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(All events on Oahu, unless noted)
July 9-12
BJJ World Cup (CBJJO)
(BJJ)
(SESC gym, Salvador, Brazil)
Sometime
between Arnold-Gracie & Pan Ams
Pac-Rim BJJ tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Hawaii)
3/5-7/04
Arnold
Schwarzenegger World Gracie Professional Submission Championships
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Columbus, Ohio)
1/19/04
Second 2 None Submission Grappling Tournament
(Sub Grappling)
(Oahu)
2004
12/5/03
SuperBrawl
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
11/30/02
2nd
American National Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
(Torrance H.S., Torrance, CA)
11/29/03
Punishment in Paradise
(MMA & Kickboxing)
11/28/03
Kick'n It 3
(Kickboxing)
(Campbell H.S. Gym,
Ewa Beach)
11/22/03
Ring of Honor
(Campbell H.S. Gym, Ewa Beach)
(MMA)
11/21/03
UFC
45: Revolution
(MMA)
(Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT)
11/9/03
Pride:
Final Conflict
(MMA)
(Toyko, Japan)
11/8/03
Relson Gracie International BJJ Tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser High School)
|
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October News Part
3
Wednesday
night and Sunday classes (w/ a kids' class) starting in October!
 
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price, click on one of these banners above! |
Quote
of the Day
If you learn from defeat, then you haven't really lost.
Anonymous
|
Onzuka.com
Wishes Everyone a Safe & Enjoyable Halloween
For your entertainment pleasure, I have included a picture of
myself (two days after Halloween last year) in my costume after
over indulging in Halloween candies.
Please be safe, wear light colored clothing, stay on the sidewalks,
if you are driving, please slow down and parents check your kids'
candies before they eat it!
|
Punishment
in Paradise Rumored matches
November 29, 2003
The
promoter is still looking for amateur kickboxers and MMA fighters
to fill the card. Anyone interested can call (808) 542-5071.
MMA
- 185lbs
Corey Daniels (Kodenkan) vs. TBA (Jesus Is Lord)
Kickboxing
- 125lbs.
Richard Pelen Jr. (Waianae Kickboxing) vs. Russell Barre (HMC)
MMA
- 170lbs.
Mike Bauer (HMC) vs. TBA (Bulls Pen)
Semi-Main
Event
Kickboxing (Women's match) - 120lbs.
Tatom Pelen (Waianae Kickboxing) vs. TBA
Main
Event
Kickboxing - 165lbs.
PJ Dean (Waianae Kickboxing) vs. Deshawn Johnson (HMC)
|
Second
2 None Submission Grappling Tournament
January 19, 2004
More
information to follow soon.
|
Casca
Grossa Jiu-Jitsu Academy Wednesday Classes!
Our own academy has added Wednesday night classes (8-10PM) inside
Rainbow Gymnastics Academy, so we are trying to get the word
out.
If anyone is interested in learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or Submission
Grappling, Wednesdays are a great night because the classes are
small for now, so you get very personalized training. Take advantage
of it while it lasts!
Click
here or on the banner to get more information.
We still have Tuesdays (7:30-9:00PM), Thursdays (8-10PM) and
Sundays (Kid's class 3-4PM, open mat 3-5PM).
Your first class is free and we do not lock you into any contracts
so stop by and try out one of the classes!
|
ULTIMATE
FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP TO TELECAST UFC 45: REVOLUTION LIVE ON
SETANTA SPORT IN U.K., NOVEMBER 21
by: Josh Hedges
World’s Premiere Mixed Martial Arts Sport Returns to Pay-Per-View
In Britain
LAS
VEGAS, October 30, 2003….The Ultimate Fighting Championship
(UFC), the world’s premiere mixed martial arts sports association,
today announced that UFC 45: Revolution, its all-star, eight-fight
show on Friday, November 21, from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville,
Ct., will be telecast LIVE on pay-per-view on Setanta Sport in
the United Kingdom.
UFC
45: Revolution will air live starting at 3 a.m., November 22,
British Time and the suggested retail price for U.K. fight fans
will be 14.95 pounds. Setanta Sport broadcasts events as part
of SKY Digital’s on-demand cable package. Sky Digital customers
can order the show by pressing the red “select” button
on channel 436 or by calling 08708 500 005. NTL and Telewest
customers should contact their respective cable operators to
order the show.
The
UFC is returning to pay-per-view in the United Kingdom after
a highly successful UFC 38: Brawl At The Hall, July 13, 2002,
at Royal Albert Hall in London. That show sold out the venerable
hall and was one of the highest rated pay-per-view events in
the U.K. in 2002.
“British
fight fans are some of the best in the world. We are really excited
about being back on pay-per-view television in the U.K. There
is a real demand for our brand of combat sport not only in Britain
but also throughout the entire United Kingdom,” said Dana
White, UFC president.
In
the main event of UFC 45: Revolution, Welterweight Champion Matt
Hughes (29-3-0 in mixed martial arts) from Hillsboro, Ill., will
defend his belt for the fifth time against highly rated Frank
Trigg (9-1-0) from El Segundo, Calif. In a heavyweight feature
match, legendary knockout artist “Tank” Abbott (8-9-0)
of Huntington Beach, Calif., will meet “Cabbage” Correira (16-4-0), a power
puncher from Hilo, Hawaii.
In
other feature bouts, Welterweight star Robbie Lawler (7-1-0)
from Davenport, Iowa, returns after a seven-month layoff from
a hip flexor injury to fight Chris Lytle (26-9-4) of Indianapolis,
Ind.; former Heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez (10-3-0), a
Newark, N.J. and Staten Island, N.Y., native, who now fights
out of Las Vegas, will meet veteran contender Pedro Rizzo (12-5-0)
of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Middleweight top contender Matt Lindland
(8-2-0) of Eagle Creek, Ore., will again take on Falaniko Vitale (14-2-0) of Honolulu,
Hawaii, in a re-match from their “surprise ending”
fight at UFC 43: Melt Down; power-punching Middleweight Phil
Baroni (6-2-0), a Long Island, N.Y. native, who now fights out
of Las Vegas, will clash with Evan Tanner (8-2-0) of Portland,
Ore., who will fight as a middleweight for the first time; in
another middleweight match-up, Keith Rockel (9-2-1) of Lancaster,
Ma., will grapple with Chris Ligouri (2-1-0) of Middletown, N.J.,
and two of the UFC’s top lightweight contenders, Din Thomas
(18-3-0) of Orlando, Fla., and Yves Edwards (13-6-1) from Houston,
Tex., will duel in a battle of jiu jitsu specialists.
Source:
ADCC |
JEREMY
JACKSON READY TO MOVE AHEAD
I am
trying to confirm which event this is in Hawaii.
"It's been frustrating that I haven't had a chance to show
off my standup skills to the MMA fans." That was a quote
from Jeremy Jackson to MMAWeekly right after his tough loss to
Nick Diaz at the last UFC.
It
looks like in his next two fights he will be able show off his
stand up with two tough fights ahead. Jackson is slated to fight
against Mario Espanoza, a three time golden gloves champion,
for a fight in Hawaii at the end of November.
Jackson
also has agreed verbally to face Tiki at World Extreme Cagefighting's
show in January. Jackson will talk about his future on MMAWeekly
Radio on Monday.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
NOGUEIRA
ON CRO COP
There are many questions about the fight between Mirko Cro Cop
against Minotauro Nogueira. Can Mino take down Cro Cop? If Nogueira
can take down Cro Cop, can Mirko defend the subs? Our partners
at TATAME.com had a chance to talk with him and this is what
they found out....
Courtesy
of our Partners TATAME:
"The
former Pride champion Rodrigo Minotauro doesn't discard changing
on the feet with the croatian Mirko Cro Cop in the interim Heavyweight
title bout, on November 9 Pride GP. "I trained badly on
the feet and I'm prepared to exchange with him. But if he let
the fight goes to the ground, I have no doubt that I submit him",
warn Minotauro. The brazilian departures this Saturday to Japan
with his teammate Murilo Bustamante, that faces American Dan
Henderson in the alternate Pride GP fight
The
Chute Boxe star Wanderlei Silva is doing the last ajustments
in his training to his fight against Hidehiko Yoshida for the
GP's second round. Yesterday, Wanderlei did a hard Muay Thai
training with the most tought fighters of his team, Murilo Ninja,
Maurício Shogun and Assuério Silva. "I'm also
training on the ground, but I'm very confidant of knocking Yoshida
out in the first bout", stated the Middleweight champion,
that departures to Japan on next Monday.
Yesterday,
the Dream Stage Entertainment, the Pride producer, did the official
announcement of the November 9 card and brought some news. The
GP Middleweight fights will have just two rounds, one with 10
minutes and the last with 5. The other superfights continues
having three rounds, as the Pride rules. They also closed the
card with the announcement of the Gary Goodridge vs Dan Bobish
fight, opening the night.
COMPLETE
CARD (subject to change):
-
Gary Goodridge (Ultimatemartialarts) vs Dan Bobish (Bart Vale
Shoot Fighting)
Pride
GP Middleweight first round
-
Quinton Jackson (Team Oyama) vs Chuck Liddell (The Pit Fight
Team);
-
Hidehiko Yoshida (Yoshida Dojo) vs Wanderlei Silva (Chute Boxe);
Pride
GP Middleweight alternate bout
-
Dan Henderson (Team Quest) vs Murilo Bustamante (Brazilian Top
Team);
Superfights:
- Heath Herring (Golden Glory) vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto (Takada
Dojo);
Break
-
Kazushi Sakuraba (Takada Dojo) vs Kevin Randleman (Hammer House);
Interim
Heavyweight title fight
- Mirko Cro Cop (Cro Cop Squad Gym) vs Rodrigo Minotauro (Brazilian
Top Team);
Pride
GP final
Source:
MMA Weekly |
Lewis
'unlikely to fight again'
Steward (right) has been Lewis' trainer for more than 10 years
World heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis is close to retirement,
according to his trainer Emanuel Steward.
The 38-year-old has not fought since retaining his title with
a sixth-round win over Vitali Klitschko in June and Steward claims
that could have been his final appearance.
"Lennox
won't fight before the new year and almost certainly not after
that," Steward told the Daily Express newspaper.
"Lennox
won't fight again - I am as sure of that as I can be.
"I
am not saying he definitely won't go back, but there is very
little chance he will return again.
"Lennox
has done all he has to do in the ring. He has won the world title
and is the undisputed heavyweight champion in everyone's eyes.
Lewis:
I won't fight this year
"He has got nothing left to prove."
Lewis
has reduced his number of fights markedly over recent years with
his last fight before Klitschko an eighth-round win over Mike
Tyson in June 2002.
Responding
to Steward's comments, Lewis's ex-manager Frank Maloney said
he hoped his former fighter had decided to call it a day.
"What
Lennox Lewis has achieved is unbelievable for British boxing,"
Maloney told BBC GMR.
"But
he's got nothing else to prove. All he can do is damage his legacy.
The mind might still be willing but, at 38, the body's getting
weaker.
"There's
no-one out there for him and he should retire and enjoy life".
Source:
BBC Sport |
FINAL
CONFLICT---ROUND FORMAT FOR TOURNAMENT MATCHES
by: Turi Altavilla
LOS ANGELES, California – Due to the nature of the upcoming
PRIDE FC event, tournament matches will be shortened from the
traditional three rounds to two for FINAL CONFLICT, scheduled
for November 9th, 2003 from the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
FINAL
CONFLICT / Round Format
Semi-Final, Final, and Reserve Matches
Round 1
10 minutes
Round 2
5 minutes
(2 minute interval between rounds)
This
adjusted round format is only for bouts related to the tournament.
All other matches on the fight card will be held in the traditional
10-5-5 format.
FINAL
CONFLICT - Fight Card (Presented in Order)
Gary
“Big Daddy” Goodridge vs. Dan “The Bull”
Bobish
Middleweight
Tournament Match #1
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Chuck “The Iceman”
Liddell
Middleweight
Tournament Match #2
Wanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
Middleweight
Tournament Match #3 (Reserve Match)
Dan Henderson vs. Murilo Bustamante
Heath
Herring vs. Norihisa Yamamoto
Kazushi
Sakuraba vs. Kevin Randleman
PRIDE
FC Interim Heavyweight Championship Match
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro”
Nogueira
Middleweight
Tournament Final Match
Winner Liddell/Jackson vs. Winner Silva/Yoshida
Fight
Card is subject to change.
FINAL
CONFLICT is scheduled for November 9th, 2003 from the Tokyo Dome
in Japan. The event will premiere on North American pay per view
(through iNDEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH NETWORK, UrbanXtra, TVN1, Bell
Express Vu, and Viewer’s Choice) on November 9th via same
day delay.
For
more information on PRIDE FC, visit pridefc.com!
Source:
ADCC |
PRIDE
Preview Part I: An Under Card to Remember
By Jason Probst
The upcoming
PRIDE card is the kind of lineup that's so good, you have to
read it twice and pinch yourself to make sure it's real.
High-stakes
matchmaking makes for better storylines down the road, and PRIDE
has put together a card where virtually every bout is a high-stakes
showdown, promising intense competition, hard-earned scalps,
and crushing setbacks. Good stuff.
While
the much-hyped light heavyweight Grand Prix finals will be concluded
in the four-man card that night, PRIDE served up an under card
that could rightfully stand on its own as a quality Pay Per View
event even if the tournament wasn't happening.
Here's
the rundown on the under card, two of which could be a main event
on their own:
Mirko
"Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro"
Nogueira
Originally pitted Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic against
heavyweight champ Fedor Emelianenko, until the Russian's thumb
injury scratched him from the event. Last minute pull out? No
problem. Rodrigo Nogueira stepped in instead, making a showdown
between the top contenders in the organization.
For
those waiting to see how "Cro Cop" fares against better
competition, it's a win-win situation. Sure, he'd probably give
Fedor a great fight. But a go against a rugged, ultra-skilled
ground stylist like Nogueira is a great indicator of how Filipovic's
takedown defense will match up against a top grappler.
While
"Cro Cop" has emerged as one of the most exciting strikers
in MMA, his pedigree as an anti-grappler reminds you of how not
too long ago Chuck Liddell seemed unbeatable. Nogueira may have
had so many tough fights and mileage on him that he's not the
guy he used to be, but the pick here is the Brazilian, because
grappling is to MMA what good pitching is to baseball -- and
good pitching usually beats good hitting.
It
isn't like Nog can't strike himself, or can't take a shot. He
does both with the kind of competency that suggest a new breed
of Brazilian fighter. He absorbed a ton of blows in Fedor's ground-and-pound
attack, the kind of nasty fare that wilts lesser men. He was
spiked on his head by Bob Sapp and recovered in a war to win.
Once he gets it to the ground, he can control the fight and pull
out a tough decision. The guy is as tough as they come, and he
doesn't make a lot of mistakes while transitioning between standup
and groundwork. A vicious ground-and-pounder with great submissions
defense is the best style to beat him, as Fedor showed. But can
"Crop Cop" hang in Nog's dangerous guard?
The
flip side is that if Mirko wins, that's street cred that makes
him a huge contender for Fedor's title. He was worthy of the
shot before -- but with a win over Nogueira (and let's face it,
"Cro Cop" is most likely to win if it goes inside the
distance), he'll have serious credentials and that fight will
be worth even more. Rarely do you see the No. 1 and No. 2 contender
fight it out for the right to challenge a champ. Nogueira is
a guy seeking redemption. "Cro Cop" is on a tear toward
a title many believe will be his. It's gonna be a great fight.
Dan
Henderson vs. Murilo Bustamante
Bustamante is the best fighter in the sport, and seems incapable
of taking anything other than tough matches. His willingness
to take on Quinton Jackson on short notice was pure balls, and
his competitive showing where he lost a close decision was incredible,
considering that Rampage is one of the top four light heavyweights
in the world.
Henderson
is a tough nut, too, and one of the best light-heavies/middleweights
in the game. He can do it all, and backs up good striking with
the takedowns of a world-class wrestler. Call him a mini-Couture.
He has lost decisions to Ricardo Arona and Vanderlei Silva, and
lost his rematch to the much bigger Rodrigo Nogueira by armbar.
Both
of these guys are very tough, and it figures to go to a decision.
With Bustamante having the edge in standup and submissions, and
Henderson being naturally bigger, it's a toss up. We'll go with
Henderson on a decision that is this close on the heels of a
busy ground-and-pound attack, but he's got to be wary of submissions
and Bustamante's explosive hands and clever transitions. It should
be a lot like the Busta-Jackson fight and a great one to watch
between two of the game's best. In the end, size matters just
enough to give Henderson the nod.
Kazushi
Sakuraba vs. Kevin Randleman
There's also this compelling match between Kazushi Sakuraba and
Kevin Randleman. Apparently Sak isn't allowed to fight people
his own size anymore, in a sort of tribute to the Kamikaze warriors
who flew the skies of WW II and crashed themselves into enemy
ships as a sort of warrior's tribute to a greater cause. However,
luckily for Sakuraba's sake, Randleman is merely a bigger guy
who isn't likely to out strike him, but "The Monster"
still poses a ground-and-pound threat if he pushes the pace.
I like Randleman in a decision here.
Coming
on Monday: Part II: Probst breaks down the Grand Prix
Source:
Maxfighting |
WILL
MMA TEST FOR T.H.G. IN THE FUTURE?
by Mick Hammond
In the wake of this month’s announcement that UFC Heavyweight
Champion Tim Sylvia was found to be using steroids the MMA community
is on high alert when it comes to banned substances, or is it?
Recently it has been discovered that a new form of steroid, Tetrahydrogestrinone
or THG as it is known has been in circulation possibly enhancing
the performance of several Olympic level athletes and other sports
as well. So new and groundbreaking are the findings of this formerly
unknown substance that many athletes in professional baseball
and football are being subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury
inquiry into THG.
So
what is THG, why is it just being found now, and why does it
pose a similar threat to athletics that steroids do? First of
all, THG has been sold as a dietary supplement, similar to creatine
and other non-steroid based performance enhancement supplements.
Because it was being sold as a dietary supplement it was long
available stateside. Also THG was specifically manufactured to
be undetectable to the existing tests used in athletics. However
since the revelation of its use by Olympic athletes and further
testing the FDA only recently classified it as a drug and did
not approve it for sale in the US. Findings of the FDA now state
that THG is in fact derived from another steroid, however it
is now up to the various athletic commissions to determine when
and if they will ban THG.
What
this has to do with MMA is the simple. THG like other anabolic
steroids are a synthetic version of the male hormone testosterone.
THG has been found to be similar to a drug called Trenbolone,
which is a controlled substance, used to bulk up cattle. Such
synthetic steroids help bulk up individuals as well as eliminating
water retention (thus resulting in that “cut” look).
When it is applied it enhances performance and produces levels
of chemicals not normally found within the body. Thus helping
an athlete under the influence of such drugs to have enhanced
strength, endurance, and general all-around performance. The
side effects of such anabolic steroids are numerous and extremely
dangerous. Side effects such as liver damage, heart disease,
anxiety and extreme rage (commonly known as “roid rage”)
are common amongst users of such chemicals. Thus making it not
only a performance enhancer but a very serious health risk as
well.
When
contacted about this issue, Nevada State Athletic Commission
Executive Director Marc Ratner stated that currently only about
20 substances are tested for in events sanctioned by the NSAC.
THG however is not currently one of those substances tested,
however Ratner is extremely confident by the time the UFC holds
another event in Nevada next year that it will be added and fighters
will be tested for it.
Also
according to Ratner, a situation has never happened like this
to his knowledge, where a substance which has been virtually
undetectable before is later discovered and then banned. Since
the findings of THG are so new, it is quite possible that athletes
within MMA could have been using this substance without detection.
It is most likely not possible to go back and retest the most
recent samples given to the NSAC labs by the UFC or any other
MMA organization and fighters for THG as Ratner stated that most
samples are kept for a maximum of 30 days. (The last UFC event
held within Nevada was UFC 44 that took place on September 26th.)
As
far as the upcoming UFC 45 Revolution event at the Mohegan Sun
Casino in Connecticut on November 21st, Jerry Boyle, the Manager
of the Department of Athletic Regulations for the Mohegan Sun
said that they will not be testing for THG at the event. The
reasoning for the decision currently to not test for THG was
that it first had to be found to be a substance to be tested
for by their chief medical officer and then passed along to Mohegan
Sun management before then being added to the list of substances
tested. Even if the UFC themselves told the Mohegan Sun to test
for THG, it would still have to go through the predetermined
channels before being considered for testing.
Since
there is also no uniform code for illegal substance testing,
each individual state has to say what is and isn’t tested
under their regulations. So it is also quite possible that events
not held in Nevada and not under the control of the NSAC could
easily go for many months before reforming their policies on
testing for an FDA banned substance. When contacted about this
issue, UFC President Dana White responded “It’s not
my position to comment on this issue. I am not the commission(s).”
Many
MMA organizations overseas do not test for steroids period. This
of course could lead to a public relations nightmare, furthering
the gap between the trust of MMA fans and organizations and governing
bodies that regulate the sport. If the organizations are not
willing to make a push for testing and if some organizations
are not yet willing to do so, how long could an FDA banned substance
run virtually unhindered through the MMA community? For now MMA
fans must sit back and watch as other sports and organizations
scramble to regulate this new threat to integrity of sports,
and wonder when and if another situation like the one Tim Sylvia
found himself in will happen anytime soon.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
ARE
SEMENOV AND SULOEV READY TO FIGHT IN THE BIG TIME AGAIN?
They were a couple of fighters that American fans enjoyed watching.
Russians Andrei Semenov and Amar Suloev. It's been a long time
since we saw the duo fight in the UFC.
So
why aren't they fighting again in the UFC? Since leaving the
Octagon, Semenov is 2-1-1 in his last four fights. He lost his
first fight away from the bright lights of the UFC against Murad
Chunkaiev by Decision.
After
the loss Semenov got a win over Curtis Stout by Submission, he
had a draw against Mike Pyle and defeated Chris Albandia by TKO
due to cuts.
Meanwhile
Amar Suloev has had more success and you could make an arguement
that he should be back in the UFC. Suloev, since losing back
to back fights to Chuck Liddell and Phil Baroni in the Octagon,
has gone a perfect 3-0 in fights. He defeated Paul Cahoon by
Submission (Hip Lock) he beat Julian Gonzales by Submission (Rear
Naked Choke) and beat Yushin Okami. In fact Suloev's career record
is extremely impressive.
Suloev
has won 15 of his last 17 fights, with those two losses against
two of the best fighters in the world in Baroni and Liddell and
you could argue that if Suloev didn't foul Baroni with the illegal
knee, he would have won that fight as well.
While
both fighters have had some success, it's unknown if they will
be back in the Octagon anytime soon, do to the fact that plenty
of new faces are being invited to fight at each UFC, but this
is what we do know. Their aren't too many more exciting fighters
than the two Russians who will fight once agian in a couple of
weeks.
Here's
the card for the upcoming M-1 show and you would think if Semenov
can defeat Dennis Kang his upcoming opponent, that would be a
big enough win to warrant a return to one of the big shows....
M-1:
'Russia vs. The World 7'
December 5th, 2003
St. Petersburg, Russia
(Card
Subject To Change)
Amar
Suloev vs. TBA
Andrei Semenov vs. Denis Kang
Dave Strasser vs. Musail Alaudinov
Roman Zentsov vs. Kristof Midoux
Brad Lynde vs. Alexei Veselovzorov
Source:
MMA Weekly |
MW
Tourney Goes To 2 Rounds
The second and final leg of one of the most talent rich tournaments
of all-time will have the competitors fighting a 10 minute round
and a 5 minute round. Either Liddell, Jackson, Silva or Yoshida
will need to win 2 fights on November 9th to claim tournament
champ.
The
first stage of the tournament was 3 round, 10 minutes for the
first, and then two 5 minute rounds after that, however, fighters
only competed one time. Going back to the Pride Grand Prix finals
in May of 2000, Coleman and Vovchanchyn competed 3 times in one
night with each bout being 1 round with a 15 minute time limit.
Sakuraba, in the tournament that same night went for 6 rounds
with Royce Gracie in a special no limit round match, and then
had to go on to face Vovchanchyn soon after. Its obvious, Pride
has never been stringent with certain parameters and with less
than two weeks until the big show, they do it again. Its should
be no surprise.
But,
will this really have any impact on the tournament? It could
for fighters who are not fast out of the gate like Jackson and
especially Liddell. The fighter who could benefit most from this
change in time limits is Vanderlei Silva who comes out quick
with a swinging toe-to-toe style. With reports that he is as
big as ever, his cardio might be weaker than the other side of
the bracket, but that's only speculation. Yoshida simply doesn't
have the striking tools to wear down Wanderlei Silva and the
longer the match progresses, the more damage he will take, the
more slippery Silva will become, and the less power he will have
to try to finish with a submission. Time is not on his side in
any case.
The
rest of the card will follow the traditional 10-5-5 format.
Final
Conflict 2003 Card:
Gary
"Big Daddy" Goodridge vs. Dan "The Bull"
Bobish
Middleweight
Tournament Match #1
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Chuck "The Iceman"
Liddell
Middleweight
Tournament Match #2
Wanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
Middleweight
Tournament Match #3 (Reserve Match)
Dan Henderson vs. Murilo Bustamante
Heath
Herring vs. Norihisa Yamamoto
Kazushi
Sakuraba vs. Kevin Randleman
PRIDE
FC Interim Heavyweight Championship Match
Mirko
"Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro"
Nogueira
Middleweight
Tournament Final Match
Winner Liddell/Jackson vs. Winner Silva/Yoshida
Source:
MMA Ring Report |
Undisputed
MMA Champions?
By Derek Callahan
Fans
have great ideas. There’s nothing more rewarding than lazing
and grazing. Grab a beer, sit back with some jiu-jitsu buddies,
kickboxing buddies, any kind of buddy, and enjoy watching some
of the best fighters in the world do what they do best.
But
one thing fans can do that MMA personnel can’t, whether
it be a promoter, scribe, fighter or the guy that sweeps the
ring or octagon canvas, a fan knows what they want and can say
it.
They
don’t worry about what would be good for the sport, what
would be most profitable, and there’s no reputation to uphold
in the fight game. It’s fans that have incredible ideas
and daydreams for their sport, and one such fan struck daydream
gold.
Daryl
Arquero, a run-of-the-mill fan, put on paper an idea that has
floated through the brains of everybody involved in MMA, and
it’s time for a ruckus to try and make it happen.
Mixed
martial arts have evolved into a world very similar to boxing.
There are governing bodies all over the world, with their titles
having sometimes more meaning, and sometimes less. Just as for
boxing there’s the USBA, the NABO, the WBC and others, MMA
has the WECD, the RITC, the KOTC, UFC and others.
It’s
damned tough to get an undisputed, linear champ in any weight
class for boxing because there’s ducked fights, corruption,
and lots and lots of money. But guess what? Individually, there
isn’t nearly enough money to stage the soon-to-be-explained.
However, if the powers that be at the countless of MMA events
around the world work together, putting heads and wallets together,
crazy things can happen.
There
are flaws to any supper show or tournament staged. Whoever wins
the PRIDE elimination tournament will have the utmost respect
from the MMA community, but will they be an undisputed champion?
No way!
For
descriptive purposes, say Wanderlei retain his title and walks
out wit the silver strap. He can feel all the confidence in the
world that he’s a bad, bad, fighter, but he won’t be
a world champion because Randy Couture still walks and still
fights. Which is an exact ticket to what hardcore MMA aficionado
Daryl Arguero, among thousands of others, wishes for.
A
tournament that says put up or shut up. World champions can be
made in every weight class, and dream match-ups can happen The
old school UFC staked its claim and gained early popularity by
pitting all different kinds of fighters into match-ups where
they had no choice but to yearn for victory.
If
all the organizations worked together, this could very well happen.
With the minds of the best promoters in the business working
together, anything is possible for a tournament and while organizations
have great side effects, how appealing would it be for the best
fighters in the world getting it on to see who really is the
world’s champ? Inter-weight class fights have been riveting,
especially with the light-heavyweights and the heavies.
The
match between Wanderlei Silva and Cro-Cop Filipovic was one for
the ages, as was the excitement that Quinton Jackson’s slams
provided in his fight against Igor Vovchanchyn. Randy Couture
also pulled the old switcheroo down to light heavyweight with
unexpected results.
It’s
time the MMA world gets a world champion. If all the promoters
and shows get together every so often to see who is the best,
fireworks are bound to go off. Also with the teamwork of all
the shows, the fighter purses will go up, up, up. There would
be fine incentive to step up and throw down if the money was
what these athletes deserve.
Weight
classes shouldn’t matter. The best professionals in the
world know what is right and what isn’t, and at the level
the top fighters are at, they should be in control of if they
want to give it a shot. Elimination rounds could be held with
preliminaries, and it could be narrowed down to a certain number
for the main tournament. Put the likes of Cro-cop, Fedor, the
Shamrocks, Jeremy Horn and countless others into the same brackets,
and see what happens.
Also,
if you’re tired of people from the sporting news and boxing
world displaying their ignorance for everyone to see and degrading
MMA fighters to the public, throw in a top-10 cruiserweight boxer
with a seasoned mixed martial artist, and then enjoy the excuses
the critics give the next day for why their man didn’t get
enough air to his brain the previous night, or why he’s
using a handy sling for the next month.
MMA
fighters have always practiced boxing and gave boxers the respect
they deserve. It’s time the boxing world gives it back to
MMA and stops badmouthing the sport. It’s a catch-22 in
that they are the ones with clout, influence and exposure, but
the glory of the ring lies in it’s unparalleled skills as
an equalizer, and if it were a person, it would be a real Honest
Eddy, because in the ring, the truth comes out for the fans to
see.
So
why not go for it? The fans would come out of the woodwork for
a world championship elimination tournament where anyone with
the right qualifications can enter. With a lot of teamwork and
motivation, the MMA world could be in for some breathtaking matches
in a tournament that exemplifies what the UFC was founded on:
finding the undisputed greatest fighter in the world.
No
specific shows, no organizations, no discrimination on who fights.
Whoever makes it, makes it. It would surely be a rough and tumble
tournament filled with classic highlight reel finishes. It’s
the perfect, fairest way to determine what would be the most
prestigious title on earth. The worst thing that could happen
is the fans get an undisputed world champion, and it would be
about time.
Source:
Sherdog |
Quote
of the Day
"A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances,
but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes."
Hugh Downs Veteran Journalist, Television Host
|
|
Super-Brawler
Charged With Spousal Abuse
Again
as stated below with the truth in the news posts, this is just
the official post from the KHNL news site.
(Honolulu)
-- He has multiple super-brawl titles and is considered one of
the best fighters in the world. Prosecutors have charged 38 year
old Egan Inoue with domestic abuse and second-degree terroristic
threatening for allegedly choking and kicking his wife Gina.
"I actually just filed a restraining order because we need
some time apart," Inoue's wife said. However she says she
does not want to see her husband wind up in jail and is not assisting
prosecutors with the case.
Honolulu
police say Inoue posted $1,100 dollars bail on the two misdemeanor
charges. He now faces a court appearance in November. Gine Inoue
told News 8 that she doesn't feel her husband "needs to
go to jail, and I don't want to work with the state to put him
there." One of Inoue's students says the champion fighter
rarely displays a temper. "It's very surprising. I never
see him get angry. I can't picture him doing something like that,"
said Baret Yoshida.
Inoue
and his attorney may answer questions or issue a statement about
the charges against the fighter at a press conference on Wednesday.
It's not clear what effect if any the legal trouble facing Inoue
will have on a fight he has scheduled for December 5.
Source:
KHNL News 8 |
MMA
fighters & Kickboxers Wanted!
A new event, Punishment in Paradise is looking for amateur fighters
interested in competing in kickboxing and MMA matches.
The
event is scheduled for November 29, 2003.
If you are interested, please contact the match maker at (808)
542-5071.
Source: Event Promoter
|
Super
Brawl 31 Postponed to December 5th!
Suda added
to December 5, Super Brawl
Current World Super Brawl Champion Masanori Suda has made a verbal
agreement to return to the Super Brawl ring on December 5. His
opponent will be announced in the coming weeks.
Inoue to Face "Mayhem" on December 5, Super Brawl
Former
Super Brawl Champion, Egan Inoue will return to the Super Brawl
ring on December 5. He missed Super Brawl 31 due to a fractured
eye socket suffered in training. "I am very anxious to get
back in the ring. I am fully recovered and will be in the best
shape of my life for this fight. Jason Miller will bring me one
step closer to what I really want." (Masanori Suda and the
Super Brawl belt.)
Egan Inoue
Miller
dismantled Grappling Unlimited's Shawn Taylor in Super Brawl
31 and then proceeded to taunt Inoue by taking the mic and calling
out, "Eeegaaannnn, come out and plaaaayyyy!!!" Miller
will be a very tough comeback fight for the 38 year old Inoue.
Tentative
Super Brawl 32 Fight Card:
(as usual card subject to change)
Egan
Inoue (Grappling Unlimited) vs. Jason "Mayhem" Miller
(Team Oyama)
Masanori
Suda vs. Shannon "The Cannon" Rich (Team Cannon)
David
Yeung (HMC) vs. Justin Mercado (Grappling Unlimited)
Stephen Palling III (Bozo's son, Jesus Is Lord) vs. Harvy Nakamura
(Grappling Unlimited)
Ryan Lee (Bull's Pen) vs. Will Hagerty (Grappling Unlimited)
Eddie Yagin (Grappling Unlimited) vs. TBA
Anthony Torres (Grappling Unlimited) vs. TBA
King Kong (Grappling Unlimited) vs. TBA
Rumored
matches:
Brian Pardoe vs. TBA (rumored to be Masanori Suda's 205lb training
partner)
Tiki Ghosen (Team Oyama) vs. Mark Moreno (Bulls Pen)
Source:
Super Brawl
|
UFC
45: Card Update - 9th Match Added!
Ultimate
Fighting Championship To Mark Its 10th Anniversary With An 9-Fight,
All-Star Card LIVE on Pay-Per-View at the Mohegan Sun Arena,
Uncasville, Conn on Friday, November 21, 2003
At
the last UFC, the Dave Strasser versus Karo Parisyan bout was
the 9th match added, breaking a traditional mold of 8 fight shows
by adding an additional match.
For
the upcoming event in Conneticutt, UFC has been looking to add
more localized talent, and were reportedly turned down for a
quick return by local fighter Jorge Rivera, who needed time off.
Word is appearing that UFC has tapped Rivera teammate and UFC
veteran Keith Rockel, to take on up and comer as the 9th match
for the next UFC event.
COMPLETE
CARD - Subject To Change:
Welterweight
Title Bout: FRANK TRIGG (Challenger) v. MATT HUGHES (Champion)
Heavyweights:
FRANK MIR v. PAT SMITH
Heavyweights: RICCO RODRIGUEZ v. PEDRO RIZZO
Heavyweights: DAVID 'TANK' ABBOTT v. WESLEY 'CABBAGE' CORREIA
Middleweights: FALANIKO
VITALE
v. MATT LINDLAND
Lightweights: DIN THOMAS v. YVES EDWARDS
Middleweights: PHIL BARONI v. EVAN TANNER
Welterweights: ROBBIE LAWLER v. CHRIS LYTLE
Middleweights: KEITH ROCKEL v. CHRIS LIGUORI
Source: ADCC
|
Brazilian
'Pega-Leve' out of Reality Fighting 5
The Brazilian Top Team black belt Fabiano 'Pega-Leve' Scherner
is out of Reality Fighting 5, scheduled for Atlantic City, on
November 1.
'Pega-Leve'
was unable to obtain a US visa and, according to him, the American
consulate stated that he needs a working visa. 'The Reality producers
should have sent a document requesting a visa for me. But, now,
there isn't enough time to do that', explained Pega-Leve, who
was to fight Renzo Gracie's John Rallo.
The
possible substitute for the Brazilian is his teammate Alex Negão
Paz, also a BJJ black belt. Negão made his debut in MMA
in 2000 WEF 8, when he lost to Bobby Hoffman by tapping out to
strikes. This March 28, Negão fought at the Absolute Fighting
Championship 2, defeating Mike Whitehead by decision.
Source: ADCC
|
The
Gustavo Ximú's return
Gustavo Ximú (Ruas Vale-Tudo) is training to face Pride
vet Allan Góes (BTT) at II Heat Fighting Championship,
in November. According to him, his loss at August 16 King of
the Cage to Benji Radach postponed his dream to fight at Ultimate
Fighting Championship, but he didn't give up. During this exclusive
interview to TATAME webpage, Ximú talks about the possibility
to fight at Meca 10, on December, and told us that he has already
closed a deal to fight in Japan next year.
How
is going your training to face Allan Góes at next Heat?
I'm
training badly and preparing myself to any fight situation. My
ground coach is Beto Leitão, but sometimes I also train
with Shooto Welterweight #1 Vitor Shaolim, and his coach, Dedé
(Shooto vet André Pederneiras). On the feet, I train with
UFC's Pedro (Rizzo), the IFC Middleheavyweight champion Babalú
(Renato), well, with all my teammates.
A
victory over Benji Radach at King of the Cage could open the
UFC doors to you. Do you agree with it?
Of
course, so. At that fight against Radach, I didn't fight well,
due to family problems. My father has just gone to a heart intervention
and he wasn't felling ok. It affected me. However, it's not an
excuse and my opponent fought better... and he even will fight
the next UFC, on November. If I had defeated him, I would be
fighting there. I would like to face him again and, I fight for
free against him in Brazil. I'm pretty sure that if I do 300
fights with him, I win 299.
So,
don't you received any official invitation to fight at UFC?
No,
but this fight at Heat 2, with Allan Góes, is very important.
He's a great fighter, most of his combats was outside Brazil,
as Pride. Besides, the show is coming with a huge coverage from
international webpages and I'm also sure that it will be a great
combat. I'll act according to the developing of the fight. I'm
ready to fight on the feet or on the ground.
What's
the difference between the training here in Brazil and in US
with Marco Ruas?
The
most important is that he demands twice more. There isn´t
a training with time to end. I do gloves, ground positions and
we also run to improve the gas. It's important to do gloves with
Marco, because it's very good to improve our Muay Thai.
What
are your plans for the future?
I
received an invitation to fight at Meca 10, in December, but
it'll depends on my fight at Heat. If I leave it undamaged, I'll
fight. Besides, I receive another invitation to fight in Japan,
at ZST, next year. This show is produced by Joe Herrara and seems
like Rings.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Tickets
Go on Sale Monday for 2004 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials
INDIANAPOLIS,
Ind., - Tickets for the nation's most important wrestling event
- the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling - go on sale Monday,
Nov. 3, 2003 at 10 a.m. ET through Ticketmaster. The 2004 U.S.
Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling will take place May 21-23 at
the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.
The
field will be loaded with superstars, such as Olympic champion
Rulon Gardner, World champions Dremiel Byers, Kristie Marano
and Melvin Douglas and Olympic medalist Brandon Paulson. Certain
to make their presence felt are World silver medalists Cael Sanderson,
Tina George, Patricia Miranda, Kerry McCoy, Sara McMann and Toccara
Montgomery. Other top talents will include Olympians Jim Gruenwald
and Kevin Bracken, plus World Team members Stephen Abas, Brad
Vering, Jenny Wong, Joe Williams, Sally Roberts, T.C. Dantzler
and many other top wrestlers.
With
women's wrestling in the Olympics for the first time, with four
weight classes up for grabs, America's top women athletes look
to become the first women wrestlers to earn spots on the U.S.
Olympic Team at the RCA Dome.
Many
young stars will also be seeking to make their first U.S. team,
such as Steve Mocco, Doug Schwab, Lindsey Durlacher, Justin Ruiz
and more.
'No
event has more pressure in our sport than the Olympic Trials,'
said Rich Bender, USA Wrestling's executive director. 'History
is always made at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, but with women's
freestyle being added to the Olympic Games, this event will have
even more historical significance. This event will be the showcase
of the greatest wrestlers in the United States, seeking to achieve
their dreams by making the U.S. Olympic Team.'
Tickets
will be available at all Ticketmaster outlets, charge-by-phone
(317-239-5151 in Central Indiana) or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
Order forms will also be available at the event's official Web
site, www.trials2004.com.
Two
All-Session ticket packages will be available. The first will
be the Gold Medal Club All-Session ticket package for $150, which
features reserved seating, access to the Gold Medal Club Lounge,
a souvenir program, a commemorative gift, autograph signings
with former Olympic athletes and free parking. The Silver Level
All-Session ticket package will be $80 in general admission seating.
For
hotel reservations, fans should contact the Wrestling Housing
Bureau at 1-800-556-INDY (4639) or housing@indianapolis.org, or visit www.trials2004.com on the Internet to
reserve hotel rooms.
In
addition, those fans who purchase tickets in November will be
eligible to win the 'World Team Prize Pack' via a drawing at
the end of the month. The World Team Prize Pack includes a wrestling
themed-banner autographed by Rulon Gardner, Cael Sanderson, Joe
Williams, Kerry McCoy, Garrett Lowney, Tina George, Katie Downing,
Toccara Montgomery and others.
The
U.S. Olympic Team Trials competition format features a two-day
challenge tournament and a championship finals series. The challenge
tournament in all three styles will take place Friday, May 21
and Saturday, May 22. This will include all of the competitors
except the 2004 national champions who will automatically be
in the finals. The 2004 national championships will be in Las
Vegas April 9-10.
Sunday,
May 23, will be the championship finals in each weight class,
featuring the national champion against the challenge tournament
winner in a best-of-three series.
There
will be seven weight classes in Greco-Roman and men's freestyle.
The four women's freestyle weight classes contested will be 48
kg./105.5 lbs., 55 kg./121 lbs., 63 kg./138.5 lbs. and 72 kg./158.5
kg. Only the champions in each weight class will be on the U.S.
Olympic Team and compete at the Olympic Games August 22-29, 2004,
in Athens, Greece.
Indianapolis
is no stranger to U.S. Olympic Team Trials events. The city -
known as one of the world's leading amateur sports capitals -
has hosted 14 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, including diving, rowing,
swimming, synchronized swimming and track & field. The most
recent U.S. Olympic Team Trials event in Indianapolis was the
2000 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming. The event was a sellout
with more than 63,000 tickets sold six months prior to the competition
- the earliest sellout of a swimming event in the U.S.
'We
are honored that USA Wrestling has entrusted us with its greatest
event, said Earl Goode, chairman of the board of directors for
ISC. 'We look forward to showing the wrestling community Hoosier
Hospitality and tremendous support for their athletes.'
The
RCA Dome - home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, the 1991, 1997,
2000, 2006 and 2010 NCAA Men's Final Four, 2005 NCAA Women's
Final Four and the 1991 World Gymnastics Championships - will
be the site. It will be the first time an elite-level wrestling
event will be staged in a domed stadium. USA Wrestling and Indiana
Sports Corporation are organizing the event.
2004 U.S.
Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling Quick Facts
When: May 21-23, 2004
Where: RCA Dome, Indianapolis
Who:
The top eight finishers in each weight class from the U.S. National
Championships in Las Vegas April 9-10, 2004, qualify for the
event as well as champions from five Olympic Trials Regional
events. Competitors include a mix of champions and upcoming superstars.
Athletes
expected to compete in Indianapolis include: Olympic champion
Rulon Gardner; World champions Dremiel Byers, Kristie Marano
and Melvin Douglas; Olympic medalist Brandon Paulson; World medalists
Cael Sanderson, Tina George, Patricia Miranda, Kerry McCoy, Sara
McMann, Joe Williams, Toccara Montgomery, Jenny Wong and Sally
Roberts and many other top wrestlers.
Tournament
Schedule:
Day
- Date - Session Time - Competition
Day
1 - Friday, May 21 - 10 a.m.-12 noon - Challenge Tournament Preliminaries
Round 1 and Consolation Round 1
Day
1 - Friday, May 21 - 5-9 p.m. - Challenge Tournament Quarterfinals
and Consolation Round 2
Day
2 - Saturday, May 22 - 10 a.m.-2 p.m. - Challenge Tournament
Semifinals and Consolation Round 3 and Semifinals
Day
2 - Saturday, May 22 - 5-7 p.m. - Challenge Tournament Third/Fifth
Place Matches
Day
2 - Saturday, May 22 - 7-8:30 p.m. - Challenge Tournament Finals
Day
3 - Sunday, May 23 - 10 a.m.-12 noon - Championship Finals Match
#1
Day
3 - Sunday, May 23 - 3:30-5:30 p.m. - Championship Finals Match
#2
Day
3 - Sunday, May 23 - 5:30-6:30 p.m. - Championship Finals Match
#3 (if necessary)
Ticket
Information: Tickets go on sale Monday, Nov. 3, at 10 a.m. ET
through Ticketmaster. All-Session ticket prices are: Gold Medal
Club - $150, Silver Level - $80.
Hotel
Reservations: Contact the Wrestling Housing Bureau at www.trials2004.com, 1-800-556-INDY (4639)
or housing@indianapolis.org.
Source: ADCC
|
Quote
of the Day
"The world is filled with willing people; some willing to
work, the rest willing to let them."
Robert Frost, 1875-1963, American Poet
|
Egan
Arrested
KHNL Channel 8 news reported last night that Egan Inoue was arrested
for domestic abuse toward his wife Gina. He has since made bail.
The report stated that Egan choked his wife and she had him arrested,
but does not want him to go to jail. Baret Yoshida and T. Jay
Thompson spoke out in support of Egan stating that they have
never seen him lose his temper in that way and the fact that
Gina does not want to see Egan in jail does not make her allegations
look credible.
Unfortunately,
the news report did not let Egan state his side of the story,
but Gina stated that all the facts will come out. Although we
do not support domestic abuse, we also do not want people to
make a decision on Egan and the situation based on only half
the story. We have also seen instances where a fight between
a husband and wife gets blown out of proportion when the police
are involved and the situation gets taken too far outside the
home when it could have been easily remedied privately through
one-on-one communication, time apart, or counseling.
If
Egan would like to respond, we will be more than happy to print
his side of the story. If he wants to keep his personal life
private, that should also be his right as well.
Promoter,
T. Jay Thompson stated in the news story that he feels that Egan's
supporters will continue to support him in his upcoming fight
next month at Super Brawl.
At
this point, it does not look like this incident will hinder the
fight between Egan and Jason Miller from continuing on December 9 at the Blaisdell Arena.
If the plans change for Super Brawl, we will keep you posted.
Update
since the news story:
We have since learned that Egan was in fact NOT arrested. He
went down and turned himself in and immediately posted bail.
We have also learned that Gina did not press charges herself,
but her attorney did on her behalf. This is just a little piece
of truth that seems to contradict the news story so again, like
we stated above, do not make assumptions based on only one side
of the story.
|
DSE/PRIDE
announced all match up
PRIDE GRANDPRIX 2003 FINAL today, October 29.
Place:
Tokyo Dome , Tokyo
Date: November 9 Start: 17:00
1st
Match:
Gary Goodridge vs Dan Bobish
(Republicof Trinidad and Tobago / ultimatemartialarts) (USA /
Bart Vale Shoot Fighting)
2nd
Match: Middleweight Tournament Semi final .1
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs Chuck Liddell
(USA / Team Oyama) (USA/The Pit Fight Team)
3rd
Match: Middleweight Tournament Semi final .2
Hidehiko Yoshida vs Wanderlei Silva
(Japan / Yoshida Dojo) (Brazil /Chute Boxe Academy)
4th
Match: Middleweight Tournament Reserve Match
Dan Henderson vs Murilo Bustamante
(Team Quest) (Brazil / Brazilian Top Team)
5th
Match:
Heath Herring vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto
(USA / Golden Glory) (Japan / Takada Dojo)
INTER
MISSION
6th
Match:
Kazushi Sakuraba vs Kevin Randleman
(Japan / Takada Dojo) (USA / Hammer House)
7th
Match:Interim heavyweight championship
Mirko Cro Cop vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
(Croatia / Cro Cop Squad Gym) (Brazil / Brazilian Top Team)
8th
Match:
Middleweight
Tournament Final
Source:
Koichi "Booker K" Kawasaki
|
Murilo
Bustamante:
'I Want To Return To The PRIDE GP'
Former
UFC middleweight champion Murilo Bustamante is confirmed to appear
at PRIDE - FINAL CONFLICT on November 9th in Japan. Murilo will
fight an alternate super-fight against the tough Dan Henderson.
Despite fighting as an alternate, Murilo made clear that he will
give his all against Henderson, and he will be waiting for the
opportunity to step insto the Grand Prix. 'I fought Quinton Jackson
in round 1 of the GP, and I didn’t have time at all to get
ready. This time I had six weeks and it should be enough to beat
Henderson. My dream is to return to the GP tournament' said Murilo,
who departs from Rio to Japan on November 1st.
We
are only waiting for PRIDE's final confirmation - some rumors
on the web are confirming you will face Dan Henderson in a super
fight next PRIDE. Is it true? Yeah. I am happy to return to Pride.
I wish I had more time to get ready, but I am sure this six weeks
I’ve trained is enough to beat him. I will depart from Rio
de Janeiro next November 1st, so I will have time to rest in
Japan prior to the fight.
Dan
Henderson said he is not 100% due to his knee injury... and he
needs more time to fight you. What do you think about that? I
hope he steps inside the ring with 30% of his capacity! He is
a tough guy and I will use box a lot with him, because I am sure
I will have a hard time getting him down. After my last fight
where I faced Quinton Jackson in August, I feel I am much better
now. This time I am ready!
Your
teammates Ricardo Arona and Rodrigo Minotauro have wins over
Dan Henderson before. Minotauro submitted him with triangle choke.
What will be your fight strategy to beat him? I will simply fight.
I will do my best. I will wait for the right opportunity - the
one he will gave me. I don’t have a special strategy to
face him. But I do have a dream to join the Grand Prix again
and as an alternate I have to beat him to fight again.
How
is your training before travelling? This week I am training softer.
Last week it was damn hard. I trained ground techniques, Muay
Thai, everything.
So,
what are your plans after this Pride? For a while I didn’t
have any plans to fight. Right now I am all about beating Dan
Henderson. I don’t know what comes next.
How
is your relationship with the Brazil Dojo guys. The Open Challenge
will come out or not? Well, as far I know, Nilson Castro the
fighter from Chute-Boxe, called Wallid offering to host the event,
but Wallid said he wouldn’t fight. As far BTT and I know
this open challenge is not gonna happen. I would fight Pelé
Landy or Wallid, but as I said before, right now I am all about
Dan Henderson!
Source: ADCC |
M-1
- Russia's MIX FIGHT Returns to Homebase of St Petersburg in
December!
'Russia vs. World - 7' // December 5th, 2003
Coming
off a successful first event in Moscow, the Russian/Dutch group
M-1 returns to St Petersburg on December 5th for their 7th event,
titled 'Russia vs. World - 7'.
Several
matches are in the works, with the card headlined by the Red
Devil Team's power duo of Amar Suloev and Andrei Semenov. Semenov
is rumored to be tough up and coming Canadian star Denis Kang.
American Dave Strasser returns to the M-1 for a title shot in
the welterweight division, against Musail Alaudinov. If Musail
is not ready, Ansar Chalangov, who is 4-0 this year in fights
will step in.
With
the theme of the event being a Russian defense of their home
territory, look for teams from Spain, Scandinavia and all over
the world to fill out the card.
Card
Subject To Change:
MAIN
EVENT BOUT (93 KG): TBD versus Amar Suloev (Red Devil Team)
MAIN
EVENT BOUT (85 KG): Denis Kang (Canada) versus Andrei Semenov
(Red Devil Team)
WELTERWEIGHT
TITLE BOUT (80 KG): Dave Strasser (USA) versus Musail Alaudinov
(Red Devil Team)
Over
93 KG: Kristof Midoux (France) versus Roman Zentsov (Red Devil
Team)
93
KG: Brad Lynde (USA) versus Alexei Veselovzorov (Red Devil Team)
Source: ADCC |
BJJ
challenge Brazil vs Japan in Tokyo!
A
team of BJJ World champions featuring Ronaldo Jacaré,
Bibiano Fernandez, Demian Maia, Mário Reis and Fábio
Leopoldo will be in Tokyo, Japan on November 1st to accept a
BJJ challenge between Japanese and Brazilian fighters.
The
event is held by famous gi brand and fightwear Koral. A sensation
during the VIII World Championship and the II World Cup, Mário
Reis faces Watanabe Takashi and the BJJ phenomenom Ronaldo Jacaré
fights Sato Hironobu.
On
November 2nd and 3rd, the Brazilian BJJ black belts will be the
referees of the first Koral Cup Japan, with more than 200 Japanese
JJ practitioners on the mat.
COMPLETE
CARD (subject to change):
- Edmundo Cavalcante vs Tomioka
- Mario Sergio vs Kusayanagi Kazuhiro
- Fábio Leopoldo vs Cristiano Kaminishi
- Peter de Been vs Tsuruya Hiroshi
- Bibiano Fernandez vs Aguinaldo Taba
- Demian Maia vs Hiroki Aba
- Mário Reis vs Watanabe Takashi
- Ronaldo Jacaré vs Sato Hironobu
- Abe Hiroyuki vs Onose Tatsuya
Source: ADCC |
Horn
and Lister - Close To Reality in KOTC!
According
to Team Extreme’s Monte Cox it looks like KOTC Light Heavyweight
Champion Jeremy Horn/Dean Lister on December 5th or 6th. This
fight is not signed yet although the word is that it will be
for Jeremy’s belt on the line, not Dean’s.
Jeremy
won the Light Heavyweight belt by defeating Vernon “Tiger”
White in Las Vegas earlier this year. Jeremy has fought recently
at both Light Heavyweight and Middleweight and is said to be
trying to enter the UFC at Middleweight. Dean won the Middleweight
belt over a year ago and recently defended it in Soboba and has
talked before about stepping up in weight.
Basically,
these two rugged fighters are both known for their ground fighting
and walk around about the same weight. Both have worked on picking
up striking skills extensively in recent years, Lister working
at San Diego's CITY BOXING and Horn being one of the mainstays
out of Miletich Systems.. Assuming both parties sign this is
probably one of the closest KOTC matchups in recent memory.
Source: ADCC |
Looking
Back at "The Smashing Machine"
For
a sport constantly relegated to whispers and snickers of naysayers
among the mainstream media, mixed martial arts got a much needed
boost of positive coverage after the January airing of "The
Smashing Machine" on HBO's "America Undercover"
series.
Now
available on DVD, the Jon Greenhalgh-produced film (directed
by John Hyams) focused on the trials and tribulations of Mark
Kerr, but went far beyond the usual sports documentary fare.
From relationship issues to an addiction to painkillers, Kerr's
life seemed anything but centered on the moments in the ring
where he was able to build himself into one of the sport's top
heavyweights.
It
was this glimpse into his life that showed a cynical public that
fighters were indeed human, with the same issues and hang-ups
everyone deals with. Needless to say, agreeing to be the subject
of such a film didn't come easily to Kerr.
"I
put a lot of faith in the filmmakers," Kerr admits. "There's
a lot of personal stuff there, so it was an educated gamble that
if we told the story and created a good film, it would be well
received. It turned out that our guesses were right. Finally,
this has put a face to mixed martial arts and really given it
a chance to crossover into mainstream media."
With
such acceptance, from hardcore fight fans to Midwestern housewives
and mothers, Kerr has transcended the popularity usually afforded
to a fighter in what is, for want of a better term, a niche sport.
"I
was in California doing some work earlier this year when it had
aired, and I would get strange glances, and usually when I would
engage in conversation, people know," said Kerr. "People
would start asking me questions like they had been my neighbors
for the last ten years. 'How's Dawn doing? How's Mark doing?'
It's kind of interesting, just the feedback that I got, and I
don't think any person had anything to say other than that they
were just mesmerized by it, and that is just an incredible thing.
So I'm just glad I could share that part of my life with people."
As
mentioned earlier, that life wasn't always pretty, and while
fight fans were enraptured by the extensive behind the scenes
footage and fight action (more of which is included in the 'extras'
section of the DVD), it was the hardcore reality of Kerr's life
outside the ring that made the film one that attracted more than
just the attention of sports fans. One interested viewer of the
final cut was Kerr.
"The
first time I saw it I had a chance to watch it on the big screen,"
he remembers. "It was just overwhelming for me. I looked
at the producer and the director and said, 'I'll get back to
you guys in a couple of days about how I feel.' Finally, when
I registered some emotions to it, I couldn't be happier as far
as the story they told, what was going on, and how it was presented.
The reason why it's good for me is because I'm on the other side
of it. I've gone through the recovery process, I've had to face
some pretty personal stuff in my addiction, and to stand on the
other side of it is the triumph of the story. It's not a tragedy."
No
it's not, and Kerr's story is a triumph in more ways than one.
Now actively promoting the home release of "The Smashing
Machine", Kerr is also looking forward to a return to fighting
in the US come December, when he takes on Aaron Brink in the
"Last Man Standing" show in New Mexico.
"I
haven't fought on American soil since 97, so it should be pretty
interesting," said Kerr. "I'm training hard and I think
I have a championship run in me."
A
return to "Smashing Machine" form by Kerr could do
wonders for the profile of MMA here in the States, especially
with an unspectacular heavyweight division crying out for a star.
But regardless of where the 34-year-old's fight career goes,
his biggest triumphs in life will carry him further than what
will be found in a ring. That's the real story.
Source: Maxfighting |
LIDDELL
TRAINING HARD FOR JACKSON
MMAWeekly
will have different fighters that will competiting in the Pride
Grand Prix this week, that will be on the radio show. Chuck Liddell
appeared on Monday's MMAWeekly Radio Show and talked about his
upcoming appearance at the Pride: Final Conflict event on November
9th.
Liddell
will be fighting Quinton Jackson in the semi-finals of the Grand
Prix tournament, with the winner moving on to the finals later
that night to face the winner of Vanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko
Yoshida. Liddell said that he has been keeping most of his training
routines the same, but he has also been preparing himself for
Quinton Jackson's style where he can do anything and is a threat
in every possible way except possibly submissions.
When
asked if he thinks Jackson is going to try to beat him the same
way Randy Couture did, Chuck said that Quinton is not going to
be successful if that's the route he goes. Chuck said many people
forget that he has wrestled his whole life and is far from a
fish out of water on the ground.
When
asked about the finals of the tournament, Chuck said that he's
not really going to think about the finals until he gets there.
Liddell said that he is ready for either Silva or Yoshida, just
like he's ready for Quinton Jackson. When asked about the possibility
of fighting twice in one night, Chuck said that he used to compete
multiple times in one day back in his college wrestling days,
and it's only a big deal if you make a big deal out of it. He
said that having to fight twice on one event makes no difference
to him, and it will have no affect on the finals unless he gets
injured in the first fight.
As
with any Chuck Liddell interview, it was inevitable that the
topic of Tito Ortiz would be brought up, given the fact that
Ortiz was the champion and Liddell was the number-one contender
for over two years and they never fought. When asked about rumors
that he might be fighting Tito at UFC 46 in early 2004, Chuck
said that he would welcome the opportunity to fight Tito at any
time, but it has been like that for over two years now and you
can't believe anything Tito says until he actually steps into
the Octagon.
As
an example of this, Liddell said he has heard from some people
that Tito is trying to hedge the chances of a potential Liddell-Ortiz
fight based on how well Chuck does in the Grand Prix. Chuck said
that's fine with him because he plans on winning the Grand Prix,
but it just goes to show that you can't believe anything Tito
says. (Ortiz previously said on numerous occasions that his next
fight would be against Chuck Liddell, regardless of how well
Chuck performed in the Grand Prix and regardless of who won the
Couture-Ortiz fight.) Chuck said that he is no longer going to
allow himself to be hung up on the Ortiz situation and will instead
set his sights on people who are interested in fighting, whether
that list includes Tito Ortiz or not.
Source: MMA Weekly |
THE
RUMOR MILL CONTINUES ABOUT PRIDE CARD
As
we reported last week, MMAWeekly.com has learned that heavyweight
Kazuyuki Fujita continues to train at Marco Ruas's gym in southern
California for a future event. It's believed Fujita is training
for a fight in November.
Also
DSE has been clearing up some rumors about the upcoming Pride
card as Mr Kawasaki said yesterday that quote "There are
several rumors floating around, that are simply not possible,
though DSE has several more matches yet to announce. The rumored
Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira versus Alexander Emelianenko is speculation
only, as there is no time for the Russian fighter to obtain the
proper visas at this time.
Another
rumor has Ryan Gracie as a stand by alternate. Ryan is not in
negotiations at this time, and will nor be at the event. Despite
name value, Kiyoshi Tamura is not being considered for this PRIDE,
and Josh Barnett is in the midst of a pro wrestling tour and
unavailable as well."
MMAWeekly
broke the story about Barnett yesterday so this co-insides with
our report yesterday about Josh. DSE also told MMAWeekly that
the Heath Herring vs Dan Bobish fight is still at the "rumor"
stage and that fight has not been confirmed either.
Source: MMA Weekly |
"LITTLE
EVIL" LOOKS AHEAD TO PEQUENO AND HANSEN
Jens
Pulver appeared on Monday's MMAWeekly Radio Show, just two days
after defeating Richard Hess by submission at an IFC event in
Idaho. Pulver said that he spent a lot of time reminiscing about
his past in his hometown, and joked that he spent so much time
reminiscing that he almost forgot that he came out to Idaho for
an MMA fight.
Pulver
said that he just came out looking to fight aggressively, and
it went well. Pulver said that it's actually a little bit harder
from a pressure standpoint to fight at a live event in front
of your friends and family. With a pay-per-view fight, he knows
they're watching, but they are not actually there in the same
building.
Regarding
his immediate plans for the future, Jens Pulver said that he
will be fighting someone before the end of the year, it's just
a matter of who the opponent is and what organization sanctions
the bout.
Pulver
said that it has taken a while to get everything finalized with
Shooto, but he is looking to fight for them in December and he's
willing to fight anyone they put in front of him. Jens said that
he would particularly like to fight Alexandre "Pequeno"
Nogueira or Joachim Hansen.
When
asked about his status with the UFC, Jens Pulver said that he
thinks a fight with BJ Penn in the UFC would make a lot of sense,
and he hopes that personal issues from over a year ago don't
prevent it from happening.
Pulver
said that Penn is a UFC fighter and is on top of the world in
the lightweight division, while Pulver is the only man to ever
defeated Penn and is also undefeated in the UFC with a record
of 6-0-1. Pulver said that the fight makes sense on a lot of
levels, but he's going to keep going strong with his MMA career
either way. He said he doesn't dwell on the past anymore, just
wants to focus on his future and after winning a couple fights
in a row, it looks like "Little Evil" is on his way
back to his winning ways.
Source: MMA Weekly |
INJURY
UPDATE ON FEDOR
It
is not known exactly when Fedor will return to Pride but this
is what we do know as far as his injury goes. The following information
comes from the Russian Top Team website.
"Vladimir
Pogodin of the Russian Top Team told the Japanese press that
Fedor Emelianenko broke his right knuckle during practice on
September 15th."
"Fedor
is undergoing extensive treatment in a hospital in Moscow. If
he will have a speedy recovery the cast on his hand will be removed
in December." - Russian Top Team News
For
now it looks as though Pride will have an interim title between
Minotauro Nogueira vs Mirko Cro Cop with the winner facing Fedor
at a future Pride event.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told, 'I am with
you kid. Let's go.'"
Maya Angelou, 1928-, American poet, Writer, Performer
|
SAKURABA
TO TAKE ON RANDLEMAN
AT FINAL CONFLICT
LOS
ANGELES, California - At a press conference from the Takada Dojo
in Tokyo, PRIDE FC's General Manager Nobuhiko Takada announced
that Kazushi Sakuraba will be taking on Kevin Randleman at PRIDE
FC: FINAL CONFLICT, scheduled for November 9th, 2003 from the
Tokyo Dome in Japan.
The
match-up will have no relation to the middleweight tournament,
as an official reserve match will be announced soon. Both Sakuraba
and Randleman are coming off of tough losses and looking to re-establish
themselves in the rankings. Sakuraba is representing the Takada
Dojo, while Randleman is fighting out of Mark Coleman's Hammer
House Gym.
In
addition, the fight card also features top ranked heavyweight
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic against former PRIDE FC heavyweight
champion Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira. Due
to a thumb injury to reigning champion Emelianenko Fedor, the
Cro Cop/Nogueira match-up is for the PRIDE FC interim heavyweight
championship, with the winner to face Fedor in 2004. Nogueira,
arguably the world's top heavyweight grappler, is coming off
a decision victory against Ricco Rodriguez while Cro Cop, arguably
the world's top heavyweight striker, is coming off of a dramatic
knockout victory over Igor Vovchanchyn.
All
of these new matches are in addition to the middleweight tournament,
which will feature Hidehiko Yoshida versus Wanderlei Silva and
Quinton Jackson against Chuck Liddell. The winners of each of
these match-ups will go on to the final round, which will be
held on the same evening.
FINAL
CONFLICT
Fight Card
For
the PRIDE FC interim heavyweight championship
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro"
Nogueira
Kazushi
Sakuraba vs. Kevin Randleman
Semi
Final round of the eight man middleweight tournament:
Wanderlei
Silva (Brazil) vs. Hidehiko Yoshida (Japan)
Quinton Jackson (USA) vs. Chuck Liddell (USA)
More
matches for FINAL CONFLICT will be announced soon.
Fight Card is subject to change.
FINAL
CONFLICT is scheduled for November 9th, 2003 from the Tokyo Dome
in Japan. The event will premiere on North American pay per view
(through iNDEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH NETWORK, UrbanXtra, TVN1, Bell
Express Vu, and Viewer's Choice) on November 9th via same day
delay.
For
more information on PRIDE FC, visit pridefc.com!
Source: Maxfighting |
BARNETT
HAPPY IN JAPAN
MMAWeekly.com received an email from a friend of Josh Barnett
who wanted to report the progress of Josh Barnett. Brad Kertson
send this email to MMAWeekly and it had a lot of great information,
not only about Barnett but about some other fighters like Yoshida.
"Hey
guys, just wanted to let you know Josh is doing well. Barnett
is still doing the pro wrestling for New Japan and making good
money. He was supposed to fight Mark Coleman a while ago, but
Coleman had the neck surgery and they weren't able to work anything
out.
He
would love to fight in Pride, but because they often don't give
enough notice for the fights and he has so many wrestling events
booked, it makes it tough. Also, NJPW decides a lot of his moves
for him, so he is a little limited in that regards.
Barnett
also told me that out of all the people he has ever worked with
he said that Yoshida is the strongest guy he has ever worked
out with. Said that Yoshida has strength comparable to Bob Sapp.
No exaggeration. I told Josh that I felt like Yoshida's stuff
was fake and he flat out told me that Yoshida is as strong as
Bob."
Interesting
stuff indeed and we want to thank Kertson for the email. For
now it looks as though Barnett will continue to do both MMA and
New Japan and hopefully we will see a Barnett vs Nogueira fight
somewhere down the road.
Source: Maxfighting |
HENDERSON
VS BUSTAMANTE
If you didn't join us over the weekend, then you missed a ton
of breaking news on the SoundOff Forum. MMAWeekly.com told you
a few weeks ago that Pride was working on a Dan Henderson vs
Murilo Bustamante match- up. Today we can tell you that the fight
has been signed by both fighters.
MMAWeekly
talked with Dan Henderson late last night and asked how his torn
ACL is doing. Henderson said "The knee is doing pretty good.
I really didn't want to come back this soon, but Pride really
wanted this fight and wanted it in two weeks. I was hoping to
wait until February, but oh well, I really want this fight so
I will fight a little sooner than I wanted to."
Henderson
continued, "I've wanted this fight for a long time. Busta
is a great fighter and I'm looking forward to fighting this guy.
Sure I would love more time to prepare for a quality fighter
like Murilo, but I'm still confident I can get the win."
MMAWeekly.com
can also report that the proposed fight between Heath Herring
and Dan Bobish is almost a done deal as well, so this card is
simply stacked as Pride delivers another solid card in back to
back shows.
Source: Maxfighting |
PAT
SMITH IS BACK IN THE UFC!
It was a pretty crazy 24 hours for MMAWeekly.com. Dana White
was on LIVE with Ryan Bennett on MMAWeekly Radio when he found
out that Wes Sims broke his arm. Hopefully you were with us on
the Soundoff Forum yesterday when we found out who his replacement
would be.
MMAWeekly
broke the news yesterday that Pat Smith will indeed be the guy
to step in the Octagon to fight Frank Mir at UFC 45. Ironic,
since this is the 10th Anniversary show, and it was Smith himself
who competed in the first UFC.
"My
manager, Sven Bean, said Are you sitting down? And I was like
"What". He said your back in the UFC and I just smiled"
Smith told MMAWeekly late last night. This is a very different
Pat Smith in 2003 compared to the one back in 1993.
Smith
knows of the talk on the internet wondering if the game has passed
him by. Smith said, "The game has changed and I have changed.
I know this dude is a great ground artist, so I'm excited to
fight him."
When
asked about Mir's performance against Tank Abbott, Smith said,"I
saw that fatass Tank get caught in that heel hook. Tank is not
a MMA fighter, he's just a brawler. He had no idea how to get
out of it. It was pitiful. (Mir) will have a hell of a time just
taking me down and I have plenty of guys that I'm working with
that will have me ready for submissions."
One
of those guys will be King of Pancrase Nathan Marquardt. Marquardt
who is in the Denver area where Smith trains is known for his
solid submission game. "Marquardt will be a great guy to
train with. I also have a guy named Leo who is 290 pounds who
tries everything from neck cranks to heel hooks who is very good,
so I will be ready."
So
what will Smith's strategy be in this fight? "Look if that
dude from England (Ian Freeman) can execute his game plan, I
can do the same thing. I'm a lot bigger (than Freeman) and I'm
stronger than (Freeman) him too. My conditioning is excellent
so I feel that could be a factor and I'm telling you he will
have a hell of a time catching me and if does, he will be hit
harder than he has ever been before. I respect his game, but
I don't know if he has ever been hit like the power I have in
my game."
Smith
was at the very first UFC in Denver, losing to Ken Shamrock back
at UFC 1 in 1993. This match-up of old guard vs. new guard should
help give those fans that have been clamoring for the UFC to
bring back some of the old guys for this show something to look
forward to.
Source: Maxfighting |
LITERALLY
A BAD BREAK FOR WES SIMS
It was a strange way to find out the news. UFC President Dana
White was making a major announcement about the UFC Hall of Fame,
live on Friday's MMAWeekly Radio show when he was stopped in
mid sentence.
While
doing the radio interview with host Ryan Bennett Friday morning,
somebody told Dana that Wes Sims was out of UFC 45. Dana said
"What? Are you sure? I've just received some bad news."
White found out live on radio that Wes Sims was out of UFC 45.
Sims
sustained a broken arm in training and would not be able to face
Heavyweight Frank Mir in a rematch of UFC 43.
Evidently,
Sims was training with a Thai Boxer who kicked Sims in the arm,
breaking it. Sims got the arm examined and indeed it was broken.
Sims
has had a tough time with the news as he was looking forward
to being back in the Octagon. Look for Wes Sims to talk about
the injury on MMAWeekly Radio this upcoming week.
Source: ADCC |
Wes
Sims On Mir Controversy, Sylvia, & More
Wes Sims
was not hard to miss outside Mandalay Bay after UFC 45, especially
with his new, blonde hair. Hell, the guy's dad was standing next
to him at about 6'6". They looked like they could take on
The Road Warriors in a friggin' Tag Match (RIP Hawk). He is famous
for his awesome powerbombs, and for..oh yeah-horrifically and
blatantly stomping Frank Mir in the face and throat at UFC 43.
MMANews.com's
Brett Herman had the opportunity to catch up with the Hammer
House fighter at UFC 44: Undisputed in Vegas, here's what he
had to say.
MMANews.com:
I just wanted to talk to you about your fight against Frank Mir-how
it went, what you thought of Frank, the eye gouges-that's only
if you want to talk about them, and a possible rematch?
Wes
Sims:: Hey, I will fight whoever Zuffa matches me up with. I
don't know who they are going to have me fight, I just talked
to them tonight. I plan on coming back at UFC 45. I am looking
at other options too. Marc (Coleman) has talked to Pride. I have
also done a little exhibtion over in Korea for Neofight. We will
just have to see what happens.
MMANews.com:
What did you think of the Heavyweight Title fight tonight?
Wes
Sims:: An exciting one huh? Old Timmy...I lost money because
I was going for McGee. I figured it would be more of a fight,
you know? He (Tim Sylvia) was ready, he was stoked..somebody
got in his head, hint, hint.
MMANews.com:
Who could that have been? You want a piece of Sylvia or what
big man?
Wes
Sims:: Timmy? Oh man! Timmy wants a piece of me because the only
match I have been talking about is a rematch with Frank Mir.
I really have one loss on my record. I mean, they want to consider
this last one a loss, but everybody, the general public knows
I won that fight, so I consider it a win.
Since
that, Timmy has talked about me. Me and him got into it yesterday.
I will tell you honestly, he is just jealous. I am bigger, I
am taller, I am stronger, and I am definitely better looking!!
You
know something, I wished him well. I said I really hope you win
so you can go out and buy a new wardrobe. I didn't mean for him
to buy a woman's wardrobe! Jesus Christ he was wearing a fucking
skirt tonight!
MMANews.com:
A little Roddy Piper action there?
Wes
Sims:: Yup, a little Piper action. Listen, it's simple to beat
Tim Sylvia-you just get into the head of a 3rd grader. So, I
am ready, let's do it.
MMANews.com:
Was the choke or armbar even close to finishing you when you
fought Frank Mir?
Wes
Sims:: The armbar-noooo! The choke, well, a lot of them were
close. I am not going to sit here and bullshit you, he had me
in a lot of tight shit. He is a good submission artist, but he
couldn't finish me. That's all that matters, I got out of everything.
MMANews.com:
How is your strength we have heard about? Has he really felt
your true power?
Wes
Sims:: He has yet to feel it, he has yet to feel it.
MMANews.com:
So you think you guys might lock up at UFC 45?
Wes
Sims:: I would love to! We will wait and see. You know they (Zuffa)
make the final decision, so we will see what they say...let's
make it happen.
MMANews.com:
Anything else you want to say to your fans out there Big Wes?
Wes
Sims:; I love you guys, stay on my side, and get ready for some
more ass kicking!
MMANews.com:
Thanks a lot Wes.
Source: MMA News |
Road
Warrior Hawk Passes Away at the Age of 46
October 19, 2003
We have some very very sad news to report today and that is that
Road Warrior Hawk has passed away. He passed at approximately
1:30AM this morning in his sleep. Hawk was born on January 26th
and we believe he was just 46 years old.
He had just sold his condo and was scheduled to move into his
new home in Florida today. His wife Dale said "he was going
to lay down for a while, he didn't feel well."
When
we get more details, we will pass them along.
Mike
has been a good friend of ours at the site for several years
now. This is such sad news for me and the rest of the wrestling
world. Mike will always be known as a class act in the business
and will be missed. On behalf of all of us here at ProWrestling.com,
we send out condolences to the family and friends of Mike. We
are really at a loss for words right now.
Source: ProWrestling.com |
Quote
of the Day
"Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told, 'I am with
you kid. Let's go.'"
Maya Angelou, 1928-, American poet, Writer, Performer
|
Kai
Kamaka Back in the Ring and
More MMA, Kickboxing, and Grappling to Follow!
Gladiator Challenge on Dec. 7 at Eagle Mountain Casion in Porterville
will feature 808 Fight Factory Head Trainer, Kai Kamaka vs. Bain
Serna, Harris Sarimento, Tim Tynan and James Upshur. Fans will
be in for a surprise in the amount of growth of Kai. He has been
concentrating on increasing the level of skills of his fighters
and he has sharpened his game on the way as well.
Also
Kai will be launching "Ring Of Honor" that will be
dedicated to our amatuer fighters to help them get more prepared.
November 22 at Campbell High School is the tentative date and
location that will feature about 12 bouts. The next month, they
will hold kickboxing and the following month grappling tournament
all under the same name. They will be ranking our amatuers in
every division MMA, Kickboxing and grappling. These events will
circulate every three months for a total of 4 events per MMA,
Kickboxing and Grappling giving the fighters ample time to get
prepared for the next show.
All
Intrested fighters can email me at kai@kaosfighting.com and we will start
to match them up.
|
U.S.Open
Professional Quick Results
Great
fights marked the Black Belt Professional Division in the U.S.Open.
Heavyweight Marcio Corletta closed out the bracket with his student
Fabricio Werdum. Corletta defeated the game Ossiander and Werdum
beat Werneck. The two met in the final with Corletta coming out
on top in the 'friendly' between instructor and student.
Heavyweights
Marcio
Corletta 21 v Kurt Ossiander 0
Fabricio
Werdum 6 v Cassio Werneck 2
Corletta
subs Werdum to take the title!
In
the lightweights the surprise was Wellington 'Megaton' Dias.
Megaton was scheduled to compete in the Masters division but
saw an opening in the professional left open by teammate Cleber
Luciano, who couldn't attend due to last minute personal reasons.
Perhaps inspired by seeing his pictures in the recently relased
Submission Grappling Techniques book by Royler Gracie, the evergreen
Megaton 'jumped' the gun and threw his name in the Professional
division and made it all the way into the finals only to succumb
to an in form Sapao, who blew out the field and secure the well
deserved title.
Light
weights saw:
Paulo
Guilhobel 0 v Sapao 14 -
'Franjinha'
7 v Valecio Senna 2 -
Wander
Braga 2 v Valtinho 0 -
Joao
Cunha 2 v Megaton 2 - adv
Sapao
4 x 0 Franjinha
Megaton
3 x 2 Braga
Sapao
subs (Kimura) over Megaton
Sapao
takes the lightweight title
Female
Black Belt: Leka defeated Jacqueline 11 x 0
Luka
defeats Jacqueline 2 x 0
Leka
Vieira 3 defeats Luka Dias 0
In
a closed ceremony today at the Gracie Academy in Torrance, Grandmaster
Helio Gracie promoted his eldest son, Rorion, to the rank of
Red Belt.
Congratulations
to Rorion on this great achievement!
Source: ADCC
|
MMA
mega event will rock Rio de Janeiro!
A new MMA event is on the radar for early next year (January?)
in Rio de Janeiro. The organizers are the Barra Gracie Combat
Team’s promoter Carlo Malta and their manager Cláudio
Seabra.
'This
is will be the biggest MMA event created in Brazil, because the
focus will be on the fights. There are other reasons - we are
going to combine it with a sports fair, disk-jockeys, dancers
and a Brazilian rock band performing on stage.' stated Seabra,
owner of the Fitness Express (Barra da Tijuca - Rio de Janeiro).
According to the manager, the mega event is for families. 'The
goal is to promote fun and to have awesome fights. We gonna do
it in Pride-style' he promises.
On
the card, Malta confirms that Gracie Barra Combat Team’s
athletes will debut in MMA. 'If Márcio Pé-de-Pano
gets his shoulder better, he is confirmed. Márcio Feitosa,
Flávio Moura and Alexandre Cacareco might fight as well.'
About the participation of a Gracie family member, Malta changes
the subject: 'All Gracie Barra athletes are Gracie representatives'.
Source: ADCC
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Family
Values - part 4 of 4
By: Martin Rooney
As
the fights began I was aware of two characteristics that the
family also displayed: Tradition and Pride. A family is about
history, and a family will often do anything to defend that honor.
Why they defend that history is because of their family pride.
When a family has enough tradition and pride present, they command
respect. I can only try to imagine the feeling a fighter faces
jumping into the ring to fight. Add the fact that your family
tradition and pride is at stake, and the pressure could be overwhelming.
Because of who these Gracie's are, and what their family represents,
they had no problem taking that weight on their shoulders. When
the fights were tied 2-2, I could feel the tension in the air.
As I stood on the platform behind the curtain with Ryan Gracie
and the other members of Team Gracie, I knew what was at stake.
Ryan was focused and eager to accept the responsibility of the
deciding fight. As the curtain rose and Ryan burst out toward
the ring through the cheering fans, he had only one purpose:
deliver a win for the family.
Could
he win the fight? Could the Gracie family defeat Japan? One might
think that for one family to take on the traditions and pride
of an entire country would be impossible. On closer examination,
however, it should be easy to see why one might take the family
over the country to win. Throughout history, countries are often
divided by civil war. People within countries are often divided
by different interests and desires. This leads to lack of unity,
communication, support and trust. Each member of Team Japan may
have felt pride to represent their country, but every fighter
was surely first there for themselves. This was not true for
any member of the Gracie family on this day. Each man was there
for a bigger reason than personal fulfillment and country pride.
There is one characteristic that Team Japan may have been lacking
that could not allow them to defeat Team Gracie: Responsibility.
Ryan went into the ring with the responsibility to produce a
victory. That is something his opponent may not have possessed.
When
Ryan delivered his final foot stomp and the referee pulled him
away from his knocked out opponent, the Gracie Team swarmed the
ring. As different members of the family were hoisted onto the
shoulders of other family members, I learned the most important
family characteristic of all: Love. To see all the joy and love
in the ring at that moment was magical to be a part of. No one
that only sees a fight in the ring can ever understand how much
love this family has. This is where all of their strength comes
from. Not only is this love for members of the immediate family,
but it is for the 'adopted' members of the family as well. When
Ryan addressed the adoring Japanese fans, he yelled, 'I love
you, I love Japan!' For that moment, he made the Japanese fans
part of the family too, and not one of them would deny the invitation.
The
Gracie family is amazing in their ability to make people feel
part of their family. This family has touched the lives of so
many people around the world that it is difficult to calculate.
So when everyone was saying that this was Japan versus the Gracie
family, I don't think anyone really understood what that meant.
It was not just 5 fighters in the ring connected by blood, but
all the things that you cannot see that made the difference on
this night.
With
the understanding of what type of family culture the Gracie's
possess, one should be able to see that nothing can threaten
this legacy. There is no one win or loss that can disrupt who
the members of this family are and what they have done. When
a family's culture is interwoven with unity, support, trust,
tradition, pride, and love, they can take on anything. That is
exactly what this family did in Japan; victoriously.
Source: ADCC
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Interview:
Legendary Master Flavio Behring
The
following is an interview with Mestre Flavio Behring, one of
the first black belts awarded by Helio Gracie. Father of legendary
fighter Marcelo Behring and Professor Sylvio Behring.
I
had attended a few of his seminars and found him the opposite
of what you would expect from a martial arts master. He is a
humble, approachable, open-minded, knowledgeable, gentlemanly
person with a sense of humor. This interview is a small excerpt
of what I realized could be a vast undertaking: a cup of water
from the endless sea. I have chosen to remain faithful to the
interview process, and I have only added brackets where it was
necessary to explain something.
J.C.
Shannon: Tell us about your background.
Flavio Behring: I was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1937. When I
was 6 months old, my parents found out that I had asthma. Up
to 13 years, it was my main opponent. I was not able to do any
physical activities.
J.C.:
When did you start learning jiu-jitsu?
F.B.: When I was 10 years old, my father took me to Helio and
Carlos Gracie to do some physical activity to help my asthma.
It was in 1947. The academy was in Rio.
J.C.:
Who did you first start training in jiu-jitsu?
F.B.: Helio was my private teacher because he didn't have many
students. I trained directly and practiced until 3 years later
when Helio opened a bigger academy. Then, everything changed.
I worked really hard to overcome problems other than health,
emotional problems. I didn't like to fight. A friend... or who
was a friend slapped my face and I became depressed.
J.C.:
How old were you then?
F.B.: I was 13, and he was 17. Helio showed me that I was capable
to defend myself.
J.C.:Why
did you start learning jiu-jitsu? Why did this art appeal to
you?
F.B.: I didn't know nothing about martial arts. Only things I've
seen is boxing in movies... Joe Louis was the champion and some
wrestling... not real but show.
J.C.:
You mean like professional wrestling?
F.B.: Right. At the time, I thought I was not able to do those
things.
J.C.:
What was training at the Gracie academy like?
F.B.: Since 1951, the Gracie academy... all students took private
classes with Helio and Joao Barreto (First Referre at the UFC)...
he was a top student and competitor of Helio. Barreto became
a very good friend of mine. I helped him teach in classes. There
were private classes in the daytime and at night, Helio took
all the fighters for training. It was a chance to be observed
as a fighter by Helio.
J.C.:
How long did it take you to become a black belt?
F.B.: Eight years. I trained everyday and went to classes everyday.
Trained to become a teacher because Helio was concerned to prepare
teachers... how to teach, what to teach, how to teach a child,
woman, old person. Helio trained one guy who didn't have one
arm. Helio got the students to teach him jiu-jitsu to prepare
themselves to teach a person with one arm.
J.C.:
Were you present in the Helio Gracie matches like Kato and Kimura...?
F.B.: No, I was not there at the Kato and Kimura fights. I don't
know why I was not there.
[Before
I get a chance to ask him about the Waldemar Santana fight, he
responds]...but I was there for the Waldemar Santana fight. Helio
fought him for 3 hours and a half. Impressive. Helio was 45 years
old. I used to train with Santana. He was very tough and strong.
He had no neck, and his shoulders went right to his ears [we
both share a laugh].
J.C.:
What is your rank in jiu-itsu?
F.B.: Eighth degree, and it is possible to be 9th degree. Only
Helio Gracie is 10th degree.
J.C.:
Do you feel a need to differentiate between Japanese or Brazilian
jiu-jitsu?
F.B.: Yes. You take Brazilian jiu-jitsu and techniques from other
version in a dojo, and show what you know. Every time, Brazilian
jiu-jitsu wins. When fighting, jiu-jitsu (Brazilian) techniques
are much broader.
J.C.:
What are the benefits of Brazilian jiu-jitsu?
F.B.: For me, educating and preparing myself for life. With jiu-jitsu,
I was able to face life... also, self-confidence and mental balance.
Sometimes, you need it in professional life.
J.C.:
Many feel that brazilian jiu-jitsu is unrealistic because if
you go to the ground, the pavement is hard, there are broken
bottles, etc. How would you respond to that?
F.B.: The most important thing in brazilian jiu-jitsu is self-defense.
Rolling in ground is playing, not doing anything for outside.
Like playing golf... to learn how to manage your body, stay healthy.
For the street, must know self-defense... most important part
of jiu-jitsu. Image of jiu-jitsu today is like judo, not go to
the ground and defend. You stand and defend yourself. Many old
judo masters complained about sport and no self-defense...I was
talking to Otto Brito [Sr., judo master in P.R.]. Judo had self-defense
but not anymore.
J.C.:
What do you emphasize on your teaching?
F.B.: Emphasize as I always say the most important parts of jiu-jitsu:
the fundamental techniques.
J.C.:
Name the characteristics of a good jiu-jitsu competitor.
F.B.: For me, try to have good physical training, well-prepared.
When you know techniques, good physical shape and train enough,
its easy to practice jiu-jitsu to fight. A person put on fight,
not well prepared, when see opportunity and try to pass the guard,
realizes not prepared.
J.C.:
Are these any different from a fighter of vale tudo or no-holds-barred?
F.B.: By vale tudo... Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo... and
Mitsuyo Maeda.. those persons used to go places and challenge
people to prove jiu-jitsu techniques were better. This was vale
tudo. Challenged by other martial arts like capoeira and boxing
to prove they were better, and we won all the fights. Didn't
know how to punch but knew jiu-jitsu, won through jiu-jitsu at
that time. Meaning of vale tudo: who was the best, whose fight
was more complete. Now, vale tudo became a sport. Everybody trains
vale tudo.. doesn't matter.. boxing, muay thai... have to know
everything... ground, triangle [choke] of jiu-jitsu. Today its
a sport. Can't see a fight of jiu-jitsu against other martial
arts very often.
J.C.:
When describing a martial art, one often thinks of a specific
curriculum handed over time, was this the case with Brazilian
jiu-jitsu?
F.B.: Brazilian jiu-jitsu today is directly for fighting. People
like to fight. I see nowadays jiu-jitsu lost an important part
of the chain between what you have to know in jiu-jitsu and what
people have seen. What can you expect? Can only be a fighter.
Teach fundamental techniques and understand the meaning.
J.C.:
Who are the certified instructors of Behring jiu-jitsu in Puerto
Rico?
F.B.: Luis Santiago and Manuel Rey. Luis is our voice in Puerto
Rico. He is in charge of Behring jiu-jitsu. Brazilian jiu-jitsu
is different, but I believe he is the top brazilian jiu-jitsu
practitioner in Puerto Rico. He is responsible for the Brazilian
jiu-jitsu federation here (in Puerto Rico).
J.C.:
How do you see the progression of jiu-jitsu in Puerto Rico?
F.B.: Its really good. I came first time 3 years ago and few
people. Many people improving techniques and some of those guys
went to Brazil and won one or two fights against the top guys.
I am impressed with what we have accomplished in just three years.
J.C.:
Did you compete in tournaments?
F.B.: Yes, I did but not like tournaments [today]. They were
challenges between academies.
J.C.:
Do you follow and recommend a specific nutrition plan?
F.B.: I had someone to take care of my nutrition. This is important.
Its important for life. I need for good jiu-jitsu, for my age,
all the training, all the classes. I never recommend anything.
I never do this because everyone is different. I tell them not
to eat fat, but if you live in the North or South Pole, you need
fat. People ask me why do you do this. I tell them to see a specialist.
J.C.:
What is the future of brazilian jiu-jitsu?
F.B.: Most teach people for fighting and not prepare people for
life. If you know self-defense, you know all. I am insistent
on self-defense.
J.C.:
What advice do you offer to upcoming martial artists?
F.B.: Any martial arts are good. It’s just another system
to decide to get better. Never go to martial arts to become a
rude person but to become educated, self-confident and help people.
Source: ADCC
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Vinícius
'Draculino' Ready to Impact MMA!
After
a bright Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu career, and a solid reputation as
an established BJJ teacher who has developed several black belts
under his intruction, Vinícius 'Draculino' Magalhaes is
now coaching an MMA team that promises to be a force real soon.
'Draculino'
moved to Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais in the beginning of 1996.
Since then, he has established himself as one of the most important
if not the most important teachers in this state, with nearly
2000 athletes under his guidance in these 7 years.
Draculino
already has had some students in MMA, and had fighters in international
events like Erick Vanderlei who fought Mauricio Shogun Rua in
the IFC show on 3 days notice.
But
the real news is that 'Draculino' himself is negotiating to debut
in MMA. He stated before that to be a coach he needs to taste
the emotions and only a fighter knows the feeling. It is his
way to prepare himself as a coach, he believes he needs to test
himself in a ring or cage.
Stay
tuned for more news, but it seems another Gracie Barra black
belt will be in action in a MMA fight real soon.
Source: ADCC
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Paul
Buentello Is A Little Hungry As He Prepares For A KOTC Title
Rematch
After 3
losses in mid 2001, Paul Buentello thought he was done. With
no training in Amarillo, Texas, he had a decision to make about
his MMA future. Enter Helen Miller, who told the Grants, New
Mexico native that he would need to make a big commitment. Growing
up playing football and baseball, Buentello started training
in the martial arts after high school. Then the 29-year-old started
shoot fighting in his Texas hometown and now splits his time
between living with his girlfriend of 7 years in Amarillo and
training at AKA in San Jose, California. The 6’3 striker
is learning how to be a wrestler training at AKA the past 2 years.
The 240-pound Buentello is a little hungry as he prepares to
show he still has the heart and motivation for this game in a
title rematch against Bobby “The Bad Seed” Hoffman
at the Pala Casino on November 2. Their first encounter on August
10 ended in a controversial unanimous decision, which allowed
Hoffman to retain the KOTC Heavyweight Championship.
JC:
How did you come to train at AKA? PB: It was after 3 loses in
the IFC, KOTC, and the IFC again (in early to mid 2001). I thought
I was done, but I ran into Helen Miller. There was no training
in Amarillo. She asked if I needed a manager, and told me I would
need to make a big commitment.
JC:
When was your first fight and how did it go? PB: My first fight
without training was in May 1999 against Todd Broadaway at Extreme
Challenge and it was a loss. My first fight with training was
in August 2001 against Gary Marshall at IFC and it was a KO win.
JC:
What organizations have you competed in? PB: The IFC, KOTC, USWF
and a bunch of little small local shows. I don’t know what’s
up with the big promotions. Hopefully they will be looking at
me because I have a lot KO’s and I get along with the crowds.
JC:
What are your objectives in MMA? PB: I don’t fight for the
money. I really want to be respected in the sport. I want people
to know who I am what I’m all about. You step in the cage
with me you know I want to fight. You know you have to bring
it. This is a hell of a sport to be in. I just want people to
say “that guy brought it on” when I leave this sport
“he has a hell of a right hand or left hook.” Just
respect for what I have done and accomplished. I feel good for
what I have done in my life. I’m not the type of person
to sit around and say I could have done this and that. I want
to be able to say I’ve done it... I’ve followed my
dream.
JC:
Who is Paul Buentello? PB: I would say I’m a down to earth
guy who treats everybody with respect and fairness. I’m
not an aggressive person until I’m provoked. I would like
to think that anybody can come up to me and talk about anything.
I’m not a person because what I have done makes me a different
type of person. I feel like I’m a person that people can
look at because I’m in a position right now where there
are probably 20,000 people who want to be in my position and
life my life and I respect that and I’m living it to the
fullest.
JC:
Do you have a nickname? PB: They call me The Headhunter and The
Executioner.
JC:
Why? PB: I like to headhunt. I like to hit them in the head.
I use my nickname every now and again. I should because I’ve
been living up to it lately.
JC:
Who has been your toughest opponent? PB: A good challenge for
me was Mike Kyle (at KOTC 18 in November 2002). He took my confidence
away. He made me really find myself. I found my inner self. I
am who I am because I sucked it up and got the KO. Mike really
made me find the fighter inside of me. My next toughest fight
ever was probably Bobby Hoffman (at KOTC 27 in August 2003).
I’m glad he came out and gave me his A game. It was awesome.
He is # 8 in the world. I took it to him and he kept coming and
what else can you do to a man like that. I was like “whoa.”
My toughest loss was to Ricco Rodriguez (at KOTC 7 in February
2001) because I knew I was in a different league and could not
keep up with those guys. It’s different points. Bobby Hoffman
was probably my toughest because I went up against a world ranked
fighter and he was still in my face.
JC:
And now Mike Kyle trains at AKA? PB: Yeah, he started here in
January 2003. He is improving. He is going to be the next superstar.
He’s a stud now. He’s awesome and has everything together.
He’s young. 23-years-old and has never trained before. Now
he is training. He has me to fall back on. Training together
and sparring. He is going to be a super star. Mark my word he
is going to be a force to reckon with when he puts it on.
JC:
Why would Bobby Hoffman be your second toughest opponent? PB:
Just because it’s Bobby Hoffman. OMG That’s probably
the intensity level compared to Ricco. Ricco is nothing compared
to Bobby. The reason Bobby is just so tough is because you hit
him and he looks you squared in the eye and keeps coming. He
hits you right back. You think when he is tired you’re ready
to relinquish a couple of shots and here he comes with a couple
of body shots or knees to your midsection. You think I thought
this guy was tired. Bobby Hoffman just ain’t no joke. It
was awesome to go against him. He was very tough. I threw what
I had and he kept coming like a true champion.
JC:
With your loss to Ricco and realizing you weren’t at that
level, are you now progressing? PB: Oh yeah. I mean, just since
I’ve been at AKA I’ve only had one decision and all
my other fights have been KO (or TKO) wins. I’m more relaxed
on my feet and I’m not afraid of the ground. With Ricco,
I was afraid of the ground and I got taken down easily, but now
I’m not afraid to go to my back. I’m not afraid to
sprawl now. It’s making me more relaxed and composed in
the ring to let my hands go. Before I use to throw 1-2 combos,
now I’m throwing 3-4-5 shot combos and I’m getting
the power with confidence. It’s kind of hard to explain
to the people out there reading this but when you’re a striker
and that’s all you’ve been doing... trying to knock
people out, in the back of your mind when you’re on your
back you can’t hit them anymore it’s really in my head
right now. I have “Crazy” Bob Cook and Javier Mendez
saying do this drill 100 times, then work out with the class.
They know what brought me to this area and what brought me to
this level, but now lets keep me at this level and learning to
defend the takedowns, work for these positions, and now I’m
becoming a pretty well-rounded fighter... a more relaxed fighter.
JC:
What is the importance of being relaxed for you? PB: Just a confidence
level to know when you look across the ring you didn’t leave
anything in the gym. You did enough cardio. It’s “I
want it and I’m going to take it.” You have to respect
every competitor that steps in the cage. Some of us train 8 hours
a day. Plus try to work another job and send money home. For
me, I have to work out here in California and send money home
to Texas. When you get to that level and you feel confident about
yourself all the training and time people put into you, you just
relax and feel comfortable with yourself. It’s working out.
This last fight I was so relaxed and confident. I could only
hear my corner. I couldn’t hear to crowd. I thought I was
in the middle of an ice ring with no fence up and had plenty
of room to move. It just felt awesome. I never felt like that
in a long time.
JC:
Well, heck, you had 2 UFC veterans in Josh Thomson and Cabbage cornering you. How
could you do better than that? PB: Cabbage called out a couple
of knees to the midsection. Josh was in there telling me to keep
my left hand up. It’s funny how your corner can say a couple
of little words and you can respond to that. It’s just the
type of training you go through everyday and everything comes
second hand.
JC:
And that was your recent fight with Andy Montana at Rumble on the Rock
4 in Hawaii.
What can you take from this fight into your next fight, which
is the rematch with Bobby Hoffman? PB: The fight was very good.
He came out a brought it. What amazes me about this fight was
how comfortable I was in the whole aspect of fighting tonight.
I wasn’t pouring out confidence, but I was comfortable,
I knew what I had to do and when we exchanged I go a shot off,
he got a shot off, he tied up with me and I defended well. I
couldn’t believe my balance that’s the biggest thing
I have a balance problem. You grab one of my toes and I fall
flat on my face. My balance is improving greatly. He had an under
body lock and I got out of that. Reversed him a couple of times
and put his back against the fence. I worked good out of the
clinch. He went for a single leg takedown. I defended well. He
actually had me up in the air. I was scooting across the mat
to keep off my back. I got out of that. When we separated again
it seemed like everything went into slow motion. I saw my opening
with my kick. He was blocking too low and I countered, reacted
within seconds and brought it back up to his face and caught
him on the chin. I give Andy credit. He stepped in there with
me and he knew my background, but then he has a hell of a record.
He brought his game. He didn’t have no fear. It was awesome.
When he tried to take me down he tried hard but it didn’t
happen. Everything is coming together for me. And that’s
what I’m bringing to this Bobby Hoffman fight, is I’m
going to defend the takedowns and keep it up as long as I can.
I know Bobby has the strength to take me down. That’s in
the back of my mind to keep this fight standing. I never had
a fight before another fight. I feel great and I feel like I
can do whatever. I’m relieved that I let go of some of this
aggression and I put everything together, then the fight was
over. We go to the bar. The biggest mistake I did is drink a
big pitcher of Coke and ate some cheese fries, went home went
to sleep, got on the plane got off the plane and started doing
cardio again. I feel great.
JC:
What are your thoughts on your first match for the KOTC Heavyweight
Championship against Hoffman in August? PB: The one part that
really bugs me is that I lost the 2nd round and that bummed me.
All 3 judges had me loosing the 2nd round when I clearly won
it. That’s the only thing that bugs me about the decision.
I wish it had been a draw. It would have made me look better
to some of these big organizations. In all aspects, to be the
champion you have to take out the champion. I totally accept
that. Bobby is the true champion. I’m not going to take
that away from him. And I had to take him out, but the whole
fact is that I lost the 2nd round. The 1st round I knew I lost
because he had more control, but when I came up they didn’t
have to stop the match to let me off my back. I reversed and
got back up on my feet. I hit him with everything I had. I caused
the most damage in the 1st round. The most damage in the 2nd
round and then when I hit him in the 3rd round and caused damage,
you know, in Nevada rules you go by aggression and the damage
you cause. I at least figured I’d get a draw. When I lost
it was like “what?” If I had gotten a draw, it would
have been like “ok.” I need to work on it better. But
if I lost, people would say “what happened?” There
are a few people in my camp that asked “did you have the
heart?” “Do you have the motivation for this game anymore?”
That loss really made people think I didn’t have the heart
for this sport. It really pissed me off. What fight were they
seeing? When a loss is on your record they automatically think
you loss.
JC:
The rematch is back in California and under the same rules. PB:
Same rules. I want 5 rounds. Lets follow Nevada rules. Hoffman
agreed to do 4 rounds. I agreed to 4 rounds. The next title shot
will be 4 rounds. My whole attitude about that is forget about
the judges. Tell the judges to go home... not even to watch the
fight. We will finish this. I’m getting KO’d or submitted.
He’s getting KO’d or submitted. Lets leave it at that.
Lets stop the press.
JC:
What will be the difference for you going into this rematch?
PB: I want to change my cardio up a little more. I though I got
winded. That’s the main thing I’m changing. Change
my diet. I quit sparring 2 weeks out for the last fight. I’m
a little hungry, so maybe a week and a half out. I brought my
game and I have a little more fire in my bed. Bring it a little
more because I know Bobby is a champion and he is going to bring
it again. The first one was a war and here comes WW2.
JC:
Do you work outside MMA? PB: I have a small remodeling company
at home. I usually have 3 to 4 guys working for me. I have my
contractors license in Texas. I stay pretty busy when I get 3
months at home. I can’t stop working. Apparently there isn’t
that much money floating around in MMA so you have to have something
to fall back on. I pretty fortunate that I have a trade so when
I have something to fall back on when this is done. I make decent
money doing that. I do a lot of remodeling and construction at
home.
JC:
That must help out in San Jose working with “Crazy”
Bob and James Kennedy? PB: Exactly. They keep me busy. In about
an hour I’ll go do cardio, then I’ll go work at the
bar that James owns and hang some shelves up and fix some water
lines. They give you a list of things to do. I give them my hours
and they pay me. Gas prices are high these days.
JC:
Where do you see yourself in 1 year? PB: In a year, hopefully
I will be ranked. I want to be ranked. I take it month by month.
I get homesick and I miss my family. Like I said I want to be
ranked and be respected for what I have accomplished. I want
people to know who I am whether I decide to leave the sport or
stay in the sport for another 2 or 3 years. I really don’t
know I really don’t see that far in the future. I take it
1 fight at a time. Right now my main thing is November 2 is going
to be my day on PPV. I don’t know what the future holds
for me. So far my life has been good. My fighting career is really
taking off right now. I love it.
JC:
What is one thing about Paul Buentello that would have people
saying “hmmm... I didn’t know that?” PB: That
I’m a family man and that I leave my family at home to pursue
this sport. And they don’t know that I come to fight no
matter what the situation. That’s what they can say. If
they knew what I went through day by day and I have a family
at home and I don’t do this for money I do it for the love
of the sport and to get respect, I’m coming to fight.
Source: ADCC
|
Full
Relson Gracie Nationals Results
TEAM RESULTS
JUVENILE
AND JUNIORS TEAM WINNERS
1st Place- Team Relson Gracie-Caique
2nd Place-Team Gracie Barra, Team Impact
ADULT
TEAM WINNERS
1st Place- Team Rodrigo Vaghi
2nd Place- Team Relson Gracie-Caique
3rd Place- Team Jorge Gurgel
MASTERS
AND SENIORS TEAM WINNERS
1st Place- Team Relson Gracie-Caque
2nd Place- Team Jorge Gurgel
3rd Place- Team Carlson Gracie
WOMEN’S
TEAM WINNERS
1st Place- Team Pedro Sauer, Team Monkey Bar Gym, Team Steel
City
2nd Place- Team Relson Gracie-Caique
3rd Place- Team Carlson Gracie, Team Mcvicker
OVERALL
TEAM CHAMPION
Team- Relson Gracie-Caique
MEN'S
WHITE BELT ADULT DIVISIONS:
Super Feather Weight 122-134 lbs
1st - John Palos- Vaghi
2nd - Marvell Banks Jr.- Pedro Sauer
Feather
Weight 135-147 lbs
1st - James Peterson- Vaghi
2nd - Levaughn Smart- Vaghi
3rd - Greg Huron- McVickers
Light
Weight 148-160 lbs
1st - Randy Burton- Independent
2nd - Eric Nevell- Team Carroll
3rd - Scott Pantalo- Luiz Palhares & Marc Facula- Luiz Palhares
Middle
Weight 161-173 lbs
1st - John Lozler- Vaghi
2nd - Paul Ulrich- Vaghi
3rd - Carlo Lamoga- Relson Gracie-Caique & Michael Denarci-
Matamoros
Light
Heavy Weight 174-187 lbs
1st - Tom Mueller- Pedro Sauer
2nd - Jason Smith- Vaghi
3rd - Anthony Russo- Carlson Gracie & Shaun Antrim- McVickers
Medium
Heavy Weight 188-200 lbs
1st - David Branch- Relson Gracie-Caique
2nd - Jeremy Todd- Edward Burros
3rd - Marcus Spallek- Nashville M.M.A & Steve Matherly- McVickers
Heavy
Weight 200-214 lbs
1st - Tracy Taylor - Vaghi
2nd - Steve Smith - Impact
3rd - Shawn Ross - Jorge Gurgel
Super
Heavy Weight - 214 and above
1st - Nick Oblending - Jorge Gurgel
2nd - Ismaul Medina - Relson Gracie-Caique
3rd - Shawn Goins- Nashville M.M.A. & Black Weese –
Nashville M.M.A.
Adult
- White belt Open
1st. Jeremy Good - Jorge Gurgel
2nd - James Peterson - Vaghi
3rd - Charles Heston - Vaghi
MASTERS
Feather
Weight 135-147 lbs
1st - Bruce Piater III- Vaghi
2nd - Chris Tohler- Relson Gracie-Caique
3rd - Eric Marsill- Pedro Sauer
Light
Weight 148-160 lbs
1st - Chris Hughes- McVickers
2nd - Eric Schuettenberg- Vaghi
Medium
Heavy Weight 161-173 lbs
1st - Luiz Terraces- McVickers
2nd - Mike Stroud- Saulo Ribeiro
3rd - Dave Patton- Relson Gracie-Caique
Medium
Heavy Weight – 188-200 lbs
1st - Brandon Gallo- Relson Gracie-Caique
2nd - Mark Bagley- Vaghi
3rd - Harry Dilley- Relson Gracie-Caique
Heavy
Weight 201-213 lbs
1st - Charles Anzalone- Carlson Gracie
2nd - Derek Black- Jorge Gurgel
3rd - Ron Porter- Summit MA
Super
Heavy Weight - 214 and above
1st - Keith Sullivan- Relson Gracie-Caique
2nd - Richard Owen- Jorge Gurgel
3rd - Jody King- Sucri & Anthony Landicho- Relson Gracie-Caique
Masters
- White belt Open
1st - Keith Sullivan- Relson Gracie-Caique
2nd Jim Wynkop- Saulo Ribeiro
3rd - Liuz Terracas- McVickers
SENIORS
Light Heavy Weight 174-187 lbs
1st Harry Dilley- Relson Gracie-Caique
ADULT
BLUE BELT:
Feather
Weight 135-147 lbs
1st - Nick Redding- McVickers
2nd - FW Bayer- Marcos Soavers
3rd - Eric Bujolis- Pedro Sauer & Omar Choudhury - Matamoros
Light
Weight 148-160 lbs
1st - Joe Modice- Vaghi
2nd - Dustin Hazelett- Jorge Gurgel
3rd - Mark Redding- Mcvickers & Jose Banegas- Relson Gracie-Caique
Middle
Weight 161-173 lbs
1st - Kyle Watson- McVickers
2nd - Jon Tutaj- Monkey Bar
3rd - Tony Kovalou- Jorge Gurgel & Jamie Toney- Jorge Gurgel
Light
Heavy Weight 174-187 lbs
1st - Jesse Ruth- Edwards Burros
2nd - Jay Nance- Edwards Burros
3rd - Aaron Miller- Jorge Gurgel & Willie Lancy- Pedro Sauer
Medium
Heavy Weight 188-200 lbs
1st - Jeff Serafin- McVickers
2nd - Cliff Fonseca- Luiz Palhares
3rd - Marty Andoline- Relson Gracie & Andrew Varney- Jorge
Gurgel
Heavy
Weight 201-213 lbs
1st - Mark Adams- Jorge Gurgel
2nd - Bob Gerrits- Matamoras
3rd - Brian Babbitt- Relson Gracie-Caique
Super
Heavy Weight – 214 and above
1st - Dave Tabron- Relson Gracie-Caique
2nd - Justin Wood- Luiz Claudro
3rd - Bennett Davis- Relson Gracie-Caique
Adult
blue belt Open
1st - Mark Adams- Jorge Gurgel
2nd - Mark Redding- McVickers
3rd - Andrew Varney- Jorge Gurgel & Tony Kovolov- Jorge Gurgel
MASTERS
Feather
Weight 135-147 lbs
1st - Jason Culbertson- Relson Gracie-Caique
2nd - Ken Abel- C.B.T.
3rd - Johnny Edwards- Relson Gracie-Caique
Light
Weight 148-160 lbs
1st - Leopoldo Lopez- Luiz Palhares
2nd - Steve Trumpet- Relson Gracie-Caique
3rd - Tom Zurita- Relson Gracie-Caique & Jim Salamanla- McVickers
Medium
Heavy Weight – 188-200 lbs
1st - Kurt Conway- Relson Gracie-Caique
2nd - Armando Reyna- Carlson Gracie
Heavy
Weight 201-213 lbs
1st - Casey Seebon- Relson Gracie-Caique
2nd - John Schwantez- Relson Gracie-Caique
Super
Heavy Weight – 214 and above
1st - Matt Powell- Relson Gracie-Caique
2nd - John O’Brien- Relson Gracie-Caique
SENIORS
Lt
Heavy Weight - 174-187 lbs
1st - Al Qurroga- Carlson Gracie
2nd - Charles Wispert- Jorge Gurgel
MEN'S
PURPLE BELT DIVISIONS:
ADULT
Feather
Weight 135-147 lbs
1st - Joe Landford- Carroll
2nd - Fernando Salvado- Relson Gracie-Caique
3rd - Chris Casper- Norton’s MA
Lt
Weight 148-160 lbs
1st - Phillip Cardella- Relson Gracie-Caique
2nd - Robert Bihn- Gracie Barra
3rd - Brandon Fracassi- Relson Gracie-Caique
Light
Heavy Weight 174- 187 lbs
1st - Peter Letcos- Carlson Gracie
2nd - Chris Mariarty- Jorge Gurgel
3rd - Tim Troth- Saulo Ribeiro
Medium
Heavy Weight – 188-200 lbs
1st - Mike Ruthmeyer- Vaghi
2nd - Angelo Popofski- Relson Gracie-Caique
Super
Heavy Wt – 214 and above
1st - Marcos Oliveira- American Top Team
2nd - Don Richard- Relson Gracie-Caique
Adult
Purple belt Open
1st - Robert Carrero- Relson Gracie-Caique
2nd - Don Richard- Relson Gracie-Caique
3rd - John Menke- Vaghi & Marcus Oliverio- American Top Team
MASTERS
Feather
Weight 148-160 lbs
1st - Clinton Crabtree- Jorge Gurgel
2nd - Jay Dennis- Relson Gracie-Caique
Middle
Weight 161-173 lbs
1st - Andrew Carrea- Matamoros
2nd - Sean Burke – Force JJ
Heavy
Weight 201-213 lbs
1st - Tony Zara- Relson Gracie-Caique
2nd - Toney Waldeckor- Relson Gracie-Caique
3rd - Ashley Lockwood- Jorge Gurgel
Masters
Open
1st - Sean Burke- Force JJ
2nd - Clinton Crabtree- Jorge Gurgel
3rd - Tony Zara- Relson Gracie-Caique & Jay Dennis- Relson
Gracie-Caique
MEN'S
BROWN BELT DIVISIONS:
Light
Weight
1st - Sergio Indigdo- American Top Team
2nd - Henry Matamoras- Pedro Sauer
Middle
Weight
1st - Francisco Scares- American Top Team
2nd - Robin Gieseler- Relson Gracie-Caique
MEN'S
BLACK BELT DIVISIONS:
Adult
Black belt Open
1st - Aaron Lapoihta - Carlson Gracie
2nd - Harry Jackson II
WOMEN'S
WHITE BELT DIVISIONS:
ADULT
Rooster
Weight 122 and under
1st - Laura Freedman- Steel City
2nd - Patricia Namyer - Carlson Gracie
3rd - Rayonna Tyree - Port Clinton
Lt
Feather Weight 122-134 lbs
1st - Jessica Makinowski - Pedro Sauer
2nd - Jenny Danos- McVicker
3rd - Lisa Berry- Seuing Ni & Jenny McIntosh- Relson Gracie-Caique
WOMEN'S
BLUE BELT DIVISIONS:
ADULT
Middle
Weight
1st - Katy Frye- Monkey Bar Gym
2nd - Heather McDaniel- Relson Gracie-Caique
JUVENILE
& JUNIOR DIVISIONS:
JUVENILE
GIRLS 10-11 50lbs.-55lbs.
1st - Dylan Walter - Impact
2nd - Amy Facunda - Luiz Palharas
JUNIORS
GIRLS 16-17 115bs.-120lbs.
1st - Samantha Plant
2nd - Abby Schwantes - Relson Gracie-Caique
JUVENILE
BOYS 10-11 65lbs.-70lbs.
1st - Justin Edwards- Relson Gracie-Caique
2nd - Sheldon Berry- Seung-Ni
JUVENILE
BOYS 14-15 140lbs.-150lbs.
1st - Myles Jury- Relson Gracie-Caique
2nd - Kurt Berry- Seung-Ni
3rd - Russel Janca- Pedro Sauer & Adam Delling- Relson Gracie-Caique
JUNIORS
BOYS 16-17 155-under
1st - Nicholas Sestito- Gracie Barra
2nd - Jacob Laino- Pedro Sauer
3rd - Justin Wehr- saulo Ribeiro & Zac Upton- Relson Gracie-Caique
JUNIORS
BOYS 16-17 165lbs.-185lbs.
1st - Tommy Hughes- Independent
2nd - Felix Rodriguez- Carlson Gracie
3rd - Luis Gonzalez- Mcvicker
AMATEUR
NO-GI:
MENS
155 & under
Winner- Sergio Omizolo- American Top Team
Runner-up- Tiago Tavares- American Top Team
MENS
155-170
Winner- Francisco Soares- American Top Team
Runner-up- Henry Matamoros- Pedro Sauer
MENS
170-185
Winner- Thiago Jambo-American Top Team
Runner-up- Chris Moriaty- Jorge Gurgel
MENS
185-200
Winner- Mike Rethmeyer- Vaghi
Runner-up- Jeffrey Serafin- Mcvicker
MENS
200-215
Winner- Mark Adams- Jorge Gurgel
Runner-up- John Menke- Vaghi
MENS
215-OVER
Winner- Petrus Walker- American Top Team
Runner-up- Santiago Marcus- American Top Team
WOMENS
Open No-Gi
Winner- Katy Freye- Monkey Bar Gym
Runner-up- Rayanna Tyree- Port Clinton
Source: ADCC
|
Quote
of the Day
FORTES FORTUNA ADIUVAT. (Fortune favors the bold.)
Terence (2cd century Roman playwright), BC 185-18159, Roman Writer
of Comedies
|
U.S.
Open Quick Results and Black Belt Brackets
by: Kid Peligro
First
day of the U.S.Open finished. It was agreat day with LARGE performances
by Nick Diaz, Jeff Glover & Mike Fowler winning their respective
divisions. Diaz had a tough openning round match against OntheMat.com's
'Gumby' eventually winning by knee bar.
Today
the Black Belts go at it. In the heavyweights it will be:
Marcio
Corletta v Kurt Ossiander
Fabricio
Werdum v Cassio Werneck
and
the light weights will see:
Paulo
Guilhobel v Sapao
Wander
Braga v Valtinho
Joao
Cunha (bye)
Ricardo
'Franjinha' v Valecio Senna
Results
and details tomorrow!
Source: ADCC |
Family
Values - part 2 & 3 of 4
By Martin Rooney
Part 2
The
training session the morning of Pride Bushido eased much of my
apprehension. Renzo's punches were crisp and accurate, Rodrigo
looked strong and explosive, Ryan was aggressive and focused,
and Daniel looked relaxed and confident. Everyone also discussed
how great Ralph looked, and that he was surely ready for his
match. I think that session calmed many of the people that were
there, and demonstrated how ready the Gracie's were for action.
As the entire team left the hotel for the arena later that day,
Rodrigo Gracie let out a roar, 'Are we ready for a war?' As I
saw all of the people that left with us in the same black and
white Team Gracie shirts, the army that I was now with put me
at ease. It was not until the bus ride to the Saitama Super Arena
that all of my fears and doubts were completely gone. When I
rode for that hour over to the arena I had an epiphany of what
this family is all about. By the time the Pride event was over
that night, every belief that I developed on that bus ride came
true.
There
are many characteristics of a successful family. When a family
has the characteristics of a quality family, they can take on
anything. As I am about to show, these values are as important
to the Gracie's success as is their technique and fighting history.
These values are the glue that has held this family together
and allowed them to take on not just a single country, but the
world. The following paragraphs are going to be a back stage
description in chronological order of Pride Bushido and what
it taught me about this family.
The
first essential characteristic of a family that I learned on
that bus ride was Unity. A family must be unified in their beliefs
and purpose if they are to be successful. If there is not unity
present, a family is sure to breakdown. There may not be total
alignment at all times within a family, but there must be unity.
For instance, there is an old saying, 'If it is you versus me,
I choose me, but if it is you versus them, I choose us!' Everyone
on that bus was unified with only one purpose in mind: victory.
The
next characteristic that came on that bus ride was Support. A
family is nothing if it does not have a culture in which every
member supports the other. This characteristic could not be denied
from the Gracie family on this day. There were so many members
of the family and a support staff from all over the world that
it was absolutely amazing. Everyone was there to help in any
way possible. Every member of the team was also supported equally.
There was no one that lacked the attention and the support of
the entire group.
Part 3
An interesting characteristic that many people may not understand
is that a family must be able to Agree to Disagree. There are
going to be arguments. There are going to be differences in opinion
and conflict. No family is free from this, and that includes
the Gracie's. A family must allow these opinions to make sure
there is proper communication. If this is not allowed, the relationships
will be superficial. During the bus ride, and during our wait
before the fights in the locker room, the Gracie brothers (Ryan,
Ralph and Renzo) argued about things as simple as whose gloves
were whose and what to wear. To an outsider, this conflict could
be seen to undermine the situation, but this did not threaten
the integrity of the family or the day. That is because a simple
argument cannot disrupt a family that knows it can express its
opinions. When conflict is allowed, relationships and the family
actually grow stronger.
A
critical characteristic that was displayed throughout this day
by the Gracie family was Trust. Without trust within a family,
the family is going to dissolve and fragment for sure. Each member
knew what their responsibilities were on this trip. For the fighters,
their responsibility was to represent the Gracie legacy and win.
For the cornermen, their responsibility was to make sure the
fighter was physically and mentally prepared, as well as deliver
the right strategy at the right time during the fight. When we
were in the locker rooms preparing the fighters for the event,
every family member had a job to do. Whether it was preparing
the gloves and water bottles, making sure there was enough to
eat, stretching and warming the athletes, giving last minute
advice or keeping the press out of the room at critical times,
everyone was trusted in their position. This trust is not something
you are given in a family, this trust is earned. Every member
of the team this day earned that responsibility with accountability
over time. Because of this fact, there would surely not be anyone
let down on this day.
to
be continued...
Source:
ADCC |
DIRECTV
BROADCASTING TOTAL ELIMINATION WITH BONUS FOOTAGE!
by: Turi Altavilla
LOS ANGELES, California – Don’t miss your last chance
to see how the PRIDE FC middleweight tournament started! Just
in time before the final rounds on November 9th, PRIDE FC fans
with DIRECTV will be able to watch a last chance viewing of PRIDE
FC: TOTAL ELIMINATION … with added bonus footage!
TOTAL
ELIMINATION
Last Chance viewing with bonus footage
Available only on DIRECTV
November 1-6 (All Day Ticket)
Channel 101
Price: $19.95 (reduced rate)
TOTAL
ELIMINATION featured a loaded fight card with such match-ups
as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson versus Murilo Bustamante,
Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell versus Alistair Overeem,
and Kazushi Sakuraba versus Wanderlei Silva. Not only will you
be able to re-live the action, but this time you’ll get
in-depth post fight interviews with Quinton “Rampage”
Jackson and Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell. As both men
prepare for the next round of the tournament hear their candid
thoughts … what does Quinton Jackson think of the UFC? Of
Wanderlei Silva? Of Hidehiko Yoshida? How is Chuck Liddell feeling
as the UFC representative in PRIDE FC? Who would he like to fight
the most?
To
find out the answers, order TOTAL ELIMINATION with bonus footage
… available only on DIRECTV!
TOTAL
ELIMINATION - Fight Card:
The
opening round of an eight man middleweight tournament, featuring:
Kazushi
Sakuraba (Japan) vs. Wanderlei Silva (Brazil)
Kiyoshi Tamura (Japan) vs. Hidehiko Yoshida (Japan)
Quinton Jackson (USA) vs. Murilo Bustamante
Chuck Liddell (USA) vs. Alistair Overeem (Holland)
Heavyweight
Bouts:
Fedor
Emelianenko (Russia) vs. Gary Goodridge (Trinidad and Tobago)
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Brazil) vs. Ricco Rodriguez (USA)
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (Croatia) vs. Igor Vovchanchyn
(Ukraine)
PRIDE
FC’s next event and the finals of the middleweight tournament
will take place at FINAL CONFLICT, scheduled for November 9th,
2003 from the Tokyo Dome in Japan. Check your pay per
Source: ADCC |
Emelianenko's
Injury
The Mirko Filipovic vs. Fedor Emelianenko Heavyweight Championship
match, as anticipated as the Middleweight Grand Prix, has been
delayed due to an injury sustained by Fedor. However, Dream Stage
Entertainment announced the replacement match at a press conference
on October 16th. Mirko, undefeated in the last 2 years, will
go head-to-head with the former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion, Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira. This will be a showdown between extreme striking
and extreme grappling.
"To put it plainly, Fedor is out. However, we have an opponent
who is about as tough as Fedor lined up." PRIDE General
Manager Nobuhiko Takada continued, "Mirko's opponent will
be Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira." Takada explained at the conference
that Fedor has broken a bone in his right hand. "Don't you
want to find out which is the strongest, striking or grappling?"
And just as Takada said, this match lacks nothing in comparison
to a possible Mirko/Fedor fight.
This
match will be for the PRIDE FC Interim Heavyweight Championship.
Fedor, will put the true Championship on the line at PRIDE 27,
schedule for February 1, 2004 at Osaka Castle Hall. Although,
it's possible that another extension will be possible, depending
on Fedor's recovery. Mirko, coming off a lighting-fast win over
Dos Caras Jr., verified that he is in top condition and ready
to battle, "I don't just want to fight Fedor. I want to
fight whoever has the belt." Mirko's motivation doesn't
seem to have dropped at all with the change of opponent. Not
to mention that Nogueira, the former Champion, wants to be known
as the strongest in the world. Although it's for an Interim title,
there's not mistaking that beating his new opponent would give
Mirko his so-desired title of the world's strongest and most-complete
fighter.
Nogueira
also has a lot on the line in this match, Takada said. "We
got an OK from Nogueira's side after only 2 replies." Nogueira
lost the belt to Fedor in February of this year and wasn't able
to perform like he wanted in his comeback match against Rico
Rodriguez in August. Although it looked like he might be on his
way out, Nogueira has take a step forward on the road back to
Fedor. This is a rare, and unexpected, chance for him and Nogueira
doesn't plan on letting it slip through his fingers. In fact,
before his fight Fedor, Mirko was the opponent that Nogueira
himself wanted the most.
Nogueira
gained the PRIDE Heavyweight Championship title in his 3rd PRIDE
match, after defeating the PRIDE GP 2000 Champion, Mark Coleman,
by submission. It's a natural progression that Mirko face Nogueira
in his quest for the Championship.
FEDOR'S
INJURY
Fedor injured his right hand in his August fight with Gary Goodridge.
However, he started training hard in the end of August for his
upcoming bout with Mirko. Despite his training menu being designed
so as not cause much stress to his hand, it became clear on November
15th that the base of his right thumb was broken.
He
received extensive treatment by the only 2 Russian Presidential
doctors in Moscow but it became necessary to put a cast on the
hand on November 25th. It would take at least 2 weeks before
the cast could be removed and Fedor won't be able to resume training
until December at the earliest but January being better. Despite
his prognosis, Fedor still wanted to fight Fedor in November.
The opinion of both the official doctor and DSE was that he should
not fight until he is completely healed, so that neither side
would have any doubts over the result.
Source: Pride |
Catching
Up With ERICA MONTOYA
by: Keith Mills
The women’s
divisions as a whole have a lot coming up in the next month.
First is the much-awaited Jennifer Howe/Judy Neff fight at 135
in IFC followed just three weeks later by both Erin Toughill/Micelle
Farrow said to be at 155 in Iowa and Erica Montoya/Jamie Lyn
at 125 in Shooto in Las Vegas.
Since
HOOKnSHOOT “Revolution” Erica has been fighting exclusively
in Japan in Shooto and Ax where she has picked up an internet-verifiable
record of 5-0. Jennifer Howe may hold the most prestigious belt
at 125 in the US right now but she usually fights at 135, making
5’5 Erica the first to come to mind when people think of
the top 125s. All this and she just turned 18 this spring and
started college in the fall.
KM:
Your next fight is in Shooto in Las Vegas. EM: On November 14th
at the Orleans.
KM:
How do you feel about fighting in Shooto in the US? EM: I’m
excited; I have a lot of family members going, a lot of team
members going…I’m excited.
KM:
This is the first time the US fans have been able to see you
since HOOKnSHOOT “Revolution”. EM: Yeah. It’s
pretty local, about three hours away.
KM:
Really. I didn’t realize it was that close. Do you feel
any differently fighting in front of friends and family that
can actually make it to the show? EM: I’m excited. Whether
I do well or do bad there is support there.
KM:
You’ve been doing the broadcasting on the UFC show in Vegas
but now here it is even those people can come and see this. This
is ‘Erica’s night’. EM: I hope so. I hope it’s
my night.
KM:
This is Jamie Lyn you are fighting? EM: Yes.
KM:
I don’t know anything about her. What do you think of her?
EM: Me either. If you find anything let me know. I just know
she trains at Arizona Combat or whatever. I went on her site
(http://www.azcombatsports.us)and it says she is on the NHB team
6-1 one by knockout. Then I went to kickboxing and it said the
same thing. We don’t know if it’s kickboxing or MMA.
Sherdog has her as 1-0. I’ve never heard of her until now.
I’m going to check out Debi’s site (fightergirls.com)
and see if there is anything there but nobody’s heard anything
about her.
KM:
It sounds like this woman is more from a kickboxing background.
Kind of falls right into your gameplan. EM: Kind of. I hope so.
"
KM:
How did you get this fight? EM: They contacted Chris (Brennan)
I guess.
KM:
And Adam (Lynn) is also on the card. EM: Actually last I heard
I think he wasn’t fighting. I don’t know what it is
now.
KM:
What are your thoughts on how the Next Generation team is doing?
EM: Great. Chris just won in Pride Bushido and they want him
back. It’s really exciting he’s getting to fight, all
of us are very excited for him. Tracy Hess is going to open an
affiliate Next Generation school. We got guys that are trying
to try out for the team right now and things are going really
well for Next Generation.
KM:
About six months or so ago Chris was saying everybody was going
to take a couple months off and get re-focused and now there
is this explosion with Chris in Pride. In that time when the
team was taking some time off you were still fighting, pretty
much the only Next Generation fighter that kept fighting. EM:
It’s kind of hard when the whole team takes a break because
some times opportunities pop up and you can’t say ‘no’.
They are too good to be true so you have to just act upon it.
KM:
Speaking of which, what is this I hear about you in UFC? EM:
I’m not fighting in this next one. My time is coming. I
think maybe they want to see how the public is going to react;
they don’t want a negative reaction. I think they are taking
their time with it trying to find me an opponent, doing their
homework and stuff. They are not in a rush to put a girl in the
UFC. It’s understandable.
KM:
It’s a logical place to start with you…doing the broadcast
they already know you, trust you, can communicate with you. Word
out there is that there is no way they’d put you against
Jennifer Howe. What about the people that are speculating UFC
are looking to I wouldn’t say hand you a win so much as
want to see you win. EM: I don’t think that’s the case.
I think they want to make it an exciting fight. Since this is
the very first girl fight I think whatever opponent they give
me they want it to be equal. They don’t want me to be better
than somebody but they don’t want me to be the underdog
either. I think they really want to match it up well.
KM:
That was the perception I took, no offense intended, when I heard
they would absolutely not have you do Howe. What are your thoughts
as far as are you ready for Howe? EM: If you look at a picture
of Howe and you look at a picture of me she looks I think so
much bigger. That’s like Debi (Purcell). Debi has muscle,
she’s really toned. She’s fought at 125 too but even
if we were standing next to each other there is no way we look
like we are in the same weight division.
KM:
What are your thoughts on Howe/Neff in IFC? EM: I think it’s
exciting. It’s a long-awaited match along with Grapple Girl
(Michelle Farrow) and Erin Toughill.
KM:
Are you making it out to that show? EM: That is the same weekend
as Chris’ tournament.
KM:
Oh, the Westside Submission tournament? Are you taking part in
that? EM: No. I tried to last one but there was no female that
showed up. I’m always there, I always go but there is never
any competition for me.
KM:
Then why don’t you come out to Boise? EM: Because I don’t
have any money.
KM:
Any perspective you can share about the Howe/Neff fight? I don’t
know if you’ve seen either of them. EM: I haven’t.
I’m just saying it’s long awaited because whenever
people talk about fighting it’s like ‘oh, when are
they going to fight?’ It’s really blown up. Hopefully
the match will live up to what everybody is expecting it to be.
KM:
So you wouldn’t pick a winner? EM: No, I’ve never seen
them fight.
KM:
This summer was really disappointing with lack of women’s
fights. EM: There is always talk but then this comes up and that
comes up and it never follows through.
KM:
Shooto is only like a week or so before the next UFC and you’ll
be doing the Spanish commentary for that. EM: Hopefully with
a pretty face. (Both laugh). If my outfit includes sunglasses
then you know something went wrong.
KM:
Like ‘what’s with all the mascara’… EM: Of
bangs or a layered look over my face.
KM:
Wide-brimmed hat pulled down low. EM: I’ll just tilt my
head to one side. You’ll know something went wrong.
For
more on Erica, Chris Brennan, and the rest of Next Generation
including the Westside Submission tournaments check out http://www.chrisbrennan.com.
Source: ADCC |
Quote
of the Day
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time,
and it annoys the pig."
Folk saying
|
2nd
AMERICAN NATIONAL JIU-JITSU CHAMPIONSHIPS
The tournament will take place on November 30,2003 in Torrance
High School.
2200 West Carson Street, Torrance, CA.
Information
how to enroll and weigh ins: http://www.cbjj.com.br/english/american-2003.htm
Source: CBJJ |
3rd
Brazilian World Cup will be held in the land of the Minotauro!
by André Araújo
For
the first time an international BJJ event will be held in Bahia
(Brazil's Northeast), the home town of ex-Pride Heavyweight champion
and BJJ black belt, Rodrigo Minotauro.
Organized
by the president of the Brazilian Olympic Jiu-Jitsu Confederation,
Luis
Hermínio, the 3rd World Cup will be held at the Ginásio
da Colônia de Férias do Sesc which will provide
free housing for 1.500 athletes. According to Hermínio
the event is gonna be a huge show. 'The BJJ World Cup will start
with a show of Capoeira (In Bahia, black slaves created the style)
and it will have an awesome pop show with Ivete Sangalo, a popular
beautiful singer in Brazil', said.
The
last two editions, all the champions received prize in cash.
'This time we are going to double the prizes. Instead of paying
R$3 thousand (US 1000) to the winner, we gonna pay R$6.000 (US$
2000). We are going to distribute 45 thousand dollars in cash
among the champions,' stated Hermínio. The 3rd BJJ World
Cup is scheduled for next July (9,10,11 and 12) in Salvador,
Bahia.
Source: Tatame |
Pedro
Rizzo Update
by: Marcello Tetel
Fresh from an extended stay in Japan and Thailand, where he helped
his good friend K-1 fighter Peter Aerts, Pedro 'The Rock' Rizzo
is back home in Brazil, with his sites set for the next UFC on
November 21st an the Mohegan Sun.
During
this eastern training season, Pedro had a chance to hone his
stand up game. 'Peter was about to fight in the K1 and I am always
ready to help him in whatever he needs.' Pedro is also very happy
to be fighting again himself, and he stated that the opponent
doesn't matter. 'My goal now is to go out there and brawl. During
years I have been heard people say that I am too conservative
and a counter punch fighter. Since my last fight, I have been
behaving a bit different in the octagon. I hope I can do the
same or even better in my next match.'
Pedro
Rizzo will be facing former UFC heavy weight champion Rico Rodriguez
in a battle that promises to be a war between the ground and
pound fighter and the classic striker.
Pedro
stated that he is training more on the ground than ever, in order
to prevent the ground and pound, working on takedown defense
and submissions. He believes the best way to defend a submission
is knowing the timing for the position and knowing that he can
prevent submissions, especially leglocks is the focus now.
Pedro
says that he's aware Rico might not want to mix it up standing,
so he is working on his takedown defense very hard as well. Regarding
the possibility of fighting in Japan after his UFC contract is
up (this is the last fight) Pedro had no comment on the subject.
Ready for
Ricco, Pedro Rizzo only fears the octagon itself
by: Luca Atalla (with Gaspari Felpudo)
Less
than a month before facing Ricco Rodriguez at UFC 45, on November
21st in Uncasville, CT, Pedro 'The Rock' Rizzo dropped his guard
and talked about his preparation, strategies and fears before
his next fight. 'I was talking to Minotauro some time ago and
he was telling me about the troubles he had when Fedor cornered
him in Pride. I replied, 'my friend, imagine yourself in the
octagon, which has only corners! That's why I hate that octagon's
railing', said Rizzo. The Brazilian is more than aware of the
danger of Ricco's ground n'pound, that's why he will try not
to be cornered by 'The Suave One'.
Rizzo
is now training twice a day during the week, except for Wednesdays
and Saturdays, when he trains only once. Though he keeps a hard
regimen of work as usual, the athlete from Ruas Vale-Tudo admits
he is not walking the same road exactly as he did before his
win against Tra Tellingman, in UFC 43. 'Of course I'm training
much more wrestling and ground techniques these days. About my
punches and kicks, I'm just maintaining them, that's enough for
what Ricco's got to show. Before he takes the fight to the ground,
I'll hit him hard', said Rizzo.
The
ultimate details of his strategies and preparation for the fight
are going to be decided after November 9th, when Rizzo goes from
Rio de Janeiro to L.A., to spend some time in Marco Ruas academy.
Source: ADCC |
Sims
Is Out:
Who Will Meet Mir Now?
By Loretta Hunt
In the ever-evolving UFC heavyweight picture, FCF has received
word that Wes Sims will not be competing on November 21st's UFC
45 card due to injury. While sparring with a kickboxer last night
in preparation for his second outing against fellow heavyweight
Frank Mir, Sims incurred a blow that broke the ulna bone in his
left arm. Currently in a splint, Sims' injury will require a
10-week cast once the swelling has gone down. Following on the
heels of Tim Sylvia's recent steroid use admission and subsequent
drop from the UFC 45 card, Frank Mir is once again without an
opponent.
From
his home in Ohio, where he trains under MMA staples Mark Coleman
and Kevin Randleman at the Hammer House facility, Sims seemed
disappointed about the "bad break" that will keep him
out of the Octagon for at least three months. "I'm in the
best shape of my life right now," he said, commenting that
he is currently weighing in at a fitter 253 pounds. "I just
keep getting better and better. I was really looking forward
to this fight." Sims weighed in at 242 pounds for his first
clash with Mir at UFC 43, a bout that ended in disqualification
for the 6'10" fighter when he illegally stomped down on
his floored opponent.
Confirming
that he recently signed a three-fight deal with the UFC, "the
Project" says he will take the unexpected time off to accompany
fellow teammate Randleman to Japan for his PRIDE Final Conflict
bout against Kazushi Sakuraba on November 9th. "It's gonna
give me more time to build and get stronger," he added optimistically.
"You're gonna see a more poised fighter when I come back.
I'm 24. I'm gonna be around for a while."
Source: ADCC |
Quote
of the Day
"We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal
and then leap in the dark to our success."
Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862, American Essayist, Poet, Naturalist
|
Baret
Yoshida signed for Pancrase
Hawaii's own, Baret "The Finisher" Yoshida just signed
an MMA fight against rising Pancrase star Yoshiro Maeda. Maeda
is said to the Pancrase's version of Norifumi "Kid"
Yamamoto. A ferocious fighter that is ripping through all his
opponents. Maeda has a 6-0 pro MMA record and fights out of P's
lab Osaka.
We wish him a lot of luck for his first fight in Pancrase.
|
HEAT
FC 2 Looking Solid, Chute Boxe Taking Over Japan and More!
By Eduardo Alonso
The
Brazilian Beat:
Here we
are again folks! After a long absence, probably the longest in
the Brazilian Beat's one-year history, the BB is back in good
style with plenty of happenings from the Brazilian MMA scene.
Due to the time frame, we had a lot of catching up to do, therefore
some news may not be as fresh as you're used to, however we still
bring the latest from the country where lots of champions comes
from. October is flying by, and the month brought us some action
from Pele's new show, however November will be hot with shows
such as PRIDE GP, the UFC and HEAT FC 2 coming over and looking
stronger than ever. Another interesting trend of this edition
of "The Beat" is the fact that our beloved sport is
more than ever getting to business level, even here in the wild
Brazil, as fighters are becoming free-agents and trading teams,
promotions are popping up and even websites are appearing left
and right, from fighters and teams! So, don't blink and be sure
check out all this news and more, as the music may not be playing,
but Full Contact Fighter keeps bringing the rhythm, as the beat
never ceases in traditional Brazilian style!
The news never seems to stop regarding Heat FC 2 - Evolution!
After some controversy regarding a split in the show's promoters,
things are getting more and more interesting with the promotion
as the card is almost ready and announcements have being made
all the time in Brazil. Besides the fight between PRIDE veteran
Allan Goes and RINGS veteran Gustavo Ximu, already announced,
another PRIDE veteran in Carlos Barreto is returning to HEAT
ring to face UFC veteran Travis Wiuff, in a battle of true heavyweights,
where we'll see if Barreto will be able to use his new found
Muay Thai, or his Jiu-Jitsu skills against Wiuff's ground and
pound game and raw power. Also, KOTC, IFC and HEAT veteran Forrest
Griffin is no longer going to face Lucas Lopes, as problems with
the weight for the fight forced Lucas to withdraw, and HEAT and
WVC veteran Edson Paredao will be the replacement in a fight
with a 220 pounds weight limit.
In
more HEAT FC 2 news, long time Jiu-Jitsu master Vinicius Draculino,
known for his achievements competing with the gi and training
students at Gracie Barra, is going to be making his MMA debut
next November 27th! Draculino is well liked by all in the Brazilian
MMA scene, and he decided to enter the ring for the first time
to prove his students that he does what he preaches. Draculino's
opponent is going to be Kleber Galdino, one of the first Jiu-Jitsu
black belts in the city of Natal (Where HEAT will take place)
who has some tough MMA battles in his past. Also looking to please
the local crowd, two fighters from rival academies in the city
are going to battle against each other as HEAT 1 winner Fabio
Bolinho from Kimura/Nova Uniao will face Sergio Junior from Combate
Real. Those two academies hate each other, and they split the
students in the city, with a history of street fights in the
past this fight will add more HEAT to the promotion that carries
this name.
Well,
one may think it's enough of HEAT FC 2 - Evolution news, but
in fact it isn't! IFC Light Heavyweight Champion Renato Babalu
Sobral just signed yesterday and will be back at the HEAT FC
2 card. Babalu, fresh from his IFC epic win, will be facing Cristopher
Hipolito from the Brazilian Impacto Team, the same where Carlinhos
Lima trains. Hipolito however is not only a striker, as he competes
in wrestling tournaments in Brazil as well. Also, coming from
a loss in a tough fight at BSF to Ikuhisa Minowa, local idol
Silmar Rodrigo is also coming back to the card to face young
Canadian Chris Fontaine, who is taking this chance very seriously,
adding even more international flavor to the card. On other news,
the promoters of HEAT FC expect to close a Brazilian Pay Per
View deal in the next few days. Here's what the HEAT FC 2 - Evolution
card looks like so far, with more fights still to be announced:
Carlos Barreto vs. Travis Wiuff
Allan Goes vs. Gustavo Ximu Machado
Renato Babalu vs. Cristopher Hipolito
Forrest Griffin vs. Edson Paredao
Vinicius Draculino vs. Kleber Galdino
Silmar Rodrigo vs. Chris Fontaine
Fabio Bolinho vs. Sergio Junior
Speaking
of Brazilian shows, MMA legend Pele Landi Jons promised and delivered
his own MMA promotion. The show, called Challenge Original Brazilian
Vale Tudo, took place this last Friday, October 17th at the city
of Curitiba, in the same venue where MECA used to hold his shows,
Palacio de Cristal. The event had a good crowd, although it was
not packed, and due to TV perspectives it ended up having no
headbutts and the fighters used gloves, instead of what was originally
planned. However, Pele succeeded in having plenty of knockouts
in his card, and the public left the arena satisfied for sure.
The show's standouts were Pele's students Eliezer Ninja, Gaucho
and Charneski. Pele is now already planning the second edition
of the show, and we'll keep you posted. Here are the results:
Eliezer Ninja (Pele Team) defeats Gelson Aranha (Gold Team) by
KO in the 1st round.
Marivaldo Moreira defeats Wander Santos by TKO in the 1st round.
Franklin Jensen (Alliance) defeats Paulo Canhao (Gold Team) by
KO in the 1st round.
Sandro Reni (Pele Team) defeats Daniel Alves (Gold Team) by TKO
in the 1st round.
Emerson Graxaim (Brazilian Impacto) defeats Alexandre Marciano
by TKO in the 1st round.
Leonardo Pelucio (Kamikase/Gracie) defeats Ricardo Savamu by
TKO in the 2nd round.
Jeferson Gaucho (Pele Team) defeats Evandro Oliveira by KO in
the 1st round.
Wagner Kurio (Gold Team) defeats Kaue Dudus by TKO in the 1st
round.
Luis Charneski (Pele Team) defeats Everton Santos (Gold Team)
by KO in the 1st round.
The
final round of the PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix is coming soon,
and besides the fights for the belt the actual rest of the card
is starting to take shape. For some time rumors had in Brazil
that former UFC Middleweight Champion Murilo Bustamante would
be facing Kevin "The Monster" Randleman in the show's
undercard, however with the announcement of Randleman's bout
against Japanese hero Kazushi Sakuraba it looks more like that
the Brazilian Top Team fighter will be facing another American
in Dan Henderson. This fight was also rumored some weeks ago,
and either way Bustamante is training hard having a fight in
November 9th at his plans.
Bustamante's
long time teammate and friend Mario Sperry is also training and
eager to fight again, although no fight is likely to happen still
in 2003. Despite all the promoter and manager activities being
performed by "The Zen Machine" lately, Sperry told
FCF he makes sure he always trains and keep on fighting shape,
as he still loves to compete. On the middle of his training however,
Mario is taking time to take care of his own MMA promotion, Brazil
Super Fight, and is working on the 2nd show for next December,
once again in the city of Porto Alegre. Among Sperry's plans
for the card is the return of PANCRASE idol Ikuhisa Minowa, to
defend his belt against a yet to be named opponent.
Speaking
of Jiu-Jitsu fighters, multiple-time World Champion black belt
Fernando Terere just launched his own website [at www.fernandoterere.com].
The site looks very basic, and it's still only in Portuguese,
but it's a good chance for those who can read the language to
learn a bit more about this guy's social works, as he helps a
lot of poor kids in his birthplace of Rio de Janeiro. Terere
is still training hard with the gi on, as well as helping his
friend Vitor Belfort in his MMA training.
On
the subject of websites, legendary fighter Pele Landi Jons also
launched a neat website for his team [www.peleteam.com.br]. This
site is well designed, with some interesting content on Pele's
career, his new team and his show. Unfortunate though for English
readers, it's still only in Portuguese, but with some effort
one will be able to check some of the pictures and info.
Speaking
of Belfort, "The Phenom" is continuously training with
his eyes set on a likely re-match against UFC Champion Randy
Couture, who has been dominating at the Light Heavyweight division
despite the age factor. Vitor has been wanting this re-matching
for a long time, and even the fact that it's likely only taking
place next year didn't phase his training. Belfort went to Rio
de Janeiro last week to take care of some business, but now is
back to Sao Paulo training with his team. On the fighter's plans
is still his marriage with his long time fiancé and former
Playmate Joana Prado, this next December. Belfort guarantees
though that the honeymoon will only happen after his fight with
Couture.
Another
top Light Heavyweight fighter who has been out of the scene for
a while is Chute Boxe artist Murilo Ninja Rua. With rumors flying
around of a likely fight for him at the next MECA Vale Tudo show,
Murilo is taking care of his own business and is going for his
second ever European seminar tour. Starting next weekend the
PRIDE veteran will be at Sweden, England and Germany and although
he is happy with the trip, he told FCF he is really eager to
fight again, as he feels he has trained a lot and is now on the
best fighting form of his life.
As
websites seem to be making the tone for this edition of The Beat,
Brazilian Top Team fighter Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira also has
some news on his website. Minotauro launched his own store at
his website, where you can buy his t-shirts and other goodies.
The site has an English version, however the virtual store is
only on the Portuguese version so far. Check it out at [www.minotauro.net].
While he looks to sell some stuff, Nogueira has been training
hard for his crucial fight against Mirko Cro Cop at PRIDE, next
November 9th. According to Mino's camp, he has been studying
Mirko and training a lot of Greco-Roman Wrestling, looking to
take the Croatian down from body clinches. The BTT trainers told
FCF that even without Darrel Gholar to help out their training,
they manage to get a great Wrestling instructor and Minotauro
will be ready.
Chute
Boxe is finally deciding to take on Japan and open an academy
there, where the market is surely huge for MMA. According to
the team's leader, Master Rudimar Fedrigo, the academy will serve
as a Embassy for the team in Japan, where they'll hold seminars
with the team's top stars as well as train new athletes. Chute
Boxe Master Sergio Cunha will he heading for the land of the
rising sun shortly to take care and run the academy. In other
Rudimar Fedrigo news, the Chute Boxe master and his partner Jorge
Guimaraes are announcing the next edition of MECA World Vale
Tudo to take place next December 19th, at the city of Porto Alegre
in the South of Brazil, and plan to announce the card shortly.
UFC
veteran and long time Luta-Livre practitioner Flavio Moura left
the Budokan team to join the new Gracie Barra MMA team, in a
surprising move where money and better training conditions seemed
to be the cause. After Alexandre Cacareco, also with a long time
Luta-Livre history, did the same move everybody was astonished,
but now those types of deals are becoming more commonplace, as
our sport reaches professionalism and the MMA free agent days
are becoming a reality. It goes to show we're long days above
the old Jiu-Jitsu vs. Luta-Livre rivalry, and MMA is now officially
a business.
PRIDE
Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva keeps training harder and
harder for his upcoming battles at the PRIDE GP final round,
next November 9th. Silva told FCF he has been concentrating a
lot on cardio, but it still hitting as hard as ever! Wanderlei
is also a noticeable proud daddy, as his son Thor is giving him
even more will and strength to capture the belt. "The Axe
Murderer's" training routine has been intense, and he is
weighing 97 kg with very little body fat right now, looking to
cut the extra 4 kg as fight-time comes closer.
Source: FCF |
The
September 2003 issue of FCF is here!
In this
issue...
UFC
44: A Night of Undisputed Progress - Couture removes all doubt
and unifies the UFC Light-Heavyweight title in an awesome demonstration
of what makes him personify the word Champion.
Former
Champion Tito Ortiz - Speaks out on the fight that lost him the
title and who he wants to fight next. This is one interview that
you CANNOT miss!
Undisputed
UFC Light-Heavyweight Champ Randy Couture talks about the fight
and responds to Tito's post-fight commentary.
And
Then there were Four - Pride Middleweight Grand Prix Preview
- Bios, fight histories, pros & cons and analysis of the
match-ups.
The
Iceman Speaketh: - Chuck Liddell talks about the Grand Prix,
his upcoming match against Rampage Jackson and his potential
match with both Silva and Yoshida. The Iceman also gives his
post-fight thoughts on the Ortiz/Couture match.
IFC
Golobal Domination brings back the 8-man ironman tournament with
a talent-laden field to the birthplace of MMA in the USA and
we bring you there for all the action.
In
this month's SHOOTO Report, we cover the Official fights held
at Korokuen Hall in Tokyo and at Port Messe in Nagoya.
TKO:
Ultimate Rush - TKO takes over where UCC left off, bringing MMA
action back to Canada.
Vale
Tudo comes to the Amazon in Jungle Fight. If MMA in the depths
of the Amazon Jungle is not enough, famed rAw trainer Rico Chiapparelli
makes his long-awaited MMA debut.
Say
it Ain't So! - Another Champion Taken Out By Steroid Use Accusations
- Legal Council for the NSAC and Sylvia's manager discuss the
situation.
Extreme
Brawl 4 - Cagefighting on the British Isle turns out a disappointment
for Jeremy Horn.
Ultimate
Combat 7: World Domination - The latest installment of England's
Ultimate Combat featured the show's first World Title Fight and
we bring you there live.
SuperBrawl
31: Crossroads - Hawaii's original MMA show returns with fist-pounding,
arm-cranking action.
Rumble
On the Rock 4: We return to beautiful Hawaii witness as BJ Penn
returns to the cage with SHOOTO's Takanori Gomi standing on the
other side.
Pierre
Guillet - This U.S. Airman doesn't just fight in the air, he
does a lot of it in a cage. Meet this rising young talent.
Brazil
Super Fight - As if Mario Sperry's plate is not full enough as
a fighter, manager and coach, now he tries his talented hand
at promoting.
Former
AMC Pankration strength & conditioning coach Mark Ginther
presents Ask the Ubermensch: Timeless Tips from the Teutonic
Titan of Training.
"Ruthless"
Robbie Lawler BioFile.
Controversy:
Fight fans make their picks and give their opinions for UFC 44.
In
our monthly columns...
In Matt Hume's techniques, Matt Hume & Daniel Eng demonstrate
an Armbar Grip Break and Finish; and in the Punchers Corner,
champion kickboxer Derek Panza discusses Heavy Bag Training for
Mixed Martial Arts.
Every
issue of Full Contact Fighter is jam-packed with fight news from
the U.S. to Brazil to Japan. FCF travels the globe to bring the
fights to you. Get yours today! Available at Tower Records stores
around the world or by subscription...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For
FASTEST service call in your credit card order
(516)676-0033
or
http://www.fcfighter.com
Source: FCF |
Mir
- Sims Redux
The
time has come for Mir to avenge the face stomping, and for Sims
to prove that he can keep his cool, or more importantly, beat
the man who is arguably next in line for the Title shot. Frank
Mir will face Wes Sims for a second go-around in a 3 round non-title
fight on November 21st at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville,
CT.
Why
not Arlovski vs Mir you ask? It appears that Arlovski was offered
the fight against Mir for UFC 45, however, Arlovski has sustained
an arm injury outside of training or fighting since his last
bout at UFC 44, sidelining him. Without Arlovski in the mix,
this becomes a viable match up as Mir did not win any fans in
his last bout by getting the "W" on a disqualification.
Before that, he took out a UFC old timer with more ring rust
on him than the Titanic. Assuming this fight does not end in
controversy again, this will either propel Mir to a realistic
bid for the heavyweight Title, or put Wes Sims firmly on the
map. Either way, it builds up a heavyweight contender and some
heat in the division.
And
don't forget about Arlovski. The Mir-Sims bout will definitely
have an impact on what happens with the Belt at UFC 46 in Jan-Feb
of next year. But, he most likely will be fighting for the Belt
or the #1 contender spot then.
Source: MMA Ring Report |
BENNETT
BREAKDOWN: Emails, emails and more emails
MMAWeekly
Radio host Ryan Bennett answers your emails once a month about
the hot topics in mixed martial arts. If you would like to ask
a question, email him at ryanbennett@mmaweekly.com
Why
isn't their a UFC Heavyweight Title on the line for UFC 45? I
thought they were going to replace Sylvia as the champ...- Mark
Lenthy - Columbia, Missouri
Bennett:
Basically I haven't heard the official word from Zuffa, but I
heard at one time that they wanted to put together Frank Mir
vs Andrei Arlovski but couldn't because of an injury to Andrei.
You will see a title match soon enough. I'm hearing rumors that
if Mir defeats Wes Sims, then Mir vs Sylvia will be held for
the title. For now though we will have to just wait and see.
Why
is the UFC showing just one fight in the 155 weight division
that doesn't even make pay per view? Will BJ Penn get the belt?
- Jerry Sivulich- Miami, Florida
I
personally think the UFC has been burned a little bit by the
division in recent months. The UFC and the mainstream public
like to see fights end by KO or submission. Look at the last
big fight in the UFC at 155.
BJ
Penn vs Caol Uno.... while very technical and a fun match for
me to watch, I don't know if it was the most exciting fight in
the eyes of the mainstream fans. If you look at recent history,
the pressure now is on the guys at 155 to finish. If you look
what has been going on, look at all of these big recent fights
in the 155 division that have gone to decision, Uno vs Penn,
Bang Ludwig vs Genki Sudo, Matt Serra vs Din Thomas, Uno vs Thomas,
Penn vs Pulver, etc...
The
fighters at 155 are some of the best pound for pound in the business
and that division is the most stacked in MMA today. These guys
though need to finish and until they do, I don't think you will
see three matches on the same UFC card at 155 like we used to
see on pay per view. Things are looking up though with impressive
finishes by Hermes Franca and Josh Thomson.
Will
Tito ever fight Chuck Liddell? It sounds like he is already ducking
him for a future fight by saying if Liddell is defeated soundly
in Pride, he won't fight him....David Cohn - Lake Park, Minnesota
I
personally haven't seen Tito say those things. If he truly did
said that then I am disappointed because he also said in the
UFC 45 press conference he would fight Chuck. If Tito is worried
about fighting Liddell because "he was defeated soundly",
didn't I just see the man himself in his last fight get beaten
soundly against Couture? I'm a big fan of Ortiz, I just think
NOW is the time for a Liddell vs Ortiz matchup. I'm giving Tito
the benefit of the doubt and would like to think Tito will face
Chuck after the Pride Grand Prix concludes.
Do
you feel Kevin Randleman should be upset by the racist comments
in Japan as he was referred to as "Donkey Kong"? -
LaMar Thomas - Atlanta, Georgia
I
said this on the radio show yesterday, my perspective is coming
from a white male who has never had to deal with racism. When
I heard about the press conference with Sakuraba, I thought intitially
this is a weird angle having Sakuraba wearing the Mario mustache
and calling Kevin Randleman "Donkey Kong". Talking
with a few people in Japan, everyone here in the States knows,
the Japanese love the strange storylines. Bob Sapp has been in
plenty strange commercials overseas.
I
think Pride is capitalizing on the success of the Nintendo video
game, not any sort of racism. Once again this is coming from
a guy who hasn't had to expierence any sort of racism, (me),
so if Kevin or any other African American is pissed off, they
would know a lot more than I would.
From
the comments on the SoundOff Forum, I've seen some people call
this racist. From the oustside looking in, I understand it from
both sides, however I think the remarks.need to be asked to Randleman
if he is upset about it or if he thinks it's racist, not a caucasian
talk show host who has never had to expierence any type of racism.
Kevin Randleman can answer the question a lot easier than Ryan
Bennett.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
10TH
ANNIVERSARY QUICKLY APPROACHING
With the 10th Anniversary card coming up it looks as though some
old timers might make the card after all, but they won't be fighting
on this upcoming card.
One
Gracie family member told MMAWeekly.com last night that Royce
Gracie will be receiving "a big award worthy of the hall
of fame" implying the UFC is creating a hall of fame that
could be unveiled at the UFC 45 card from the Mohegan Sun. Zuffa
was not available for comment on the situation.
The
same Gracie family member said one other person would also be
inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame as well and it was someone
Royce competed against in the early UFC's. One would think that
would mean Ken Shamrock. If these things are true it's a great
way for two legends to be part of the card in a truly legendary
night.
Also
the fight card is pretty well solidified. MMAWeekly has learned
that the intial thoughts are to make the preliminary card consist
of Matt Lindland vs Niko Vitale, Ricco Rodriguez vs Pedro Rizzo
and Yves Edwards vs Din Thomas. No word yet if one of these matches
would be part of a swing bout but those three matches are believed
to be part of the preliminary card.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Ironheart
Crown 6 - Inferno
Saturday, November 22, 2003
Hammond Civic Center Arena
5825 Sohl Avenue - Hammond, Indiana
CHICAGO,
IL - The Chicago area's Mixed Martial Arts scene has suffered
numerous setbacks in recent months. Overhyped productions, unpaid
fighters, show cancellations, and poor turnouts have plagued
the circuit of late. Adding insult to injury, the Illinois Department
of Professional Regulation persists in adamantly denying written
approval for sanctioned MMA events.
But
like a lighthouse, shining brightly through the thick fog, the
Ironheart Crown is back again, promising fans yet another night
of its trademarked high-quality, full-contact action. Since its
inception in 1999, the Ironheart Crown has quickly grown to become
the area's top venue for competition, and fans now rely on the
IHC as a "sure thing" in the midst of the confusion.
After
several setbacks in the card's creation, the promoters have finally
assembled a line up that is sure to shock. While the biggest
names have fallen off of the card, Braulio Corral has selected
the best local talent available to prepare a show that will have
fans on the edge of their seats from the opening ceremony all
the way through the final bell.
Headlining
the card will be a feature bout in the Shooto Featherweight (132
pound) class. Miguel Torres (31-0-0), training out of the Schererville
Academy will take on Hackney-trained Mustafa Husseini (8-1-2)
in a fast-moving, hard-hitting showcase of skill.
After
remaining undefeated on the Muay Thai circuit for several years,
Torres turned to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu seeking to increase his
range of fighting skills. With fire in his heart, Torres skipped
right over sport jiu-jitsu competition, and dove straight into
the mixed martial arts, where he has consistantly had to compete
above his weight. Despite his small stature, he has remained
undefeated for over five years, amassing an impressive record
of 31 wins without a single loss. As a testament of his skills,
14 of his victories have come by submission, with another nine
wins have been by either knockout or TKO. Without a doubt, Miguel
Torres is the most decorated featherweight fighter in the Chicago
area.
While
it is hard to find a match for a fighter with such a consistantly
flawless record, Mustafa Husseini is the ideal man for the challenge.
Although he had a few dissapointing moments early in his career,
the last two years have demonstrated an exponential growth in
Husseini's abilities. Training with the best of the heavyweights
at Hackney's Combat in Roselle, Illinois, Mustafa has developed
fast hands with enough power to stagger and even drop his much
larger team-mates. His grappling skills have also been honed
dramatically. Add these aspects to a fighter who has always had
a lion's heart and an endless tank of fuel, and you have a fighting
machine reared to give Torres his toughest match to date.
"I'm
not concerned about his record," Mustafa states with confidence.
"Overall, I've fought at a much higher level, in bigger
shows, against tougher opponents. His record means nothing to
me. I'm the better fighter, and that's all that matters."
While his words may sound bold, Mustafa is coming off of two
decisive victories at Extreme Challenge 51 and 54, putting his
money where his mouth is at both showings.
Torres,
inactive for over a year due to a knee injury, seeks to maintain
his record in his usual, decisive fashion. "He can say what
he wants about me, my record, my opponents, and anything else.
There are very few fighters who even compete 31 times, let alone
WIN that many matches. I have never fought at my own weight.
Sometimes I gave up twenty pounds or more, and still, in 31 fights,
no one has beaten me. Not even in a decision."
To
help shake off the rust, Torres spent a month training in Brazil
with the DelaRiva team in Rio de Janeiro where he earned his
purple belt. "We don't care where he's trained," says
team-mate Armond Pasquale, "We don't care what color his
belt is, we don't care about his record or about anything else.
Moose [Mustafa] is the real deal, and on fight-night Miguel's
going to learn that the hard way."
No
matter what the outcome, this promises to be a fast-moving bout
with a lot of leather thrown. Both fighters have stamina to throw
it all down from start to finish. Both will stand and trade blows.
And if and when the fight goes to the ground, both fighters have
remarkable grappling skills with an entertaining mix of submission
and ground-and-pound tactics in their arsenal. Lots of fireworks
and non-stop action are assured.
Leading
up to the main event will be eleven equally exciting bouts. Of
note, local hero and former top-10 ranked Shooter, Dan Gilbert
will face Derrick Noble who has made strides through the ranks
of America's middleweight Shooto rankings. In another excellent
matchup, Stephan Bonnar, leading Carlson Gracie's pack of new
upcoming Chicago fighters will face Brad Lynde, of Jim's Gym
in Rockford Illinois. With the legendary Jim Theobald now retired,
this bout will pit the area's two best cruiserweights in a battle
to fill the vacant #1 spot in the IHC rankings.
Also
on the card, Christian Allen of Denver, Colorado will Journey
to the midwest to take on a top Chicago lightweight in Tommy
Lee, of Gilbert Grappling in Mokena, Illinois. Jason Veach of
Duneland Valetudo seeks to be the first to beat Mikhail Raschkov
of the Carlson Gracie Team. Jeff Curran's top student Bart Palaszewski
will face Jason Bender, a new fighter out of Carlson's camp.
Other fighters on the card will include Jamil Willis, Eddie Wineland,
Nenad Dragojlovich, Jason Gilliam, Joe Billups, Bill Hill, Virgil
Strzelecki, Tom Kirk, Jay Estrada, Antoine Skinner, Steve Dau,
and Roberto Ramirez.
Fans
have come to expect nothing but the best from the Ironheart Crown,
and promoter Braulio Corral is confident that this year's show
will continue in that tradition. Fights will be held on Novmeber
22 at the Hammond Civic Center in Hammond, Indiana, Just 30 minutes
outside of downtown Chicago. The doors open at 5:00 pm and the
show will begin promptly at 7:30.
Tickets
are on sale now, and a limited number of ringside seats are still
available. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit
the event's website at www.ironheartcrown.com. Credit card orders
may be placed online. Information may also be obtained by calling
773-793-6555 in Chicago or 219-844-8504 in Northwest Indiana.
Source: Event Promoter |
Wanderlei:
"I´ll KO Jackson slowly"
While doing the last training for the second round of the Pride
Grand Prix scheduled for next November 9th, in Japan, Wanderlei
Silva sends a message to his opponents: "Its just missing
3kg to weight 93kg of the middle heavyweight category. I have
been training sequences of punches a lot and I am damn good at.
I will step inside the ring and KO both of them at the same night."
Asked about who he would like to face at the final, Wanderlei
didn't disguise his preference about the American Quinton Jackson.
A few months ago Wanderlei had a personal issue with him. "I
wanna beat that big black guy. I will knock him out, but in a
slowly way. Because I want kick his ass," warned the actual
Pride champion of the until 93kg category. Wanderlei is on the
way to Japan and departures from Brazil next week.
Source: Tatame |
Shooto:
Pequeno and Shaolin in Japan
One of the major Brazilian Luta-Livre fighters Alexandre Pequeno
will do a super-fight against the the Japanese Norihisa Kid Yamamoto
at the last Shooto of the year held in the Tokyo Bay NK Hall
in Japan on December 14th. On the same night, the number one
of the welterweight category Vítor Shaolin will dispute
the belt with the champion Joachim Hansen.
Alexandre
Pequeno is now back in Brazil after a seminar tour through Europe.
"I had been in Holland, Poland, Switzerland and Germany.
A lot of people loved my seminars and the modality is getting
popular, pretty much in Germany with the tournaments held by
Daniel D'dani," said. According to Pequeno, the German guys
went nut about the Brazilian's skill. "They were all about
the guillotine choke and I had to roller around with seven guys.
Just because I am short. Whatever! I submitted every single one",
commented Pequeno, who guaranteed that there is a European Team
called Jiboia Team that promises to ruin the Brazilian party
at the Shooto Brazil Grappling that will be held at December
23rd.
Source: Tatame |
IS
ZERO TOLERANCE IN THE CARDS FOR STEROID CHEATERS IN SPORTS?
by: Eddie Goldman/ADCC Wrestling Editor
The
noose might be finally starting to tighten around the necks of
the drug cheats in American sports.
In
the wake of a threat to be decertified by the U.S. Olympic Committee
and mounting media attention, USA Track & Field (USATF) President
Bill Roe and CEO Craig Masback issued a public statement Wednesday
outlining a new policy of 'zero tolerance' for doping violations.
According to the statement, these new measures 'could include
lifetime bans for first steroid offenses and fines up to $100,000
for steroid convictions.'
The
USATF also issued a 'Call for an emergency drugs in sports summit
in Washington, D.C. USATF has called for a summit of major U.S.
sports leagues and proposed the meeting be hosted by the Drug
Czar’s office.' This summit would include representatives
from both professional and amateur sports.
This
new initiative was welcomed by former Olympic and collegiate
wrestler Jim Scherr, currently the United States Olympic Committee
(USOC) Chief of Sport Performance, and essentially its acting
CEO.
'This
is an excellent first step by USA Track and Field,' said Scherr
in a USOC public statement. He added, 'While the overwhelming
majority of American athletes have never –
and will never – seek to gain unfair advantage
through the use of a banned substance, the USOC is committed
to making certain every athlete who represents our country in
the Olympic Games is adhering to the rules.'
The
ongoing federal investigation into BALCO Labs, which federal
and local authorities suspect of producing and distributing the
new designer steroid known as tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG, for
the first time involved an athlete from the combat sports. Someone
leaked to the media that Shane Mosley, who defeated Oscar De
La Hoya by unanimous decision on Sept. 13 for the WBA and WBC
junior middleweight titles, had been subpoenaed to testify before
the federal grand jury investigating BALCO.
Mosley
beat De La Hoya in Las Vegas, Nevada, whose athletic commission
tests all fighters in championship fights for the use of banned
substances, including steroids. Mosley passed every test given
by Nevada, and has never tested positive for any banned substance.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Mosley's attorney,
Judd Burstein, blasted the leaking of Mosley's name to the media.
'I
think it's disgraceful that there is obviously a leak from the
government about what's going on in the investigation,' Burstein
told the AP. 'To the general public that doesn't understand the
legal system, people read things into a grand jury subpoena when
all it means is they want to hear someone's evidence.'
'This
is the worst type of rumor mongering,' Burstein also said. 'He
did not take any injections, just some nutritional supplements.
If you look at that company and look at what they sold, for the
most part they had a huge legitimate business. You can't start
tarring people because they're a customer.'
The
existence of this new substance known as THG was not known by
the Nevada commission at the time of the Mosley-De La Hoya fight,
nor was a test available for it then. Federal investigators reportedly
had asked for a sample of Mosley's urine that was taken after
the De La Hoya fight, but that sample had already been discarded
by the lab that does the drug testing for the Nevada commission.
It
is also possible that Mosley's testimony to the grand jury is
being sought in regards to the ongoing IRS investigation of BALCO.
For example, Mosley merely may have purchased some legal supplements
or vitamins from BALCO. The IRS may be trying to see if BALCO
was properly reporting its sales and paying its taxes.
The
notion of zero tolerance for first-time steroid users and a national
drug summit also poses enormous problems for the already beleaguered
professional combat sports.
In
boxing, there is no central body that can enforce any type of
sanctions against drug cheats. Many state athletic commissions
do not even test for steroids. A fighter can thus avoid those
who do, like Nevada, or not use them when he fights there. Or
he can fight outside the U.S. Even if a national boxing commission,
as proposed by Sen. John McCain, is established, it is doubtful
that it would be testing for steroids any time soon, if ever.
The
same holds true for mixed martial arts, which actually is more
lucrative in Japan than in the U.S. Such a policy, if adopted,
could seriously thin out the already thin ranks of top American
mixed martial arts fighters. Judging by the actions of some of
these mixed martial arts fighters, it is likely that the drug
cheats among them will only learn the hard way if such a policy
is adopted.
Also,
how many promoters of any style of fighting are likely to want
to participate in such a national drug summit? How many of boxing's
myriad sanctioning bodies, many headquartered outside the U.S.,
will participate? And, most importantly, how many will be willing
to adopt a policy of zero tolerance for steroid cheats if that
becomes the norm? How many will ban these steroid cheats for
life?
Such
a policy would be far easier to adopt for the amateur combat
sports, many of which are already part of the USOC.
But
if zero tolerance becomes the norm, as many believe it should,
then a failure by the professional combat sports to comply with
it would be one more of the million and one black eyes these
sports have suffered.
Below
in their entirety are the statements issued by the USOC and USA
Track & Field.
USOC
Statement
by - U.S. Olympic Committee
Statement
from United States Olympic Committee Chief of Sport Performance
Jim Scherr:
This
is an excellent first step by USA Track and Field. We are pleased
to see the leadership of USA Track and Field responding in such
an aggressive manner to the call to action that was issued this
past weekend by the United States Olympic Committee.
The
USOC has appointed a four-person panel to work with USA Track
and Field, and we look forward to learning more about the details
of the initiatives they are proposing.
We
concur with the assessment of USA Track and Field: this is a
problem that must be addressed, and it must be addressed now.
The integrity and credibility of track and field in America is
at stake. The USOC has worked closely with our National Governing
Bodies and athletes to establish the most aggressive anti-doping
program in the world, as reflected in the work that is being
done by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.
While
the overwhelming majority of American athletes have never 'and
will never ' seek to gain unfair advantage through the use of
a banned substance, the USOC is committed to making certain every
athlete who represents our country in the Olympic Games is adhering
to the rules.
The
USOC has appointed a four-person panel to work with USA Track
and Field, and we look forward to learning more about the details
of the initiatives they are proposing.
TRACK
& FIELD - USATF announces 'Zero Tolerance' anti-doping plan
by Melvin Jackson II - USA Track & Field
10-22-2003
INDIANAPOLIS
– USA Track & Field President Bill Roe
and CEO Craig Masback on Wednesday unveiled a major new USATF
action plan in the anti-doping movement, called 'Zero Tolerance'
Developed
by combining existing programs and USATF priorities with ambitious
new initiatives, 'Zero Tolerance' focuses on three goals: increasing
efforts to catch and punish cheaters; expanding educational efforts
and focusing the message on the theme that cheating is wrong
and cheaters will be caught; and taking a more visible role on
these issues.
With
its emphasis on 'significant, substantive action steps,' the
plan specifically addresses issues in the anti-doping movement
that have been writ large, particularly in recent weeks and months.
Among
the initiatives being launched by USATF as part of the plan are:
A
substantially increased set of punishments and fines for athletes
who cheat and their coaches. This could include lifetime bans
for first steroid offenses and fines up to $100,000 for steroid
convictions.
Implement
a groundbreaking effort to proactively root out cheaters. This
program will encourage whistle blowing and ask former cheaters
to tell us how they did it so we may share this information with
testing authorities.
Create
an elite athlete outreach program focused on anti-doping messaging.
Utilize Golden Spike Tour community outreach programs and USATF
youth events to introduce the 'Zero Tolerance' program to other
elite athletes, young people and college athletes.
Call
for an emergency drugs in sports summit in Washington, D.C. USATF
has called for a summit of major U.S. sports leagues and proposed
the meeting be hosted by the Drug Czar's office.
Engage
the IAAF on the issue. Urge the IAAF to enforce its own rules
requiring all IAAF member countries to conduct out-of-competition
testing. Masback and Roe developed the plan in concert with the
USATF Board of Directors, which met October 18-19 in Cleveland.
The full text of the plan is attached.
MEMORANDUM
TO THE 'ZERO TOLERANCE' WORKING GROUP
Re:
Action Plan This memo is intended to outline our 'Zero Tolerance'
action plan for dealing with the events of last week. It will
be the basis for the identification of specific, substantive
action steps to address the challenges facing our sport and the
information that will be utilized to formulate our public relations
plans for the short and long term. This plan was developed in
consultation with the USA Track & Field Board of Directors,
which has approved its contents. BACKGROUND In brief, the USOC,
international Olympic community, media, and general public believe
that the sport of track and field in the United States and around
the world is infected by performance enhancing drugs. It doesn't
matter whether that view is fair or true“ in this case,
perception absolutely trumps reality. And, while we do not know
for sure how pervasive the drug problem is, no one can deny that
there is a problem.
USA
Track & Field is at a crossroads. Those of us charged with
leading the organization have an opportunity and responsibility
to take swift and comprehensive action to address this problem.
The cost of creating and implementing an effective program will
be high. To the extent that we succeed by catching more cheaters,
the short term pain will be significant. But, there is no responsible
choice other than to follow this course of action.
Below
I list our anti-doping action plan, called preliminarily 'Zero
Tolerance.' It is targeted at building on our existing anti-doping
efforts to achieve three broad objectives: (1) increase efforts
to catch cheating athletes and coaches and the lab gurus who
supply them; (2) expand our existing educational efforts so that
fewer athletes and coaches will make bad choices; and (3) take
a more visible role on this issue at all levels with the public,
USOC, USADA, IAAF, and Federal Government. The plan will change
and grow as new ideas come in and alliances are formed.
By
admitting that we have a problem and taking strong action to
address it, we can start a journey that will quickly take our
sport back to the point where its credibility and the public
appreciation of our athletes' performances will grow and flourish.
'ZERO
TOLERANCE' ACTION PLAN
1.
INCREASE EFFORTS TO CATCH AND PUNISH CHEATERS
USA
Track & Field will expand its efforts to catch cheating athletes
and coaches and those that supply them. This effort will take
many forms and will be incremental to our existing efforts in
this area. It represents the most direct and effective means
of creating the level playing field we all seek. This is a tough
and aggressive course of action -- as we know from the last 14
years, catching drug cheats itself creates in the public's mind
the notion that a sport 'has a drug problem' (and the flip side
is true sports that don't test 'have no drug problem'. Unfair
as that may be, this is our only way out of our current problem
and we must choose this route.
Among
the elements of the Zero Tolerance action plan are:
·
Increase the number of tests. We have written and requested that
all testing authorities (USADA, WADA, IAAF) increase significantly
the number of out-of-competition tests administered to our athletes.
While our athletes are already the most tested athletes in the
world (many of them are tested 10 or more times a year), we must
protect their reputations and those of our sport by having the
testing authorities increase the frequency of testing.
Note:
USA Track & Field athletes are among the most tested athletes
of any sport or sports team in the world. We expect our athletes
to be tested more than 1300 times by USADA in 2003, a 20% increase
over 2001, with more than 50% of those tests expected to be conducted
out-of-competition (compared to 21% in 2001“ the number
of out-of-competition tests has tripled between 2001 and 2003).
In addition, athletes are subject to IAAF and WADA testing. In
2002, USATF athletes were tested 414 times by the IAAF (377)
and WADA (37), with 67% of those tests being conducted out-of-competition.
·
Create and implement a whistle-blower program. Based on the success
of USADA's efforts to take a tip from a track coach, isolate
a substance, and catch a group of athletes and their supplier,
we must make it easier for athletes and coaches to report the
existence of drugs, cheaters, and those who supply them. We have
done this by establishing a hotline # -- 1-866-809-8104. Athletes,
coaches, and members of the public can contact this number to
report information in confidence. All information collected will
be shared with USADA. We urge the USOC and USADA to set up similar
numbers.
·
Hire a private investigator. USA Track & Field has written
to the USOC and USADA and urged them to hire a private investigator
who would get inside our sport and other Olympic sports and develop
intelligence concerning who is cheating, how they are cheating,
and who is supplying them. This could include attempts by the
investigator to obtain so-called 'designer steroids' and pass
them along to USADA and other testing authorities. The investigator
should also cooperate with counterparts at the professional sports
leagues and with governmental authorities in circumstances where
the distribution of the substances is contrary to Federal and/or
state laws. We believe that this is best approached on a multi-sport
basis, but will explore launching this initiative ourselves if
neither the USOC nor USADA go forward with it.
·
Organize Zero Tolerance Anti-Cheating Seminars. USA Track &
Field is moving forward with plans to work with other NGBs to
hold seminars aimed at collecting information from former cheaters
who are willing to identify how they cheated or facilitated cheaters.
All information collected will be shared with USADA.
·
Increase Penalties for athletes found guilty. USA Track &
Field will explore the legality under the Amateur Sports Act
of increasing the penalties for athletes convicted of doping
violations. This could include lifetime bans for first steroid
offenses.
·
Impose fines against athletes found guilty. In addition to any
warnings or suspensions imposed by USATF and IAAF rules, USATF
will launch a program to fine guilty athletes. Those convicted
of stimulant positives will be fined up to $10,000. Those convicted
of offenses involving a two-year ban (including, for example,
steroids or amphetamines) will be fined up to $100,000. All fines
collected will be used for anti-doping research, education, and
investigation.
·
Punish Coaches of athletes found guilty. USA Track & Field
will create a program to ban the coaches of athletes who test
positive from our sport. In addition, the coaches will be fined
up to $100,000, will not be eligible to be the coach of a U.S.
Team, and will not be eligible for any USATF benefits.
The
vast majority of our athletes and coaches are living by the rules
and achieving results honestly and fairly. We owe it to those
athletes to make every effort to get the cheats out of our sport
so that the clean athletes can receive the respect and admiration
they deserve. Given the vote of support from the USATF Board,
most of the initiatives above can be implemented immediately
though some will require USATF Bylaws changes (which can enacted
as early as December).
2.
EXPAND USATF EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS
USATF
already has one of the leading anti-doping educational programs
of any sports governing body. Beginning with our Junior Olympics,
athletes receive anti-doping information. However, whatever we
are doing must be expanded and improved as there are clearly
too many athletes and coaches who are not listening to what we
are telling them.
We
must send regular, clear, and consistent messages to athletes
and coaches that drug use is morally and ethically wrong, dangerous
for their health, and ruinous to our sport. We must make it clear
that we will not stop our anti-doping efforts until we have caught
the last cheater no matter how smart they think they are, they
will be caught.
Among
the elements of the Zero Tolerance action plan are:
·
Create an elite athlete outreach program focused on anti-doping
messaging. Utilize Golden Spike Tour community outreach programs
and USATF youth events to introduce USATF zero tolerance program
message via presentations by USATF elite athletes present and
past.
·
Establish a monthly anti-doping newsletter sent to our 2,000
leading athletes, coaches, and agents. This newsletter will be
incorporated into Elite Beat (our elite athlete magazine) for
six of the twelve months. In addition, we will expand anti-doping
section of USATF Elite Athlete Handbook.
·
Launch joint ventures with in-sport publications that will put
anti-drug information and messaging in each one on a monthly
basis. Our goal should be to reach all post-collegiate athletes,
the 100,000 collegiate athletes, the four million participants
age 18 and younger, and America's 65,000 track and field coaches.
We should look for web-based opportunities for distributing this
information as well.
·
Expand the number and reach of our anti-doping seminars with
athletes. Continue and expand existing elite athlete anti-doping
seminars, including our Annual Meeting and Rookie Camp seminars.
Establish a seminar program tailored for younger athletes, particularly
our 8-18 year old Junior Olympics participants and their club
coaches.
·
Send anti-doping information directly to youth clubs and distribute
it via USATF's 57 local associations. Initiate an anti-doping
poster program aimed at youth clubs. Make an anti-doping education
segment a key element of the new Club Handbook.
·
Expand the existing anti-doping curriculum in our Coaching Education
program.
In
addition to expanding the reach and regularity of our anti-drug
messaging, we need to seek the help of experts to make sure that
we maximize the impact of these opportunities. The White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP The Drug Czar)
has spent considerable resources to figure out what kind of anti-drug
messaging works and we should solicit their assistance in crafting
the content of our publications and curricula. As noted below,
we should look to partner with relevant federal and state agencies
whenever possible to expand the reach of our educational efforts.
3.
TAKE A MORE VISIBLE ROLE ON THESE ISSUES
In
addition to taking the aggressive, substantive action outlined
above, we must increase USA Track & Field's profile in the
overall anti-doping effort. We should not do this merely for
public relations reasons' we must be present whenever and wherever
these issues are discussed to lend others our hard won expertise
and learn what we can do better to address our problem.
Among
the elements of the zero tolerance action plan are:
·
Issue a call for an emergency drugs in sports summit in Washington,
D.C. -- to be held in the next two weeks. USA Track & Field
has issued a call for a summit among the major sports leagues
and organizations to take place in the next two weeks. The unfolding
Balco scandal is not a track, baseball, or football issue, it
is an issue facing the entire American sports and social scene
involving the distribution of illegal substances, adulteration
and non-regulation of supplements, and the actions of lab gurus
to prey on unsuspecting athletes and coaches across America.
We have asked the Drug Czar's office to host the meeting.
·
Create anti-drug Public Service Announcements (PSAs) utilizing
our athletes and coaches. Run those PSAs on our 12 USATF-owned
television shows and seek placement of the PSAs via other outlets.
Focus on the message that track and field tests more than any
other sport, that using drugs is cheating, and that in track
cheaters get caught and are banned from our sport. Work with
NBC and the 'Road to Athens' producers to include anti-drug messaging
in their programming/advertising lineups.
·
Lobby Congress to regulate food supplements and the Federal Government
to get serious about catching steroid traffickers (including
via H.R. 207). Our existing support for CASPER (the Coalition
for Anabolic Steroid Precursor and Ephedra Regulation) is the
right kind of action to take, but we must mobilize our grass
roots power to speak out to public officials on these issues.
·
Engage the IAAF on the drug issue in a positive and productive
way. We must urge the IAAF to enforce its own rules requiring
all IAAF member countries to conduct out-of-competition testing.
The IAAF has said that fewer than 30 countries conduct random,
unannounced, out-of-competition testing. With more than 40 IAAF
countries winning medals (and more than half of the top medal-winning
countries doing no out-of-competition testing), we cannot allow
our athletes to be subject to a stringent anti-doping regime
while their international competitors face no domestic testing
at all. We must also propose as a matter of urgency that the
IAAF increase the penalties for doping convictions.
·
Focus on international and domestic relationship building. USATF
has been ineffective at developing and implementing both an international
relations plan and a plan for pushing its agenda at the USOC.
Fundamental to the push for an effective, worldwide anti-doping
plan will be initiating and strengthening political ties at both
the IAAF and USOC.
·
Work with other NGBs to share ideas and best practices and look
for ways to improve our mutual anti-doping efforts. Seven other
NGBs have had athletes sanctioned for doping violations in 2003
including USA Swimming (5) and USA Cycling (4). Sharing experiences
and expertise with those large and well-organized NGBs can help
us attack the doping problem more effectively.
·
Publish negative test results. More than 99% of the tests administered
to U.S. track athletes did NOT result in positive lab results
in 2002. The only way to protect the vast majority of athletes
who are innocent is to publish their names and the statistics
related to their negative tests. This information is already
partially available on the USADA website (the USADA site does
not include IAAF and WADA test results), but we should look to
publicize this information as well.
·
Utilize our website and other communications tools to emphasize
our zero tolerance message.
CONCLUSIONS
We have a historic opportunity and mandate to take significant
action to address an issue of great importance to our sport and
America. We must take dramatic action to put this program into
place immediately so that it can be effective prior to the Olympics.
But, our commitment to it must be long term, with a goal of rebuilding
our credibility in this area so that by 2008 we will be recognized
as a world leader on this issue.
--
Eddie Goldman, wrestlingeditor@yahoo.com
Source: ADCC
|
Quote
of the Day
"Don't just do something, sit there! Sit there long enough
each morning to decide what is really important during the day
ahead."
Richard Eyre, Director
|
TV
ALERT: 2003 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OF FREESTYLE WRESTLING
ON ESPN2 THURS., OCT. 23
Major League Baseball may call its championships between the
New York Yankees and the Florida Marlins the World Series, but
highlights of a real World Series will be shown this week on
American television.
The
2003 World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling, held Sept. 12-14
in New York's Madison Square Garden, featured both men and women
wrestlers from 61 countries competing to become World Champions.
Now the highlights of this grand event, whose finals sold out
the Garden on the last day of competition, will be broadcast
in America.
ESPN2
will be offering two showings of its one-hour special on this
event. Here is the schedule, as taken from the official ESPN
web site and listings, with times listed in EDT:
THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 23, 11 AM-12 NOON
Oceanic Channel 224 ESPN2
Does anyone have this channel? Please tape it and burn me a copy.
Please email me if you taped it.
Please
note that these times are listed differently elsewhere. As always,
check your local listings. Also make sure to check the listings
on the days of the broadcast, since ESPN sometimes changes its
broadcast schedule on short notice.
AND
- do NOT forget to get your video recorders ready to record this
historic event.
Source: ADCC
|
ULTIMATE
FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP TO DEBUT UFC: SPECTACLE TO SPORT LIVE ON
PAY-PER-VIEW REPLAYS
Oceanic
Digital Channel 701
October 23: 9:00AM, 9:30PM
October 25: 2:00PM
October 26: 4:00AM, 11:00AM
One-Hour
Special Features An In-Depth Look At History, Growth of UFC;
Includes Franca- Uno, Thomson-Strebendt Fights From UFC 44: Undisputed
LAS
VEGAS, October 14, 2003…The Ultimate Fighting Championship
(UFC), the world's premiere mixed martial arts sports association,
will debut UFC: Spectacle To Sport, a one-hour pay-per-view special,
on the iNDemand cable system at 10 p.m. EDT, this Saturday, October
18. An encore replay will start at 11 p.m., EDT, immediately
afterward. Replays also will air on October 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,
24, 25, 26, 28 and November 3, 13 and 14. The suggested retail
price is $9.95. Viewers should check local listings and www.indemand.com for daily schedules.
UFC: Spectacle To Sport will provide an action-packed overview
of the UFC's evolution from a pay-per-view spectacle 10 years
ago to the professional combat sport it has become today. The
one-hour feature also will include the never-before-seen lightweight
battles between submission specialist Hermes Franca (8-0-0) of
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and Japanese veteran Caol Uno (13-5-3)
of Kanagawa, Japan, and Josh "The Punk" Thomson (23-1-0)
of San Jose, Calif., and Gerald Strebendt (6-3-0) of Los Angeles,
Calif., from the all-star, nine-fight card at UFC 44: Undisputed,
September 26, from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Hosted by Showtimeâ fight analyst and commentator Al Bernstein,
UFC: Spectacle To Sport will give viewers an in-depth look at
how the UFC was founded in 1993 and details its growth and transition
from an international spectacle into a true professional combat
sport under the new ownership of Zuffa, LLC, its Las Vegas-based
parent company.
The UFC story is told through the eyes of principal owner Lorenzo
Fertitta and President Dana White, celebrities like Joe Rogan,
host of NBC's Fear Factor, fighters such as Chuck Liddell, Randy
Couture and Tito Ortiz, as well as mixed martial artists and
mainstream journalists who have covered and reported the UFC's
growth.
See INDEMAND
Website
for channel and Times
1 Hour Special at $9.95
Source: Oceanic Cable
|
Royler
Gracie's 'Submission Grappling Techniques' Now Shipping!
The
long awaited book Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Submission Grappling Techniques
by Royler Gracie is now shipping.
In
this book Royler shows the stuff that made him a three times
ADCC World Submission Wrestling Champion. 'This is the logical
sequel to 'Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Theory and Technique'. I felt
it was time to focus on one of the fastest growing aspects of
ground fighting; Submission Wrestling! ' stated Royler.
In
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Submission Grappling Techniques, Royler shows
102 of his most effective moves for competition, additionally,
Royler talks about strategy, training and many other aspects
of Submission Grappling.
Order
you copy now at mmamart.com.
Source: ADCC |
PRIDE
NEWS:
SAKURABA TO TAKE ON RANDLEMAN AT FINAL CONFLICT
LOS
ANGELES, California – At a press conference from the Takada
Dojo in Tokyo, PRIDE FC’s General Manager Nobuhiko Takada
announced that Kazushi Sakuraba will be taking on Kevin Randleman
at PRIDE FC: FINAL CONFLICT, scheduled for November 9th, 2003
from the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
The
match-up will have no relation to the middleweight tournament,
as an official reserve match will be announced soon. Both Sakuraba
and Randleman are coming off of tough losses and looking to re-establish
themselves in the rankings. Sakuraba is representing the Takada
Dojo, while Randleman is fighting out of Mark Coleman’s
Hammer House Gym.
In
addition, the fight card also features top ranked heavyweight
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic against former PRIDE FC heavyweight
champion Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira. Due
to a thumb injury to reigning champion Emelianenko Fedor, the
Cro Cop/Nogueira match-up is for the PRIDE FC interim heavyweight
championship, with the winner to face Fedor in 2004. Nogueira,
arguably the world’s top heavyweight grappler, is coming
off a decision victory against Ricco Rodriguez while Cro Cop,
arguably the world’s top heavyweight striker, is coming
off of a dramatic knockout victory over Igor Vovchanchyn.
All
of these new matches are in addition to the middleweight tournament,
which will feature Hidehiko Yoshida versus Wanderlei Silva and
Quinton Jackson against Chuck Liddell. The winners of each of
these match-ups will go on to the final round, which will be
held on the same evening.
FINAL
CONFLICT - Fight Card:
For
the PRIDE FC interim heavyweight championship
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro”
Nogueira
Kazushi
Sakuraba vs. Kevin Randleman
Semi
Final round of the eight man middleweight tournament:
Wanderlei Silva (Brazil) vs. Hidehiko Yoshida (Japan)
Quinton Jackson (USA) vs. Chuck Liddell (USA)
More
matches for FINAL CONFLICT will be announced soon.
Fight Card is subject to change.
FINAL
CONFLICT is scheduled for November 9th, 2003 from the Tokyo Dome
in Japan. The event will premiere on North American pay per view
(through iNDEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH NETWORK, UrbanXtra, TVN1, Bell
Express Vu, and Viewer’s Choice) on November 9th via same
day delay.
Source: ADCC |
Family
Values - part 1 of 4
By Martin Rooney; foreword by Luca Atalla
During
Pride Bushido, last October 5th, the Gracie Family gave a demonstration
of its power for Japan and for the world. I'm not talking about
the power of its victory over the Japanese team in that day.
I'm talking about the power of its values, that go far beyond
of what was shown inside the ring. The Managing Director of the
Parisi Speed School Martin Rooney was along with the group and
got in touch of what the Gracie Family represents. He wrote a
master piece about this subject, that will be published here
in ADCC in four parts.
Most
people that I have met around the world describe only two things
when they are asked about the Gracie Family: fighting and blood
ties. This is one of the most inaccurate descriptions that I
could ever think of to describe this family. This limited observation
has two causes: these people have only seen the Gracie's fight,
and they have never met any of them. This article is going to
give any people that hold the narrow belief mentioned above insight
into what it means to be a member of this family.
I,
like many others, was first introduced to the Gracie Family when
Royce Gracie entered the Octagon at UFC 1 and dominated the competition
in 1993. At that point, even to me they were just a family of
fighters connected by a history of techniques and blood. Two
and a half years later, a friend of mine told me about a charismatic
fighter that I had to meet. His name was Renzo Gracie. Since
my first training session at his New York City academy all those
years ago, Renzo treated me like a brother. I have been lucky
to have met many members of the Gracie family and have accompanied
them on trips all over the world. The relationships I developed
even got me the honor of writing for Gracie Magazine. The trip
to Japan for Pride Bushido, however, would be one of the most
historic events I would be involved with the Gracie family to
date. It would be the day that they were to take on Japan.
On
my flight to Japan to see Pride Bushido, I was definitely caught
up in the hype that the Gracie 'Family' was taking on Japan.
I was excited and also nervous about the pressure that this event
could have in store for the Gracie's that were competing. Could
this be the end of a revolution that this family started over
ten years ago in MMA? Could this be a historical event that could
threaten the legacy for what this family has worked for over
the last century? These were the questions that everyone was
asking, and I too was listening to the propaganda.
to
be continued...
Source: ADCC |
SHOOTO:
WANNA SHOOTO 2003
November
3, 2003
Kourakuen Hall - Tokyo, Japan
Class-A
Bouts:
Tetsuo Katsuta vs. Makoto Ishikawa
Naoya Uematsu vs. Katsuya Toida
Class-B
Bouts:
John Olav Einemo vs. Mindaugas Kulikaukas
Shuichiro Katsumura vs. Eugenji Konkov
Shigetoshi Iwase vs. Nico Nasieri
Kenji Osawa vs. Augusto Frota
Yohei Nanbu vs. Akitoshi Tamura
Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Seigi Fujioka
Source: ADCC |
The
Return of GENKI SUDO...
After
a considerable amount of time off was forced on him due to an
injury caused by a stabbing incident, Japanese star and UFC veteran
Genki Sudo is set to return to the business. Sudo is scheduled
to fight in the upcoming K-1 MAX event (18/11 Nippon Budokan).
His
reported opponent will is reported to be the K-1 GP MAX 2002
champion and runner up in GP 2003, Albert Kraus.
Sudo
stated in a recent interview that he is working on improving
his hands, and has been training boxing. He feels he will be
ready for this upcoming event.
For
those who don't know, Genki Sudo was the victim of an apparent
random act of violence on Tokyo's city streets. On July 24th
of this year, a motorcyclist wielding a knife stabbed five different
unrelated victims, one of them being Sudo. Sudo was stabbed in
the chest while he was driving his motorcycle, and he was the
last victim of the night. The assailant, who was also driving
a motorcycle, stared at Sudo at a traffic light, and then pursued
Sudo for about 500 meters before stabbing him.
Source: ADCC |
LIDDELL
READY FOR PRIDE GRAND PRIX
After finishing training with trainer John Hackleman in California
a couple of weeks ago, Chuck Liddell has spend the last few weeks
in the desert as The Iceman is currently training in Las Vegas
with John Lewis.
Liddell
will be back in California in a week or two but he is doing his
usual training regimine as he is getting prepared for Quinton
Jackson for November 9th in Japan in the Pride Grand Prix.
You
can currently hear and see a video interview with the Iceman
we recently did on MMAWeekly TV. Chuck will also be a guest on
MMAWeekly Radio this week with host Ryan Bennett. Liddell feels
confident in his abilities as he prepares for November 9th against
Quinton Jackson.
Source: MMA Weekly |
RANDLEMAN
VS SAKURABA OFFICIAL
Pride has confirmed on its Japanese web site that Kevin Randleman
will be fighting Kazushi Sakuraba on the November 9 "Final
Conflict" show.
A
press conference was held in Japan to officially announce the
fight. In somewhat of a bizarre angle, Pride is referring to
Kevin Randleman as "Donkey Kong".
Thanks
goes to our friends at PuroresuPower.com for the following details
from the Sakuraba-Randleman press conference.
"They
are billing it as the fight of 'the IQ wrestler vs. the real
Donkey Kong.' Sakuraba did PR for the announcement with a fake
mustache on calling himself 'Sakuraba Mario.' It is expected
that the match will determine a 'reserve' winner for the Middleweight
GP in case someone gets hurt during the tournament and cannot
advance."
Source: MMA Weekly |
Coleman
Talks about His Spinal Surgery and Free Agent Status
Mark Coleman
appeared on Tuesday's MMAWeekly Radio and talked about his plans
for the future. Coleman said that he tried to work through a
major neck injury for a few years before he got a phone call
earlier this year from his longtime friend, Olympic Gold Medalist
and WWE wrestler Kurt Angle.
Angle,
who performed at this year's WrestleMania with a broken neck
and went in for surgery shortly thereafter, recommended an alternative
spinal surgery to Coleman that doesn't involve spinal fusion
and is performed by Dr. Jho out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Coleman said that he can't thank Angle enough for the recommendation
because he has felt like a new man ever since the surgery and
he was amazed at how quickly he felt better.
Mark
Coleman said that he has every intention of calling Don Frye
and Pat Miletich, two other MMA fighters with serious spinal
injuries, and recommending that they go in for the same surgery
in Pittsburgh. Without some form of corrective surgery, any kind
of athletic performance (or even just a fall with an awkward
landing) poses a large risk of paralysis for Angle, Coleman,
Frye, Miletich, or anyone else with a similar spinal injury.
While
the traditional fusion surgery would have put Coleman out of
commission for 12-18 months, Coleman said that he should be ready
to fight one or two months from now. That would make him eligible
for Pride's first show of 2004... or the UFC's first show of
2004.
On
the topic of his status as a free agent in MMA, Mark Coleman
said that he is interested in fighting for Pride, but he would
also love to fight for the UFC and he has been impressed with
everything Zuffa has done with the UFC. Coleman said that in
the end it all comes down to doing what's best for his family
and their financial security, so that's what he is going to have
to base his decision on.
Regarding
a couple of his Hammer House proteges, Coleman said that he's
excited about Wes Sims' upcoming fight with Frank Mir at UFC
45 and he's confident that Sims is going to win. He also said
that Kevin Randleman will be fighting on Pride's November 9th
show, but they're not 100% sure who it will be against. (Kevin
Randleman has issued a statement on his official web site in
which he claims that he will be facing Kazushi Sakuraba on November
9.)
Source: MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"Don't concentrate on making a lot of money, but rather
on becoming the type of person people want to do business with."
Patricia Fripp, British-Born American Author, Speaker |
FOR
UFC 45: REVOLUTION;
MEGA-STAR EVENT WILL BE NOV. 21 AT MOHEGAN SUN ARENA
Ultimate
Fighting Championship To Mark Its 10th Anniversary With An 8-Fight,
All-Star Card LIVE on Pay-Per-View
Mohegan
Sun Arena, Uncasville, Conn
Friday, November 21, 2003
Get
tickets at www.tickets.com Tickets also may be ordered by telephone
by calling 1-800-477-6849 or 860-862-8499.
COMPLETE
CARD - Subject To Change:
Welterweight
Title Bout: FRANK TRIGG (Challenger) v. MATT HUGHES (Champion)
Heavyweights:
FRANK MIR v. WES SIMS
Heavyweights: RICCO RODRIGUEZ v. PEDRO RIZZO
Heavyweights: DAVID 'TANK' ABBOTT v. WESLEY 'CABBAGE' CORREIA
Middleweights: FALANIKO
VITALE
v. MATT LINDLAND
Lightweights: DIN THOMAS v. YVES EDWARDS
Middleweights: PHIL BARONI v. EVAN TANNER
Welterweights: ROBBIE LAWLER v. CHRIS LYTLE
Source: ADCC
|
BJ
Penn: Top Lightweight in MMA?
The
lightweight division in mixed martial arts has been stuck deep
within a sinkhole ever since former champ Jens Pulver fled the
UFC for would-be greener pastures. With his departure came a
void in the UFC as king of the 155 lb. weight class, yet Pulver
was still top dog in the division. After a few defenses of his
undisputed lightweight crown in smaller organizations such as
Ultimate Wrestling and UFO, there was little debate as to whether
Jens was still king.
Sure,
his wins were over lesser-known opponents weren’t exactly
spectacular, but he was still regarded as the world champ no
matter who defeated who in the UFC or Shooto. Then, on January
25 of this year in the main event of UCC 12: Adrenaline, Pulver
was shockingly knocked out by master kickboxer Duane Ludwig.
From
there, the lightweight division started a seemingly never-ending
freefall as nobody truly deserved the honors as king of the heap.
Many argued that BJ Penn was the best of the class, others debated
that Takanori Gomi was #1. Even less discussed the possibility
of Ludwig as the champ. Though it was uncertain as to who truly
was the king of the lightweights once Pulver lost, it was certain
that the 155 lb. division was in disarray.
The
UFC constructed a thrilling three-fight, four-fighter lightweight
tournament involving Penn, Caol Uno, Din Thomas and Matt Serra.
The winner of that tourney, of course, should have been crowned
MMA’s true lightweight champ. Unfortunately, after three
sizzling battles, Uno and Penn met in the final, only to be dealt
a disastrous draw. Most felt that Penn did enough to win, but
since the war was declared even, the debate as to who the head
honcho was still raged.
Often-overlooked
Gomi remained with full support from MMA journalists and fans,
but by fighting in Shooto, an obscure Japanese event to casual
American fans, Gomi was tossed aside as fans clamored for a third
bout between Penn and Uno (the first bout, of course, was the
11 second obliteration of Uno at UFC 34).
Ludwig
campaigned legitimately as the real player of the division, but
with his controversial win over Genki Sudo down in Miami at UFC
42, most looked past him as a tough guy with a fluke victory
over Pulver. Neither Sudo nor Ludwig has since fought, dropping
their respective claims of supremacy even further down the ladder.
Of
course, Pulver hadn’t helped his own matters since being
ousted by Ludwig because he was then knocked cold by the little-known
warrior in Jason Maxwell. Has anybody even mentioned Maxwell
as a top echelon fighter? Not at all, mainly due to the fact
that Pulver was the only big name on his pro ledger. Ludwig had
at least beaten Thomas Denny, had a tremendous kickboxing career
and also held a win over Maxwell from King of the Cage 3. Maxwell,
on the other hand, should be given an opportunity to fight in
the UFC just on the strength of his blockbuster kayo of Pulver.
Since
most observers felt that Penn had narrowly eked out the win over
Caol and was shafted out of the victory, the debate raged on
as who was the best in the class? It was always Penn or Gomi,
Gomi or Penn. Fans cried out in mercy for these two to clash
inside the Octagon and put the arguments to rest once and for
all.
Finally,
on October 10th as the main event of Rumble on the Rocks in Penn’s
homeland of Hawaii, the two lightweight kings clashed, unfortunately
not in the UFC and not in front of a major pay-per-view audience.
Though Gomi’s loss to Joachim Hansen in the August Shooto
was seemingly swept under the rug, the debate would finally cease
as to whom truly is the #1 lightweight on the planet. Tensions
grew as the fight neared and finally, after more than eight months
without a true king of the lightweights, the score was to be
settled.
For
two rounds they took turns striking, wrestling, grappling and
escaping. Penn would have the edge, and then Gomi would. Finally,
midway through the third round, Penn saw the opening, seized
Gomi’s back and latched on an asphyxiating rear naked choke.
Gomi, for the first time in his professional career, was forced
to tap. He had no choice but to submit to Penn’s choke.
The official tapout came at the 2:15 mark of the third round.
Now
there is no debate. There is no mystery. Nobody can argue that
Penn isn’t the number one lightweight in mixed martial arts.
It’s not Gomi; he’s lost twice consecutively, the last
coming at the hands of Penn. It’s not Pulver; he’s
been stopped twice in a row by unheralded warriors in smaller
MMA shows. It’s not Uno; he’s lost twice to Penn realistically
and has just been iced by Hermes Franca. It’s neither Sudo
nor Ludwig; they haven’t fought the caliber of dudes that
Penn has on top of the fact that their fight was controversial.
It’s Penn. His draw with Uno was bonk, his only loss was
a narrow decision defeat to Pulver and he’s beaten many
upper echelon fighters, lastly the other man regarded as the
number one guy.
The
only question now is, “Who is next in line to challenge
Penn for the undisputed title?”
Well,
there is always a third bout with Uno, but that seems less likely
to happen as the days go by. He can duke it out with Ludwig or
Sudo, but since Ludwig holds the win over Sudo, he’s more
likely to square off with Penn. Naturally, the next logical step
for Penn is to return to the UFC and fight for the vacant UFC
throne against Franca.
Franca
is undefeated and blasted out Uno with a solitary right cross.
Franca is the goods and there isn’t another man on the planet
who is more deserving to face Penn for the championship. Zuffa;
please do the right thing and arrange Penn vs. Franca. Though
Penn is the #1 lightweight on the planet, a loss against Franca
would cause no controversy because Hermes would take over as
ruler of the kingdom. Franca deserves it, Penn deserves it. Penn
deserves to finally defend the moniker as Top Lightweight in
MMA.
Source: Sherdog
|
TV
ALERT: 2003 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OF FREESTYLE WRESTLING
ON ESPN2 WED., OCT. 22 AND THURS., OCT. 23
Major League Baseball may call its championships between the
New York Yankees and the Florida Marlins the World Series, but
highlights of a real World Series will be shown this week on
American television.
The
2003 World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling, held Sept. 12-14
in New York's Madison Square Garden, featured both men and women
wrestlers from 61 countries competing to become World Champions.
Now the highlights of this grand event, whose finals sold out
the Garden on the last day of competition, will be broadcast
in America.
ESPN2
will be offering two showings of its one-hour special on this
event. Here is the schedule, as taken from the official ESPN
web site and listings, with times listed in EDT:
WEDNESDAY,
OCTOBER 22, 5-6 PM
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 11 AM-12 NOON
Please
note that these times are listed differently elsewhere. As always,
check your local listings. Also make sure to check the listings
on the days of the broadcast, since ESPN sometimes changes its
broadcast schedule on short notice.
AND
- do NOT forget to get your video recorders ready to record this
historic event.
Source: ADCC
|
Babalu
confirmed on Heat II
A
little more than one month after a three wins in the IFC eightman
tournament,
Ruas Vale-tudo member Renato Babalu is already confirmed to fight
again.
According
to Heat promoter Conrado Carlos, Babalu will face Cristopher
Hipolito on Heat II, november 27th in Natal, Brazil.
After
his tremendous performance in that hard September evening in
Denver, Colorado, Babalu said he would take a vacation until
2004, but it seems he can't resist in changing some punches.
Babalu
is added to a card that already has Carlao Barreto, Vinicius
Draculino, Forrest Griffin and some other prestigious names who
will be announced very soon.
Source: ADCC
|
WES
SIMS VS FRANK MIR -
"I'M GOING TO BEAT HIS @$$"
MMAWeekly has learned that Wes Sims will face Frank Mir for a
second time at the Mohegan Sun in November at UFC 45. MMAWeekly
talked with Sims about signing to face Frank Mir for a second
time. Sims told MMAWeekly.com "I'm going to beat his ass."
Sims
continued, "I'm excited to get a rematch. The way I look
at the Octagon is it's a Roman Colosseum. Two men enter, one
doesn't leave. That's how all fighters should look at the Octagon;
if not, you should be a doorman at a titty bar."
Mir
defeated Sims by disqualification, when Sims kicked the downed
opponent, Mir, with a footstomp and was immediately disqualified.
This
fight will NOT be for the UFC Heavyweight Title; so basically,
UFC 45 will not have any Heavyweight Title matches, meaning the
title will stay vacant until UFC 46.
Source: MMA Weekly |
IS
FUJITA TRAINING TO FIGHT?
MMAWeekly.com has learned that heavyweight Kazuyuki Fujita is
currently training at Marco Ruas's gym in Southern California
for a future event. It's believed that Fujita is training for
a fight in November.
It's
not clear who he will be fighting, or for what organization for
sure, but some people who train at the gym told MMAWeekly they
believe he will be part of the November 9th show in Japan. This
has not been confirmed by Dream Stage at this time. One person
from the Ruas gym told MMAWeekly they believe Fujita is training
for a fight, but they did not elaborate who the future opponent
would be.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
GENKI
SUDO SIGNS TO FIGHT IN K-1
It's been a while since we last saw Genki Sudo in mixed martial
arts and it appears it will stay that way. Sudo will fight the
former K-1 World Max Champion Albert Kraus in upcoming K-1 World
Max show on November 18th.
There
has been some talk that he may return to the UFC at the beginning
of the new year. When asked by the Japanese media about returning
to MMA, Sudo said he would love to fight in the UFC and thought
it could happen early next year.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"Choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in
your life."
Confucius, BC 551-479, Chinese Ethical Teacher, Philosopher
|
SHOOTO
BRAZIL - News!
shootoBrazil
is on the horizon, but before we get into talking about that,
ADCC NEWS reports that we have seen confirmation with our own
eyes that Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro will be facing the viking Joachin
Hansen for Hansen's SHOOTO Lightweight championship.
'Shaolin'
is training for this commitment like crazy! Don't worry, he is
wisely working to avoid injuries, but the training sessions remain
beyond intense. This will be the first opportunity for 'Shaolin'
to fight for an important title in MMA, and for sure he will
have a run for his money since Hansen is not an easy fight for
anyone.
Another
Brazilian fighting for a SHOOTO title belt is Alezxandre 'Pequeno'
Nogueira. 'Pequeno' in a familiar position - defending his belt.
His opponent is the dangerous 'Kid' Yamamoto.
Both
matches are scheduled forthe December Shooto show in Tokyo scheduled
for the 14th.
Source: ADCC |
Fedor
- RED DEVIL Bound!
After
having to pull out of his match in the next Pride Total Elimitation
due to a finger injury, there is now other news from the world
of the HeavyWeight Champion Emilianko Fedor. There are various
reports that he is about to left or has already left the Russian
Top Team.
The
destination for the Russian champion would be the Red Devil team
based out of St PEtersburg, Russia. The reasons though they are
not confirmed yet, are focusing on the management aspect, since
the Red Devil team has a strong partnership with the Dutch group
responsible for the Golden Glory Team and the 2H2H promotion,
which would nearly guarantee a better position with DSE.
Anpother
reason is about the stand up experience that both Red Devil and
Golden Glory team have. Is seems that despite excellent performances,
Fedor understand he lacks stand up experience, and this would
be a smart move for him to make his game more complete.
If
this is not enough, we all know how intelligent Fedor is. For
those with a long memory, Fedor declined the first chance to
challenge then PRIDE champion Antonio Nogueira, and he studied
his game for months before taking the match he eventually won.
Fedor may be doing the same now, declining the opportunity to
fight Cro Cop right now in order to improve his stand up game
and look for weak point in the Croatian fighter.
'Minotauro'
Nogueria will be facing Cro Cop in the next Pride for the interim
heavy weight title and whoever wins gets a shot at Fedor down
the road in 2004. Since Fedor already knows ( and proved so )
how to fight Nogueira, this is his time to get ready for Cro
Cop.
Source:
ADCC
|
Latest
Pancrase Official Rankings (as of 10/17/2003)
[Open-weight]
the 10th Open-weight K.O.P. Josh Barnett (U.S.A./New Japan Pro-wrestling)
#1 Yuki Kondo (PANCRASEism)
#2 Semmy Schilt (Holland/Golden Glory)
#3 Yoshiki Takahashi (PANCRASEism)
#4 Sanae Kikuta (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#5 Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#6 Nathan Marquardt (U.S.A./Colorado Stars)
#7 VACANT
[Super
heavyweight(221lbs. and over)]
the 1st Super heavyweight K.O.P. VACANT
#1 Semmy Schilt (Holland/Golden Glory)
#2 Tim Lajcik (U.S.A./Gladiators Training Academy)
#3 Ron Waterman (U.S.A./Team Impact)
#4 Hideki Tadao (RJW/CENTRAL)
#5 Jun Ishii (Chojin Club)
#6 KENGO (PANCRASEism)
[Heavyweight(199lbs.~under
221lbs.)]
the 1st Heavyweight K.O.P. Yoshiki Takahashi (PANCRASEism)
#1 Tsuyoshi Ozawa (Zendokai)
#2 Katsuhisa Fujii (UFO)
#3 Jason Godsey (U.S.A./I.F. Academy)
[Light
heavyweight(181lbs.~under 199lbs.)]
the 2nd Light heavyweight K.O.P. Sanae Kikuta (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#1 Yuki Kondo (PANCRASEism)
#2 Ricardo Almeida (U.S.A./Renzo Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy)
#3 Akihiro Gono (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#4 Nilson de Castro (Brazil/Chute Boxe Academy)
#5 Daisuke Watanabe (PANCRASEism)
#6 Ikuhisa Minowa (freelance)
#7 Yuki Sasaki (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#8 Keiichiro Yamamiya (PANCRASEism)
#9 Evangelista Cyborg (Brazil/Academia Budokan)
#10 Osami Shibuya (PANCRASEism)
[Middleweight(165.7lbs.~
under 181lbs.)]
the 3rd Middleweight K.O.P. Nathan Marquardt (U.S.A./Colorado
Stars)
#1 Izuru Takeuchi (SK Absolute)
#2 Crosley Gracie (Ralph Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy)
#3 Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#4 Ricardo Almeida (U.S.A./Renzo Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy)
#5 Kazuo Misaki (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#6 Chris Lytle (U.S.A./Ring Sports Palmers Gym)
#7 Hidehiko Hasegawa (SK Absolute)
#8 Shonie Carter (U.S.A./AIKI Training Hall)
#9 Kosei Kubota (PANCRASEism)
#10 Eiji Ishikawa (Pancrase GRABAKA)
[Welterweight(152.5lbs.~
under 165.7lbs.)]
the 1st Welterweight K.O.P. Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#1 Koji Oishi (PANCRASEism)
#2 Takafumi Ito (PANCRASEism)
#3 Kenichi Serizawa (Wajutsu Keishukai Suruga Dojo)
#4 Hiroki Nagaoka (Rodeo Style)
#5 Satoru Kitaoka (PANCRASEism)
#6 Yuji Hoshino (Wajutsu Keishukai GODS)
#7 Takuya Wada (SK Absolute)
[Lightweight(141.4lbs.~
under 152.5lbs.)] VACANT
[Featherweight(under
141.4lbs.)] VACANT
Source: ADCC
|
Brazil's
Heat FC 2 - Check-out November Card!
HEAT FC 2 will be held on November 27th, 2003 in the state of
Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. One of the big surprises for the
2nd event is the fight scheduled for Jiu-Jitsu master Vinícius
Magalhães, known as “Draculino”, (Gracie Barra)
against Kleber Galdino. Check out the rest of the card, subject
to change:
-
VINÍCIUS
'DRACULINO'
X KLEBER GALDINO
- CARLÃO BARRETO X TRAVIS WIUFF (USA)
- ALLAN
GÓES
X GUSTAVO XIMÚ
- FORREST GRIFFIN (USA) X EDSON PAREDÃO
- SILMAR RODRIGO X CHRIS FONTAINE (CAN)
Source: ADCC
Heat:
Draculino's debut on MMA
One month after producing his traditional Submission tournament
in Belo Horizonte, Gracie Barra BH leader Vinicius Draculino
will do his debut on MMA fighting at Heat Fighting Championship,
on November 27, in the Northeastern city of Natal (RN). One of
the most technical black belts from Gracie Barra, Draculino will
face the local Kleber Galdino (Kimura/NU), also a BJJ black belt
and one of the Kioto Natal team founders.
Source:
Tatame
|
Pe
De Pano speaks, Fabricio Verdum Challenges!!
They
started by competing against each other during the BJJ Pan Ams
in the beginning of 2003. Ever since, they have squared off against
each other several times, both in BJJ and Submission Wrestling.
'Pe
de Pano' cruz has won most of the matches over Fabricio Verdum.
Do not be fooled - the record does not show how hard and tough
the matches are becoming. Whenever 'Pe de Pano', a BJJ magician,
has a chance he bad mouths Fabricio. The last public statement
he gave on Werdum, the mouthy one stated 'if we fight 10 times,
I will win 11!'
Perhaps
Cruz is forgetting ADCC 2003, when Werdum lost to Cruz in the
Heavyweight finals, but reversed the trend in the 3-4 match of
the Absolutes, defeating Cruz in a heated battle. He has been
closing the gap, has Werdum.
Fabricio,
on the other hand, is not one to keep his mouth shut. He recently
said that would like to face 'Pe de Pano' in a triple match:
BJJ, Submission Wrestling and MMA and all in one night!!!
If
the hunt is on for promoters to make this happen, since both
fighters are 100% excitement!!!
Source: ADCC |
MCGEE'S
LAWYER SAYS STEROID WAS NOT JUST "COSMETIC"
Gan
McGee's attorney, Jim Gallo was on MMAWeekly Radio recently and
talked about the Tim Sylvia situation and there were a few things
he wanted to clear the air about.
He
said the steroid which Tim Sylvia tested positive for, is not
just for cosmetic purposes which was part of the statements made
by the UFC Champion at the hearing on October 15th in front of
the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Gallo
said that the same steroid that Sylvia tested positive for, "winstrol",
was what former Candian Olympic Sprinter, Ben Johnson was stripped
for in the Candian track scandal. Johnson won a gold medal and
was later stripped of the medal for steroids, including Winstrol.
Gallo said quote "I don't think they are going to strip
Ben Johnson for using steroids for cosmetic purposes"...
Gallo
also said there were many descripincies with Sylvia's testimony.
Gallo made the point if this drug can be out of your system after
just 30 days, why was it in his system after this fight, if he
used it back in March. Gallo felt there were too many contridictions
in Sylvia's testimony and that could be a problem.
Gallo
said he felt the UFC needs to be consistant with their business
decisions. Gallo said if Randy Couture was able to get an immediate
title shot after he lost to Barnett because Barnett was stripped
of his title do to steroid abuse, then why terminate Gan's contract,
when in fact his opponent tested positive for illegal substances.
Gallo said if the UFC gave Couture an immediate rematch shot,
why not Gan? Once again Gallo made it clear he is just looking
for consistancy.
Gallo
said all he is looking for from the UFC and the NSAC is to make
this fight a no contest. Gallo said Mcgee should be able to have
a fair fight and not fight a fighter on steroids. For now Gallo
is going to have an independent expert look at the steroid tests
and they would go forward from there. When MMAWeekly Radio host,
Ryan Bennett, asked the question "If the NSAC or the UFC
made this fight a no-contest you would drop all of this?"
Gallo
said "absolutely". He would drop it immediately. Now
it's up to Zuffa to decide what they want to do. It's believed
they won't change it to no-contest for the simple fact that Couture's
fight vs Barnett was not ruled a no-contest. There have been
fights that have been overturned, like Benji Radach and Steve
Berger in the UFC. Radach was grabbing the cage to keep his balance
and after the fight was ruled a TKO, it was later overturned
to "no contest". It will be interesting to see if the
UFC wants to work out something to make this fight a "no
contest" or if they plan on having some sort of title fight
in November at UFC 45. Stay tuned.
Source: MMA News |
SAPP
VS BOTHA IN DECEMBER
Both fighters were disqualified this weekend in K-1 and now both
fighters will have a chance to go toe to toe in Japan. According
Puroesu Power.com to Bob Sapp vs. Frans Botha has been announced
for the group's 12/6 Tokyo Dome show.
Matchmaker
Sadaharu Tanigawa said that if Botha won the fight, then Botha
would go on to be the "reserve fighter" for the World
GP tournament if one of the 8 competitors gets hurt. If Sapp
wins, he wins the match only. Tanigawa added that he expected
heavy K-1 participation at New Japan Pro Wrestling's 1/4/04 Tokyo
Dome show.
Source: MMA News
|
|