys lost to the former champ, Jens Pulver. Lets just hope we
don’t have to have one of these tournaments for the middleweight
title this summer and yes that is a hint to Zuffa to sign the
best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Murillo Bustamante.
Source:
Sherdog
Ready
For His Close-Up
Tim Sylvia Gets His Shot At The Crown
By Loretta Hunt
Although Tim Sylvia doesn't have much love for Ricco Rodriguez
these days, don't expect to see him chuck any chairs at the UFC
Heavyweight Champion in the pre-fight events leading up to their
square-off this Friday at UFC 41: Onslaught. "There was
some [love] until yesterday when he started running his mouth
about me and my team," remarks Slyvia from his home in Davenport,
Iowa. It's a couple of weeks before the 6'8" 250-pounder
will get his shot at the crown, and Sylvia is relaxing in the
few hours between his morning and evening workouts. Rodriguez
has appeared on a Canadian radio station that past weekend, where
the "Suave" one apparently directed comments towards
not only Sylvia, but also towards his team--Miletich Martial
Arts. "He did that once before and it's been a while, so
I let it go when he said stuff about Matt [Hughes]," comments
the former Maine native with a twinge of genuine forgiveness
in his voice. "But running his mouth about my teammates--you
know they had a tough time in Canada with Jens losing to Ludwig
and Tony losing to 'the Crow' [UCC 12]. He actually brought that
up!" proclaims the exacerbated giant, as if Rodriguez has
committed the ultimate cardinal sin.
It becomes abundantly clear that if you mess with one Miletich
fighter, you're messing with them all, and as Sylvia relates
the story of how he found out he'd be getting the next heavyweight
title shot, one can almost imagine a tattered picture of Rodriguez's
mug dangling from a dart board hanging in the famous Iowa gym.
"I didn't even know at first. Monte [Cox, Sylvia's longtime
manager] had told the rest of my team before me." Standing
in the hotel check-in line for UFC 40, Sylvia overheard fellow
teammate and resident lightweight powerhouse Jens Pulver rant,
"He better beat that boy's ass or I'll never talk to him
again." With the cat out of the bag, this revelation successfully
put to rest the rumor that Sylvia would be paired up next against
another towering figure, 6'10" Gan McGee, for a modern-day
"Battle of the Giants." Slyvia had heard that rumor
as well, but wasn't the least bit disappointed to find out that
it no longer held water. "Oh hell yeah," he confidentially
beamed from the MGM Grand Hotel lobby. The main event was on.
Three years have gone by since Sylvia made it his personal goal
to fight in the UFC, an accomplishment he achieved last September
with his debut against Wes "Cabbage" Correira at UFC
39. Not bad for a man who has test-driven more nicknames in the
last few months than an 18-year old with free reign in a Camaro
dealership. "Superman." and "The Grizzly Bear"
have fallen to the wayside, and it seems Sylvia has settled on
"Maine-iac," an homage to the northeasterly state he
hails from.
It was back in this rural countryside famous for its succulent
lobsters, that Sylvia took his first step towards becoming a
professional athlete, competing as a high school wrestler and
studying Okinawan karate for seven years. Eventually moving to
another town and taking up work as a bouncer at a local bar,
the then 330-pounder was first introduced to grappling when his
colleagues would meet twice a week at a Gold's Gym to roll. As
a group, they picked up moves from anyone that could spare them
and absorbed knowledge from every instructional tape they could
get their hands on. After a year, a confident Sylvia entered
a few local grappling competitions and quickly progressed to
open-hand amateur NHB fights in Rhode Island. Future NAGA founder
Kipp Kollar was the promoter of these shows, and he helped the
promising potential land a fight with the IFC in New Jersey.
From there, the chain of events fell like dominoes. A chance
meeting with Pat Miletich at one of the UFC's led to a week long
invitation to train with him and his established crew. After
a week where Sylvia says he "trained his ass off,"
Pat didn't have to ask twice when he offered Sylvia a permanent
chance to train with the team. The easygoing heavyweight was
back in Iowa by month's end training for his next fight in the
WEF.
Sporting a flawless professional record of 17-0 (he suffered
losses as an amateur before his Miletich days), Sylvia seems
as reasonable a contender as any in a short field of potential
heavyweight candidates affiliated with the UFC organization.
When asked why he thinks he got the chance to rest the belt from
champion Rodriguez's hands, Sylvia breaks it down as if he were
explaining a tedious math problem up at the blackboard. "They
can't really pick anyone else. I believe Gan McGee wouldn't do
it because he signed a 3-fight deal and the money wasn't enough
for him to take a championship fight. Pedro [Rizzo] just lost
and would it have been Ian [Freeman], but he also lost. Then
there's [Andrei] Arvlosky, but he's already lost to Ricco. Unfortunately,
everything fell apart at UFC 40 and I was the last man standing."
"I also think they think it's going to be an easy fight
for Ricco," he coyly adds. But whatever the reason, the
Maine-iac is willing to step up to the plate, even if, as he
openly admits, the timing might be a bit early for his (and many
fans') tastes. "They came to me and it's a hell of an opportunity,
so I'm going to take it. If I win and then later defend my belt,
you're damn right I'd want my opponent to earn that [title shot].
But at this time, no one has got the record I've got." With
a fresh 3-fight deal signed (guaranteeing at least one more fight,
Sylvia says, if he loses), the 26 year old has stopped concentrating
on why he got the chance, and on to how he will train for it.
As hefty as Sylvia is, you'd think he'd have a hard time finding
a training partner comparable to his or his 240-pound opponent's
size for that matter. But once the match-up was solidified, a
call went out to all ready and available heavyweights to make
their way to the field of dreams. Besides fellow in-houser's
Mark Hansen and J.D., established 275-pounder Kerry "Meat
Truck" Schall and 250-pound Travis Wuiff (also a UFC vet)
were both enlisted to help Sylvia with his training. Sylvia also
called on old friend Randy Couture, who ironically, Sylvia had
helped train for the very same foe just a few months ago. Sylvia
says he was lucky enough to join Couture in his home for the
two weeks prior to the former champ's fight, and rose each day
to a knock on his door and a welcoming, "Are you ready stud?"
from the congenial mentor. Training one-on-one each day, Sylvia
vividly recalls just how hard Couture trained for his third shot
at the heavyweight title, which made it even more difficult for
him to watch Randy fall prey to Rodriguez's onslaught. "I
was really hurt by it. It bothered me a lot. We all thought he
was going to win. I really don't know what happened to this day."
Now with the shoe on the other foot, Sylvia will have ample opportunity
to avenge his friend's loss, a task he proclaims he's more than
ready for. Down to 249 pounds and hoping to stay there, the self-professed
practical jokester hopes to keep the fight on its feet because
that's where he feels he can deliver the most punishment. "I
want to hurt him," murmurs Sylvia. "I can submit. I
can 'ground and pound' him. It will be the most fun to keep it
standing though, so I can really punish him. If he takes me down,
I'll just stand right back up. I guarantee it." Fully equipped
to go the 25 minutes if necessary, fans will know late Friday
night whether Sylvia will be able to preserve that unblemished
record or not. "Ricco said he's going to pop my cherry and
give me my first loss, " mouths the contender with an air
of disgust. "Well, I'm no virgin, so he better be ready
for something a little stronger than that."
Source:
FCF
The
Maturation of Frank Mir
By Jason Probst
If there's
a signature thread running through every mixed martial artist's
career, it's the hard loss and the fallout that accompanies it.
With a deepening talent pool, there are no easy fights for the
lucky few that ply their trade in the UFC and other televised
events. This is the setup that derails a lot of fighters accustomed
to years of dominance through superior ability and good preparation.
Good
preparation is not enough, and will probably precede a pummeling,
tap out, or any of a medley of ways for the message to be driven
home, simply because your opponent prepared like a madman. Today's
mixed martial artist, whether he's a submissions fighter with
a string of jiu-jitsu titles, or a lauded NCAA grappler, must
push it to the edge across a wide spectrum of combat, constantly
juggling the demands of having to hone striking, grappling, and
submission skills. For every extra hour you spend working on
standup with a Muay Thai partner, that's one less hour spent
on Jiu-jitsu. Or takedowns. Or weight training. Or whatever.
It's triage and chaos.
To
do anything less, to reach back for the old standby of pedigree
that was once a dependable contingency plan in another discipline,
is risky fare.
Frank
Mir knows this and learned it the hard way. After submitting
Roberto Traven and then Pete Williams, his emergence onto the
MMA scene was impressive. But after losing to Ian Freeman in
UFC 38 - the bout was stopped after Mir was out on his feet at
the end of the opening round - he realized it just wasn't enough
to rely on talent. It's a seductive trap, how he burst on the
scene with submission wins that came so easily, and he's the
first to explain how it happened.
"Before
I would take it easy," Mir told maxfighting.com. "I
was lazy. I was resting on the fact that I was talented but my
idea of training was to learn some things, go down to the gym,
practice a submission or this or that. But as far as people going
in there and brawling with me, that wasn't my idea of an ideal
day. I basically found that talent still matters for a lot, but
you still have to have conditioning and preparation. You can
have a bad day. But if you have good conditioning that will carry
you through."
The
laconic approach is gone, and has been supplanted by a group
of training partners that swing for his head in an all-out assault
as he trains at the Las Vegas Combat Club.
"There's
days with variations. Some days I come in and there's this guy
that's 6 foot and 250, like Tank, and he's not that great a boxer.
But he's gonna come in and blast me," Mir said. "He'll
throw punches from every angle, wide looping ones, so I can prepare
for dealing with what Tank's likely to bring. Another day, I'll
work from a situation where my game plan is not going my way,
then another day, for when things are going my way."
He
could be on his back, looking up into the thundering guns as
Abbott looks to club him into unconsciousness. He could be on
top after using his superior speed and grappling technique, perhaps
hammering away at Abbott in a role reversal. Anything can happen
but Mir knows that Tank Abbott is still going to rely on what
he does best - knocking people out, skipping the foreplay en
route.
His
training partners serve that purpose, coming at him to knock
his head off, to wire his fighting brain for situational cognizance.
It's done to mimic Abbott's style, of course, but the 23 year-old
is a forward-thinking guy, whose thought processes seem more
like those of a manager than a fighter.
"Tank
watches his own tapes also," Mir said. "So we've prepared
for how he's likely to have improved. Within the guard he's gonna
be a little more polished and not extend himself so much. Originally
they offered me Gan McGee, but when they asked me to fight Tank,
I took it. It was fighting a super tough guy in the prelims or
fighting a main opponent in an almost-main event. Either guy
can hurt you. But I realized that it was a case of getting respect
from the hard core fans, and not much attention, by beating McGhee.
Or getting a lot of recognition but maybe not that kind of respect
from the hard cores by beating Tank."
He
figures if he can take Abbott into a distance fight, it's his.
Most would agree, but the problem with getting there is that
Abbott figures to pose a serious risk early. Mir knows he can't
make mistakes, and that to get too focused too early on getting
a submission while eating punches - which was what cost him against
Freeman - is not good.
"People
retain their power all the way through as they age. If a guy
is strong at 20, he's still going to be super strong in his 50s,
if he's healthy," he said. "Every year you lose a little
bit of your maximum heart rate. A short sporadic (pace) would
favor Tank, with his regimen. Basically, Tank is gonna come out
strong and determined, but eventually things will grind down
to a ground game, and I'll get a submission."
The
contrast in the ground game is considerable. Mir is the prototype
submissions fighter, transitioning from one technique smoothly
into another, and always looking for the angle to wrench a limb
into a victory. Abbott's, meanwhile, was and likely still is
rudimentary grappling technique, buttressed by the strength of
a 600-lb. bench press. It's like putting Lou Rawls vs. Slayer
in a battle of the bands. Can Mir handle the brute power? Or
will Lou's smooth crooning be drowned out in a crunch of ear-bleeding,
mine-goes-to-eleven amplified overdrive?
"Guys
doing submissions today are a lot different," Mir explained,
noting the trend in the UFC's nascent phase. "Typically
when Tank was fighting guys were 180-200 pounds, not big guys
that could open guard and arm bar you. Mark Coleman had an easy
time with jiu-jitsu guys. He could ground and pound them out.
A big guy could just power out of submissions. But now, he fights
Minotauro (Rodrigo Noguiera) and he gets triangle choked out."
"I'm
still pretty much in the learning phase of my career," he
added. "I'm figuring out where I stand, and I'm pushing
for self-improvement."
Abbott
should be a good way to find out.
Source:
Maxfighting
2/27/03
Quote
of the Day
To
understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he
has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.
Kahlil Gibran
Mir-ly
Getting Started
Las Vegas Heavyweight Ready to Take on Tank and Beyond
Ever
wonder what you'd be doing two days before a fight with Tank
Abbott? It's a thought that crosses my mind as I knock on Frank
Mir's hotel door to check in on his progress since we last saw
him. It's the Wednesday before the "big day" and the
persistent breeze coming off the Atlantic City shore mixed with
a light fall of flurries keeps everyone bundled up and stranded
inside. Frank's girlfriend Jennifer meets me at the door, five
months pregnant and positively glowing. "Frank stayed up
till 5:30 in the morning reading this book. He just couldn't
put it down," she hastily explains as she escorts me inside.
Not exactly my first guess, but I surmise that's things could
be stranger. In the final hours leading up to what could become
one of his career defining moments, Mir, like most of the other
fifteen fighters scheduled to due battle at this Friday's UFC
41, is simply relaxing. The hard part is done -- the endless
hours of drills and sparring are behind him. From here on in,
it's pure mental preparation.
It might be a little because he has just woken from a nap, but
Frank's disposition is both tranquil and cheerful as he greets
me. It's been seven months since his last fight, where British
veteran Ian Freeman overcame the young heavyweight with a beating
that left him almost unconscious on his feet. In that time, Mir
has also had to withdraw from his first MMA fight due to injury.
[He was originally scheduled to meet Vladmir Matyushenko at UFC
40]. It's a tall drink of water for any fighter to swallow, but
these events already seem to be a memory as I start by asking
him why he took this fight with Tank Abbott. "Every opponent
in the heavyweight division has the ability to beat anybody,
but what you have to gain through a victory means a lot,"
he answers. "Tank has the most to offer -- the most name
recognition out of anybody in the heavyweight division.. Everybody
knows who Tank Abbott is and that's why I jumped on the opportunity
as fast as I did."
But why take a chance on a fighter like Tank, I think. Instead,
I ask him why he believes Zuffa chose him as Tank's first opponent,
hoping he has "seen" what many are speculating about
this match-up. He doesn't disappoint. "It's a contrast of
styles," he points out right off the bat. "It could
go either way. I think as far as Tank having an opportunity to
win, Tank resembles the only loss I have -- my last fight with
Ian Freeman. If they feel there would be someone out there that
would have a hard time with someone that is heavy-handed..."
His voice trails off.
Don't be fooled by his calm demeanor.
Mir says he's ready for Tank.
Mir is just one of those kinds of people where everything that
comes from his mouth -- even if it's "bad" -- just
doesn't sound that, well -- bad. His opinions on Tank's return
to MMA are no different. "Sport-side, as far as pushing
the level of competition in the athletes, I really don't think
it makes much of a difference with him showing up. It's not something
that people are going to emulate. You just have to be built kinda
the way he is," he explains. "Marketing-wise, it's
awesome. We could have the most skilled fighters in the world
but if no one's watching us, we might as well be fighting in
someone's backyard. People are going to watch Tank Abbott."
And if there were any doubts as to just how seriously the Las
Vegas native is taking his inevitable showdown with Abbott, Mir
lays it all out on the line. "Realistically, Tank trains,"
he states without the least bit of hesitation in his voice. "He
has martial artists in his corner. His physique has changed.
He's 250 compared to being 280. Obviously, he's been conditioning.
I know the difference between a marketing scheme and the truth.
There's no way that Tank Abbott is stepping into the cage without
a lot training for this fight."
So how has this reasoning effected Mir's training for Friday?
"I did a lot more boxing. My boxing shot up a lot. It's
a lot more intense, which was actually easier and harder in a
lot of ways. It was harder as far as I had to be a little more
conditioned and not as lazy, but easier in the fact that people
commit more when they're swinging so hard at me. When someone
throws a real haymaker, it's lot easier to get out of the way
because you see it coming. Commitment is easy to see and easy
to work with." Of course, Mir says, he has also continued
with his submission work as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt
under head trainer Ricardo Pires -- but with a slight twist.
"Ricardo explained to me that I needed to control people
a little bit more. I was abandonly shooting submissions at people
and was gonna miss and slip and leave myself open to people.
My submission style was way too open. There's time for it and
a time not for it, and Ricardo told me I was at fifth gear at
all times. Now, I've trained my jiu-jitsu to where it's a lot
more controlled. Even when I'm training with guys that aren't
at my level, instead of making it a submission clinic, I go there
and hold guys here and stall there while they throw punches at
me the whole time."
How important is this fight in Mir's mind? "It's extremely
important. Business-wise, this is probably the most important
fight I've had in my career. I'm the second to last fight. I'm
in between the two title fights. It's also good for me because
now I'm getting to fight a style of opponent that people feel
I have a hard time with. A victory will help to show how I've
grown from my last fight."
As a final thought, I wonder if I should ask Frank Mir if he
feels ready for this fight, but quickly think better of it. It's
obvious from his answers that he is as ready as he will ever
be -- both physically and mentally. All that's left are those
few unpredictable minutes after the Octagon door closes on these
two competitors. One thing is for sure though... at least one
of these fighters is coming in a whole lot wiser than last time.
Source:
FCF
Undefeated
in MMA... Tim Sylvia Arrives For UFC Heavyweight Title Shot
“It’s
going to be a fast fight,” charges the undefeated Tim Sylvia
Monday afternoon, shortly after his arrival at Philadelphia Airport.
And it’s hard to discredit anything Sylvia says as he towers
over most men, including team mate Rich Clementi. Looking trim
and feeling in great shape, Sylvia has been walking around at
247 pounds.
Fighting
out of Miletich Fighting Systems, Sylvia has been looking forward
to his shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship belt for 2 months
“since the day after UFC 40,” he said, “They asked
if I was ready and I said yes.” Sylvia has been training
ever since. With nearly 500 pounds of fight between Sylvia and
Rodriguez, the octagon will be exploding with plenty of size
and power. “Ricco is a tough guy,” he said, “but
I have been training really hard... and I’ve been waiting
for this opportunity.” Sylvia looks forward to this fight
“I am ready and my team will be here shortly and we’ll
start rockin’ and rollin’,” he said.
The
final word from Sylvia today: “I’m going to take him
out and bring the belt back home to Iowa.”
Matt
Lindland: Everything In Check For Rematch
Everything
was “in check” for Matt Lindland upon his arrival in
Philadelphia Monday afternoon. His physicals were completed in
advance to give him the day off and he says, “I’m as
healthy as I’ve ever been.”
The
32-year-old Lindland is in town for his scheduled rematch against
Phil Baroni at “UFC 41: Onslaught” this Friday night
at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. “I thought it
was a decisive fight,” he said of the outcome of their first
meeting at “UFC 34: High Voltage” in November 2001.
“I cannot believe there were people out there who didn’t
agree with the Judges score cards,” said a puzzled Lindland,
“obviously Phil was one of them.” But it wasn’t
so obviously indecisive that Baroni filed a petition with the
commission, “no, no way,” said Lindland, who defeated
Baroni by Majority Decision [29-28, 29-27, 28-28].
Baroni
got his wish to avenge his only UFC loss when this rematch was
signed, “which is great for me,” said the Team Quest
member, “as I wanted a fight in this show.” Both fighters
are coming off wins at “UFC 39: The Warriors Return.”
Lindland earned a Unanimous Decision win over Ivan Salaverry,
while Baroni scored an outstanding 0:18 KO over Dave Menne.
“Training
went great for this fight,” said the 2000 Olympic Silver
medallist, who spent sometime in San Luis Obispo preparing for
this fight “that was good training too.” With local
friends coming to Onslaught, Lindland finishes “I’m
ready to go.”
Source:
ADCC
UFC
Stars in upcoming 'CRADLE to the GRAVE' Hollywood Blockbuster!
Those
heading to the movies this weekend looking for 'action' may want
to check out CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE starring Jet Li and DMX.
What
some fans of MMA fans may find interesting is that a host of
UFC fighters also make appearances in the film.
The
plot of the movie centers on an urban thief (DMX) who is forced
to team with a Taiwanese Intelligence Officer (Jet Li) to find
a girl who has been kidnapped held for ransom in exchange for
diamonds. As with many movies lately, the 'weapon of war' is
uncovered and it's a race against the clock for Li and DMX. Who
do they encounter in their adventure?
Tito
Ortiz, Randy Couture and Chuck Lidell!
Tom
Arnold, who plays an arms dealer in the film, made reference
to the movie on the BEST DAMN SPORTS SHOW, PERIOD during Tank
Abbott's appearance last Friday. He praised Tito Ortiz for his
work in the movie and hyped his appearance.
You'll
get to see some action and stunt coordination that Lidell and
Ortiz came up with. The two worked together on a scene in the
movie with combined efforts of the stunt team.
There
will more than likely be some hints of MMA in the action sequences
as the movie hopes to dethrone DAREDEVIL as the top dog at the
box office. CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE starts this weekend.
Source:
ADCC
Japan's
DEEP Event - Returning To Tokyo
Brazilian
Top Team fighter Fabio Mello is ready to depart for Japan where
he will participate in the DEEP show scheduled for next Tuesday,
March 4th at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Fabio will face the toughest
challenge of his professional career in Dokonjonosuke Mishima,
in a match at 155 lbs. Although Fabio belongs in a lower weight
division (145lbs) he took the fight because he sees an opportunity,
especially against a big name opponent.
After
the ADCC Brazilian Trials, where he placed third, Fabio started
to bulk up for this fight, since the 155lbs weight division brings
a fighter more exposure, because more organizations run this
weight class.
The
Deep show will feature as a headline match the return of Hayato
Sakurai, taking on Ryuki Ueyama. The DEEP show has started to
rely more on a stable of Japanese fighters, including serving
as another outlet for SHOOTO's fighters. Despite using masked
wrestlers as a gimmick in their earlier shows, DEEP has a reputation
for real fights with integrity.
Source: ADCC
The
Final TRIAL - ADCC Debut's in the Land of the RISING SUN!
DATE:
March 30, 2003(Sun)
LOCATION: Tokyo-to Chuou-ku Sogo Gym
ADDRESS: 2-5-1 Nihonbashihamacho Chuo-ku, Tokyo Japan
PIC:
As the Japanese press looks on, the Japanese fighters unite to
celebrate the victory of Sanae Kikuta in the 77-87.9 KG Division.
The
Land of the Rising Sun will host the 2nd ever Japanese Qualfiers
for the Submission Wrestling World Championships, on March 30th,
2003. Tournaments will be held in the 5 ADCC eight classes:
Under
65.9 kg
66-76.9 kg
77-87.9 kg,
88-98.9 kg
99 kg Over
Much
more to come. As always, the lineup will be a closely guarded
secret until the event is close, but word is that the tournaments
may be up to 16 men in some of the weight divisions!
The
winners wil lreperesent Japan in the 5th World Championships
in ADCC's Submission Wrestling style. The event is scheduled
for May 17th and 18th, 2003 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Already invited
are the previous champions and qualifier winners from around
the world!
2001
CHAMPIONS:
65.9 KG & under: ROYLER GRACIE (Brazil)
66-76.9 KG: MARCIO FEITOSA (Brazil)
77-87.9 KG: SANAE KIKUTA (Japan)
88-98.9 KG: RICARDO ARONA (Brazil)
99 KG & Up: MARK ROBINSON (South Africa)
NORTH
AMERICAN TRIAL CHAMPIONS:
65.9 KG & under: EDDIE BRAVO (JJ Machado)
66-76.9 KG: PABLO POPOVICH (American Top Team)
77-87.9 KG: DAVID TERRELL (Cesar Gracie JJ)
88-98.9 KG: DEAN LISTER(City Boxing)
99 KG & Up: MIKE WHITEHEAD (Victory Athletics)
AUSTRALIAN
TRIAL CHAMPIONS:
65.9 KG & under: CHRIS DERKSON
66-76.9 KG: GEORGE SOTIROPOULOS
77-87.9 KG: TRAVERS GRUBB
88-98.9 KG: ANTHONY PEROSH
99 KG & Up: SOA PELELEI
EUROPEAN
TRIAL CHAMPIONS:
65.9 KG & under: TEEMU LAUNIS (Finland)
66-76.9 KG: JUSSI TAMMELIN (Finland)
77-87.9 KG: ROBERT SULSKI (Poland)
88-98.9 KG: ILIR LATIFI (Sweden / Albania)
99 KG & Up: MIKA ILMAN (Finland)
BRAZILIAN
TRIAL CHAMPIONS:
65.9 KG & under: RANY YAYHRA
66-76.9 KG: DANIEL MORAES (Gracie)
77-87.9 KG: RONALDO 'JACARE' (Gracie)
88-98.9 KG: ALEXANDRE 'Cacareco' FERREIRA (RUAS VT)
99 KG & Up: MARCIO 'Pe De Pano' CRUZ (Gracie)
Source:
ADCC
KOTC
Promoter Terry Treblecock
A King among Kings
By Arnold "The Sushiboy" Lim
Terry Treblecock is a King among Kings. The leader of the world
renowned King of the Cage Mixed Martial arts organization has
had fighters such as Quinton Rampage Jackson, current UFC heavyweight
champion Ricco Rodriguez, Javier Vazquez, Shonie Carter and many
more spend time fighting in his organization at one time or another.
He was kind enough to spend a little time out of his busy schedule
to talk to us only one day after the biggest event in the history
of the King of the Cage, KOTC 21 “Invasion”. In the
interview we talk about Javier's heart, Bobby Hoffman and his
friendly competition, the UFC.
MMARR:
Hello Mr. Treblecock
TT: Hello Arnold how are you?
MMARR:
I just watched the King of the Cage yesterday! I am doing pretty
good!!!
"Laughs"
TT: Obviously you know (Bobby) Hoffman!
"Laughs"
MMARR:
Yeah I think I have talked to him before!
"Laughs"
MMARR:
What did you think of the show overall?
TT: Ha Ha…Greatest show in the history of MMA, How does
that sound?
MMARR:
Ha Ha…It sounds like you are the promoter that is what it
sounds like :)
TT: I guess you weren’t there then...
MMARR:
what did you think of the Javier Vazquez fight?
TT: I thought it was a great fight...
MMARR:
Some people said he won that fight what did you think of the
decision overall?
TT: I didn’t think it was close. I didn’t think the
fight was close in any way, I thought maybe he won the last round,
I thought he got totally dominated in the first round. What I
saw was, two times he almost got knocked out by Crane standing
with head kicks. He was rocked twice, he was in probably eight
to ten deep submissions that he had to find a way out of. I didn’t
see Javier with one submission or see him hurt Crane with anything.
I don’t know what they saw him win the fight on, maybe just
being Javier Vazquez.
MMARR:
It looked like he injured himself pretty bad in the first 10,
15, 20, seconds of the fight, what do you think of Javier’s
heart after seeing that fight?
TT: Unbelievable, it is something you write a book on.
MMARR:
I don’t think you see to many people fight through an injury
like that…
TT: What people don’t even know is that when he had his
ACL torn for the first time and he didn’t know he had it
completely torn, he had no ACL. He fought his two fights prior
to Phillip Perez with no ACL. But he didn’t even know that
he didn’t have it. He knew that it locked up on him and
he knew that he had problems with it but he didn’t know
he didn’t have an ACL.
MMARR:
What did you think of Bobby Hoffman’s performance coming
out of Jail and reclaiming the title that he was originally stripped
of?
TT: I thought it was a very impressive performance. He went in
there and fought some tough guys, some people don’t know
how good Sotello actually is, he did knock out Paul Buentello…I
thought it was a great performance. You never know how tough
a guy is going to be til ask him to fight two times in a night,
right out of jail and not really try to duck anybody that was
in the line. I think that is pretty impressive.
MMARR:
Looking back to the show, it seems that this show had the worst
luck I have ever seen in terms of injuries in my life.
TT: If you only knew… there is even more that haven’t
been brought up yet.
MMARR:
Anything that you can bring up for us then? Ha Ha
TT: No not at the present time.
MMARR:
Even in the fights, Sotello hurt his elbow, Galindo hurt his
bicep…
TT: Sotello’s shoulder popped out and Galindo tore his Bicep
off…
MMARR:
OFF?
TT: Off….
MMARR:
Obviously Griffen didn’t make it, Buentello, all these Freak
injuries happening, as far as Seth Petruzelli we didn’t
really get an announcement what exactly happened to Petruzelli?
TT: Seth Petruzelli Broke his ankle.
MMARR:
How did he hurt his ankle?
TT: On a kick on the elbow…as hard as he kicked… he
broke his ankle. He broke his ankle somehow.
MMARR:
This is your Second show in PPV how would you evaluate the performance
of the show
TT: This is my forth show on PPV I have been on PPV for almost
a year now. My first PPV show was last may in Reno, then I followed
up with Double Cross in Soboba in August, then I was back in
Reno in Nov, then this one here and then I go to Las Vegas after
this.
MMARR:
So how would you evaluate the growth of KOTC since the first
show on PPV?
TT: Probably the biggest show in the world presently, that can
turn a profit show in and show out.
MMARR:
I actually believe you as far as that goes. Because I know some
of the things that go on in some of the other organizations and
it is pretty tough , making a living as a Promoter in MMA
TT:
What that really means is …that running a real business
plan and not something that is a hobby of somebody, people actually
get tired of funding hobbies after a period of time, It is the
biggest show right now probably worldwide.
MMARR:
You have a lot of your fighters going into the UFC, you have
Romie Aram going into the UFC…
TT: Romie Aram I didn’t resign. I have seven probably higher
profile fighters then Romie Aram at 170, I couldn’t keep
them all, I have Vasconselos, I have Ronald Jhun, I have Dennis
Hallman who as you know submitted Matt Hughes twice in under
a minute, I also have John Alessio at 170. My 170 runs so deep,
Benji Radach is going to sign this week I got so many guys at
170 pounds, that It didn’t make any sense for me to give
him the money that he demanded. The UFC wanted to get him, I
didn’t resign him. Javier Vazquez is under an Exclusive
with King of the Cage, I chose to let him fight in Miami (UFC
42) only with my approval could he fight, I chose to let him
fight, I was comfortable that they didn’t have anyone there
that could beat him.
MMARR:
I believe this is true you let him fight in Shooto and you were
one of the people responsible for getting him his big breakout
fight with Rumina Sato, Javier Vazquez is a guy that not too
many people know about, but he has world class skill and he is
able to compete at the highest level, when you see a fighter
go down like that with an injury as a promoter how does that
feel for you?
TT: I disagree that not too many people know about Javi (Javier
Vaquez), I always believe that the real fans know that he is
probably the best one hundred and fifty five pounder in the world.
He must be looking though eyes of the UFC that you see on TV
all the time but if you look at the way the sport really is right
now, at 155 pounds a guy that wasn’t ranked tenth in my
show (Duane “Bang” Ludwig), just knocked out their
best 155 pounder(Jens Pulver). I have the guy (Dennis Hallman)
that beat their hundred and seventy pounder (Matt Hughes) twice,
in under a minute. At 185 they lost Murilo Bustamante, they don’t
really have a hundred and eighty five champion. At 205 I just
signed Jeremy Horn who is the only guy to submit Chuck Liddell,
the only guy to beat Chuck Liddell, who Tito won’t fight
because when they train together it is not even a match between
Tito and Chuck. At Heavyweight my former champion Ricco Rodriguez
ran the table at the UFC, and I have the only guy that has ever
beat Ricco and knocked him cold in Hawaii (Bobby Hoffman), and
at the unlimited weight class I have four of the five best in
the world, with the exception of Bob Sapp. How do I compare my
show to the UFC? I don’t see a comparison. I see them spending
a lot of money and doing a lot of things, and I see it as a very
good show I am a big fan of the sport, but as the characters
and the fighters I feel I have the best fighters in the world
and they are proving it every where they go. Whether it is Quinton
Jackson beating everybody in Pride, Ricco beating everybody in
the UFC, I kinda look at it like that and it is kinda tough to
deny that right now, because everything I said is a fact.
MMARR:
There has been people saying that there is a little bit of a
feud between King of the Cage and the UFC, do you see it as a
feud or do you see it as friendly competition?
TT: I feel it is absolutely friendly competition, I would love
to be able to have the kind of money to create any type of Hobby
that I wanted, but unfortunately I have to run it like a business
because it is a business. I have to do it the way I have to do
it, they have to do it the way they want to do it. Competition,
I think that competition is good. I think the UFC has opened
an awful lot of doors for King of the Cage, I can’t do anything
but thank then for it.
MMARR:
Well that is all the questions I had today, I appreciate your
time.
TT: No problem, Thanks Arnold, Bye Bye
MMARR:
See you later.
We
would like to thank Terry Treblecock and the King of the Cage
for taking the time to speak with us during his very busy schedule,
The next King of the Cage event will be in Las Vegas and Live
on PPV. Check kingofthecage.com for more info.
Source: ADCC
"The
Iceman" Chuck Liddell
The Iceman Cometh 1 of 2
Arnold "The Sushiboy" Lim
Chuck
Liddell has been tearing it up in the Lightheavyweight division
in the UFC for quite some time. He has taken on all comers beating
challenger after challenger in the UFC and even Pride, on one
occasion, patiently waiting for his shot at the Light Heavyweight
Crown that Tito Ortiz currently holds. It looks like Mr. Liddell
is tired of patiently waiting in the wings. MMA ringreport had
a chance to talk with him and this is what he had to say.
MMARR:
Hello Mr. Liddell how do you do?
Iceman: I am doing good.
MMARR:
You recently had a fight with Renato Babalu” Sobral, You
knew you had a title shot in the bag, what goes into your thinking
when you want to take a fight when you know that if you lose
you are not going to get your title shot anymore?
\
Iceman: The first thing is I am not thinking about losing a fight.
If I lost the bout I didn't deserve the title shot in the first
place. I mean then he would obviously deserve the title shot.
I am a fighter, the belt is just kind of a thing there, just
a symbol of being the best. That is the only reason I want the
belt. I gonna, I want to beat Tito for the belt. He is the best
guy out there right now in everybody's mind, and that is the
guy I want to beat.
MMARR:
You mentioned in everybody's mind. Lorenzo Fertitta ( The owner
of the UFC) was at the Post fight press conference for UFC 40.
After Tito's fight with ken he said in his own worlds he felt
that Tito was the best fighter at 205 in the world. I saw you
there, and you didn't look too happy about that. What were you
thinking when he said that?
Iceman: At the press conference and stuff they said he was unstoppable.
There was nobody that could beat him at 205, while I am sitting
there. At UFC 33 they said that nobody was willing to take the
fight so Vladamir stepped up. I was the first guy they talked
to and I said "yes!" No more money, no extra money,
I just wanted to fight. So I just wanted my title shot, I mean
it bothers me I am sitting right there and they talk like I am
not even there, like I am not even a threat to him.
MMARR:
Did that make you upset at all?
Iceman: You know, not really, it gets me a little bit...it just
makes me train harder. Other then that it is not a big deal.
People are going to say what they are going to say.
MMARR:
If the fight does not happen in April as planned, Is there any
chance that you will take another fight in between like you did
last time with Renato "Babalu" Sobral?
Iceman: Yes I will take a fight. If they can't get him to sign
April 25th, I will demand a fight. Because I am a fighter, I
am not going to sit around and wait forever. I mean if he doesn't
take it April 25th, what says he is going to take it June 25th,
or even December 25th of next year. I am not going to wait around
till he decides he wants to fight. I want to fight. I will really
petition for them to let me go fight Vanderlei (Silva).
I
want to put pressure on Pride to put that on. Do whatever they
need to put on a fight with me and Vanderlei.
MMARR: If you beat Vanderlei and become the Champion of Pride
does that mean that you would be sticking with Pride and no longer
be a UFC fighter?
Iceman:
I want to be a UFC fighter, I am not looking at being, I just
want to be a fighter and I want to be the best fighter in the
world in whichever way I got to go about that. If the fight works
with Tito and I beat Tito, and I will beat Tito, I would still
want to fight Vanderlei next, if they can work it out. I think
the two organizations need to get together and work it out, have
one champion against the other one, who cares, let the fans have
the fight that they want to see.
MMARR: You said that you "will" beat Tito, is there
any iota in your mind that you will lose?
Iceman: Well there is always the chance that he will get lucky,
but the thing is that is the way a fighter should think. That
is the way I think, and I am sure that is the way that he thinks.
When eventually he decides to take the fight, that is the way
that he’ll be thinking by the time the fight comes, that
he is going to win. You shouldn't be in there if you don't think
that you are going to win.
MMARR:
You used to train with Tito, you used to be good training partners,
and good friends at that time. How was your training together?
Iceman: I still like Tito, Tito is a great guy, We kinda took
the difference a little bit because we knew we were eventually
going to have to fight. If both of us kept winning there would
be no one left to fight us but each other. Honestly we have only
trained together ten times in the last two years. None in the
last year. It has been a long time, he has changed, he has improved
a lot, I have changed I have been improving, so after training
for a while, here and there for a while, we got to get back in
there and face each other again.
MMARR: You said "if Tito gets lucky" that he could
win. When you are in the ring do you think that there is any
possibility that you are going to lose? Does that run through
your mind at all?
Iceman: Not at all. Not when I am fighting not at all. I walk
into a fight I am not worried about losing. If you are worried
about losing, that is your first step to losing. You can't go
out there to not lose, you gotta go out there to win a fight.
MMARR:
People have been accusing you saying "Chuck isn't quite
as exciting as he used to be". They have been saying that
same thing, that Chuck has been fighting lately not to lose,
like against Amar Suloev, and Bustamante. You are taking them
to decisions a little bit, how do you answer critics who say
things like that to you?
Iceman: I went after Amar. I expected a different fight from
Amar. I expected him to come at me more, I hurt him early and
he backed off most of the fight, so I expected a different fight
from him. I won the first two rounds easy, and I was going after
him, I went after him enough, he would just take a punch and
then run, I can't do everything I threw an overhand right in
that round, that is the round that they are complaining about,
but I was in kickboxing mode, I was kicking his legs and expecting
to get that head kick sooner or later. It just didn't come before
the bell. Maybe I could have pressed the fight harder but that
was just one of those things. I was just out there in control,
just throwing my punches, throwing my attacks in if he came at
me a little bit, maybe I could have landed it, it is really hard
to knock a guy out if he is running away from you.
MMARR:
How about your fight with Bustamante, many people felt that coming
into that fight that you would destroy Bustamante because you
just came off a huge K.O over Guy Mezger?
Iceman: I think we may have underestimated Bustamante. The other
thing too I was out of shape coming into the fight, my fault,
my training. I cut a lot of weight for that fight, I would never
let that happen again but people underestimated him when they
thought I would roll through him like that. I would love another
shot at him but he is down at 185, so if he comes back up I would
love another shot at him.
MMARR:
Do you think that you won that fight?
Iceman: Yes I do, I watched it a couple times, I think I won
the fight, it was close but I still think that I won.
MMARR: We talked about you training together with Tito, a lot
of reports have said that Tito had a lot of trouble and a lot
of times couldn't take you down, do you feel that in your training
that you dominated Tito?
Iceman: Well the thing is that training is training. A fight
is a fight, two different things. You are working on different
things, you are working on stuff in training, you are doing different
stuff. So to judge whether or you someone could do something
in training as compared to a fight, it is two different things.
Tito is a gamer, he is going to show up to fight. Training is
training I try and work on a lot of different things when I am
in training too. So you never know.
MMARR:
So the reports that you dominated him in practice were not accurate?
Iceman: Like I said practice is practice. You know, you are working
on stuff and doing different things so, I don't’ really
comment on practices with people. I work out with a lot of people
and you are just working out, it is not really a public thing
as far as I am concerned.
MMARR:
what do you think about Tito's standup?
Iceman: It is much improved, he looks a lot better in his fights.
MMARR:
At the press conference after UFC 40 Tito talked about renegotiating,
he talked about friendship, he talked about a lot of things,
he didn't talk about "I want Chuck". Chuck, you have
been really vocal recently about saying you are very much in
need of a fight with Tito. Do you think that Tito is dodging
you?
Iceman: You make up your own mind. When he came in the ring after
UFC 37.5 he talked about me and him have to fight after he fights
Ken, and that I was going to lose. Go back and look at his interview
right when he jumped in the ring. He said that I was going to
get in his home and that I was going to have to lose, and I was
going to get a loss. After our fights (at UFC 40) when it is
time for us to fight, he talks about " Oh uh..you know I
am going to have to get paid more", I mean that was not
the reaction I was expecting from him. When five months earlier
he was talking about how he was going to beat me. So..it surprised
me yes.
MMARR:
Do you think he is hiding behind his friendship?
Iceman: honestly,…Whatever, I don’t know what he is
trying to do exactly, I like the guy and consider him a friend,
but he is not one of the guys I train with everyday, he is not
one of the guys I hang out with everyday. So I got no problem
fighting him, so I don’t know. He is more of an emotional
fighter, maybe he needs to not like me to fight me. I am not
an emotional fighter, I don’t have to not like you to fight
you. If you step in the ring I am going to try to take your head
off.
MMARR:
If you guys are friends before the fight and you guys fight,
if you lose or win would you have any problems with the friendship
afterwards?
Iceman: Me? No. Like I said I am not an emotional fighter. As
far as that stuff goes I am going to go in there and I am going
to try to rip his head off. I got no problems with him before
or after the fight.
MMARR:
Do you think he will have problems with you if he loses to you
after the fight?
Iceman: I don’t know, I don’t know him that well honestly.
I don’t know how he would react to that.
MMARR:
If you fought Tito what would your prediction be if you were
to fight him on April 25th?
Iceman: That all depends on how he fights. It all depend on how
he fights. I am planning on knocking him out, I think I have
made that pretty clear.
MMARR:
What do you think of Tito’s chin?
Iceman: He has only lost a couple I times I haven’t really
seen him hurt real bad though.
MMARR:
I have seen Tito get rocked a couple times and it doesn’t
seem like he handles punches to the face as well as you do. I
have seen you take a lot of shots to the face. Do you think that
is going to be a mode of attack for you?
Iceman: I plan to test his chin if he fights, so you will have
an answer to whether or not he has a chin after we fight.
MMARR:
The only time I got to see your chin REALLY get tested was against
Guy Mezger, It was a pretty even fight till the end of the round
and he caught you with a nice little kick and it dropped you.
Was that the first time you had ever been dropped in a fight?
Iceman: Yes… or no it was Pele in Brazil he caught me with
a kick, but I mean it was a flash, same thing I got right back
up.
MMARR:
What do you think of Vanderlei Silva?
Iceman: I would love to fight him, I think it would be a great
fight for the fans.
MMARR:
You fought in Pride just one time, how was your experience fighting
in Pride as opposed to the UFC?
Iceman: I fought in the UFC most of the time and I prefer the
cage, although I do like the knee’s to the head on the ground
in Pride.
MMARR:
How do you compare the ring and the cage?
Iceman: Well they have there ups and downs for me. As far as
the ring goes, it is easier to cut of then the cage. I think
the cage is good for getting back up to your feet too, it is
also good for wrestlers to hold you there. They both have there
pluses and minuses I really like both of them.
MMARR:
I notice all the fighters that I have seen, maybe you and Maurice
Smith are the best that I have ever seen at getting off the cage
and getting back on there feet after being taken to the ground.
Is that something that you work a lot on?
Iceman: I work on it a little bit. We have a cage out here and
I work on that.
MMARR:
When you are in Japan do the Japanese fans recognize you as much
as the American ones?
Iceman:
Well that is hard to say, I mean back the last time I went over
there, just when I beat Guy Mezger, I just really go started
getting on a roll. Beating some big names. Now in the U.S, I
have fought quite a few times. I get a lot of people who recognize
me.
MMARR:
How does being a celebrity affected you do you think it is a
good thing, how do you respond to that?
Iceman:
It has been kind of cool, I am kind of used to being… I
have got a lot of coverage in my home town. So I have always
had a lot of coverage in my home town where I live, everyone
is kind of used to me so I don’t feel like (it was) all
of a sudden. Out of town a lot more people notice me.
MMARR:
How do you rate your fight with Vitor Belfort? How did he feel
in the ring, did he throw anything that maybe you didn’t
expect?
Iceman: He threw a couple head kicks I wasn’t expecting
those to come up but lucky I am used to them. I keep my hands
up. He caught me with a shot, I was expecting for him to stand
up a little more then that, he tried to take me down right away
and I was able to get back up but he didn’t hurt me at all
on the ground. Got up just throwing punches you know, just throwing
everything and just exchanged with him. I mean, I expected him
to come at me a little more be a little more aggressive with
his hand.
MMARR:
Did you want to exchange with Belfort?
Iceman: Oh yeah.
MMARR:
Were you wary of Belfort’s hand-speed or the big left hand?
Iceman: I thought I hit harder then him and I wanted to test
his chin, see if I could put him down.
MMARR:
How high on your to do list is a rematch with Jeremy Horn?
Iceman: You know they way I would like to do it if it was a perfect
world and I could do anything I wanted to, I get to fight Tito,
I win there. I fight Vanderlei Silva, beat him, then fight Jeremy
Horn to erase the one loss on my record.
MMARR:
Do you think you could have continued? ( After being held in
an Arm Triangle by Jeremy Horn, Liddell did not tap and the bell
rang to end the round, the fight was stopped.)
Iceman: Oh I definitely could have contintued after a minute
rest, but their contention was that I went out before so.. and
you know I could have continued at that point.
MMARR:
Up to this pint what do you think was your toughest fight to
date?
Iceman: I don’t know I have fought a lot of tough guys in
there own way they have all been tough fights.
MMARR:
Are there any fighters in the sport that you are particularly
fond of watching? Do you have a favorite fighter or fighters?
Iceman: You know the guys that are more interesting are the guys
I know, I like watching a lot of guys a lot of guys I know like
Matt Hughes, actually I like watching BJ (Penn) in his last fight
he was kinda… was really conservative, but usually he comes
out real exciting. I just like a lot of guys. I just like watching
the fights.
MMARR:
So are you a fan of the game when you are not fighting?
Iceman: yeah I like watching guys fight. I like watching the
fights.
MMARR:
What do you think you are going to do when your fighting career
is over?
Iceman: Coach Probably…
MMARR:
We are seeing another side of Chuck Liddell nowadays and that
is a Chuck that is a trainer and cornerman. You have Team Pit
now, what is more important to you coaching or fighting?
Iceman: At this point it is my fighting, that is my main concern,
my main focus. But coaching is going to be a big part in the
future. I am trying tobalance the two right now. It is tough
to do both but John Hackleman my trainer is one of the guys that
trains most of the guys, I just help out with the ground stuff
and the workouts.
MMARR:
You train a guy named Gan Mcgee who just won his last fight.
He beat Pedro Rizzo, how do you evaluate his performance and
how good do you think that Gan Mcgee is?
Iceman: I think Gan is going to be one of the best in the world.
He is a tough fighter, he has got good wrestling skills and now
he is working on his kicks and getting good striking skills.
I mean he is going to get better every fight
MMARR:
Were you surprised that he won his fight by Knockout against
Pedro?
Iceman: It wasn’t the way I thought he would do it, I was
looking more for the shot and the ground and pound but that was
fine by me. He was doing great standing up though you know. Fighting
a guy like Rizzo I mean, the guy is dangerous you know, he has
got one punch power and at any given time he could stop the fight.
Same with Gan, he showed the same thing one punch power, he can
end the fight at any time.
MMARR:
How much longer do you want to be fighting in MMA for?
Iceman: It just depends on how my body holds up, I am 32 right
now I will be 33 this month, right now I feel great, as long
as I still feel like I can perform, I will keep fighting. There
are still some great fighters that are still performing at 37
and 38. I still feel like I got another 4 or 5 years in me easy
but you never know. When I feel I can’t perform at the level
that I want to, then that is when I will retire.
MMARR:
There has been a little bit of talk about Tito moving up to the
heavyweight division. Have you heard anything about that?
Iceman: I mean where is he going to go? I got a guy for him.
I got Gan (Mcgee) for him if he wants to go up there.
MMARR:
Would you ever move up to heavyweight?
Iceman:
I will fight Him at heavyweight if he wants to fight me at heavyweight.
I mean that doesn’t matter to me. We will go at whatever
weight he wants. I mean I got a guy at heavyweight that cuts
down from 285 to 265, I mean he is six ten. I mean he can stay
up at heavyweight I will go to 205 that is where I am comfortable.
Cause even if I fight at heavyweight I will walk in the ring
at about 212.
MMARR:
So you walk around at 212?
Iceman: I walk around at about 222. When I am in shape for a
fight I like to be about 210 or for a 205 fight I don’t
like to fight much heavier then 215. I feel a little sluggish
at 220 or 222.
MMARR:
how much did you weight for your Bustamante fight?
Iceman: About 220
MMARR:
Do you ever think about fighting in kickboxing or K-1 or anything
like that?
Iceman: No, not anymore. I used to want to when I was younger
but that was before I was doing MMA so much, they are different,
it is more specialized for kickboxing then the no holds barred.
They are a different kind of thing, and I just like sticking
to what I do. I would have to take a lot of time off to train
straight kickboxing to get back into kickboxing.
MMARR:
Lastly is there anything that you would like to say to the Chuck
Liddell fans out there?
Iceman: Check out my website it is either Chuck Liddell.com or
Iceman.tv and I will keep you informed on what I am doing.
MMARR:
Thanks a lot for spending time with me today I appreciate that.
Iceman: No Problem. Thanks a lot.
Source: MMA Ring Report
2/26/03
Quote
of the Day
In
the final analysis there is no solution to man's progress but
the day's honest work, the day's honest decisions, the day's
generous utterances and the day's good deed.
Clare Booth Luce
First
of the May KOTC Bouts Announced!
Jhun vs Carter for the KOTC Belt
by: Keith Mills
With this weekend’s pay-per-view KOTC now in the history
books, attention is starting to shift to the future. Although
there is one KOTC scheduled in March back at Soboba it won’t
be PPV; the next PPV one is May from Las Vegas, NV.
Immediately
after last weekend’s KOTC it was announced Shonie Carter
signed on to fight Ronald
Jhun for
the 170 lb belt. The belt was previously announced as vacated,
but according to Romi Aram, it remains his until this fight in
May. Aram is moving on to fight in UFC 42 against Amaury Bitetti.
Shonie
earned this opportunity by technically defeating rAw’s Fernando
Vasconcelos last weekend. With Vasconcelos clearly winning the
first round and Carter the second, it would have been decided
in the third if not for a misunderstanding in the duration. Vasconcelos
and his corner understood it to be a 2-round fight, not 3. When
they refused to fight a 3rd round the fight was ruled a win for
Carter via corner throwing in the towel.
Jhun on the other hand,
is coming off a win in SuperBrawl in February and two draws,
one to Dennis Hallman in KOTC 19 and one to Shonie Carter in
SuperBrawl. Word around the scene is Jhun hasn’t been consistent since his loss to
Jermaine Andre back in WFA 1 over a year ago, but he is still
respected among the fighters as a deadly striker.
John
Alessio, who also fights at 170, still holds the Superfight belt
and is not considered a contender for the 170 belt, formerly
owned by his Millennia Jiu-Jitsu teammate Aram, who he won’t
fight. No plans are in the works for consolidating the belts
originally split back when Chris Brennan fought in KOTC, so until
Alessio losses the Superfight belt the field is wide open.
Source: ADCC
VI
COPA PACIFICA Superfights announced:
Two Gracie boys fight, Ryron fights Saulo's brother
Cleber
Luciano, who is always looking to better his already incredible
event is proud to announce that he has locked in some H O T superfights
for his VI Copa Pacifica:
In a conversation with Saulo Ribeiro yesterday, Kid found out
that Saulo will not be able to compete in the 2nd Black Belt
Challenge. Saulo told: 'There was a conflict of schedule, I am
going to be doing seminars in Europe after the Arnold's!'. Saulo
stated that after Europe all his attention will be directed to
Sao Paulo, Brazil for 2003 ADCC Tournamnt: 'I have won it once
and got two second places, but second is not for me. I plan to
be in the best shape of my life to fight for the Title!'
Everyone
at the under 88Kg class better be ready!
Saulo
has been training with brother Xande for the arnolds and confided:
'Xande is very toguh right now, one of the best for sure.' Xande
will get his chance to defend his titles against an extremely
toguh group that will include current World Absolute Champion
Marcio 'Pe de Pano' Cruz! That is of course if Marcio's travel
plans are all in order :) as Pano is famous for having last minute
hick ups with his tickets (one of the reasons he arrrived the
morning of the IGJJF Tourney only to compete 4 hours later!).
Source: ADCC
Maeda
- Another Comeback?
After
making the news last month by settling his well publicized court
case, where he was forced to pay a settlement to Pancrase promoter
Masami Ozaki, Akira Maeda is apparently on the comeback trail!
In
an interview this past week Maeda, who has always been surrounded
by controversy, said some strange things.
For
example, Maeda made a comment referring to Pride's recent happenings
that may fire up many of the foreign fighters. He made reference
to the high amounts of money being paid to fighters and recommended
a drastic drop in pay.
While
some consider this to be truth, it may be sour grapes at the
fact that Pride, who he is clearly referring to, was able to
steal ALL of Maeda's top fighters.
Maeda
dwelled on the past, saying his RINGS organization produced the
best fighters. Referring to Nogueira, Dan Henderson, Fedor and
others who made a successful move into Pride. Although Henderson
had done UFC and Nogueira had done WEF, it was RINGS that propelled
their popularity in Japan.
There
was talk of Maeda opening up RINGS inside the United States but
apparently that isn't going to happen. But Maeda does claim to
be reopening RINGS later this year. It will more than likely
take place in Japan again but without the support of WOWOW TV,
it would be seemingly impossible to make it work again.
Maeda
mad strange comments about recent trips to Los Angeles where
he said he was being followed by three men with guns. Maeda claimed
to have pepper sprayed them and got away. Doesn't this happen
to everyone in L.A.? :)
Source: ADCC
Tito
Ortiz and The Facts of Life
By Thomas Gerbasi
Eight-month
old Jacob Ortiz doesn't know it yet, but he's got a tough daddy
- maybe the baddest man on the mixed martial arts planet.
But
for now, dad isn't Tito Ortiz, UFC light heavyweight champion;
he's just that big guy who plays with him, hugs him and tucks
him in at night. Because in only eight months of life, it's impossible
to know the impact he's had on his father's life.
But
Tito knows.
"I'm
not fighting for myself anymore," Ortiz told MaxFighting.
"I'm fighting for my son. I have to think about his future.
I'm only going to be in mixed martial arts for the next 3-4 years
so I have to take advantage of that time, and that's what's really
making the decisions for me right now - my son. More than anything,
it's all about him right now. I've never realized I could love
someone as much as him and I want to make sure he doesn't have
a life like I had it growing up. All that matters is my son and
making it right for him."
Spoken
like a true father, and unless you've stood in those same shoes,
you wouldn't know what a child will do to change your outlook
on life. What you thought was important really isn't anymore;
bad days can be erased with a single smile on that little face;
and if you thought you worked hard before, you work even harder
with a mouth to feed.
A
harder working Tito Ortiz is bad news for future opponents, but
more on that later. If Jacob Ortiz is anything like his father,
he will get on the Internet someday and read about his father,
a man who is not only his own personal superhero, but superhero
to scores of fight fans. Here are some facts about his father
that he may not know.
Fact
#1 - No one works harder than Tito Ortiz - no one
Anyone
who has seen Ortiz train will not forget it anytime soon. Pushing
himself past normal endurance limits, a typical training session
with Ortiz includes blood, sweat, and a number of trips to the
nearest garbage can for, well, you can figure it out. Ever since
his loss to Frank Shamrock in 1999, Ortiz has made it clear that
while he may someday lose in the Octagon, it won't be because
he was outworked in training.
"I've
got it down to a science for training where I know exactly when
to taper off and when to push myself really hard," said
Ortiz. "There are roller coasters when you're having a bad
day, but you suck it up. One thing about fighting is that I can
prepare for a fight two-three times a year. In that time, as
soon as I'm done preparing for a fight, there's no doubt in my
mind that I'm going to win."
Such
physical torture takes its toll, and at the age of 28, it may
be reaching the point where Ortiz is seeing the end of the road
in the next few years. And each time he needs to re-dedicate
himself physically and mentally to his chosen sport, it gets
harder. It's natural.
"That's
always happening, no matter what," admits Ortiz. "Especially
with all the kinds of things that are coming up for me, doing
the movie deals and all that. There are all other kinds of options
to make money instead of beating up my body. I just got to have
the drive to keep doing what I do when I train. I push my body
for three months non-stop seven days a week and I try to do as
much as possible."
The
latest push was last November, when Ortiz helped bring in the
best pay-per-view numbers since the UFC's early days in a three-round
pummeling of Ken Shamrock in Las Vegas. Fresh off an ACL injury,
Ortiz had the weight of the sport on his shoulders as he prepared
to step into the cage at the MGM Grand. Nothing a little video
game carnage won't cure.
"There
was a lot of mental preparation, that's for sure," said
Ortiz. "On the day of the fight I was sitting down with
my friends and we were playing Halo on Xbox. I knew in my mind
that I had everything physically in the right areas. I had all
my cards dealt and I knew what cards to lay down when it was
time to fight."
"Mind
wise, as soon as I get in the arena, that's when it sets the
tone of 'all right, now it's time to fight. Now it's time to
get serious,'" continued Ortiz. "I put my running shoes
on and do a light jog. I'm warming up, hitting pads, and then
it comes to the point of 10-15 minutes before the fight and I
always vomit and tears will come out of my eyes. I don't know
what the reason is. Its just emotion. People see me fight and
I fight like no other fighter in the UFC. I have so much emotion
and so much aggression. I never stop moving. In my mind, it's
just don't stop moving until the match is over and you'll have
no problem with it. That's the whole idea. So when I step in
there and you see the ferocity I go in there with, no one's gonna
stop me. Whoever's standing on the other side of the Octagon,
I have to go through that person because I'm fighting for my
family, my fans, and that's what really matters."
Fact
#2 - Tito Ortiz cares about the fans, no matter what some of
them have to say about him
Visit
any message board for any major professional sport (or even a
niche sport such as boxing), and you will not see a Barry Bonds,
Rich Gannon, Kobe Bryant, or Lennox Lewis conversing with their
fans. It just doesn't happen. Tito Ortiz is the biggest star
in mixed martial arts today, and yet he is a regular visitor
to Internet message boards, and whether this is wise or not,
it has endeared him to the folks who fork out the cash to see
him and his peers fight.
"I
love doing that, and that's part of my job," said Ortiz,
who travels light, i.e. - no bodyguards or lackeys to keep the
fans at bay. "I do this stuff for all the fans and I'm here
to support them. I could be a role model but I don't want to
be because I make mistakes just like every other human being.
In my mind it's just more about being an inspiration for people.
I've had so many E-mails, and I've talked to people in person
who told me how much I've changed their lives. I show them how
to train hard and be good people in their lives and they do that
and become better people because of it. I have to do this for
the fans because they pay so much to see my fights and hopefully
I inspire them to be better people."
That
spoils the fans too, though, and there are always the bad apples
that spoil a good thing, like when some random poster wants to
drop a dime on Ortiz for any number of reasons, from not fighting
certain opponents to not wearing the right color shorts on fight
night. And he does take it personally, though you'll never see
him sweat it, because that's how a champion carries himself.
Fact
#3 - Like NBA legend Larry Bird, Tito Ortiz makes those around
him better
Mention
the names Ricco Rodriguez, Quentin "Rampage" Jackson,
and Phil Baroni to a mixed martial arts fan, and they will tell
you that all three have risen to the top of the MMA game in the
last 12 months. Every member of this trio has spent time training
with Ortiz, and each member has emerged as an elite fighter.
Ortiz couldn't be prouder.
"Ricco
has done so much," said Ortiz. "You've seen the kid
come from 300 pounds down to 235 pounds, with cartwheels, flying
knees, kicks, punches - he's just a dominating person. "Rampage"
is probably one of the toughest 205-pounders out there beside
myself. He's gonna dominate Pride and be the champion in Pride.
He has a lot of talent. He doesn't even understand how much talent
he has. He's awesome. I still support everything he does and
I'll be training with him this week to get him ready for Kevin
Randleman. Phil Baroni is a kid who needs the right guidance.
I think he's a champion in his own right and I believe he'll
become middleweight champion. He's going to be taking people
out because that's what he does. I think he's going to beat (Matt)
Lindland. I have nothing against Lindland, I think he's a great
fighter and he beat Phil the first time, but I think Baroni,
if he's doing the right things, has the will to win."
Fact
#4 - Tito Ortiz will do anything for a friend; Tank Abbott is
not a friend.
On
February 28, UFC icon Tank Abbott makes his return to the Octagon
against Frank Mir. In his early days in the UFC, Ortiz was portrayed
as not only a training partner of Abbott, but a protégé
of sorts. It's been a long time since those days, and Ortiz'
memories of Abbott, past and present are not fond ones. And though
he respects the man's right to make a living, he believes Abbott's
mere bar fighter image hurts the sport he's fought so hard to
bring to the mainstream.
"If
you watched "The Best Damn Sports Show", that shows
all the mainstream fans how far the UFC has really come, and
from what I saw, it looked like it hasn't come very far at all,"
said Ortiz. "I have no problem selling out the arenas. I
don't know what other guys' problems are. And I'm paying the
price for guys not selling out arenas. Hopefully Tank can bring
it back, but at the same time, I don't think it's good for the
sport. But that's in my eyes."
"Tank
is not even a friend of mine," continues Ortiz. "I
have nothing bad to say about the guy but when I tried to get
back in the UFC a second time, he told Bob Meyrowitz that he
would never fight again if he (Meyrowitz) let me fight in the
UFC. Luckily Pedro Rizzo knocked his ass out because that's what
opened the door for me. I thought he was a friend and he wasn't
a friend. I lost complete respect for him, and I still don't
have respect for him. And then when he comes out in UFC 40, during
the biggest fight of my life and he's talking smack. Grow up.
How old is he now?"
"It's
going to be a good fight Friday night, and hopefully Frank Mir
will come out on top. I think the kid has a big opportunity,
and if he's training hard I think he has a chance of beating
Tank. But at the same time, I don't want to waste my breath on
Tank. I could care less about the guy. He's going to be here
today and gone tomorrow the way I think about it. Who cares about
Tank Abbott? What about Ricco Rodriguez? We're talking about
the heavyweight champion of the world, the guy who dominated
Randy Couture and made him look horrible. I looked at the "Best
Damn Sports Show" and they didn't say anything about Ricco
Rodriguez defending his world title or people like Caol Uno and
BJ Penn. Yeah, Tank's name still sells but you've got to worry
about the guys who are making the sport happen."
Fact
#5 - Tito Ortiz is a fighter…now, not forever
As
mentioned earlier, fatherhood changes you and matures you at
the same time. Once a stone cold fighter willing to throw down
wherever or whenever his name was called, Tito Ortiz now knows
that there is a world outside of the fight game. And when he's
finished as a fighter, he'll have to do something with his time
and his life. But unlike many participants in combat sports,
Ortiz is not waiting until retirement to think about such matters.
He's taking care of that preparation now.
"I'm
going to be undefeated for the next three years," said Ortiz.
"But at the same time, I'm working on my acting. I have
been for the last two and a half months."
Ortiz
is in the upcoming DMX / Jet Li movie "Cradle to the Grave"
but he admits that the part "was more just stuntman / fight
action." He has loftier goals for himself as an aspiring
thespian. "I want to get into acting where there are speaking
lines and I can be other people. I'd love to do that and I've
been working on it. I think this is my future. I'm not going
to fight for the rest of my life. I see how a lot of boxers come
up, make their money, go down, and they have to come back and
fight to make money. I want to make sure that doesn't happen.
Acting is something I need to sit down, study, and go over and
over again, just like fighting. I'll just throw the same love
I have for fighting into acting."
Fact
#6 - Tito Ortiz will not be rushed into anything
You've
read this far and you want to know about Ortiz' future in the
Octagon, not the sound stage. Well, he's not talking yet, but
like Ali, he shall return.
"Sometime
this year," Ortiz said cryptically when asked about his
return to fighting, and you can almost see the smirk on his face.
"I just have to make sure my management does the right things
and they make sure I do the right things. I have no problems
with the next opponent that the UFC has for me to fight. It's
just a matter of me stepping up and doing it, and making it happen.
Before the summer, that's my plan."
And
despite the fears of his die-hard supporters, don't expect to
see Ortiz in against a stiff when he does return. And though
he's not talking names, let's just assume his ol' buddy Chuck
Liddell will be standing across the cage from him the next time
we see him in action.
"Each
time I want to test myself," said Ortiz, eschewing talk
of a warm-up bout sandwiched between big media events such as
fights vs Shamrock and Liddell. "I fought against Shamrock
to test myself, plus I was just coming off my ACL injury so it
was kind of a warmup fight for me. The big game was to fight
Chuck Liddell. I never wanted to deal with it just because he
was a friend, but in his mind, he wants a taste of what the belt
tastes like, and he's gonna come up short. So it's just a matter
of time. But at the same time, just doing the right things is
what really matters."
If
the fight against Liddell does come off, it will be a cap on
an era in the UFC's short history under Zuffa. And Tito Ortiz
will have a dilemma of who to fight next? But like any great
champion, Ortiz is always a step ahead, and he's already pondering
his fighting life after the biggest fight of his career.
"Heavyweight
is an idea," admits Ortiz. "Hopefully that's where
the bigger money will be, at least by the time I go up to heavyweight.
But at the same time, I still have some more guys to fight. I've
got Chuck of course, Vanderlei Silva, and then I don't know,
do I make a lineup and go all the way back again to my first
fight with Guy Mezger and work my way back? I don't know what
to do. After Chuck, who is there? Vitor Belfort? Who knows if
that guy is going to show up to fight, let alone have a match
against him. It's really hard in the light heavyweight division
to be in the position I'm in. I beat Chuck and then what do I
do? Move up to heavyweight and kick Tank's ass? I'm just sitting
in a funny position right now and actually for once, I'm not
sitting back and worrying about a fight. I have a career to work
on now. I have a lot of things I'm working on. A lot of good
people help me out and believe in the dreams I'm having right
now, so it's just a matter of time to see what I do next."
We'll
be watching.
Oh
yeah, there's one more thing for Jacob Ortiz to know about his
father:
Fact
#7 - Tito Ortiz loves his family over everything else.
Source:
Maxfighting
Vazquez:
Guts
Between Rounds by Joe Hall
Something
wasn't right. Seconds into his lightweight title defense, Javier
Vazquez began hobbling awkwardly after a brief exchange with
challenger Alberto Crane.
"I
threw a straight jab," Vazquez told MaxFighting, "and
as I was landing -- I was pushing off with my left foot and landing
on my right -- I guess as I landed, I slipped on some water.
When I regained my balance, I think my foot got stuck on the
mat and kind of twisted because I landed a little bit sideways.
"I
felt my knee pop, but it pops sometimes so it wasn't a big deal.
So then when I threw my second combination, that's when I fell.
I just flat out fell. Once that happened, I think he took me
to the fence, and as I was on the fence, I was thinking, 'Uh,
how am I going to get out of this one?' I knew what had happened."
Vazquez
was certain he had torn the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)
of his knee. It was the same ligament he had damaged three years
prior and that had sidelined him for about eight months. This
time, however, Vazquez was in the middle of a fight.
Like
a man drifting helplessly in the middle of the ocean, he was
stranded with a blown knee in a bout scheduled to last a grueling
15 minutes -- only Vazquez wasn't overcome with a sense of hopelessness
or imminent fate. Ten, possibly 15 seconds had passed, and for
the next 14-plus minutes, he was determined to do more than just
survive.
And
he was going to do it on one leg.
He
threw and landed punches, buckled and fell down, climbed back
to his feet and completed multiple takedowns, stumbled to the
mat only to stand again, escaped several guillotine chokes and
nearly passed the guard of a world champion Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
black belt.
On.
One. Leg.
"I
couldn't stand up," Vazquez recalls. "I couldn't walk.
Certain angles I would put [the knee] in -- like when I was on
top, punching down -- every time I would step it up, it would
buckle. Off the bottom, I couldn't do a whole lot of anything."
He
probably should have quit as soon as the knee blew. No one would
have criticized him for such an obvious injury, and no one expected
him to attempt to fight through the pain against an opponent
the caliber of Crane.
"It
didn't even cross my mind," says Vazquez of quitting. "I
was just thinking of how to win the next round. Every time I
came back to my corner, I was just thinking, 'What can I do?
What can I do?'"
Vazquez
didn't regard the repercussions of fighting on a damaged knee
either, like the possibility of injuring it beyond repair. "I
never even considered it," he says. "I wasn't thinking,
'You're going to hurt it worse.' I didn't think that once, even
though I should have maybe."
After
Vazquez valiantly battled through the first five minutes, friend
and training partner Romie Arum charged into the cage to meet
him between rounds. Vazquez was sitting, and would not stand
again until the start of the second round.
"My
knee's gone," Vazquez said.
"What
do you mean gone?" Arum replied.
"My
ACL's gone," he clarified.
"He
knew," Vazquez told MaxFighting. "He knew what had
happened. He just hoped it wasn't what he thought it was."
Then
the doctor and other officials came to check on Vazquez.
"What
happened? What's wrong with you?" they asked.
He
then turned to Arum and informed him, "I can't walk."
"Just
take him down!" Arum told him. "Just get on top! Take
him down and control him!"
Although
Arum's advice was most likely his best shot at victory, Vazquez
refused to sit in the guard and cautiously ground-and-pound.
After nearly collapsing to the canvas to begin the second round,
he took the top position on the ground and immediately began
attacking Crane's guard with pass attempts.
"You
know what I was thinking? Finish the fight," says Vazquez
of his strategy to try to pass. "Try to finish him, then
it would be over a lot sooner."
Vazquez
not only survived the 15-minute duration, he convinced one of
three judges that he deserved the victory. A perfect ending to
his Herculean effort was not to be, however, as Crane won a split
decision.
Shortly
after the judgment was announced, teammate John Jensen picked
up Vazquez and carried him to the locker room. A swell of Millennia
Jiu-Jitsu representatives followed their crippled yet spirited
fighter.
Courage
had overflowed the cage, spilling into the hearts of MMA fans
and endearing the brave fighter to a following he had previously
been unable to attract through skill alone.
Crane
had taken his belt, but no one could take his heart.
Injury
update
Vazquez
plans on seeing a doctor early this week and hopes to have surgery
on his knee within two weeks. Although a physician hasn't confirmed
a torn ACL, Vazquez is doubtless about his injury: "I've
already been through this. I know. I know what happened."
He
tore the exact same ligament around three years ago, and says
it was eight months before he was back in the cage and a year
before he didn't feel any pain from it. However, Vazquez describes
his knee as currently the size of a "watermelon" and
he's hoping that he hasn't injured it beyond an ACL tear. Friends
have already referred a specialist for him to see this time around,
and Vazquez has been told that a superior rehabilitation could
have him ready in six months.
That's
if he gets the OK to continue fighting.
"Mentally,
I'm so pissed off," says Vazquez, "I'll fight [Crane]
right now, with one leg, again. My heart's in [MMA]. I want to
do it. I have some goals I haven't accomplished yet, but if a
doctor says, 'You're risking walking,' I probably won't do it."
Besides
losing his title and seriously damaging his knee, Vazquez's expected
debut in the UFC has been indefinitely nixed. The Cuban-born
fighter, who was rumored to be making his first UFC appearance
in Miami at UFC 42, received a call from Zuffa's Joe Silva Sunday
morning. "He was like, 'You have a home here. Whenever or
if ever you come back,'" says Vazquez of the conversation.
The
heartless mixture of injury, defeat and a questionable future
has been a tough concoction for Vazquez to swallow. "It's
going to take me a while to get over this one," he says.
"It's just something I'm going through right now that's
probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to go through."
One
shining positive in the barrage of adversity that has hit Vazquez
is the outcry of support for his courage in the cage. It has
come from fighters, from fans, from the entire MMA community.
"All
the people who responded to the fight … I tried to read
every post," Vazquez says. "The overall response to
the fight really got to me. It meant a lot. It just got to me.
The way everybody responded, it shocked me. When your friends
tell you, it's one thing, but when people you don't know are
telling you that stuff, it makes you feel good.
"I
was just doing my job," says the pleasantly surprised Vazquez.
" I was just trying to win."
Source: ADCC
Vazquez
Injury Update
By Joe Hall
A Los Angeles doctor confirmed Monday that former KOTC lightweight
champion Javier Vazquez has torn the anterior cruciate ligament
(ACL) of his knee. The fighter may have also damaged his lateral
collateral ligament (LCL), though he won’t know for sure
until the results of an MRI of his knee become available.
The
doctor working on Vazquez is a specialist referred to him by
MMA fighter Frank Trigg. Vazquez expects to have surgery next
week, and the doctor has told him a full recovery in five months
is possible.
“It’s
a lot better than I had originally thought,” Vazquez told
MaxFighting. “I was pretty happy. They’re going to
get me going right away, get me walking on it right away.”
Vazquez
would like to express gratitude for the support he’s received
since he injured his knee Friday night, just seconds into his
title defense against Alberto Crane: “I just want to thank
everyone for all their support and all the kind things they’ve
said on the Internet. I was beating myself up pretty badly over
the loss, but after all the support I’ve got, I feel a lot
better.”
Source: ADCC
2/25/03
Quote
of the Day
You
cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it
will be too late.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Bull
Force Presents: "Kickin it Again"
Palama Settlement Gym, Honolulu, Hawaii
April 5, 2003
The gates are open at 6:00 pm
Fights begin at 6:15 pm
General Admission- $10
Kids
Fight 125lbs
David Balicao (Hawaiian SD, 14 years old)
vs
Zane Cabacugan (Hapkido TKD, 15 years old)
150lbs
John Narveza (Bulls Pen)
vs
Craig Park (Hard Knocks)
145lbs
Justin Dano (Hawaiian SD)
vs
Mathew Chong (Smith TKD)
195lbs
Billy Hall (Professional Training Center)
vs
Willie Chummer (Hawaii TKD)
165lbs
Wayne Kamealoha (Hawaiian SD)
vs
Ben George (Bulls Pen)
Heavy
James Stanford (Hard Knocks)
vs
Kunta Edmonds (Kempo Unlimited)
185lbs
Scott Redoble (Hawaiian SD)
vs
James Kepa (Bulls Pen)
170lbs
Brennan Kamaka (808 Fight Factory)
vs
Paul Laga (Bulls Pen)
Super
Heavy
Sonny Leiutu (Hard Knocks)
vs
Sheldon Abella (Hapkido TKD)
145lbs
Donald Calaruda (Hard Knocks)
vs
Edwin Cabacugan (Hapkido TKD)
Co-Semi
Main:
125lbs
Jeremy Bright (Hawaiian SD)
vs
Brian Nimimoto (Giraldi Muay-Thai)
Main Event:
170lbs
Shawn Taylor
vs
PJ Dean (Hard Knocks)
"NY
BadAss" Phil Baroni has Big Week!
Who
says MMA fighters don't get publicity? The big-talking Phil Baroni
was back in his home state of New York this weekend doing interviews
and photo shoots for Jane Magazine and News 12 of Long Island.
The news station will air a segment Tuesday starting with the
5pm broadcast and every hour afterwards until the 10pm airing.
Baroni was also seen on the last episode of Oz on Sunday, playing
of all things... a prison guard. Look for Phil in the coming
months to have a spread in Flex magazine and other major mags.
"It's all about pushing fighters into other markets to get
them and our sport noticed," claimed Baroni's management
team. Baroni will be facing Matt Lindland this Friday night in
UFC 41 in what many are saying should be the fight of the night!
Source:
FCF
Gomi
Remains Unbeaten
With a submission victory over Cesar Gracie-trained Nick Ertl
Jr., SHOOTO welterweight (154-pound) champion Takanori Gomi --
the MMAM number-one-ranked 155-pound fighter following Jens Pulver's
loss to Duane Ludwig last month -- ran his record to 12-0. Gomi
tapped Ertl with an armbar 4:59 of round one inside Tokyo, Japan's
Kourakuen Hall.
Full
Results:
Takanori Gomi def. Nick Ertl Jr. submission (armbar) 4:59 R1
Ryota Matsune def. Kimihito Nonaka majority decision 3R
Kentaro Imaizumi def. Shuichiro Katsumura unanimous decision
3R
Dustin Denes def. Shikou Yamashita TKO (Dr. Stoppage) 3:48 R1
Kohei Yasumi def. Takeshi Yamazaki KO 1:21 R1
Ryuta Sakurai def. John Renken submission (arm lock) 3:09 R2
Akira Kikuchi def. Toru Nakayama TKO 2:53 R1
Ikuma Hoshino majority draw Audrey Kruyning
Source:
Maxfighting
UFC
EVENT WEEK - INTERVIEW WITH TANK ABBOTT
He has referred to himself as the "White Mike Tyson."
He is the orginial bad boy of the UFC and this week he looks
to climb back into the Octagon for the first time since 1998
against Frank Mir. The best MMA interviewer in the business,
Ryan Bennett, sat down with Tank in this week's edition of our
"Interview of the Week."
Ryan
Bennett: The Legendary Tank Abbott. What's going on big fella?
Tank Abbott: Hey Rhino, how are brother.
Ryan:
Good, You staying out of trouble?
Tank: Hell no, one foot in front of the wall or whatever...
Ryan:
You ready for this fight on Friday with Mir?
Tank: Absolutely, this should be a lot of fun.
Ryan:
Everybody keeps telling me Tank is in great shape...
Tank: I'm not in the best shape ever or anything like that, but
I am in good enough shape to go 15 minutes without any problems.
Ryan:
I don't think many people have realized this one point. You have
never been a part of a round system. Back when you fought, it
was fight until the finish. Now you have three five minute rounds,
you got to be happy about that...
Tank: That is absolutely the truth. I was just discussing that
with some people I know down here. Shit, I went 18 minutes with
Scott Ferrozo and I couldn't run one time around the track. I
was 300 pounds and needed knee surgery at the time. Yea with
three five minute rounds with me in shape, this should be a piece
of cake.
Ryan:
That's what I'm saying. You've never had a chance to rest every
five minutes...
Tank: Hell yeah. I think I might even drink beer in between rounds....(laughs)
Ryan:
(laughs) How come I know you seriously might try that...
Tank: You never know. I will get one of those damn gatorade things
and put alcohol in it, no one would stand a chance.
Ryan:
You've seen tape on Frank Mir. What's your impressions of Frank
Mir?
Tank: To be honest with you, I've seen him fight once or twice
and I was drunk. Didn't give it much thought. People are like
"yea, yea, he's good, look what he did to Pete Williams"
I was like, uh, o.k. Then the Freeman fight was like, uh o.k.
Ryan:
So you don't sweat his submissions?
Tank: I've gone against many submission guys in the past. I remember
when Oleg Taktarov was choking me and I was thinking "hmm,
huh, I better pull my head out of this." I just basically
muscled my way out of those back then. Ever since then, I wouldn't
say I'm a student, but I've been looking around at it.
Ryan:
So do you train jiu-jitsu at all?
Tank: Yea, my take is you might as well train in everything.
My foundation was starting to wrestle at age 9, then I started
boxing over 12 years ago. That's my foundation and I branched
out from there.
Ryan:
When you came into the UFC your first fight was John Matua. When
you came in there your style was "Pitfighting". Did
you create that name or did the UFC create it?
Tank: No, they made all that shit up back then. They made up
"Tank" they made up "Pitfighting." How it
came about, I was supposed to be a street fighter and the old
UFC was getting a bunch of heat that it was human cockfighting
back then. "Tank" came about from the old Clint Eastwood
movie with the chimp, "Any which way but loose." There
was a street fighting legend named Tank Murdock on there. So
the UFC said we will call you Tank Abbott. I didn't care, I said
you can call me whatever the hell you want to call me, just let
me fight. They took the ball and ran with it. The funny part
about it though, was the fact they were hoping I would go in
there and get my ass kicked by Matua. They thought I would take
the fall in that one. Then it backfired in their face and they
were stuck.
Ryan:
I remember they were building up Matua as the bone breaking guy,
they wanted to make an example of you didn't they?
Tank: That's EXACTLY right. They thought this guy was the toughest
guy in that tournament. They had ABC's 20/20 show wanting to
do a story on the UFC saying it's brutal or whatever. The UFC
wanted to sell it as "this isn't a fighting show, it's a
martial arts show and look what this martial artist did to the
street thug." It backfired in their face and they were left
sitting around, saying "Oh shit, what do we do now?"
Ryan:
That's what makes you an interesting guy. You have talent, but
mixed martial artists who have trained for 10 or 20 years are
pissed you can walk in from a bar stool after drinking beer and
knock out these guys.
Tank: Drinking Vodka.
Ryan:
No beer?
Tank: Nah, I haven't drank beer in a while, just Vodka.
Ryan:
(laughs), Alright Vodka for the record.
Tank: I would be 400 pounds right now if I drank beer..(laughs)
Ryan:
Speaking of weight, what do you weigh now?
Tank: I am right now at 245.
Ryan:
When was the last time you fought this light?
Tank: I never have. I've boxed around this weight as an amateur,
but never fought in the UFC this light.
Ryan:
How was your amateur boxing career?
Tank: It was good. I fought a few guys people would know like
David Bostic and guys like that. I was 4-0 and actually cut from
300 pounds to 199 and no one would fight me at 199, so I fought
a guy who weighed 249. He was 6'5 and for some reason they stopped
the fight in the third round. I asked why they are stopping it
after I kicked the shit out of him for 2 and 1/2 rounds and he
got in two good shots that didn't even remotely hurt me. Then
I saw this clown on Tuesday Night Fights about three months later,
so I don't think he would have got the shot on Tuesday Night
Fights if he lost to a guy who weighed 50 pounds lighter than
him in an amateur match three months before. Boxing is so political.
Ryan:
How the hell do you cut from 300 pounds to 199?
Tank: It's called D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E. (laughs) It's called not
eating and doing a shit load of running. One of these days I
woke up and said Jesus Christ look at me. Then I decided to get
back in shape. So I started pounding the pavement, cutting weight
and not eating.
Ryan:
So you mention your boxing background and wrestling before that.
Did you wrestle in high school, college or what?
Tank: I started at nine years old and went all the way through
high school and junior college. In junior college I learned how
to wrestle with correct techniques, and then I got into a car
accident. That's why I don't have any teeth. I almost got my
leg cut off. Then wrestling went out the window after the accident.
So I started boxing again a few years later when I started fighting
all time time and I needed another outlet.
Ryan:
So how did you get to the UFC then? Put a tape together and say
hey I want to fight?
Tank: I was in jail actually and I was doing six months for beating
up a detective's son. I wasn't too smart on that one....
Ryan:
Tank, how comes this story doesn't surprise me AT ALL!! (laughs)
Tank: (chuckles) I know, it was there own version of a kangaroo
court. The D.A and this detective got together and worked out
a deal. His son basically started the fight and I finished it.
Bottom line is I went to jail. So my friend came over to see
me and said, "You ever seen that Ultimate Fighting?"
I said yea because I saw the very first one. There's got to be
an inside job to get into that. And it was kind of inside thing
because it was the Gracie's who owned it. I was in jail and Kimo
fought in it. Kimo said he was from Huntington Beach. And I was
thinking "Who is this cat". I was pretty sure at that
point and time that anybody who wanted to fight in the street,
that I have personally beat up, and I knew if I had never heard
of this Kimo guy, he had to be a transplant. So my friend said,
if you want to get in there I think I can get you in. I said
if you can get me in the show I will fight. So basically the
Gracie's lost control of the show to the television people after
the fifth show and they brought me in at UFC 6. That's how I
got in.
Ryan:
So were you ever bummed out you never got a shot at Royce Gracie?
Tank: I don't really care. I'm not emotionally attached to any
of these fighters one way or another. I never say "Oh, I
want that guy or this guy". People ask me all the time,
aren't you angry at that guy or this guy? It's like getting angry
at a two year old kid who is begging you for candy. Who cares
you know.
Ryan:
Wouldn't you have like to have the opportunity to beat the unbeatable
guy at that time in Royce Gracie?
Tank: Well, I think he did that on his own. It would have been
fun. But you have to give that guy his do. He is a tough man.
He's a tough small man.
Ryan:
So you come out of UFC 6 and were you able to create your own
fight team?
Tank: No, they were all Klingon's. Dar, dar, dar, geeks. These
guys had wood over the other guys, not me and streetfighting.
Ryan:
But you had a couple of guys train with you like Tito Ortiz correct?
Tank: Yea, he started training with me. I needed a guy who was
a lighter weight and a quick wrestler who had a big frame. He
fit the bill.
Ryan:
So when was the last time you two talked?
Tank: I don't know. He's doing his own thing. I just let him
do it.
Ryan:
So did you guys have an ugly split or why did you guys stop training
together?
Tank: Let's see, why did we stop training....I don't necessarily
think it was such a big deal, because he was winding down and
he wanted to do his own thing. He has his own character flaws
that became apparent. I then did my thing and he did his. I went
on to wrestling and he went on to his. He went to start fighting
when the UFC was on it's final legs before the Fertitta's came
in and bought it.
Ryan:
So is there any animosity between the two of you?
Tank: Like I said earlier. I'm not emotionally attached to anyone
that fights. Anybody that I ever was, usually isn't around....
or let's just say around my presence for Johnny Law out there.
Ryan:
So what did you think of the Shamrock Vs Ortiz fight?
Tank: I didn't think much of it. It was technical ground n pound
stuff.
Ryan:
Did you think going into the fight that Shamrock was going to
win or Ortiz?
Tank: I thought it could have went either way. Everybody has
there day. Tito had his day and Ken wasn't on. Somedays your
on, somedays your not. It's the fight game.
Ryan:
I'm hearing you win Friday, you get to fight Ricco for the title.
What's your take of the fight game today. Not to discredit the
younger guys, but you had Pedro Rizzo, Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock,
Randy Couture, Mark Coleman, Vitor Belfort, Royce, Mo Smith,
I could go on and on. Now with no big time names that strike
the fear of god into you, do you think you can become more dominant
now, even though your older?
Tank: It's possible. I don't think I'm about winning championships.
I'm in it for the love of fighting period. If your in it for
the things you love to do, good things come from it. You know?
You find something you love to do, your good at it, and you usually
become successful.
Ryan:
Makes sense. With that said, would it be nice to win a UFC Championship
in your book?
Tank: To be honest, if it happens it happens, if it doesn't,
it doesn't. If it's meant to be it's meant to be. I'm not going
to lose sleep one way or another.
Ryan:
How did this come about getting back together with the UFC?
Tank: It's like your first girlfriend or first love. Let's just
say if you left on unfinished business, sooner or later you will
get back together.
Ryan:
What do you think of the Fertitias and Dana White, the hierarchy
of the UFC?
Tank: Everybody has been straight up and cool and that's the
way I like it.
Ryan:
I heard that Dana said that you were the fastest deal ever. So
there wasn't too much posturing or mind games going on for your
contract?
Tank: Yea, Let's not sweat the small shit, let's deal with what's
up. All these guys now think they are building an atomic bomb
or something. It's just fighting. Pay me what I'm worth and I
will get asses in the seats and give you what I can give you.
Ryan:
Let me throw some names at you and tell me what pops into your
head...Randy Couture
Tank: Tough all around guy. Better than average on most things,
not overly good at any of them.
Ryan:
Ricco Rodriguez
Tank: Don't know. Most of these guys now that I've watched the
fights, I've been drunk. I haven't cared to watch them again.
Ryan:
(laughs) Have you had the chance to watch Minotauro Nogueira
in Pride?
Tank: Yea, he seems like a tough guy. Everybody has their weaknesses.
Whoever is on is on and whoever isn't get's their ass kicked.
Ryan:
If you fought Minotauro, could you keep him standing with you?
Tank: Uh, it doesn't matter. I probably could but if he started
getting hot in the kitchen and I had to take him down, that's
fine. I would like to keep it on the feet, but if we got into
a scrambling match so be it. It's not like I'm a fish out of
the water on the ground. I punch people and punch them hard which
overshadows everything.
Ryan:
Is it true, you called out Bob Sapp and said you wanted to fight
him?
Tank: I would love to fight Bob Sapp. I knew him way back in
the old WCW. He is a cool cat. I think he understands that we
could fight and then go and have a beer afterward.
Ryan: You and I last talked the night of UFC 40. You told me
back then that you want to fight until your 50. Other than that
what is left for you to do because I know you love to just fight...
Tank: My main goal is to get 10 more fights under my belt. When
you have 25 fights in the Octagon, you can say you did some work.
Ryan:
Would you like all 10 fights to be in the UFC or would you like
to go to Japan and fight in Pride?
Tank: Whatever business decisions need to be made. I think the
UFC understands my worth but you see these guys that play in
the NFL that switch from team to team like Jerry Rice who was
with the 49ers forever and is still going strong with Oakland.
Ryan:
What's your prediction for this fight against Frank Mir?
Tank: Damn, if I knew I wouldn't have to show up. (laughs) I
don't know. As I have said before, I know the only person that
can beat me is myself and I.... this time I'm pretty damned prepared
so we shall see.
Ryan:
I always have a good time talking with you and thanks again.
I will be watching on Friday.
Tank: You going to have a drink with me after the show?
Ryan:
Actually I will be stuck here in California, but I will try to
make it to the next one for sure.
Tank: Alright man. We will make up for that then. You have to
buy me a drink.
Ryan:
You got it.
Source: MMA Weekly
2/24/03
Quote
of the Day
To
live in the presence of great truths and eternal laws, to be
led by permanent ideals - that is what keeps a man patient when
the world ignores him, and calm and unspoiled when the world
praises him.
Honore
De Balzac
The
little big Leo (part 2)
By: Luca Atalla
PHOTO
courtesy of Gustavo Aragão - Leo battles the man himself,
Royler Gracie, 1999 World Championships
As
you should remember from part 1, Leonardo Viera about to talk
about Royler Gracie…
People
are saying that you applied to this class in order to fight Royler.
Is there another reason? No way! Actually it would make no sense
if I fought in the class above, the under 76kg class, since I
have been fighting under 67kg for more than a year.
OK.
But since you applied for the class under 65kg, if you were invited
you would probably fight Royler. You guys fought in 1999 World
Jiu-Jitsu championship and he beat you. How would you fight him
again? In my opinion, every fight is a different fight. Royler
is highly skilled with a gi and for that reason he is very technical
without gi too. But I’m training a lot and I think without
gi our fight will have more action, because it is more slippery.
Of course it will be a very technical fight… And exhausting!
But actually, I can’t worry about that fight yet, because
I know that I will probably fight many dangerous opponents before
facing him.
Your
battle against Kerr was remarkable. And so was your fight against
Vitor ‘Shaolin’ the same year. But in 2001 you did
not perform that well. Why? I don’t want to make excuses,
especially because I was well prepared in 2001. There was a little
problem with the airplane tickets, and as I was the only Brazilian
fighter departing from São Paulo, I left the day after
all the other brazilians. Then my plane had a problem and I lost
one more day. Finally, there was a fire at a restaurant in the
Amsterdam Airport and in the end I got to Abu Dhabi on the eve
of the competition, late at night. My bags were lost, and I got
my shorts to fight about 20 minutes before the match started.
I always train until the day before a tournament, so I couldn’t
do that, and I think it broke the pace of my conditioning and
affected my mind.
What
are your chances of fighting the 2003 ADCC? You never know, but
I have on my side the great record I had last year. I fought
three tournaments in the US, one in Japan , four in Brazil, won
all of them and submitted almost all my opponents. It was a very
active year and one of the best of my career. This gives me some
up to date, new credentials. However, I know there are many people
who deserve the place so I will wait patiently my confirmation.
A
couple of years ago you told me that you would probably never
fight a vale-tudo. Changed your mind yet? I never received a
really good offer to fight vale-tudo. And I don’t look for
matches. The reason is that I think many people only plug Jiu-Jitsu
thru their vale-tudo, and I try to do the opposite. I try to
show that sport Jiu-Jitsu has value, the importance of Jiu-Jitsu
to the education of children, the importance of Jiu-Jitsu to
build people’s self-confidence. I know that because I train
Jiu-Jitsu since I was really young, and I saw my brother doing
the same and I realize how it helped us. And in this matter,
I think the sport Jiu-Jitsu is much more important than the vale-tudo
is. I don’t close doors to Vale-tudo though. Actually, I
even have a thought to challenge myself and do a vale-tudo. It
will help my teammates who want to participate in it, such as
(Fernando) Tererê, Demian (Maia) etc. But for myself, I
only would accept to participate in it if the offer were good
enough.
You
spoke about Tererê and Demian. How is your team since you
guys left Alliance in the last year’s end?
Other than Fabio Gurgel and Alexandre Paiva, all the more graduated
people are along with us on the new team, Master Jiu-Jitsu. Actually,
it was the academy’s name before it became Alliance and
we thought it was a good name, since Jacaré (Romero Cavalcanti,
Leozinho’s teacher) is supporting us. He started everything
and we got from him the group philosophy. (Roberto) Traven is
with us, (Eduardo) Jamelão, (Rodrigo) Comprido and even
Castello (Branco), who still doesn’t want to put his name
in it officially, but little by little I hope he will become
part of the team. So as you see we have a really strong group.
And very united as well!
Source:
ADCC
UFC's
TANK ABBOTT on FOX TV!
Tank
Abbott was his typical self this past week on FOX's BEST DAMN
SPORTS SHOW, PERIOD.
In
his 'interview', Abbott downplayed UFC champion Tito Ortiz for
not wanting to fight Chuck Lidell. He also made references to
Ken Shamrock not showing up to fight, again, seeming to not give
Tito props for winning. Tito and Tank were considered a 'team'
in the early days, circa UFC 12.
In
further near non sensical banter, when asked when he won his
first fight, Abbott replied 'when I was 5-years-old...it was
against my brother who was ten.'
It
seemed evident that Tank is aware that MMA 'purists' dislike
him. He called himself the 'anti-martial artist' and made no
bones about being a 'streetfighter'. 'I'm the white Mike Tyson'
said Abbott. Referring to getting no respect despite delivering
memorable octagon moments. Speaking of that, FOX edited down
the brutal footage of him destroying Steve Nelmark and John Matua.
When
it came time to close the segment, Abbott was asked to give a
demonstration of what he was going to do to Frank Mir. Abbott
said something to the effect of 'let's say we are in a bar four
hours from now' and proceeded to slug the prop punching dummy
to the ground, closing by delivering a field goal kick to the
face. 'Three points' said Abbott. 'Wait, he's still moving'.
He kicked the dummy again for good measure and said 'Here come
the cops....I gotta go'.
It
wouldn't be Tank without a little controversy! We'll find out
if it's legendary Tank, typical Tank or a new millennium Tank
in less than one week!
It's
been a long winter, and for more reasons than just the obvious.
Taking a respite from the rigors of pulling off the spectacular
UFC 40 card last November, Zuffa elected to take a three-month
breather. Can we blame them? Well, sure. Any more than the standard
sixty-day interim between events and fans start to get a little
glassy-eyed.
No
matter: February 28 is the date, the Atlantic City Boardwalk
Hall in New Jersey the venue. Two belts will be on the line,
but the real attraction here is the return of Tank Abbott, one
of the 'Big Three' names from the heyday of the event that still
registers with casual fans. Abbott's appearance on FOX Sports
should inform many of the same viewers who put up the cash to
see Ken Shamrock's return. The big stumbling block comes the
night after, March 1, when Roy Jones and John Ruiz engage in
a compelling David/Goliath boxing contest. Could the UFC's business
suffer from the very kind of promotion they used to thrive on?
Time will tell.
For
now, let's concern ourselves with the business inside the ring.
Main
Event
For the UFC Heavyweight (205 lb. and over) Title
Ricco Rodriguez (Champion) vs. Tim Sylvia (Challenger)
Rodriguez
made a believer out of many when he stepped up to the plate and
pummeled the seemingly invincible Randy Couture back in September
of 2002. Couture had previously fallen to Josh Barnett, but the
victory was tainted when Barnett tested positive for performance-enhancing
drugs. It was thought that a motivated and crafty Couture would
overcome his younger adversary to nab the vacant title. Despite
early signs of dominance, Couture was eventually outdone by Rodriguez's
size and ground control. Previously, the Team Punishment affiliate
stopped Pete Williams, Jeff Monson and Andrei Arlovski in UFC
competition.
Unfortunately,
a sparse heavyweight division in the promotion is unable to offer
the new champ an opponent with name recognition and a familiar
face to fans. Instead, Tim Sylvia, who has only fought once in
the Octagon, will contend for the title. Sporting an undefeated
record in MMA, Sylvia has yet to be tested by the heavyweight
elite.
What
intrigues here is the fact that Sylvia is a Pat Miletich student,
thereby coming from a camp never to be taken lightly. He, like
Gan McGee, also likes to strain the 265 lb. weight cap of the
division. Sylvia has experience, size, and skill to compensate
for his lack of box office drawing power. Rodriguez has his hands
full here.
At
Stake: The title, a' course.
Edge
To: Rodriguez, who will look to take the fight to the ground
and pummel out a victory. While Sylvia is larger, he's not that
much larger. As in boxing, the new crop of heavyweights have
been eating their Wheaties.
Wild
Card: Rodriguez seems to have an aversion to getting hit. If
Sylvia can avoid the takedown and keep it standing, he may be
able to frustrate the champ.
How
Could It End? In a tough fight, Rodriguez garners a referee stoppage
due to strikes in the third round.
Heavyweight
Bout
David "Tank" Abbott vs. Frank Mir
Despite
Zuffa's insistence on lending credence to their gold, the real
main event for most fans on this card is the return of Tank Abbott.
The ham-fisted slugger made his UFC debut back in 1995 and gave
the promotion a much-needed new attraction after Royce Gracie's
departure. Despite his unimpressive physique and questionable
cardio, Abbott was still able to decimate B-list competition.
And the A-list was usually in for a war before getting the best
of him.
After
pitching a .500 record in MMA, Abbott accepted a lucrative offer
from WCW wrestling in 1998 and never looked back. When that organization
folded shortly thereafter, Abbott's contract still had him cashing
checks. He used the free time and money to balloon up over three
hundred pounds, with (sanctioned) fighting the last thing on
his mind. Finally, in late 2002, Abbott decided to have one last
go at pugilism. Down to a sleek two-fifty, it's said he's in
the best shape of his competitive career. At 37, he had better
hope so.
The
man assigned to ruin Abbott's fun is Mir, a brash young heavyweight
who seemed destined for superstardom after flash submission victories
over Pete Williams and Roberto Traven. The ascent was halted
in July of '02, when Mir was viciously pummeled by Ian Freeman.
It looked as though Mir had no answer for Freeman's heavy hands.
Has he changed his game enough to deal with the far heavier hands
of Abbott?
At
Stake: Futures in the UFC for both men. While no one expects
Abbott to blow through the division, Mir is the most ripe for
a beating due to the contrast of styles. If Abbott can't get
this custom-made job done, it's questionable if he will remain
a marquee draw.
Another
brutal TKO loss for Mir could also mean an exit from the game,
something he apparently contemplated after the Freeman fight.
Edge
To: Abbott. Mir will be hard-pressed to take him down, and even
if he does, Abbott has only been submitted twice in fourteen
fights. Once came after a slip on the canvas, and once after
a grueling war with Oleg Taktarov. Ironically, even though Abbott's
wind is always in question, we've at least seen him in later
rounds. The same can't be said for Mir, who looks to finish quickly.
Wild
Card: Mir has submitted the "unsubmittable" before.
Has he regained enough confidence to do it again?
How
Could It End? Abbott will look to rush Mir and unload before
Mir has a chance to clinch and before Abbott has a chance to
gas. It could be too much for Mir. Abbott gets the TKO in the
first round.
For
the UFC Lightweight (155 lb. and under) Title
BJ Penn vs. Caol Uno
To
cap a lightweight tournament held in the wake of Jens Pulver's
departure from the UFC, Penn will rematch Uno to fill the vacant
title slot. The tournament was somewhat anti-climatic from the
get-go, as once Penn defeated Matt Serra in the semifinals, he
had already beaten everyone in the contest. (Penn bested other
semifinalists Din Thomas and Uno previously in his career.)
His
first meeting with Uno was quick and furious, with Penn getting
the KO in under a minute. But since a decision loss to Pulver,
Penn has become more lackadaisical, opting for wars of attrition
over flash. Opponent Uno holds the same philosophy, with decision
wins over Thomas and Yves Edwards. With Uno being more cautious
this time around, this may turn into more of the same.
At
Stake: The vacant title.
Edge
To: Penn, who should be able to control Uno through the duration
of the bout.
Wild
Card: Uno could turn the tables on an overconfident Penn.
How
Could It End? Don't expect a repeat of their first bout here.
With the belt on the line, both fighters will play it safe, with
Penn staying active enough to win a decision.
Middleweight
(185 lb. and under) Bout
Matt Lindland vs. Phil Baroni
In
the second rematch of the card, Olympic Silver Medallist Lindland
will again attempt to get the better of the excitable Phil Baroni.
Their first encounter had Lindland dominating much of the bout,
before Baroni started to deliver standing in the third. Lindland
got the judge's nod. Since then, he's defeated Pat Miletich and
Ivan Salaverry, but lost to champ Murilo Bustamante. Baroni has
made a name for himself with a quick KO over the durable Dave
Menne. The winner of this fight, pending contract negotiations,
is expected to challenge Bustamante for the belt later in the
year.
The
normally stolid Lindland has taken to some rather articulate
trash-talking before the impending bout, leaving the busy-tongued
Baroni wondering if he'll be shown up on both counts.
At
Stake: A shot at the middleweight belt.
Edge
To: Lindland, who should be able to take down Baroni and control
him on the ground.
Wild
Card: Baroni's strikes, which frustrated Lindland last time and
could be what fells him this time.
How
Could It End? Lindland wins a decision after dominating, but
not finishing, Baroni.
Lightweight
Bout
Matt Serra vs. Din Thomas
The
two men eliminated from the lightweight tourney now square up
to test their skills against one another. Serra is a flashy jiu-jitsu
expert from Renzo Gracie's academy, whereas the experienced Thomas
prefers to bang on the feet. Not that he's limited. On the contrary,
he submitted former champ Jens Pulver some years back. Serra
took BJ Penn to a decision in his last outing, with neither man
seemingly in much danger.
At
Stake: A march up to a title shot.
Edge
To: Thomas, a versatile fighter. Serra may not be able to contest
with his stand-up.
Wild
Card: Serra has trouble locking submissions onto experienced
opponents, but that could all change here.
How
Could It End? If Thomas is hungry enough, he could KO Serra on
the feet in the second.
Heavyweight
Bout
Pedro Rizzo vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Perpetual
contender Rizzo seems to experience highs and lows as a matter
of routine. Once the most dangerous threat to the heavyweight
title, he has since settled into a rut of choking during all
his shots at the belt. In his last outing, he got careless against
the massive Gan McGee and paid for it with a broken nose. Many
wonder if Rizzo will ever be consistent in his performances.
Matyushenko
believes a move up from light heavyweight will benefit him. So
far, so good. He stopped Travis Wiuff in November, a now looks
to grab a victory over the accomplished Rizzo. With Rizzo having
bad luck against wrestlers of this caliber, it's going to be
a long night for someone.
At
Stake: Matyushenko's progress as a heavyweight, as well as Rizzo's.
His confidence might not be able to take two losses in a row.
Edge
To: Matyushenko, who will try and duplicate the success of Couture
and Randleman against Rizzo by stifling his strikes and putting
him on his back.
Wild
Card: Rizzo could come out swaggering and throwing bombs.
How
Could It End? Matyushenko stays busy enough against a lethargic
Rizzo to win a decision.
Heavyweight
Bout
Gan McGee vs. Alexandre "Cafe" Dantas
The
6'10" McGee looks to continue to be a spoiler in the heavyweight
division. After an impressive TKO win over Rizzo in September,
McGee will face former light heavyweight contender Dantas, a
jiu-jitsu man whose sole appearance in MMA was a TKO loss to
Yuki Kondo nearly three years ago. How he plans on dealing with
the immense size of McGee is anyone's guess.
At
Stake: Dantas' health.
Edge
To: McGee, more experienced, harder puncher, and much larger.
Wild
Card: No one's seen Dantas in a long time. Maybe he's been religiously
popping a Flintstones vitamin every morning. He'll need them.
How
Could It End? McGee smashes Dantas on the ground in the first
round.
Lightweight
Bout
Yves Edwards vs. Rich Clementi
Edwards
returns to the Octagon after a decision loss to Uno the last
time out. The impressive striker is up against a tough cutomer
in Clementi, on a huge winning streak after struggling early
in his career.
At
Stake: A bigger name in the game.
Edge
To: Edwards, put up against better opposition.
Wild
Card: Clementi may look to impress in his first UFC appearance.
How
Could It End? Edwards wins a decision after a back-and-forth
battle.
Source:
Maxfighting
K-1
Brazil:
K-1 Brazil
Quick Results:
Alternate Fight:
Pantera Negra def. Michael Bulla (Decision)
K-1 Brazil Tournament:
Jefferson Tank
Quarter Finals:
Luis dos Santos def. Carlos Barreto (Decision)
Eduardo Maiorino def. Laerte Rezende Junior (Doctor Stoppage)
Jefferson Tank def. Lucio Aurelio (Decision)
Carlinhos def. Vitor Miranda (Decision)
[Note: Carlinhos couldn't continue due to a rib injury, and by
K-1 Rules Vitor Miranda replaced him in the semifinals, since
he lost by decision. If Miranda had lost by KO, Pantera Negra
would have replaced Carlinhos]
Semifinals:
Eduardo Maiorino def. Luis dos Santos (Decision)
Jefferson Tank def. Vitor Miranda (TKO - Broken Jaw)
Final:
Jefferson Tank def. Eduardo Maiorino (Decision)
[Both fighters are going to be at K-1 USA in Las Vegas at May
2nd!]
WKN Brazilian Muay Thai up to 73 kg Championship Bout:
Marfio Canoleti def. Alexander da Silva (KO)
The
All New Carlos Barreto
is Ready to Battle in K-1 Style!
Interview with Carlos Barreto
Jiu-Jitsu
black belt and NHB veteran Carlos Barreto is ready for K-1. Yes,
you read that right and you don't need glasses! Some years ago
it would be unthinkable to picture the Brazilian Top Team member
and former Carlson Gracie student with a pair of Boxing gloves
and Muay Thai shorts, climbing the ring for a fight in a K-1
official event, however things have changed a lot in the Brazilian
fighter's life, and this day will come at February 23rd at the
gorgeous Maksud Plaza Hotel in Sao Paulo, where K-1 will hit
Brazil for the first time in its history, and Barreto will do
his very own professional stand up fighting debut. A man who
faced the likes of Kevin Randleman, Daniel Bobish, Igor Vovchanchyn,
Tra Telligman, Gilbert Yvel and Mikhail Illoukhine, among others,
in NHB tournaments is truly someone who faced tough competition.
However Carlos' game was always characterized by his Jiu-Jitsu
skills and never by his striking or aggressiveness, However he
is a brand new fighter now and wants to prove it to the world
by doing the unbelievable, winning a K-1 tournament, getting
his passport ready for Las Vegas, and making his UFC dream closer
to reality. So, with no further delay, learn now a bit more of
what goes inside the head of Carlos Barreto himself, as he talks
about his new attitude and his K-1 venture, as FCF welcomes the
"all-new Carlos Barreto" and gets pumped up for K-1
Brazil!
FCF:
Everybody knows you as an NHB fighter, from events such as IVC,
UFC, PRIDE, MECA, and everybody also knows that you have a background
in Jiu-Jitsu. Now, did you ever think you would be doing a K-1
fight at some point in your life?
CB: To be honest with you, never! I never thought I would have
the opportunity to fight in K-1, but the opportunity knocked
on my door and sometimes in my life I lost some big opportunities
by being immature or irresponsible. However this time I'm very
determined to get back at the top of the biggest NHB events in
the world like the UFC and PRIDE, I want to have a belt and I
want to be a well known fighter internationally again a lot.
I think K-1 is a big opportunity to give me exposure to get back
to the top, and I want to take advantage of this opportunity
in the best way I can. Despite the actual result, I want to give
a good spectacle and show the events promoters that Carlos Barreto
has changed, and that nowadays I'm another fighter, and I'm also
a striker now.
FCF:
You mentioned an interesting point, cause you had some tough
times in your career like your fights at 2hot2handle, and Hook
N' Shoot. After those moments of struggle you once told me that
you had changed your approach to the game, and realized the importance
of being an exciting and aggressive fighter. How did you realize
this need, and what changed your mindset in terms of fighting?
CB: I'm a guy that is always checking the major events, like
PRIDE and the UFC, which is the event I have the most will to
participate in. I respect PRIDE a lot, and PRIDE is a great event
and has a ton of great fighters, but I love the UFC and my dream
is in fact to become UFC champion. Well Eduardo, I'll be very
sincere and humble with you. The group of fighters that changed
my mindset about the aggressiveness and the need to fight standing
up was the Chute Boxe team. They changed my mindset because of
the way the used Jiu-Jitsu in their tough moments during fights.
I thought "Man, if they use Jiu-Jitsu in their tough times
during fights, why won't I use Muay Thai in my tough times during
fights?" Then I started to train Muay Thai more seriously.
With the wins of Wanderlei, Anderson, and even Pele, I thought
"Man, those guys are evolving so much, this is a message
to all the fighters to recognize other martial arts and not only
Jiu-Jitsu" Then I embraced Muay Thai with Artur Mariano,
and of course professor Paulo Nikolai has a major role in this
process as well, who is a great trainer that supports myself
a lot. Regarding K-1, with Drago, a South American amateur Boxing
champion who trains with the BTT, getting injured and having
to pull out of K-1 Brazil, I mentioned my name as someone who
could participate in his place, and professor Paulo Nikolai thought
it was a good opportunity if I had the proper training. Batarelli
[The event promoter] also thought it was a good idea since it
could generate more interest towards the event and accepted my
request to fight, so I'm very thankful for that and expects to
deliver a good showing.
FCF:
Do you remember when you had your first ever contact with Muay
Thai?
CB: Several years ago I was going to start my martial arts life
with Muay Thai indeed. I trained Muay Thai for six months at
the Naja academy, which was an academy of professor Luis Alves.
I started training there but I couldn't continue cause I was
studying and working at the same time back then, and the academy
was too far away from my house. Later I got to know Jiu-Jitsu
through Ricardo Liborio and I never stopped practicing Jiu-Jitsu.
FCF:
So you did Muay Thai before doing Jiu-Jitsu?
CB: Yeah! The first Martial Art I practiced in my life was Judo
then I stopped doing it and played Basketball for a while and
then went to Muay Thai. The first fighting art I did after I
wasn't a kid anymore was Muay Thai. Like I said I had to drop
it cause I had to work and study, and I come from a humble family,
so I couldn't afford it. Then when I started Jiu-Jitsu Carlson
Gracie allowed me to train for free, so I never stopped.
FCF:
You were a student of UFC Champion Murilo Bustamante for a good
while, and Murilo has been showing impressive Boxing skills in
the Octagon. Do you think this is yet another sign that a fighter
needs to be complete nowadays, and this is another reason of
your dedication to Muay Thai?
CB: There's no doubt about it. A fighter nowadays must have a
good ground game; a good notion of takedowns and a good stand
up game as well. In my opinion the ground game continues to be
the most important aspect, but you have to train a lot of Boxing
or Muay Thai to trade some strikes and have a good wrestling
base as well. Now we have Darrel Gohlar here, who has been doing
a great job with us here, so everybody is evolving a lot. I think
Muay Thai, wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu are the ingredients of a perfect
fighter.
FCF:
You already explained how this opportunity to fight at K-1 Brazil
appeared, but was it tough for you to take this task? Did you
have to think a lot about it before offering your name?
CB: No, not at all man. I sort of "invited myself"
to fight in the event [Laughs] When Drago got injured nobody
was supposed to take his place. Then I said "Hey! No! No!
Wait a second. Let me enter it! Carlos Barreto is going to enter
this tournament!" I like challenges. Then Paulo Nikolai
told me "Are you sure? Fighting Muay Thai is different from
what you're used" and I promptly replied, "Let's go!
Let's train a lot and show that I'm well prepared on my feet
as well. I may get knocked out and lose, but I'll fight like
a man!" then Nikolai said, "I'm with you. You have
my support" and from then on you know the story.
FCF:
You had some problems in the past and ended up leaving the Brazilian
Top Team for a while. Later you came back to the team and have
been training with them ever since. Are all the problems solved
and will Carlos Barreto stay with the BTT for the coming years?
CB: No doubt about it man. We had some adaptation problems in
the beginning, since we were all coming from Carlson and we were
all friends from a long time. Murilo was my teacher, Bebeo was
always a close friend, Sperry trained with me for years and years,
and Liborio is like a brother, so it was just a friends argument
over things. Fortunately I came back and was welcomed with open
arms, and from then on I'm with the Top Team for whatever it
happens and whatever may comes. Carlos Barreto, Brazilian Top
Team, Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai are all ingredients that work fine
together! [Laughs]
FCF:
How was your specific preparation for this K-1 event?
CB: I trained Muay Thai twice a day, everyday. On the mornings
I would do a technical training with all the drills, hitting
the punching back, working with the mirror and the likes, and
at nights I would do my sparring sessions, doing a specific sparring
work, and working my ring movement.
FCF:
Since you were accepted to fight at K-1 Brazil and started training
more seriously, from this very moment before you go to Sao Paulo,
do you feel your Muay Thai improved considerably?
CB: Well, the Muay Thai I knew was more about closing the distance,
hurting my opponent a bit standing up to be able to take him
down a bit damaged and work my Jiu-Jitsu from there. Nowadays
things are different, I'm working on closing the distance, working
some strikes and getting out of distance again, move myself way
more. It's a complete new thing! There's no way for me to describe
what I'm feeling! I'm very euphoric with my chance to fight in
K-1. I'm anxious to fight, really willing a lot to fight and
my opponents better watch out.
FCF:
How can you compare the preparation for such an event as K-1
with the preparation you do for NHB?
CB: Is totally different. The training for NHB is way different
from the Muay Thai training, I can't tell you which one is tougher,
it's not about that, they are just different. The Muay Thai training
demands you to be very focused; I watched a lot of K-1 tapes
to pick some things from the best fighters out there. I watched
a lot of Ernesto Hoost's fights, and Ray Sefo's fights as well.
I watched a lot of their fights to learn a bit from their techniques,
their ring movements. The Americans and Japanese have the habit
of learning through tapes, and us Brazilians still doesn't have
this habit, and we're learning to have this habit now. You can
learn a lot from tapes, it educates you, and helps you to correct
some of your weak points in your game. I have a new mindset about
fights now.
FCF:
I know is way too tough to make predictions, and especially in
this case since you're fighting on a brand new thing. But what
do you expect from yourself and the experience as a whole?
CB: I'm telling you this with an open heart. I sincerely expect
to do a good showing. If this good showing ends up by allowing
me to go to the finals and win, it will be a gift from God. My
goal is to walk to the ring with my head up high, and leave the
ring with my head up high, knowing I did my best, receiving the
support from the public, and signing a contract with the UFC
[Laughs]
FCF:
Whether you win or lose, and most of all if you win, is there
any chance you'll do more K-1 fights in the future?
CB: Well, if I win I have to go fight those tough guys in Las
Vegas; it's in the contract. So, if I win I'll have to train
to face those tough guys brother [Laughs] If I win I'll have
to go to Vegas, and if I win in Vegas I'll have to go to Japan!
So those guys better watch out! [Laughs] Seriously, if I can
continue to go, I'll go. It's goes like this; God is giving me
a path, if I win K-1 Brazil and hopefully I can do it, I'll go
to Las Vegas, and if I win in Las Vegas, man! Then this is my
path brother! Then NHB will have to be my second thing, since
God would be directing me in this way. It would be something
natural. Maybe my way is K-1 and I didn't know it and was lost,
and God is putting me back on my path, do you know what I mean?
Who knows, I have to try it. The future belongs to God. My objective
now is to fight NHB, and I'm doing K-1 to show everybody that
I'm ready to trade strikes as well. I'm an NHB fighter, but if
I can do some more steps in K-1, then they'll have to watch out
for me.
FCF:
You were supposed to fight in a submission wrestling superfight
against Alexandre Cacareco, in a local event in Campos, but ended
up not fighting it due to your preparation for K-1 Brazil. Is
this a sign of how seriously you are approaching this event?
CB: Exactly man. I even thought about doing both events, but
Murilo Bustamante, Mario Sperry and Bebeo Duarte, who are the
main responsible guys here at the Brazilian Top Team, thought
I was going into over training. I was doing wrestling three times
a week, Jiu-Jitsu five times a week and Muay Thai two times per
day, plus the physical preparation, and I was really getting
into over training. Then they made me chose one event or the
other, and I realized Muay Thai was more important now since
this was an unique opportunity, so I opted to fight in K-1. We
have submission wrestling events all the time, and K-1 is a rare
thing.
FCF:
How do you define your style as a Muay Thai fighter, for those
that are anxious to see your performance? Are you going after
the knockout?
CB: This is a surprise! You'll have to wait for February 23rd,
in a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Sao Paulo to find out about
it. I'll put on a good fight for sure! But if I'm going to score
quick knockouts, or play a little in the ring, like Ali or George
Foreman, you're going to see it when fight time comes! [Laughs]
FCF:
You mentioned that your goal is still NHB. Your last fight was
at MECA 6 where you became the champion, but wasn't totally please
with your performance. You want to now show you're a different
fighter, and is the UFC your goal after K-1 Brazil? Also, how
much are you weighing for this fight?
CB: I was weighing 114 kg, but due to all the training I'm weighing
110 kg for this fight. I want to fight in the UFC badly, and
I want to comeback in great style in the octagon, to bring home
the belt cause Ricco Rodriguez doesn't deserve it.
FCF:
Any final message for your fans, who are curious on your performance
on the 23rd?
CB: You can count with a good spectacle cause I'm going to fight
with a lot of hear and will. Send your best wishes and thoughts
cause I'm going to need them, and I'll fight with a lot of heart
defending the name of my country, the name of the NHB fighters
and the name of the Brazilian Top Team. I hope my fans will like
my showing, the spectacle and I hope to be back in the NHB rings
soon!
FCF:
Thanks a lot man! The best of luck for you in this venture!
CB: Thank you Eduardo! See you there!
Source:
FCF
Jeff
Curran Launches
New Web Site and Seminar Series
“I
am very excited to be having the success I have,” says Jeff
“Sapao” Curran, of his 5 year professional Mixed Martial
Arts career and multiple Gold medals in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition.
For the few who may not know Curran well, “I am the person
who loves to compete and put it all on the line,” he says
in an effort to “help myself grow in knowledge and experience.”
A
proud member of Team Linxx and Pedro Sauer Team, Curran has declined
seminars the past couple of years, for the most part he says,
“due to lack of time.” You see, Curran trains, competes
and runs his school in Crystal Lakes, IL full-time. But speaking
countless times with Sauer about beginning his travels... beginning
to help other schools and clubs by sharing his experience and
knowledge in Jiu-Jitsu, Curran, a brown belt, knows it is always
a great thing to expose your students and team mates to another
persons style.
With
that in mind, and due to recent success with his academy, staff
and most of all his fight career, Curran says, “I have gained
some much needed confidence in my teaching.” Curran will
commit time in his life schedule to conduct one seminar per month.
“He has a lot of talent,” exclaims Sauer, who believes
Curran has a good eye for detail and a great sense of reality
when it comes to teaching Martial Arts “he probably will
be one of the my first black belts!!”
If
you’d like to bring Curran to your school for a seminar,
please give him a call at 815-356-0454 “so we can talk in
person,” he says, as “I understand what it takes to
make students happy and learn at the same time.”
You
may also keep up to date with Curran on his newly launched web
site at www.JeffCurran.tv.
Source:
ADCC
COLLEGE
WRESTLING: OKLAHOMA STATE AND IOWA ROMP AGAIN
As
the regular, dual meet portion of the 2002-2003 college wrestling
season began to wind down this weekend, the top two teams in
the U.S. each had impressive performances.
The
still-undefeated and top-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys won nine
of ten bouts against their in-state rivals, the Oklahoma Sooners,
in a 38-3 rout. A crowd of 8606 fans filled Stillwater's Gallagher-Iba
Arena Sunday afternoon to witness the Cowboys down the Sooners
for the third time this season. In this series, known as 'Bedlam,'
Oklahoma State now has an all-time lead over Oklahoma, 113-24-9,
including winning the last nine dual meets in a row. The Cowboys
are now 16-0 overall and 5-0 in the Big 12. Oklahoma dropped
to 12-8 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12.
Even
before the meet began, an Oklahoma State victory was a virtual
certainty. Oklahoma, which had seven starters and four All-Americans
sitting the meet out, forfeited at 184 and 197. Oklahoma State
did have some impressive wins. At 174, the opening match of the
dual, Chris Pendleton of Oklahoma State took a 5-3 decision over
Oklahoma's Robbie Waller. Both wrestlers have been ranked near
the top all season, but this was Pendleton's third win over Waller
this season. At 125, two more top wrestlers competed, and again
Oklahoma State emerged on top as Skyler Holman edged Bo Maynes,
3-1, winning with a last-second takedown. In the last match of
this dual, at 165, Oklahoma State's Tyrone Lewis scored a pin
over Oklahoma's Wes Roberts in 6:01.
But
the news wasn't all gloomy for Oklahoma. In the hotly-contested
141-pound weight class, two of the wrestlers who have laid claim
to the number one ranking squared off. Oklahoma State's freshman
Zack Esposito, ranked at the top of several polls, faced another
freshman, Oklahoma's Teyon Ware, who did not even start at the
beginning of the season.
After
a scoreless first period, Esposito got an escape to go up 1-0.
But in the third period, Ware started on the bottom, and hit
a reversal. He then got a near fall, for two more points, to
pull ahead 4-1. Esposito would cut it to 4-3, but Ware would
prevail, and likely knock Esposito out of the top spot.
This
was Ware's second victory over Esposito. These two will very
likely meet again at the Big 12 Championships on March 8, and
also possibly at the NCAA National Championships, March 20-22,
in a late-round match.
Oklahoma
State closes its regular season on Feb. 28 when they host Michigan
State in Gallagher-Iba Arena at 7 PM CST. Oklahoma's regular
season is now complete, with the Big 12 Championships on
March 8 in Columbia, Missouri, next.
Oklahoma
State (OSU) 38, Oklahoma (OU) 3
174 Chris Pendleton (OSU) dec. Robbie Waller (OU), 5-3
184 Jake Rosholt (OSU) forfeit
197 Muhammed Lawal (OSU) forfeit
285 Willie Gruenwald (OSU) dec. Jake Hager (OU), 6-4
125 Skyler Holman (OSU) dec. Bo Maynes (OU), 3-1
133 Johnny Thompson (OSU) vs. Daniel Caruthers (OU), 16-4
141 Teyon Ware (OU) dec. Zack Esposito (OSU), 4-3
149 Ronnie Delk (OSU) maj. dec. Danny Rubenstein (OU), 14-6
157 Shane Roller (OSU) dec. Rafael Maturino (OU), 9-3
165 Tyrone Lewis (OSU) fall Wes Roberts (OU), 6:01
For
more information on Oklahoma State Wrestling, go to:
The
second-ranked University of Iowa Hawkeyes closed out their regular
season on the road, but location didn't seem to hinder their
performance at all. Iowa won nine of ten matches in each dual
as they blasted Indiana, 34-3, Friday night in Bloomington, IN,
and then clobbered Northwestern, 44-6, Sunday afternoon in Evanston,
IL. Iowa finishes the season at 17-3 overall, and 7-1 in the
Big Ten. Their 44 points and five pins against Northwestern were
the highest they recorded all season.
Leading
the way for the Hawkeyes was the controversial and undefeated
sophomore heavyweight Steve Mocco, who racked up two more pins.
Mocco dispatched Indiana's Joel Powers in 1:24 Friday, and then
pinned Northwestern's Matt Repchak in 33 seconds Sunday. Mocco
finished the regular season at 28-0, with 15 pins, including
12 in the first period. He is also 7-0 in Big Ten competition.
Iowa's
Tyler Nixt and Jessman Smith also ended the regular season undefeated
in Big Ten dual competition. Both Nixt, who wrestles at 174,
and Smith, who wrestles at 184, went 8-0.
Next
for Iowa are the Big Ten Championships, March 8-9, at the University
of Wisconsin Fieldhouse in Madison, WI. Iowa is going for its
29th conference team title.
Iowa
(I) 34, Indiana (IN) 3
125 Luke Eustice (I) dec. Joe Dubuque (IN), 10-5
133 Cliff Moore (I) dec. Greg Schaefer (IN), 8-3
141 Coyte Cooper (IN) dec. Luke Moffitt (I), 2-1
149 Ty Eustice (I) dec. Matt Cooper (IN), 5-3
157 Joe Johnston (I) maj. dec. Isaac Knable (IN), 23-13
165 Jason D'Agata (I) dec. Alex LaPointe (IN), 8-5
174 Tyler Nixt (I) tech. fall Brady Richardson (IN), 24-8 in
5:41
184 Jessman Smith (I) maj. dec. Ty Matthews (IN), 11-3
197 Ryan Fulsaas (I) dec. Pat DeGain (IN), 6-5
Hwt. Steve Mocco (I) pinned Joel Powers (IN), 1:24
Iowa
(I) 44, Northwestern (N) 6
125 Luke Eustice (I) dec. John Velez (N), 5-3
133 Cliff Moore (I) pinned Tommy Vargas (N), 2:48
141 Luke Moffitt (I) pinned John Giacche (N), 2:25
149 Ty Eustice (I) dec. Josh Ballard (N), 14-8
157 Joe Johnston (I) pinned Mike Kimberlin (N), 7:29 sudden victory
165 Jason Erwinski (N) pinned Jason D'Agata (I), 3:43
174 Tyler Nixt (I) maj. dec. Andrew Curran (N), 11-3
184 Jessman Smith (I) pinned Brendan Curran (N), 4:10
197 Ryan Fulsaas (I) maj. dec. Matt Delguyd (N), 16-5
Hwt. Steve Mocco (I) pinned Matt Repchak (N), 0:33
Source:
Eddie Goldman/ADCC
2/23/03
Quote
of the Day
"Instead
of thinking about where you are, think about where you want to
be.
It takes twenty years of hard work to become an overnight success."
Diana Rankin
The
little big Leo (part 1)
by: Luca Atalla
As
the 'goliath' catches the 'david' the crowd becomes silent. Throughout
the match, people were shouting furiously, but there is no more
reason to yell: the inevitable would occur, size and strength
will win, and the magic of 'david' is over. The little guy would
be smashed in a few moments and it would write and end to the
amazing spectacle this fight became.
The
fans were wrong. Using his near supernatural abilities, Leo Vieira,
our 'david' twists his body toward the floor, avoiding the takedown
and finally breaking the iron grip holding him. He is free again
to dance, run away and frustrate the eventual absolute champion,
Mark Kerr. Kerr, a wrestler that weighs 230 pounds, is more than
70 pounds heavier than Leo, and at least 10 inches taller. In
the end of their opening round bout in the 2000 ADCC World Championships
Absolute Division, Kerr wins the fight by advantage. It would
be the bravery and grace of Leo that conquered the hearts of
the fans who saw the epic last day of the 2000 competition.
Three
years after that scene, there are many people who want to see
Leonardo Vieira fighting again in the ADCC World Championships.
Thes'showman' has been more active than ever, and he revealed
to us that he has applied to compete in the ADCC 2003 event the
weight class under 65kg! This is the category that has been owned
by Royler Gracie the last three ADCCs.
Arriving
in Sao Paulo after his Jiu-Jitsu fight against Mitsuyoshi Hayakawa
in Japan last Feb 11th, Leo Vieira talked to us about fighting
sick, his way of training, the chance of participating in vale-tudo
and, of course, about Royler Gracie.
INTERVIEW:
Leo, you are hoarse. Why? Don't you know? I fought in Japan with
a high fever. The thing happened this way: I was sick and got
better before traveling to Japan. The problem was that the long
trip broke me down, so when I arrived there, the fever caught
me again. I spend the whole day of the fight wrapped up in coats
and towels.
We
have seen many people fighting sick. From Helio Gracie against
Waldemar
Santana, in the 1950s, to Minotauro against Henderson last Pride.
Do you think it affects one's performance? Not really. I think
it affects one's mind. In that day, I warmed up with Soca (Alexandre
Carneiro, who fought right before Leo), and fought well. During
the fight, my mind totally forgot the body's state. But the day
after came the bill!
The
word was that you were supposed to fight the IGJJF in California
last Feb 1st and 2nd, that tournament with no time limits. But
you did not. What happened? Actually, I was intending to travel
and to compete. I would go to Rorion's tournament in LA, fight
there and get used to it to combat the jet lag. Then I would
rest a little and depart for Japan. But I couldn't fo these plans
because the Japanese organization spent a long time sending me
the documentation and I got the visa too late for that.
You
fought a lot wearing a gi last year. And now, that we are close
to ADCC you keep competing with a gi. Is it not time to take
off the gi? It doesn't matter. The gi is the foundation for the
technique. I never had trained specifically without a gi the
first time I competed in Abu Dhabi, in 2000. And fought well
against Mark Kerr. Therefore I'm sure my whole life of Jiu-Jitsu
training gave me the background to perform well. I believe that
the gi actually opens a range of possibilities that improve your
skills. I can't guarantee it works for everybody but for me that's
the way the things are. And even if I get the invitation to compete
in the next ADCC I would keep training with a gi along with the
specific training for the tournament.
You
have fought twice under 76kg. Why this time you applied to fight
under 65kg? Although I fought a lot in Jiu-Jitsu in the class
under 73kg I always felt a little fat and much weaker than my
opponents. The only thing I had in my favor was my speed. Last
year, I began to study physiotherapy and rethought about the
way I eat, the way I workout and so I decided to drop to the
class under 67kg. Now I feel quicker, and better at equaling
my opponents' strength. As the weight check of ADCC is one day
before the contest I don't think it would be a problem to get
in the class I applied.
People
are saying that you applied to this class in order to fight Royler.
Is there another reason?
(...)
we finish tomorrow. Keep logged on and send us your comments:
lucaatalla@hotmail.com.
Source: ADCC
More
News From Japan - Sakuraba Speaks!
Is Japanese star Kazushi Sakuraba seriously considering a move
to heavyweight? The Japanese press reports that this could be
the case. Stemming from comments made earlier this last week,
Sakuraba is entertaining the thought of getting up to 215lbs
to enter the PRIDE Grand Prix.
The
PRIDE middleweight star, who has had personal problems in the
past, stated that his much publicized drinking problem has caught
up to him as of late. Sakuraba also admitted that he has been
eating excessively. At one point in his career, he was around
175lbs when he fought Royce Gracie.
Some
think his jump in weight is due to burnout. In the span of less
than one year, Sakuraba faced 7 opponents. It is highly doubtful,
anyone on the 'A' level matched this frenetic pace in the last
three to five years. His opponents included the likes of Renzo
Gracie, Ryan Gracie, Vanderlei Silva, Igor Vovchanchin, Guy Mezger
and Royce.
Show
after show, Sakuraba asked for a break but was the key drawing
card for Pride. The crossover audience he brought from pro wrestling
made Pride the most successful show of the last several decades
in Japan.
In
his first 14 MMA matches, he had only lost one. That was to Vovchanchin
who outweighed him by nearly 50lbs.
He
won his next three matches but then met up with Vanderlei Silva
and Mirko Filipovic. His battles with these two left him a damaged
eye-socket and a shoulder injury. Many feel he has never fully
recovered from the injuries and intense battles over the last
two years.
In
the interview he claims to be 80% healthy and he 'hoped' to be
100% by fight time on 3/16/03. The interview came off as Sakuraba
being relaxed and easy going, but this could be bad going against
'Elvis' Nino Schembri.
Schembri
is a technical machine when it comes to ground fighting. His
standup is the questionable factor, but he should be able to
challenge Sakuraba on the ground, especially if Sak isn't at
100%.
There
is also word that Sakuraba's trainer and mentor, Nobuhiko Takada,
was asked to take a much larger roll in Pride. With all the negative
press around the death of Nayoto Morashita, DSE and Pride execs
has asked him to become the matchmaker but Takada turned it down.
Source: ADCC
American
‘Al Crane’ gives the
KOTC belt a Brazilian taste!
by: Luca Atalla
KING of the CAGE: INVASION - February 21st, 2003
Not
many people were paying attention to the guy named Alberto Crane
until now.
Actually,
some people knew that he has many sport Jiu-Jitsu titles, and
he has been a very active competitor throughout the last four
years. And even though he would perform in his home state –
New Mexico -- ‘Al’, as we call him here in Brazil,
was the underdog on Friday, Feb 21st, when he faced the champion
Javier Vasquez for the King of the Cage lightweight belt.
However,
special inspiration were in Crane’s mind prior to the fight.
It was the words his teacher Vinicius ‘Draculino’ Magalhaes
told him hours prior the fight by phone. ‘Al, my brother,
you lived in Brazil for four years, trained like a madman and
worked as an English teacher to earn money in order to eat,’
started Draculino as his pupil listened in deep silence. The
coach then breathed and kept saying: ‘Beside that, you fought
against the best in the world in your weight division and very
often you beat them. This fight is a child’s game compared
to everything you have been thru already. Go there and kick his
ass!’.
When
Crane jumped into the ring, he claims he remembered those words.
‘At that time, the quote came to my mind and it seemed that
I got an inspirational shield protecting me. Then I looked at
my opponent’s eyes and knew the victory would be mine’.
After a battle where the American used all his Jiu-Jitsu skills
such as omoplatas, guillotines, and world class level positioning,
the judges gave the title to him, in a split decision.
Most
of the people that follow the fight world were surprised. But
in the city of Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais,
Brazil, Crane’s teammates did not have this reaction! They
remembered how the quiet guy, who was always training and dedicated
to learning the techniques, improved his game and quickly became
one of the toughest lightweight black-belts in sport Jiu-Jitsu.
It seems that the situation is not different in MMA.
MAIN
EVENT FIGHTS:
Javier Vazquez vs Alberto Crane: Crane by Judges Decision.
Johnathan Ivey vs Jimmy Ambriz: Amvriz by Strikes, RD 1.
Fernando Vasconcelos vs Shonie Carter: Carter after 2 Rounds.
FEATURE
FIGHTS:
Tony Galindo vs Joey Villasenor: Villasenor by TKO, RD 1.
Heavyweight
Tournament:
Seth Petruzelli vs Brian Hawkins: Petruzelli by TKO, RD 1.
Sam Sotello vs Bobby Hoffman: Hoffman, Sotello could not continue.
DARK
MATCHES:
Jake Short vs Diego Sanchez: Sanchez by Strikes, Rd 1.
Jason Godsey vs Chris Guillen: Godsey by Guillotine, RD 1.
Alan “A-dawg” Sullivan vs Keith Jardine: Jardine by
Strikes, RD 2.
Frank Marquez vs Thomas Schulte: Schulte by Arm Bar, RD 2.
Source: ADCC
UFC
41: PEDRO RIZZO Heads To Atlantic City!
by: Marcello Tetel
Ruas Vale Tudo fighter Pedro Rizzo departs for Atlantic City,
NJ and UFC 41: ONSLAUGHT today, Sunday the 23rd of February.
'The
Rock' is more focused than ever for this fight, against Vladimir
'the Janitor' Matsuchenko. 'The Rock' states 'I have been training
tons for this fight. Hopefuly I'll win, and prove to everybody
that I deserve another title shot in the Heavyweight division'.
For
this fight, Pedro has been training different things - for example,
he trained his groundwork with none other than UFC Middleweight
champion Murilo Bustamante! 'He's a very good friend of mine
and he is helping me a lot. I know that Vladimir's style is more
a ground and pound, so Murilo helped me with new defenses and
some tricky new positions' completed 'The Rock'.
But
don't think this means you will see a new Pedro Rizzo, working
on the ground going for submissions, because he thinks differently.
'I had to increase my options, by improving my ground game. This
helps me to feel more confortable on the ground, letting my boxing
flow better. I want to perform as always, by knocking people
out.'
Pedro
leaves roday with with his usal team composed of coach Beto Leitao,
boxing coach Claudio Coelho and physical trainer Marcio Pimentel.
Source:
ADCC
Tyson
knocks out Etienne in 49 seconds!
by: CNN / SI
For
those who caught it, Tyson folded Etienne with a right hand similar
to the Tank Abbott vs. Steve Nelmark fight in the UFC. They did
show Tyson's previous fight with the human punching bag.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- There's still some badness left in Iron
Mike after all.
Mike
Tyson showed Saturday night he could still punch with devastating
effect, flattening Clifford Etienne just 49 seconds into the
fight with a savage right hand reminiscent of Tyson in his prime.
Etienne
turned out to be easy. Tyson's problems outside the ring remain
a riddle he can't solve.
'I've
got issues I've got to deal with,' Tyson said. 'I'm in pain and
I've got some serious demons I am fighting.'
Tyson
returned to the only place he knows solace -- a boxing ring --
to knock Etienne out in a win he desperately needed to keep hope
of future big fights with Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield
alive.
Etienne
was knocked flat on his back in the middle of the ring and he
lay there as referee Bill Clancy counted him out and a fight
that seemed destined never to happen came to a sudden end.
Source:
ADCC
The
Brazilian Beat:
By Eduardo Alonso
K-1 Brazil Set to go!
NHB stars everywhere in Brazil;
MECA postponed amp; Bitetti Combat on the rise!
As we march
to the end of February with steady steps, things are heating
up in Brazil and plenty of things are happening in the fight
world. The end of the shortest month of the year is holding an
interesting and an enjoyable surprise for the fighting fans with
the first ever K-1 Brazil taking place in Sao Paulo, where NHB
veteran Carlos Barreto will serve as the main attraction and
probably most intriguing point of the fighting afternoon at the
Maksud Plaza Hotel, making his professional stand-up fighting
debut! With UFC 41 and PRIDE 25 also quickly approaching, fighters
like Pedro Rizzo, Rodrigo and Rogerio Nogueira, Nino Schembri
and Anderson Silva have their hands full of work right now. As
nothing is ever enough for FCF and our avid readers, the end
of February also brings the final details for Bitetti Combat
2, with some interesting fights scheduled to happen at the show
and the latest developments of MECA World Vale-Tudo in its eighth
edition. So, before you get a taste of the action delivered by
K-1 Brazil, UFC 41 and PRIDE 25, take your time to get your usual
dose of Brazilian news, as we step up to a fast-paced rhythm
for yet another Brazilian Beat, courtesy of Full Contact Fighter!
K-1 Brazil is set and ready to go in Sao Paulo this Sunday, February
23rd. Promoter Sergio Batarelli has all the details worked and
promises to deliver a never seen before show in terms of stand
up fighting in Brazil. The production is reported to be top notch,
and more than 10 cameras will be responsible for the television
coverage of the event. The show, featuring a 8 men tournament
and some single fights, will qualify two fighters to perform
at K-1 USA in Las Vegas, one being the champion and another one
selected by the producers based on the performance displayed
through the fights. On Saturday, February 22nd, the press conference,
rules meeting and weigh-ins are going to be held at the astonishing
Maksud Plaza Hotel, and the fights will begin on Sunday at 5:00
pm local time. FCF will be there bringing you all the action!
Speaking
of K-1 Brazil, NHB veteran Carlos Barreto is more than ready
for his first event stand up competition. Barreto will be leaving
Rio de Janeiro and going to Sao Paulo this Friday, February 21st,
and is feeling very confident regarding his performance. The
Brazilian Top Team member has been training exclusively Muay
Thai for some weeks now with his trainer Paulo Nikolai, and is
weighing 110kg for the event! Barreto told FCF he wants to represent
his team and NHB at the K-1 event, and believes he will surprise
a lot of people with his performance! Don't miss a new interview
with the BTT veteran tomorrow here at FCF's site!
PRIDE
Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva and his teammate Murilo
Rua Ninja both went to the city of Londrina, in the state of
Parana, Brazil, to meet and learn from Waldemar Guimaraes, one
of the most important physical trainers in Brazil, being at some
point in his career the responsible for the training of world
class bodybuilders such as multiple times Mr. Olympia Dorian
Yates. "The Axe Murderer" and Ninja stayed in the city
for a good while and learned specific weight training routines
for fighters from Guimaraes, as well as tips on their food intake.
According to Silva himself, he and Ninja are looking to be even
more professional about the sport in 2003, and both will return
in their best shape ever to perform at the PRIDE ring.
PRIDE
Middleweight contender Ricardo Arona is taking his time off the
PRIDE ring to take care of his personal issues as well as train
hard. The next time Arona steps on the ring he will be sporting
two new tattoos he just made, one complementing his old tattoo
on his ribs, and a new one on his thigh. Ricardo Arona has been
training hard as always, and expects to be back at PRIDE 26,
if it happens.
Brazilian
Top Team member and PRIDE Heavyweight champion Rodrigo Minotauro
Nogueira continues his preparation for his title defense against
Emelianenko Fedor at PRIDE 25. On the meantime his fame continues
to grow in Brazil, and he is slowly getting the recognition he
deserves from the general public. Minotauro was featured this
week on one of the countries most prestigious TV talk shows,
being interviewed along with his twin and brother and PRIDE fighter
Rogerio Nogueira. It's amazing that the stars of our sport are
finally getting mainstream appearance as they truly deserves.
The
month of March will have the second edition of the Jiu-Jitsu
Black Belt Challenge in Sao Paulo. The first edition of the event
that matches up famous BJJ black belts against each other in
single matches was a success, therefore the promoters have the
second edition already planned for March 25th, also in Sao Paulo
but in a larger venue, holding up to 3.500 people. All the winners
from the first edition will be coming back, and some interesting
match ups will be taken place such as Rodrigo "Comprido"
Medeiros against Gabriel Napao, Fabio Leopoldo against Claudio
Godoy, and Saulo Ribeiro facing Jeferson Moura.
Ruas
Vale-Tudo fighter and UFC heavyweight contender Pedro Rizzo will
be leaving for the USA this Sunday, heading for Atlantic City
where he will be fighting against Vladdy Matyushenko. As Rizzo
told FCF previously, he decided to only go to the USA one week
before the event, instead of going two weeks in advance to finish
his preparation with his mentor Marco Ruas. The reason is because
Atlantic City has a friendlier time zone than Vegas in relation
to Brazil, so this time he will meet Marco only in the week of
the bout to work on the final details of his game plan. "The
Rock" is still in great shape, probably the better he has
been in the latest years and promises to deliver.
Jiu-Jitsu
sensation Nino "Elvis" Schembri is excited with the
chance of a lifetime in facing Japanese NHB superstar Kazushi
Sakuraba at PRIDE 25. Nino has been training a lot of Jiu-Jitsu
with his friends at Gracie Barra, as always, and despite being
taken by surprise in some sense with this opportunity, feels
he is ready for the task and the fans can surely expect a flamboyant
entrance, remembering his idol Elvis Presley, by the BJJ stylist
at the PRIDE arena.
The
8th edition of MECA World Vale-Tudo, the most important NHB event
in Brazil right now, is once again postponed due to television
issues. As has been becoming a trend with all the latest editions
of MECA, Sportv [The cable channel that is the main sponsor of
the event] still didn't decide what is the best date to have
the event, and the initial plans of April 26th of 2003 are now
totally unlikely and the promoters and channel directors are
now looking in to a date at the month of May 2003. However, promoter
Rudimar Fedrigo guaranteed to FCF that all the matches that were
previously announced are still up for the show.
The
so awaited STORM Muay Thai Grand Prix also has a chance to be
postponed, but in only one week. The event was set to go at April
5th in Curitiba, however Chute Boxe heavyweight Assuerio Silva
will be competing on the same week at the 1st Free Style Switzerland
Tournament, an 8 men NHB tournament in Switzerland, of course.
With that, Chute Boxe masters Rudimar Fedrigo and Rafael Cordeiro
feel that is important to show support to their fighter by going
along with him to the Swiss event, and then hold the STORM Grand
Prix one week after it. An official announcement about the final
date for STORM Grand Prix may be made this week.
Speaking
of the STORM Grand Prix, Chute Boxe rising star and newest sensation
in Japan, Anderson Silva is still confirmed at the up to 85 kg
division of the Muay Thai tournament! Despite the fact that Anderson
will be facing former UFC champion Carlos Newton at PRIDE 25
in March, he will also be performing his beloved Muay Thai in
front of his hometown fans of Curitiba on April, granted he doesn't
suffer any major injuries on his bout against Newton. Anderson
Silva told FCF he is in great shape and ready for both tasks!
The
second edition of Bitetti Combat Nordeste is almost set and ready
to go and promises to truly rock, being one of the best, if not
the best, NHB event ever held in the Brazilian Northeast region.
Even with the unfortunate absence of NHB veterans Mario Sucata
and Marcelo Tigre, who were negotiating to be fighting at the
event, promoters Conrado and Amaury Bitetti have worked hard
to deliver a great card to please the crowd of Natal. The event
will take place at March 20th and will once again bring 8 NHB
fights, with the highlights being the NHB debut of Jiu-Jitsu
prodigy Fernando Terere, the return of NHB veteran Johil de Oliveira,
MECA winner Cyborg, as well as the first Bitetti Combat sensation
Tiago Pitbull! Fernando Terere has been training with Vitor Belfort
himself, and will be making his NHB debut against Tibau, who
is a tough experienced young fighter who won at the first edition
of the event, and trains with the Ruas Vale-Tudo team from time
to time. Luta Livre legend Johil de Oliveira will be fighting
Silmar Rodrigo, who also won at the first issue of Bitetti Combat
and already fought the likes of Darrel Gohlar in his young career.
MECA winner Cyborg will face MECA and Bitetti Combat veteran
Lucas Lopes, while the talented Tiago Pitbull will return to
the ring to face a tough local fighter in Dinarte! FCF will continue
to follow the developments of what is turning to be one of the
most important events in the southern hemisphere.
Source:
FCF
K-1
Brazil:
The All New Carlos Barreto
is Ready to Battle in K-1 Style!
Jiu-Jitsu
black belt and NHB veteran Carlos Barreto is ready for K-1. Yes,
you read that right and you don't need glasses! Some years ago
it would be unthinkable to picture the Brazilian Top Team member
and former Carlson Gracie student with a pair of Boxing gloves
and Muay Thai shorts, climbing the ring for a fight in a K-1
official event, however things have changed a lot in the Brazilian
fighter's life, and this day will come at February 23rd at the
gorgeous Maksud Plaza Hotel in Sao Paulo, where K-1 will hit
Brazil for the first time in its history, and Barreto will do
his very own professional stand up fighting debut. A man who
faced the likes of Kevin Randleman, Daniel Bobish, Igor Vovchanchyn,
Tra Telligman, Gilbert Yvel and Mikhail Illoukhine, among others,
in NHB tournaments is truly someone who faced tough competition.
However Carlos' game was always characterized by his Jiu-Jitsu
skills and never by his striking or aggressiveness, However he
is a brand new fighter now and wants to prove it to the world
by doing the unbelievable, winning a K-1 tournament, getting
his passport ready for Las Vegas, and making his UFC dream closer
to reality. So, with no further delay, learn now a bit more of
what goes inside the head of Carlos Barreto himself, as he talks
about his new attitude and his K-1 venture, as FCF welcomes the
"all-new Carlos Barreto" and gets pumped up for K-1
Brazil!
FCF:
Everybody knows you as an NHB fighter, from events such as IVC,
UFC, PRIDE, MECA, and everybody also knows that you have a background
in Jiu-Jitsu. Now, did you ever think you would be doing a K-1
fight at some point in your life?
CB: To be honest with you, never! I never thought I would have
the opportunity to fight in K-1, but the opportunity knocked
on my door and sometimes in my life I lost some big opportunities
by being immature or irresponsible. However this time I'm very
determined to get back at the top of the biggest NHB events in
the world like the UFC and PRIDE, I want to have a belt and I
want to be a well known fighter internationally again a lot.
I think K-1 is a big opportunity to give me exposure to get back
to the top, and I want to take advantage of this opportunity
in the best way I can. Despite the actual result, I want to give
a good spectacle and show the events promoters that Carlos Barreto
has changed, and that nowadays I'm another fighter, and I'm also
a striker now.
FCF:
You mentioned an interesting point, cause you had some tough
times in your career like your fights at 2hot2handle, and Hook
N' Shoot. After those moments of struggle you once told me that
you had changed your approach to the game, and realized the importance
of being an exciting and aggressive fighter. How did you realize
this need, and what changed your mindset in terms of fighting?
CB: I'm a guy that is always checking the major events, like
PRIDE and the UFC, which is the event I have the most will to
participate in. I respect PRIDE a lot, and PRIDE is a great event
and has a ton of great fighters, but I love the UFC and my dream
is in fact to become UFC champion. Well Eduardo, I'll be very
sincere and humble with you. The group of fighters that changed
my mindset about the aggressiveness and the need to fight standing
up was the Chute Boxe team. They changed my mindset because of
the way the used Jiu-Jitsu in their tough moments during fights.
I thought "Man, if they use Jiu-Jitsu in their tough times
during fights, why won't I use Muay Thai in my tough times during
fights?" Then I started to train Muay Thai more seriously.
With the wins of Wanderlei, Anderson, and even Pele, I thought
"Man, those guys are evolving so much, this is a message
to all the fighters to recognize other martial arts and not only
Jiu-Jitsu" Then I embraced Muay Thai with Artur Mariano,
and of course professor Paulo Nikolai has a major role in this
process as well, who is a great trainer that supports myself
a lot. Regarding K-1, with Drago, a South American amateur Boxing
champion who trains with the BTT, getting injured and having
to pull out of K-1 Brazil, I mentioned my name as someone who
could participate in his place, and professor Paulo Nikolai thought
it was a good opportunity if I had the proper training. Batarelli
[The event promoter] also thought it was a good idea since it
could generate more interest towards the event and accepted my
request to fight, so I'm very thankful for that and expects to
deliver a good showing.
FCF:
Do you remember when you had your first ever contact with Muay
Thai?
CB: Several years ago I was going to start my martial arts life
with Muay Thai indeed. I trained Muay Thai for six months at
the Naja academy, which was an academy of professor Luis Alves.
I started training there but I couldn't continue cause I was
studying and working at the same time back then, and the academy
was too far away from my house. Later I got to know Jiu-Jitsu
through Ricardo Liborio and I never stopped practicing Jiu-Jitsu.
FCF:
So you did Muay Thai before doing Jiu-Jitsu?
CB: Yeah! The first Martial Art I practiced in my life was Judo
then I stopped doing it and played Basketball for a while and
then went to Muay Thai. The first fighting art I did after I
wasn't a kid anymore was Muay Thai. Like I said I had to drop
it cause I had to work and study, and I come from a humble family,
so I couldn't afford it. Then when I started Jiu-Jitsu Carlson
Gracie allowed me to train for free, so I never stopped.
FCF:
You were a student of UFC Champion Murilo Bustamante for a good
while, and Murilo has been showing impressive Boxing skills in
the Octagon. Do you think this is yet another sign that a fighter
needs to be complete nowadays, and this is another reason of
your dedication to Muay Thai?
CB: There's no doubt about it. A fighter nowadays must have a
good ground game; a good notion of takedowns and a good stand
up game as well. In my opinion the ground game continues to be
the most important aspect, but you have to train a lot of Boxing
or Muay Thai to trade some strikes and have a good wrestling
base as well. Now we have Darrel Gohlar here, who has been doing
a great job with us here, so everybody is evolving a lot. I think
Muay Thai, wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu are the ingredients of a perfect
fighter.
FCF:
You already explained how this opportunity to fight at K-1 Brazil
appeared, but was it tough for you to take this task? Did you
have to think a lot about it before offering your name?
CB: No, not at all man. I sort of "invited myself"
to fight in the event [Laughs] When Drago got injured nobody
was supposed to take his place. Then I said "Hey! No! No!
Wait a second. Let me enter it! Carlos Barreto is going to enter
this tournament!" I like challenges. Then Paulo Nikolai
told me "Are you sure? Fighting Muay Thai is different from
what you're used" and I promptly replied, "Let's go!
Let's train a lot and show that I'm well prepared on my feet
as well. I may get knocked out and lose, but I'll fight like
a man!" then Nikolai said, "I'm with you. You have
my support" and from then on you know the story.
FCF:
You had some problems in the past and ended up leaving the Brazilian
Top Team for a while. Later you came back to the team and have
been training with them ever since. Are all the problems solved
and will Carlos Barreto stay with the BTT for the coming years?
CB: No doubt about it man. We had some adaptation problems in
the beginning, since we were all coming from Carlson and we were
all friends from a long time. Murilo was my teacher, Bebeo was
always a close friend, Sperry trained with me for years and years,
and Liborio is like a brother, so it was just a friends argument
over things. Fortunately I came back and was welcomed with open
arms, and from then on I'm with the Top Team for whatever it
happens and whatever may comes. Carlos Barreto, Brazilian Top
Team, Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai are all ingredients that work fine
together! [Laughs]
FCF:
How was your specific preparation for this K-1 event?
CB: I trained Muay Thai twice a day, everyday. On the mornings
I would do a technical training with all the drills, hitting
the punching back, working with the mirror and the likes, and
at nights I would do my sparring sessions, doing a specific sparring
work, and working my ring movement.
FCF:
Since you were accepted to fight at K-1 Brazil and started training
more seriously, from this very moment before you go to Sao Paulo,
do you feel your Muay Thai improved considerably?
CB: Well, the Muay Thai I knew was more about closing the distance,
hurting my opponent a bit standing up to be able to take him
down a bit damaged and work my Jiu-Jitsu from there. Nowadays
things are different, I'm working on closing the distance, working
some strikes and getting out of distance again, move myself way
more. It's a complete new thing! There's no way for me to describe
what I'm feeling! I'm very euphoric with my chance to fight in
K-1. I'm anxious to fight, really willing a lot to fight and
my opponents better watch out.
FCF:
How can you compare the preparation for such an event as K-1
with the preparation you do for NHB?
CB: Is totally different. The training for NHB is way different
from the Muay Thai training, I can't tell you which one is tougher,
it's not about that, they are just different. The Muay Thai training
demands you to be very focused; I watched a lot of K-1 tapes
to pick some things from the best fighters out there. I watched
a lot of Ernesto Hoost's fights, and Ray Sefo's fights as well.
I watched a lot of their fights to learn a bit from their techniques,
their ring movements. The Americans and Japanese have the habit
of learning through tapes, and us Brazilians still doesn't have
this habit, and we're learning to have this habit now. You can
learn a lot from tapes, it educates you, and helps you to correct
some of your weak points in your game. I have a new mindset about
fights now.
FCF:
I know is way too tough to make predictions, and especially in
this case since you're fighting on a brand new thing. But what
do you expect from yourself and the experience as a whole?
CB: I'm telling you this with an open heart. I sincerely expect
to do a good showing. If this good showing ends up by allowing
me to go to the finals and win, it will be a gift from God. My
goal is to walk to the ring with my head up high, and leave the
ring with my head up high, knowing I did my best, receiving the
support from the public, and signing a contract with the UFC
[Laughs]
FCF:
Whether you win or lose, and most of all if you win, is there
any chance you'll do more K-1 fights in the future?
CB: Well, if I win I have to go fight those tough guys in Las
Vegas; it's in the contract. So, if I win I'll have to train
to face those tough guys brother [Laughs] If I win I'll have
to go to Vegas, and if I win in Vegas I'll have to go to Japan!
So those guys better watch out! [Laughs] Seriously, if I can
continue to go, I'll go. It's goes like this; God is giving me
a path, if I win K-1 Brazil and hopefully I can do it, I'll go
to Las Vegas, and if I win in Las Vegas, man! Then this is my
path brother! Then NHB will have to be my second thing, since
God would be directing me in this way. It would be something
natural. Maybe my way is K-1 and I didn't know it and was lost,
and God is putting me back on my path, do you know what I mean?
Who knows, I have to try it. The future belongs to God. My objective
now is to fight NHB, and I'm doing K-1 to show everybody that
I'm ready to trade strikes as well. I'm an NHB fighter, but if
I can do some more steps in K-1, then they'll have to watch out
for me.
FCF:
You were supposed to fight in a submission wrestling superfight
against Alexandre Cacareco, in a local event in Campos, but ended
up not fighting it due to your preparation for K-1 Brazil. Is
this a sign of how seriously you are approaching this event?
CB: Exactly man. I even thought about doing both events, but
Murilo Bustamante, Mario Sperry and Bebeo Duarte, who are the
main responsible guys here at the Brazilian Top Team, thought
I was going into over training. I was doing wrestling three times
a week, Jiu-Jitsu five times a week and Muay Thai two times per
day, plus the physical preparation, and I was really getting
into over training. Then they made me chose one event or the
other, and I realized Muay Thai was more important now since
this was an unique opportunity, so I opted to fight in K-1. We
have submission wrestling events all the time, and K-1 is a rare
thing.
FCF:
How do you define your style as a Muay Thai fighter, for those
that are anxious to see your performance? Are you going after
the knockout?
CB: This is a surprise! You'll have to wait for February 23rd,
in a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Sao Paulo to find out about
it. I'll put on a good fight for sure! But if I'm going to score
quick knockouts, or play a little in the ring, like Ali or George
Foreman, you're going to see it when fight time comes! [Laughs]
FCF:
You mentioned that your goal is still NHB. Your last fight was
at MECA 6 where you became the champion, but wasn't totally please
with your performance. You want to now show you're a different
fighter, and is the UFC your goal after K-1 Brazil? Also, how
much are you weighing for this fight?
CB: I was weighing 114 kg, but due to all the training I'm weighing
110 kg for this fight. I want to fight in the UFC badly, and
I want to comeback in great style in the octagon, to bring home
the belt cause Ricco Rodriguez doesn't deserve it.
FCF:
Any final message for your fans, who are curious on your performance
on the 23rd?
CB: You can count with a good spectacle cause I'm going to fight
with a lot of hear and will. Send your best wishes and thoughts
cause I'm going to need them, and I'll fight with a lot of heart
defending the name of my country, the name of the NHB fighters
and the name of the Brazilian Top Team. I hope my fans will like
my showing, the spectacle and I hope to be back in the NHB rings
soon!
FCF:
Thanks a lot man! The best of luck for you in this venture!
CB: Thank you Eduardo! See you there!
Source:
FCF
2/22/03
Quote
of the Day
To
understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he
has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.
Kahlil Gibran
UFC
41: Onslaught... Less Then 1 Week Away!
by: Joseph Cunliffe
We’re less then 1 week away from “UFC 41: Onslaught”
at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. The UFC returns to
east coast shore town on Friday, February 28, 2003, after nearly
2 years on the road holding events stateside in Connecticut,
Louisiana and Nevada, as well as over seas in England. “The
fans have been begging for us to come back,” says Josh Hedges
of the UFC, “It was just a matter of timing and getting
the right deal.” Atlantic City is a great place for fights
and at Onslaught, 16 professional fighters are scheduled to enter
the octagon with a single thought... to add a “W” to
their record.
On
the line this Friday are 2 championship belts. First, the vacant
UFC Lightweight Championship will be decided when BJ Penn meets
Caol Uno for the second time in the octagon. Their first fight
ended with a vicious 1st round KO by Penn. Then, current UFC
Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez will defend his title belt
for the first time against Tim Sylvia. Both are currently undefeated
in the UFC, but that will soon change!
Tank
Abbott makes his return to the octagon just over 4 years after
he suffered a KO loss to Pedro Rizzo at Ultimate Brazil. Whether
or not he was officially the original Huntington Beach Bad Boy,
one thing Tank will tell you is -- he's the Original Bad Ass.
Abbott is the senior on the card nearing his 38th birthday. Rich
Clementi of Louisiana makes his UFC debut at Onslaught. The active
lightweight sports a 25-5 MMA record.
“It's
going to be another great show,” exclaims Hedges, “There's
a little bit of everything, from lightweights to heavyweights,
and strikers to grapplers. Everything is covered. Don't miss
this show!”
UFC
Heavyweight Championship Bout -- 5 Rounds
Ricco Rodriguez, Champion vs. Tim Sylvia
UFC
Heavyweight Bout -- 3 Rounds
David “Tank” Abbott vs. Frank Mir
UFC
Lightweight Championship Bout -- 5 Rounds
BJ Penn vs. Caol Uno
UFC
Middleweight Bout -- 3 Rounds
Matt Lindland vs. Phil Baroni
UFC
Heavyweight Bout -- 3 Rounds
Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Pedro Rizzo
UFC
Lightweight Bout -- 3 Rounds
Matt Serra vs. Din Thomas
UFC
Heavyweight Bout -- 3 Rounds
Alexandre “Café” Dantas vs. Gan McGee
Source:
ADCC
PRIDE
Set For A Fujita Comeback!
Kazuyuki Fujita, who left PRIDE last year, is apparently contemplating
a return to fighting. Since losing two times straight to Mirko
'Cro Cop' Filipovic, Fujita put his fighting career on hiatus
to do more pro wrestling.
Once
considered a powerhouse in MMA with defeats of Ken Shamrock,
Mark Kerr and Gilbert Yvel, Fujita was marketed briefly as the
next Japanese superstar. However, the losses to Filipovic were
said to have messed with Fujita mentally.
In
what seems like another move of desperation by PRIDE to attract
Japanese fans, PRIDE has asked Fujita to consider a return to
MMA. The attention Fujita would get could steer fans away from
rumors that PRIDE and DSE may fade away and open under a new
name. Fujita will appear at the next event but it is unclear
how advanced the potential comeback to MMA really is.
Many
are estimating that the group will start using more mainland
Japan fighters in place of foreigners. This would build Japanese
stars and will draw more at the box office (using the pro wrestling
aspect of things).
Source:
ADCC
Matt
Lindland: Laying Down 'The Law'
By Joe Hall
An opponent even more formidable than Murilo Bustamante stood
in front of Matt Lindland. Those before him who had undertaken
the challenge had been battered miserably.
Although
it was a fight no one expected him to accept, Lindland welcomed
the test. Almost overnight he shed his normally reticent shell
and plunged into a battle of pre-fight banter with the reigning
champ of smack talk, Phil Baroni. With a shocked MMA community
watching intently, Lindland entered the fray swinging. He has
since maintained an inimitable pace of taunts and cutting remarks,
and some even feel the once placid Oregon resident has pulled
the upset.
"I
think [Baroni] assumed that I was going to lay back and let him
step all over me," Lindland says, "because I show honor
and respect to my other opponents. I think that he felt he could
walk all over me and abuse me verbally, but I think he's the
one that's gotten the verbal bitch slaps."
The
rancor began to brew November 2001, when Lindland captured a
majority decision (29-28, 29-27, 28-28) over Baroni at UFC 34.
Lindland, nicknamed "The Law," controlled the bout
early, but Baroni rallied with a flurry late to make it a more
difficult decision for the judges.
"I
was happy with the win," he says of his first encounter
with Baroni. "I felt like I could have been cleaner or sharper
in that fight. But, you know, I was trying things out. I was
trying some kicks and things I hadn't used before in any fight."
Baroni
disagreed with the decision, which was his first and only loss
in MMA competition to-date. "In his mind he didn't lose,"
Lindland says. "What's he say? He beat me on the judges'
scorecard; I tapped out; he knocked me out. I think he knocked
me out four or five times in his mind. On Planet Phil, every
time I picked him up and slammed him to the ground, that was
a takedown for him."
Despite
their incongruent perspectives on the fight, the two middleweights
joined forces briefly in early 2002. "We lured Phil up here
to learn the secrets of losing from him," explains Lindland
of the two-week period Baroni trained at Team Quest.
"I'm
not really sure how he ended up coming up here, to tell you the
truth. Once Phil got up here, we were hospitable towards him.
We tried to show him some things in [training], but the juice
just wasn't worth squeezing there. The guy's not real sharp.
"So
I took him out to my farm, showed him a pig and told him it was
a short fat horse. He spent the rest of the day trying to get
the thing to do cardio. He was pumping TrimSpa pills down its
throat. Actually, I think he accidentally dropped some of his
special vitamins down its throat because the next morning the
thing woke up with a 20-inch bicep. It was rolling around in
its own crap, yelling, 'I'm the Oregon Fat Ass! I'm the best
eva!'"
While
training with Lindland, Baroni praised his former opponent on
the Internet. Shortly after he exited Oregon, however, Baroni
sharply chided the Olympic Silver Medalist. "He must be
schizophrenic or something," says Lindland, who doesn't
recall an especially malevolent ending to Baroni's stay.
"I
don't get on [the Internet] too often, but people in my gym read
it a lot," Lindland says. "Some of the guys tell me
the different reports of what Phil's stated on The Underground.
And I've actually recently followed some of Phil's interviews.
I think he's really endeared the American fans, and especially
the Brazilian fans. I think we should give him a new nickname:
Goodwill Ambassador of MMA."
Although
a rematch between Baroni and Lindland wasn't in the preliminary
plans for UFC 41, something -- perhaps destiny, animosity or
luck -- cleared a path for the heated rivals to meet again.
"I
wasn't offered this fight," Lindland says. "Actually,
I was told I wouldn't be fighting in this UFC because they didn't
have an opponent for me. And since Phil was such a big draw --
which I didn't know -- he would be fighting on this card. But
the problem they also had was that they didn't have an opponent
for Phil. So I automatically said, 'Since you don't have an opponent
for me, and you don't have an opponent for him, I think that
would make an ideal fight.'"
The
bout was signed and the mudslinging kicked up a notch.
In
his pre-rematch interviews, Baroni began referring to Lindland
as "Woogie," a character played by Chris Elliott in
the movie Something About Mary. "That's a great comeback
for him," Lindland says. "I wonder what happened that
night. Was his illegal cable box broken? He couldn't get the
free porno channel? For Phil to go up to that kind of intellectual
perch, to watch Something About Mary , that says a lot about
the guy."
Unimpressed
with Baroni's repartee this go-around, Lindland hints that his
opponent may have lost his touch in taunting. Indeed, recent
comments from the "New York Bad Ass" regarding Brazil
and its populace sorely missed their mark and offended parts
of the sport's contingent from the South American country.
"I
think Phil has done a good job in the past of self-promotion,"
Lindland says. "I don't know how many people outside the
hardcore MMA fans really read The Underground, where he's done
most of the self-promotion. I think he's done a good job amongst
those fans in the past. But I think as of recently, his comments
are completely asinine, and he's alienated a lot of people just
with his ignorance and stupidity. I think [Baroni's recent comments]
were a feeble attempt to try to endear American fans by insulting
an entire country and an entire nationality. Very weak.
"I
think anybody that says that has to have some problem, some self-esteem
problem. And Phil, he's obviously got low self-esteem. That's
why he does the trash talking. That's why he's got all these
'BS' callouts, where he's calling out Murilo and he's calling
out Frank Shamrock. Come on guy, you need to stick to somebody
who's dead. Next time he's going to call out Jack Dempsey. As
long as Frank or Murilo are still breathing, either one of those
guys would destroy him."
With
many MMA followers awarding him a stunning victory in the war
of words, Lindland will be forced into a role normally occupied
by Baroni: He has to back up his jousting in the Octagon or pay
a humbling price.
To
ensure that he can walk the walk, Lindland has spent two weeks
of his training camp at The Pit, home of Chuck Liddell and trainer
extraordinaire John Hackleman. "The training was great,"
Lindland says. "Coach John Hackleman is an outstanding trainer.
I'm the first to admit that I learned a lot down there from John.
And Chuck's a super guy, helped me out a lot, sparred with me,
did drills with me, whatever I needed."
In
the 16 months since his first meeting with Baroni, Lindland says
it's been his striking that's made the greatest strides. He also
cites considerable gains in experience, explaining that he didn't
begin training for MMA full-time until after his bout against
Baroni.
"I
don't have to do anything different than I did before to beat
Phil," he says. "I think I learned a lot from that
fight. I think I learned a lot about the style of fighter he
is, and I think I'll adjust, and I'll finish him for sure this
time."
Baroni
has fought twice since that initial encounter, swiftly pummeling
Amar Suloev and mowing down Dave Menne in seconds. Lindland was
watching, but says it's hard to tell how much his adversary has
improved because of the quick finishes. Still, he credits Baroni
for his demolition of Menne and for his heart. "I think
Phil's a good striker," Lindland says. "I think he
prepared to hit Dave like that, and he planned on hitting him
like that. But Dave obviously gave him a hole to land that strike
that ultimately knocked him out.
"I
think [Baroni] has a lot of self-confidence, in the ring. I think
outside the ring he's lacking that entirely. He seems to be pretty
competitive in the ring. He keeps going; he's not a quitter."
Lindland
acknowledges Baroni's physical strength as well, but says he
"never felt him hit hard" in their match at UFC 34.
He says he's "absolutely" willing to trade standing,
and, in fact, his dream finish would be on the feet.
Says
Lindland of the perfect conclusion to his feverishly hyped fight
with Baroni: "Standup. Knock him out. Just floor him to
the canvas."
Why
not? Lindland has set up Baroni with a string of stiff jabs outside
the Octagon, and he'll be determined to deliver the knockout
blow inside the cage at UFC 41.
Source:
ADCC
Sean
Sherk: Preparing for Hughes
By Jason Probst
Styles make fights, and in mixed martial arts there's no better
match than two powerhouse grapplers locking up. With UFC welterweight
champion Matt Hughes fighting at a level of dominance that lead
some to wonder if he's beatable, Sean Sherk is usually the one
name given on a very short list of people who have a chance.
It's
because Sherk, like Hughes, is a compact, super-strong grappler
who physically dominates foes. With a record of 17-0-1, the Minnesota
wrestler's power is perhaps the only brand in the division's
that can compare to Hughes'. He's defeated Tiki Ghosen, Jukaro
Nakao and Benji Radach in his three UFC appearances, and gets
a shot at Hughes in his first televised fight in the April 25
UFC 42. As the main event, and fighting against perhaps the most
highly regarded man in the game, Sherk talked with Maxfighting.com
about the opportunity he's been working toward for several years
which has finally arrived.
"I
noticed his standup looked pretty good in (the Gil Castillo)
fight, I've been watching in those videos," Sherk said.
"I think it will be a standup fight. I know Hughes works
a lot of standup, and I'm sure I will have a hard time taking
him down. It'll be a chess match. One thing I'm gonna have to
do is find guys who are gonna be able to throw me around, and
I need to get used to that, being thrown around all the time.
I can't get that out here in Minnesota! But I'm prepared for
whatever happens."
At
5'6 and 170 lbs., Sherk is even more compact than the 5'9 Hughes,
and his low base to the ground presents a unique challenge for
the champion. As is standard fare in today's UFC, even an overpowering
wrestler has to hone his fighting skills from the bottom, and
Sherk doesn't think that if he goes to his back it's any advantage
for Hughes.
Hughes
would say the same. But being a wrestler cultivates a natural
aversion to being on one's back - they're genetically opposed
to it - and therefore it's pretty exciting to think of these
two locking up. The first guy to get the top position will have
a mental edge, cross-training or not, and both of them will be
gunning for that early takedown advantage.
Source:
ADCC
2/21/03
Quote
of the Day
"In
the final analysis there is no solution to man's progress but
the day's honest work, the day's honest decisions, the day's
generous utterances and the day's good deed."
Clare
Booth Luce
Silva's
hungry to fight Newton
Anderson
Silva's long legs are warming up already. Scheduled to face Canadian
Carlos Newton at the next Pride, on March 16th, he just can't
wait for that day. 'I was training a lot and I knew I would fight
this show. The only
thing I didn't know was who I was going to fight against' says
Silva by phone
from Curitiba. Silva is considered the most technical stand-up
fighter of
Chute Boxe Academy. 'First, I thought my opponent would be Sakuraba,
but then
came Newton's name. I became happy, because we are both showmen
so the fight
will be very fun to watch.'
Despite
the known aggressiveness of his kicks, Silva realizes he might
be warming up the legs only for the dance's performance he usually
does before his fights. 'It's hard to change punches and kicks
if your opponent doesn't want to do so. Therefore I'm ready to
fight on the ground and I will not avoid it,' affirms Silva,
who does not want to bear the responsibility of being the star
of Chute Boxe Academy while teammate Wanderlei is recovering
from knee surgery. 'I really don't want to take this pressure.
Of course I'll defend our flag but it's out of my mind the obligation
of substituting fot Wanderlei. He does his job and I do mine.'
However,
another thing about Wanderlei's surgery really disturbs Anderson:
the absence of the Pride Middle-heavyweight Champion from sparring
sessions. 'The training is much softer without Wanderlei, but
what can we do? At least there are Assuerio, Nilson Castro and
many others trying to punish me as Wanderlei does,' says Silva
who intends to travel to Japan one week before the show, along
with masters Rudimar Fedrigo and Rafael Cordeiro, beside Murilo
Ninja and Wanderlei.
Anderson
knows Newton is a tough fight, but he does not plan any vacation
after that. 'I'll participate in the Storm Grand Prix [a muay
thai eight man tournament that will be held on April 5th] and
next I'll fight in Meca as well [May 24th].' Actually, it seems
that rest is a thing Anderson does not like. Otherwise he would
not hang up the phone saying: 'I can't wait to change punches.'
Source:
ADCC
Catching
up with Wes “The Project” Sims
A
basketball player in college, 23-year-old Wes “The Project”
Sims made his MMA debut in June 2001. Racking up a 6-1 professional
record todate, Sims has defeated all opponents except Dan “The
Beast” Severn, which he took to a decision in his first
fight.
Fighting
out of Mark Coleman’s Hammer House in Columbus, OH, the
6’10 Sims recently defeated Marcus “Conan” Silveira
of American Top Team by Referee Stoppage at 2:32 of Round 2 to
earn the HOOKnSHOOT Southeastern Super Heavyweight Championship.
In recapping the match, Sims says, “Conan used his (BJJ)
advantage to get me on the ground where he had me in a big disadvantage
with some tight chokes, but I let the Ref know I was in no trouble.
I wanted to wear him out and I heard he was gassing -- he was
giving all his energy to try and finish me off early and it didn’t
work. It went to the second round where I punched and punched
until I got tired, then I kneed and kneed, then I started to
punch again. Before I knew it, the Referee had stopped it.”
The
Hammer House fighter underestimated Silveira “with a layoff
I figured I had him,” said Sims, but in my pre-fight interview,
he had stated “I think you’ll be surprised.” I
asked Sims to elaborate on his statement post fight. “Everyone
counted me out,” he said, referring to many, including some
internet warriors “all the geeks on the computer said KO,”
but that wasn’t the case. “I’m the one sitting
here with the belt, the trophy, I’m the one with the prize...
It’s right here (hitting his heart),” he said. In a
moment of passion Sims said, “I’m down here in the
middle of the Brazilians. I watched them all night beat everybody
and I beat their trainer.”
Having
always used his height and size advantage over opponents, Sims
said, “I always took it too easy because others cannot keep
up.” But today, Sims admits, “everyone trains so hard
now, they cross train and mix it up and it doesn’t matter
no more.” With MMA new to Florida, there was a no direct
elbow or forearm strikes allowed “It was an advantage for
me because Conan was in a position to give me a lot of those
(laughing),” he said.
Sims
was scheduled to fight on an April 12 Danger Zone card in North
Dakota against Pride veteran Tom 'Big Cat' Erikson, but since
Erikson apparently has an opportunity with K-1, Sims says, “(they)
are offering other opponents.”
Sims
continues to promote MMA events in Ohio. On February 21, “Hammer
House Cage Fighting 6” will invade the Chaos Night Club
at 1530 Bethel Road in Columbus. “The card is looking good,”
said Sims with local Matt Horning and Seth Baer confirmed.
The
big man was appreciative for the opportunity to fight “I
thank Wade Rome and Jeff Osbourne,” he said, “Mark
Coleman, Eric Sorano and my dad Don Sims” for getting him
here. “In the end,” he said, “Hammer House prevails.”
Source:
ADCC
Jens
Pulver: SHOOTO Bound?
Jens
Pulver, still regarded as one of the top 155s in MMA despite
his recent loss to Duane Ludwig in UCC, is on the verge of joining
Shooto for a year.
According
to manager Monte Cox, “The word on that is we’ll know
more for sure next week but they’ve offered us four fights
and the money is ok so we will come to a deal. I’m 98% sure
but I’m dealing with Jens so you have to leave 2% out.”
The details of the talks such as if it would be an exclusive
contract are unavailable at this time.
With
the amount of attention lately on the 155 division, the question
on where SHOOTO champion Takanori Gomi fits into the scene has
repeatedly been raised. Most of the Shooto stars, including Vitor
“Shaolin” Ribeiro (#5) and Javier Vazquez (#4) don’t
have the wrestling background Jens has, possibly giving him an
angle with which the others stars may have trouble despite “Lil’
Evil’s” famous left hand.
Source:
ADCC
ADCC
2003 Bound -
ALEXANDRE 'CACARECO' FERREIRA
FIGHTWORLD Brazil- Was it an easy Trials for you? 'Cacareco'-
The Trials
had the best fighters from Brazil, so this was tough. But I already
knew the rules and all other champions knew the rules too.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- What did you think about your opponents? 'Cacareco'-
I had perfect strategy that I could use inside the rules and
it worked out great. No one was able to put me in danger.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- Why did not we see your dangerous armlocks and keylocks?
'Cacareco'- My all opponents protected themself against these
two weapons
during the fights. In my second fight against Claudio Godoy,
I got in his half-guard, so when I went to a keylock he already
knew and blocked it.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- The insiders from Brazil say that you have the tools
to be the champion in ADCC2003. And you, what do you say? 'Cacareco'-
I agree
with them. [laughs] I am joking. Well, ADCC has fighters from
other countries and everybody wants to make a name for himself
in this competition, so I cannot say - 'I will win' - but I have
my chances.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- Would you like to face someone special in your first
ADCC2003 fight? 'Cacareco'- Of course, I would like to face Jose
Mario Sperry in the 1st round. I think he is an excellent fighter
and if I beat him, the things would become a bit less hard in
my bid for the title.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- Why did you accept the fight with Carlos Barreto (BTT)
in
Submission Wrestling 2? 'Cacareco'- Because I like challenges.
I am totally
relaxed to fight him because he is an UVF, MARS and IVC champion,
UFC and Pride veteran, and he is heavier and taller than me,
so the responsibility is all on him. He had to take me down,
pass my guard and submit me.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- But Barreto did not go fighting because he preferred
to focus on K-1 Brazil. What did you think about his attitude?
I was bothered, because we (Barreto and me) already had taken
some pictures for Magazines and the event had done a lot of advertising
based on this fact. I think it shows a lack of respect for the
crowd and the event organizers.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- You fought Eduardo 'Jamelao' Conceicao in the SuperFight.
The things reverted itself? 'Cacareco'- Yeah the pressure was
all on me. All light fighters who decide to fight against a heavyer
is to be respected; I admire all the fighters who do that and
'Jamelao' is not different.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- So you like challenges. Maybe this is the explanation
about the defeats you had fighting as a light heavyweight? 'Cacareco'-
I am tense fighting as a light heavyweight. I put pressure on
my back and I do not do what I should. Because of that, I have
2-3 record fighting as a light heavyweight, and I will fight
only as a heavyweight.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- In NHB too? 'Cacareco'- Yeah.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- Comparing your two records - Submission Wrestling and
NHB
- your Submission Wrestling record is better winning percentage
wise. Would you prefer only to fight Submission to NHB? 'Cacareco'-
Of course, because Submission training is less stressful and,
as I love submission, everything would be great.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- Do you agree that you are more skilled in Submission
than NHB? 'Cacareco'- I think it all depends on your opponent.
There are lucky skills and then not always the better fighter
wins the fights.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- You disputed a challenge against the strongest man in
South America (The Brazilian, Jair da Silva) - both of you lifted
a car. So what can you tell us about that? 'Cacareco'- Jair is
a friend of mine and he challenged me. I do not refuse any challenge
so I did it. I was able to keep the car raised for about :50
but he held it for 1:20.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- How many kilos did that car weigh? 'Cacareco'- Only 900kg[laughs]
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- You faced Paulo Filho (BTT) in SuperCampeonato Cyclone
de Luta-Livre'n'Submission 2 and that final result was very contested.
So tell us your thoughts about that. 'Cacareco'- The rules were
good for me, and I played within them, and I fought to win. The
problem was the referee, Mario Miglioli, did not have the courage
of giving the victory to me or Filho because he did not want
to please one and to displease the other one, so the draw was
declared.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- I had done a preview about that fight on ADCC News and
besides me everybody was expecting a good showcase of wrestling
skills. Filho sat down after some attempts, so did he feel you
were better than him at takedowns? 'Cacareco'- My Wrestling is
better than his and my strength and my short size help too. Filho
felt the pressure and realized he would fall, so he pulled me
to the guard.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- Is Filho a powerhouse? How was everybody talking? 'Cacareco'-
I expected his energy in a very dynamic fight, but he pulled
me to the guard and then he did not do anything. He complained
a lot but was stopped on the bottom.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- He almost brawled with you. What did you think about
his attitude with you? 'Cacareco'- His attitude was the only
chance of a draw between us. He interrupted the fight with his
complaining, and, when the fight was re-started, there were only
10 seconds remaining, and I got his back without the hooks. He
did not have any sporting ethics with me. If you do not like
your opponent or you have some problem with him inside the sport,
you need to respect him because your opponent is a professional
athlete.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- Was there a rivalry between you two? 'Cacareco'- I think
it comes from him. I cannot please everybody, so he can be one
of those I do not please.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- After the result was given, Filho hugged you and said
something. What did he say? 'Cacareco'- He is a guy with a lot
of energy and that he did not control his emotions. He said a
lot of shit to me during the fight and after he said, 'I am sorry'.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil-Duarte spoke in a friendly way with you during SuperCampeonato
Cyclone de Luta-Livre'n'Submission 2. Did that surprise you?
'Cacareco'- Oh yeah, it was a surprise. When Miglioli started
to do that nonsense as the referee, Duarte came to support me,
and I was shocked because I imagined he would speak against me.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil-Do you think you are the only Luta-Livre representative
who gets to raise Luta-Livre's flag in renowned submission events?
'Cacareco- There are several good Luta-Livre names that no one
knows about,and I do not know why they do not compete more often.
I have been considered the number one competitor of Luta-Livre
because I have trained with Jiu Jitsu guys whenever possible.
Roberto 'The Spider' Traven, Jose Mario 'Esfiha' and Andre Penderneiras
are some of my sparring partners, and then I acquired more fight
variations. I think the advantage of the Jiu Jitsu to Luta-Livre
is the number of athletes, and this is the best way to improve
the technique. I do not think Jiu Jitsu has good leglocks and
guillotine chokes, but as Jiu Jitsu has a lot of athletes, the
Jiu Jitsu skills are over the Luta-Livre skills.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil-Why do Luta-Livre guys not look at that? 'Cacareco'- The
rivalry and that needs to change, because this is the only way
to improve. For example, the most trouble when Luta-Livre faces
Jiu Jitsu are the sweeps. While for Jiu Jitsu, the Luta-Livre's
guillotine chokes are dangerous. So if they train together, everybody
will improve and the matches will be more exciting.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- For you, is Luta-Livre basically Wrestling and Submission
to play on the feet? 'Cacareco'- This is the characteristic of
a Luta-Livre fighter, but we know how to fight on the bottom,
too, and Luciano Azevedo (RFT)is a good example of that.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- When did Luta-Livre become a part of your life? 'Cacareco'-
I am still young and I have been a Luta-Livre fighter since 1993.
I began with Master 'Tatu'. After him, I went to Master 'Tinho'
and, finally, I went to train with Master Carlos Alberto Brunocilla
and Hugo Duarte. I got my black belt in Luta-Livre in two years
of training, and I had success in NHB as a member of Hugo Duarte's
team.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil- How do you avoid repeating the mistakes of last ADCC
to win the next one? 'Cacareco'- Ricardo 'Cachorrao' Almeida
deserved that victory. I put a tight keylock on him, and his
arm exploded several times
and he did not tap. By the way, he has fought ADCC since 1998,
and I was debuting. I think he only lost to Ricardo Arona because
his arm was very bad. So replying to your question for ADCC 2003,
I am tested and I know the rules very well.
FIGHTWORLD
Brazil: Last words? 'Cacareco'- Thanks for the opportunity and
I would like to thank UNAMAR Clube for all its support, this
sponsor has helped me a lot!
Source:
ADCC
Black
Belts line up to fight at the 2003 Copa
2003
is the year of the Black Belts as most of them are out fighting
in every event they can. The 2003 Copa Pacifica is on the receiving
end of this new 'phenomena'. Already confirmed to compete in
the traditional event are 'Xande' Ribeiro, Ryron & Rener
Gracie, 'Macaco', Cassio Werneck, Fabio Santos, Mauricio Costa,
'Xande' Brandao, Jeff Higgs, Amal Easton & Joao 'Pitbull'!
There are many others that have shown interest but are yet to
confirm. Match ups will be announced as they are finalized! For
more info and to register go to CopaPacifica.
Additionally,
ADCC News and Grappling Magazine will have full coverage of this
great event. So be there!
Source:
ADCC
KOTC
Feature: JAVIER VAZQUEZ (pt 2)
With
the word out that Javier Vazquez may be fighting Hermes Franca
in UFC 42 coming in April to Florida all eyes should be on this
weekend’s KOTC match between this 155 lb Millennia Jiu-Jitsu
star and Alberto Crane.
KM:
One thing that I noticed is the parallels between what Millennia
is going through now and what Miletich Martial Arts went through
a couple years ago, having the belts from several different promotions,
excelling with the lighter fighters than the promoters seem to
want to headline, etc. Is that a just comparison? JV: I think
it is somewhat of a just comparison. Our fighting philosophies
are completely different but we have gone through the same kinds
of changes, matured the same way as a team. Matt Lindland came
by and trained with us about a week, Dan Henderson trains with
us on occasion…they’ve gone and trained with Pat Miletich.
I asked them what is the difference between the way we train
and the way they train. They said ‘you guys grapple more,
they strike more’. I feel personally our level of grappling
is a lot higher than theirs but their level of striking is higher
than ours. Me personally, I just haven’t shown it. I’m
not any great boxer or anything but I can hold my own. Nobody
has pushed me to show it so I haven’t shown it. You look
at my matches it looks like I can’t strike at all.
KM:
For fans that aren’t familiar with you where would you recommend
they start? JV: All depends. My last three fights I think have
been pretty good. I fought back in May Sean Wilmot and Ramina
Sato in Japan in Shooto and then I came back and fought David
Gardner in King Of The Cage.
KM:
Tell me about the fight with Sato. JV: It was my first trip to
Japan and I didn’t know how to deal with a lot of things;
I fatigued a lot quicker than what I thought just because the
whole flight; my body didn’t feel right. I got some tips
from friends that have gone over there, I made some big mistakes.
I pretty much controlled where the fight took place; I took him
down, controlled him, dropped him in the second round-I almost
finished him the second round. Third round just ground and pound.
It wasn’t the most exciting fight I ever had but I got the
win so that’s all that matters.
KM:
I was wondering if you’d make another trip over to Japan…we’ve
been hearing about Gomi but they don’t seem to be taking
chances with Gomi. JV: Here’s the thing with Gomi; when
Chris Brennan fought him that was supposed to be my fight. There
were a couple different reasons why I didn’t take it. One
I was pretty banged up, I did three fights in a row. After my
last fight I was burned out. I over trained for two of the three.
I was just not feeling good. Chris Brennan went over there and
did really well against Gomi. The thing about Gomi is when I
fight Gomi I want a title shot. The way Shooto works is the only
person that can get a title shot is their number one contender.
He just beat Mishima who is their number one guy. Number two
guy is Ryan Bow who Gomi has already beaten. Their number three
guy is (Marcio Cromado) and I’m ranked number four. Sato
beat the guy who is number three and Gomi beat the other two
guys. I’m the only guy in the top four who he hasn’t
beat but they still won’t rank me number one and won’t
give me a title shot. They’ll let me fight Gomi but it won’t
be for a title shot.
KM:
Is it a matter of popularity? Is it a matter of building your
name more with the Japanese fans? JV: It might be. I think they
want me to fight a couple more times before I get a title shot
but I mean in the formula they put out I think I should be the
number one contender just because the guys ahead of me have already
lost to Gomi or Sato and I already beat Sato.
KM:
You beat Sato but haven’t fought Mishima or Bow yet. How
do you think you’d do against them? JV: I think I could
beat both of them. I’d have to break down their video. I
was supposed to fight Bow over a year ago and he couldn’t
pass the physical here so I didn’t fight him. Winning the
Shooto belt isn’t as important as it once was because I
don’t live in Japan. I’d like to win belts out here.
It’s not that key of a priority to me. They pay me fairly
well, they take care of me. It’s just a long flight. A long
flight. That’s what kills me the most; I really did not
like that flight. Every time I’d have to defend my belt
I’d have to make that flight.
KM:
One thing I noticed is you mentioned the time lag was having
an affect on you and you weren’t feeling well. You also
said two of your last three fights you over trained for and weren’t
feeling well. I’m wondering how much of a pattern this is
that you take fights when you aren’t feeling well instead
of canceling a fight? JV: I wasn’t like ill, my body was
beat up and my mind…if I’m sick I definitely will pull
out, I was just physically beat up.
KM:
We are starting to see a couple names dropping down to 155 like
Yves has been there, Chris Brennan the last couple months, soon
Joe Stevenson…and both of them are weight cutters. What
do you usually walk around at? JV: 158-160.
KM:
Point is do you have any concern you have these big names cutting
down? Does this worry you or excite you that there are more opportunities?
JV: Not so much that there are opportunities, I just love the
fact guys think they can cut to a lower weight and fight smaller
guys and win. It’s completely inaccurate because you hurt
your body every time you do that. I say ‘come on down’.
I really don’t care because while they are cutting weight
in sweats in saunas or on a bike or worrying about their weight
on a diet and they are two pounds over and they are starving
themselves I’m sitting back eating whatever I want, eating
healthy, and I’m working on my skill. They can do it all
they want, I really don’t care.
KM:
How much do you think someone else could cut and still fight
at the level you do? JV: It all depends on the individual. Some
guys have always been really good weight cutters, some guys it
hurts. I think it hurts me when I cut weight. I can make 145
lbs but for what? What am I going to make 145 for? If I was 170
I probably would cut to 155. Honestly you are starving your body,
starving your organs, you are pretty much running your body down.
I just laugh and say ‘good, wear your body out because come
fight time I’m going to be perfectly ready’. That’s
just fine with me.
KM:
Who is your opponent in KOTC? JV: Alberto Crane. He is only the
second American to win the World Championship in the black belt
division at the Mundials.
KM:
How do you feel about fighting him? JV: I’m excited.
KM:
What is your perspective on this? JV: Well, he’s really
good at jiu-jitsu but we’re not doing jiu-jitsu. I might
technically have a brown belt that I wear around and roll in
because I haven’t gotten my black belt yet but you ask any
black belt I’ve rolled with and ask them if I’m a brown
belt.
KM:
I think it’s pretty obvious we’re going to see Crane
trying to keep it on the ground and you trying to stay standing
up. JV: Not necessarily. I’ll put my ground skills against
anybody. Believe me, the guys I’m training with are plenty
good. I’m training with Rodrigo Medeiros who is a Carlson
Gracie black belt and I’m trying with Jean Jacques Machado.
He’s not going to be better than those guys.
KM:
Oh, I’m sorry…I missed that part. JV: I do have friends.
Eddie Bravo (note: qualified for Abu Dhabi World Submission Championship)
and I have been friends since I started jiu-jitsu; we just kind
of clicked and hit it off. We’ve been very good friends
for a long time and have had kind of a rivalry. We competed at
the same weight in jiu-jitsu tournaments and I’ve known
Jean Jacques Machado for a few years. I haven’t been great
friends with him or anything but I’ve been friends with
Eddie and a lot of guys who train with him. For my fight with
Sato I asked Eddie if he’d ask Jean Jacques if I could train
with him. Jean Jacques said come on down, absolutely. I’m
training with him for this one. I’m going to train with
him at least once a week.
KM:
Then how much time do you spend with the Millennia guys and how
much with Machado? JV: I’m going to train with him once
a week. I’m not like under him or a student or anything,
he just wants different guys to train with. I see it as two friends
training, that’s it. Millennia is primarily where I do the
majority of my training. I’m here five or six days a week.
I’ll train with Jean Jacques once a week and Rodrigo once
every week or every two weeks because he’s in San Diego.
KM:
How many of Crane’s fights have you seen? JV: Two. That’s
all he has. He fought in New Mexico twice.
KM:
Do you see any holes in his game you think you can exploit? JV:
I think he has a lot of holes.
KM:
Anything you can share with the public without tipping your hand?
JV: Like I said, he’s good at jiu-jitsu but this isn’t
jiu-jitsu. What people tend to forget is I’m a college wrestler.
If I want to go down I’ll go down and if I don’t want
to go down I don’t thin he can put me down. Even if he does
take me down or I do decide to go to the ground I really don’t
care; I roll with some of the best guys in the world and it doesn’t
bother me. He’s great in New Mexico but I don’t think
he has the caliber of guys that do NHB that I do. They are the
ones that set me apart from everyone else. It’s partially
my skill but it’s the guys I train with that set me apart
from everybody else.
KM:
How do you want to project yourself to the fans? JV: I’m
just a regular guy. No matter what I do I’m always going
to be just a regular guy. I get humbled every day. I’m super
approachable. I work hard at what I do and thin I’ll get
my reward at the end. I’ve put in my time at KOTC and they’ve
been really good to me, we’ll see.
KM:
Was there anything else you want to get across? JV:
Source:
ADCC
HIGH
VOLTAGE SUBMISSION 2
A Nova Uniao Fighter runs over three Luta-Livre fighters
Place: Dende Boxing Gym
Date: February 2nd
Vitor
'Shaolin' Ribeiro has one smart pupil; Danilo Sherman did not
give his opponents a chance at the last High Voltage Submission
event. The event was a well-balanced 8-man tourney, where Sherman
overwhelmed his three opponents on his way to the title. And,
he did it on pure technique! Sherman who is a purple-belt beat
three experienced Luta-Livre fighters. The first of Sherman's
victims was Eraldo Paes who surprised Sherman as he slapped an
arm bar from the guard. Sherman defended well and won by 2-0.
Sherman faced off on to the SHOOTO and IVC veteran Johnny Eduardo,
and won by an armlock.
The
final was the filled with expectations because these two guys,
Sherman and Gesias Cavalcanti had already fought at BOPE Submission
Wrestling last year, and Sherman had been victorious by doctor
stoppage. This time Cavalcanti seemed to be more determined and
with a better repertoire of takedowns as he almost took Sherman
down. Sherman then pulled guard and started his arsenal of attacks.
First he swept and passed then to take the back with both hooks.
At this time the fight was already 8-0 for Sherman, who stalled
a bit. The referee moved the fight to the feet and Cavalcanti
applied a double-leg on Sherman, the fight stayed on the ground
until the end, with Calvanti trying to open the close guard of
Sherman.
Sherman
proved that his skills are on the verge and for sure 'Shaolin'
will be pondering giving him a brown-belt soon.
The
complete results:
Novice
single bouts:
Vanderlei
Fernandes (Clube de Luta) submitted Carlos Henrique (Team Beninca)
by guilhotine choke
Leandro
Castro (Clube de Luta) beat Gabriel Canzione (Team Beninca) by
ponts
(9-2)
Anderson
Luiz beat Leandro 'Bad' Silva (JOP) by points (10-2)
Jorge
Vidal (De LaRiva) beat Jorge Pastore (Team Beninca) by points
(2-0)
