Hawaii Martial Arts News & Rumors - Dedicated to Hawaii-Specific Martial Arts News & Rumors

Sign our
Guestbook!

Upcoming
Events

Do you want to list an
event on Onzuka.com?

(All events on Oahu, unless noted)

11/22/03?

Pac Rim Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling Tournament

(Sub Grappling & BJJ)

(Klum Gym, UH Manoa)

11/21/03

SuperBrawl

(MMA)

(Blaisdell Arena)

11/9/03

Pride: Final Conflict

(MMA)

(Toyko, Japan)

10/24/03

International Cage Combat

(MMA)

(Blaisdell Arena)

10/18/03

Amateur Fighting Competition 4

(Toughman)

10/10/03

Rumble On The Rock 4

(MMA)

(Blaisdell Arena)

9/27/03

1st Annual Kauai "Grappler's Paradise" 2003 Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu tournament

(BJJ, Sub Grappling)

(Kauai)

9/26/03

UFC 44: Undisputed

(MMA)

(Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV)

9/20/03

SuperBrawl

(MMA)

Neil Blaisdell Arena

News & Rumors

Sponsored by Wa’alani Enterprises

This
jiu-jitsu tournament will be the FIRST EVER nationally ranked
event ever held on Kauai! Mixed Martial Arts TV will give the
Kauai GP a National ranking. You will be able to see how our
tournament ranks against the TOP TOURNAMENTS IN THE NATION! All
fighters who compete today will also receive a national ranking
title which will follow them in whatever nationally ranked tournament
they enter across the U.S.!

We
are proud to have the support of the following sponsors:

Waalani
Enterprises, Kauai Electric, Bloodline, Na Guarda, Big Save Markets,
Ishihara Fish Market, Howard Combat Kimonos, North American Grappling
Association, MMA.tv, Fast Print, www.hawaiiautomart.com, Tamba Surf Company,
Guava Kai Plantation, Tiger Fit

2003 Kauai
Grappler's Paradise News

With only a week to go before Kauai's first ever all Jiu-Jitsu
tournament, things are looking pretty good. Kendall Goo, a brown
belt under Relson Gracie, and sponsor of the event stated, "We're
getting great support from our local businesses here on Kauai
as well as some big name companies in the world of martial arts.
Competitors will be blessed with an awesome event, nice medals
and tons of donated prizes!" Almost every major academy
in Hawaii will be represented, with the exception of one. We
asked Kendall what the situation was. "Well, due to some
miscommunication, Bruno Ewald, a black belt under Royler Gracie,
has decided to boycott our event. It's very sad because not only
is it the first time an event like this has been boycotted on
Kauai, all of Bruno's students will miss out as well. What makes
this whole situation worse is that Bruno's school and my school
are supposed to be teammates. I've never heard of one school
boycotting their own teammate's event before in my life. The
reason for Bruno boycotting our tournament is his business, but
in good faith, we would be more than happy to have any of his
students enter and treat them fairly. Regardless of the situation,
we're going to have a great time and make sure all of the competitors
are taken care of."

The
2003 Kauai Grapplers Paradise Jiu-Jitsu tournament will feature
gi and no-gi divisions. Weigh-ins will be on Friday, September
26, at 4 to 7 pm at the Kauai Gym in Kapaa. Fights begin at 9
am on Saturday, September 27. You can contact Kendall at (808)823-6650
for more info.

UFC
44: Undisputed Odds

With
10 days left till UFC 44, Tito Ortiz, Tim Sylvia and Caol Uno
are all favored to win.

These
are the odds from Olympic Sports as of 9/26/03 9pm. For up to
date UFC 44 betting odds, head over to Olympic Sports and click
on the "Other Sports" and "Boxing" link.

-
Tim Sylvia -144

- Gan McGee +114

-
Tito Ortiz -210

- Randy Couture +170

-
Vladimir Matyushenko -215

- Andrei Arlovski +175

-
Rich Franklin -500

- Edwin Dewees +350

-
Jorge Rivera +205

- David Loiseau -285

-
Dave Strasser -155

- Karo Parisyan +125

-
Jeremy Jackson +120

- Nick Diaz -150

-
Caol Uno -280

- Hermes Franca +200

-
Josh Thomson -125

- Gerald Strebendt -105

Source: MMA Fighting

The
Savage Truth - Don't Call it a Comeback

By Greg Savage

That’s
right folks, I know it’s been a while since the last Savage
Truth, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort.

Forces
beyond my control were at work, keeping me silent for the last
month-and-a-half but now that the stars have aligned and a certain
Sherdog.com owner, who shall remain nameless, has finished his
doctoral thesis, things can get back to normal around here. So
sue me.

It
has been a busy six weeks so let’s get down to it.

PRIDE
Grand Prix

The PRIDE middleweight Grand Prix got underway with the four
favorites advancing through to the second round. And what a card
it is shaping up to be for November. I still say “Rampage”
is the favorite to win the tournament as long as he can get by
Liddell without too much damage. On the other hand, how funny
would that be if “The Iceman” could pull off the unthinkable
and win the whole shebang? It’s doubtful even though the
UFC brass seem to be convinced Chuck will walk through into the
finals.

And
how bout the rest of that card? Cro Cop squaring off with Fedor,
rumors of Barnett and Minotauro, and a possible Bustamante versus
Ninja match up. Sounds good to me since I will be heading to
the Land of the Rising Sun for my first live Pride experience.

IFC
Tournament

Next up, the IFC light heavyweight tournament. It is a shame
they couldn’t get this thing on pay-per-view because the
tournament was amazing. Now you all know I am not a big fan of
the tourney format but I have to concede this was one of the
better shows I have attended. While the best fighter doesn’t
always win in a tournament, I don’t feel that can be said
in this instance.

Jeremy
Horn was the heavy favorite coming in and had a marked advantage
over “Babalu” going into the final. Hell, Jeremy didn’t
have a mark on him and had finished both his opponents early
while “Babalu” was knuckled up and had to fight nearly
30 minutes en route to the championship match. As I conducted
my own little straw poll at ringside, the consensus was that
it had been a nice run for Sobral while it had lasted.

Boy,
oh boy, were we wrong. Talk about your determination, leaving
it all on the playing field, giving 110% and every other cliché
in the book. “Babalu”, quite possibly in the best shape
of his life, showed the heart and determination that champions
are made of. His takedowns and ground-and-pound attack—and
a little help from the ref if you ask Horn’s manager, Monte
Cox—staked him to an insurmountable lead and propelled him
to the IFC light heavyweight championship.

I
also came away from the show thinking how explosive Forrest Griffin
looked until he ran into the right shin of Mr. Horn. He really
reminded me of one of Horn’s stable mates, Rich Franklin
who I incidentally think could be ruling atop the light heavyweight
division in the not so distant future. That is as long as they
don’t match him up with Belfort too soon. A dedicated “Phenom”
will be a monumental roadblock for anyone at 205 lbs. When I
look into my crystal ball I see Franklin and Belfort battling
it out sooner or later, hopefully later.

Memo
to Zuffa: don’t make this match and derail one of your best
young fighters. Belfort doesn’t need to be built up before
he gets a shot at the belt, feed him a scrub and hype up either
his re-match with Couture—a doubtful scenario—or the
highly likely mega-fight with Tito Ortiz. Then, if Franklin continues
to win, you have an undefeated challenger down the road to fight
the winner of Belfort-Ortiz (sorry Randy). There, that wasn’t
to longwinded was it?

UFC
44: Undisputed

That brings me to next weeks UFC 44—Undisputed, from the
Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. So much for never going back to the
site of the UFC 33 debacle eh? I for one am happy they are going
back. Mandalay Bay was one of, if not the, best venues I have
ever watched a live event in.

I
am also curious to see the new look Zuffa will be debuting. They
will supposedly be casting off the pyro and big pro-wrestling
style intros in hopes of nabbing more viewers with the cleaner,
more polished look. With the big build up to this event, a la
last years UFC 40, MMA fans should be primed for an explosive
night of fights. Let’s hope so anyway.

Oscar
De La Hoya

And last but not least. What do Oscar De La Hoya and Murillo
Bustamante have in common? That’s right, they both lost
matches that left fans screaming in outrage while scores of unbiased
journalists at ringside felt the decisions were warranted. I
was there for Liddell-Bustamante and had Liddell winning that
match, albeit very narrowly, as did just about everyone around
me.

On
this occasion I thought De La Hoya had won pretty comfortably
and was almost as startled as “Sugar” Shane when the
scores were announced. C’mon, anyone that buys that B.S.
about not thinking they could get a decision in Vegas probably
believes Mosley’s old man was just pumping him up when he
told him he needed a KO to win the fight. He wasn’t even
entertaining the thought that he had won and was literally shocked
when Buffer bellowed his name.

Truthfully,
I could care less. Boxing has long been a crapshoot when it comes
to judging and MMA will be the same way. Any sport that is subjectively
scored will always have debatable outcomes. I really don’t
have that much of a problem—and who would really care if
I did—with the decision in either the Mosley-De La Hoya
or Liddell-Bustamante fights. They were both hard fought bouts
with close rounds that could have been scored either way.

One
thing is for certain, Oscar could use a lesson or two from Murillo
on how to conduct oneself after a controversial decision. His
act was shameful. I know he was pissed but c’mon. I though
he was going to subpoena everyone during his post-fight interview.
Sad, just sad is the only way to describe it but for all you
who think boxing will be hurt by this are almost as misguided
as Oscar.

If
we have learned one thing about boxing, it has to be that it
is the cockroach of combat sports. It will never die. People,
en mass, have been fed up for decades and have promised to never
buy another pay-per-view only to fork over the $54.99 next time
out. Boxing is here to stay no matter what. Get used to that
fact.

This
one time, Greg Savage (greg@sherdog.com) burned a CD with nothing
but the sounds of his bowel movements and the screams of his
manservants. It went triple platinum within the month.

Source: Sherdog

Couture-Ortiz
from the Fighters' Perspective

By Jason Probst

When it
comes to prognosticating fights, there's no better source for
revealing predictions than fighters themselves. In the small
world of mixed martial arts, it can often be tough to find an
admittedly objective observer when so many of today's athletes
have trained with one another. But in the unique contrasts of
the Tito Ortiz-Randy Couture bout there's a dominant strain of
objectivity running through the conventional schools of wisdom.

While
Couture has left no questions unanswered about his heart and
renewed potency at 205 pounds, Tito Ortiz has few doubters concerning
his tenacity. What it boils down to, in the eyes of most, is
a simple dogfight. And even then, there are few resolute predictions.

Virtually
every fighter Maxfighting.com contacted had to take a moment
or two to gather their thoughts when asked for a pick on the
bout. If anything, it's indicative of how closely contested it's
expected to be. It's also a sign that deep down, fighters are
fans too, because most of them sounded pretty interested in seeing
how Couture-Ortiz unfolds.

And
now, the picks:

Duane
"Bang" Ludwig

I would like to see Couture win. I think Couture will be pretty
strong, and I would give it to Couture or even in terms of strength,
but Tito will not out-strength him. I don't know if he can take
Randy down, but he has to just get Randy on his back. Tito's
not going to win standing up, but it'd have to be a ground and
pound. If Couture takes Tito down, Tito is pretty tough, and
I think he could take a beating before it was stopped.

Erin
Toughhill

Randy's pretty incredible, his stability, just his overall balance.
Once he gets on top of you, he can pretty much control you and
put you away. I'm not sure [how Tito fights him.] Tito strikes
me as more of a bully, and he's in there against guys who are
much smaller than him, a lot of his opponents are hand picked.
I'm not downing his skills, I think he has had some real competition
like Couture and we'll see how that affects going against a top
level opponent.

Frank
Mir, heavyweight contender

I think Randy couture wins by decision. I think, after I saw
the Liddell fight Randy has much better hands. If Tito tries
to box it out, it's Randy's advantage. Takedowns, Tito is good
at them. But Randy is a very decorated Greco guy, so I still
can't see Tito being able to get on top of Randy. If Tito can,
that's Randy's weakness. As for a prediction? Honestly, I don't
know.

Dean
"The Machine" Lister

I'm gonna be in Tito's corner, I'm working as his jiu-jitsu coach.
He's tough. Training with has been great. Tito's a natural athlete,
and we both just contribute to each other's games. He's helped
me with my tactics. He moves real well, and he isn't afraid to
take chances and go for it. The thing is, not to give away any
tactics, but Tito's able to move all around from every position
really well. His style is his own.

(Lister obviously couldn't make a prediction because he's in
Tito's corner, but did add that he will be bringing a beautiful
Brazilian girl with him to UFC 44 who knows jiu-jitsu. Does it
get any better than that?).

Matt
Hughes

I took Chuck over Randy and he surprised me there. But I'd probably
go with Tito. It's a tough fight. Takedowns are going to play
a big role.

Mark
Coleman

Wow, you really caught me off guard on that one. That's a big
question they are both great fighters. I just can't make a pick.

Pat
Miletich

I take Couture. I just feel Randy is a better wrestler and he's
a better striker. Tito's best strategy is if he can put Randy
on his back, but I see that as the only way. He's not going to
beat Randy standing up. Tito's a good enough wrestler. I think
Randy's only weakness is being on his back. It could happen.
But Tito's got to up him there. As far as who's stronger, I think
Tito may have some problems there with Randy. He's used to being
bigger and stronger and bullying people.

Monte
Cox

You know, this fight, it's just one of those things, I look at
Tito and it's really hard to bet against Randy, because he always
makes you pay for it. I get a feeling Tito is like that too.
He always finds a way to win. It's too close to call, but if
I had to pick a winner I'd go with Tito. I think what happened
was that in Randy's fight versus Chuck it gave Tito a heads-up.
Had Randy come out and not fought Liddell and came out with his
standup skills versus Tito, he could've used that to his advantage
and surprised him, but there's no surprise now. But now Tito
was able to see what Randy comes out for. Can Tito take Randy
down, can he consistently put Randy down on the ground and put
him in trouble? I just got a feeling he will put a Randy on the
ground. Can Randy put Tito on his back? Gosh, it's a bettor s
nightmare, it's almost a coin flip.

If
Tito is taken down, Tito's got heart, both those guys have everything
it takes to be champion. To say they don't is crazy. You can
bet, just like, Matt Hughes showed against Sean Sherk, they're
gonna be comfortable on their back. They train that way every
day. Matt Hughes was training every day underneath Jeremy Horn.
It wasn't like when Sherk got on top of him he panicked. Randy
and Tito have both got to be aware that they don't want to be
on the bottom.

Somewhere
in this fight, Tito is gonna be able to get Randy on his back.
I think Tito's gonna be able to win this fight.

That's
three picks for Couture, two for Ortiz, and three no-picks. If
that isn't close enough for you, take heart: fight night is almost
here.

Source: Maxfighting

MCGEE
READY TO BANG WITH SYLVIA

UFC heavyweight fighter Gan McGee appeared on Thursday's MMAWeekly
Radio Show, just one week before he is scheduled to challenge
Tim Sylvia for the UFC Heavyweight Title at UFC 44.

Gan
elaborated by saying that he treats every fight that he has as
the biggest fight of his career, because that's what you have
to do if you want to be mentally prepared. Gan went as far as
to say that he is so focused on the fight itself that he is trying
to not even think of it as a title fight even though he knows
it is one.

At
26 years of age and with an MMA record of 12-1, a lot of fans
aren't familiar with Gan McGee outside of the two main-card UFC
fights that he has had (a loss to Josh Barnett and a win over
Pedro Rizzo). Gan said that he wrestled in college at Iowa for
a year and Cal Poly University, and that is where he met his
current-day teammates Chuck Liddell and former UFC Veteran Scott
Adams.

It
wasn't until a Bas Rutten Invitational event in Colorado back
in 1999 that McGee crossed over into the world of MMA, where
he won his debut fight over UFC veteran Sam Adkins. When asked
how a college wrestler became known for his striking game so
much, Gan said that he realized very early in his MMA career
how fun it is to hit people, so he started training with John
Hackelman and his stand-up game developed from there.

Regarding
his fight with Tim Sylvia, Gan said that he's not underestimating
Sylvia because he knows he has a great fight game, but he thinks
he will do fine with Sylvia in the stand-up position. McGee said
that he considers Pedro Rizzo to be a better striker than Tim
Sylvia, and he doesn't anticipate Sylvia being better than Rizzo.
McGee had won the stand-up war as he got decisive victory over
Rizzo. When asked for a prediction on the fight, McGee said that
his only prediction is that he's going to win and he's going
to finish the fight. Whether it ends via knockout or a ground-and-pound
referee's stoppage, Gan said that this fight is not going to
a decision.

Source: MMA Weekly

FRANCA
READY FOR BATTLE AGAINST UNO

American Top Team fighter Din Thomas talked about his teammate
Hermes Franca on Thursday's MMAWeekly Radio Show. While Franca
was still intensively training for his fight with Caol Uno at
next week's UFC 44 event, Thomas said that he has spent a lot
of time training with Franca and he can say with confidence that
Franca "is going to mess somebody up."

Din
said that he feels Franca will win the fight easily if he comes
right at Uno and makes sure that Uno is always backing up and
on the defensive. In Thomas' opinion, the only scenario in which
Franca could be in trouble would be if he gets nervous and holds
back too much. Having trained with Hermes Franca extensively
and fought Caul Uno twice, Din Thomas said that he feels Franca
is a more talented fighter and is going to win next Friday.

MMAWeekly's
own John Hartnett also talked about Hermes Franca on the radio
show, after spending a lot of time recently in training with
Franca and the rest of the American Top Team. John said that
he has seen first-hand how hard they have been working Franca,
what incredible shape he is in, and what incredible work ethic
he has.

John
said that Hermes has always had a great ground game and now his
stand-up game is also developing to the point that it's going
to pose a threat to anyone that goes into a fight against Franca.

Source: MMA Weekly

9/19/03

Quote
of the Day

"Creativity is allowing oneself to make mistakes.

Art is knowing which ones to keep."

Scott Adams American Cartoonist, The Dilbert Principle

Mike
& Lisa Had Their Baby This Morning!

Mike has never been one to be prompt and it looks like his boy
is already taking after him because their due date was September
16th and Caleb decided to pop out 3 days later. I guess he is
already on Brazilian/Hawaiian time.

Just before 8:00AM this morning the baby boy was born. His name
is:

Caleb Kamakana
Bung Kuen Mitsuyo Onzuka

Length: 20"

Weight: 7 lbs. 1.5 oz.

Born at 7:39 AM

For
more pictures check out

http://www.onzuka.com/caleb1.html

More pictures coming soon! I have to get back to the hospital
before Lisa kills me.

Super
Brawl Weigh-In Today!

Time &
Place Changed to 5:00PM at All Star Cafe

The official Super Brawl weigh-in will be held today, Friday, September 19,
2003 at
All Star
Cafe in
Waikiki at 5:00
pm. Normally,
it is held at about 1:00 so make note of this new time.

Come
down to meet the fighters and watch what some of these fighters
have to go through to make their weight. After the weigh-in,
run down to the Blaisdell to pick up some tickets for the fight.

There
is also a before and after party for Super Brawl at All Star
Cafe in Waikiki. There is free parking for ticket holders of
Super Brawl. You can go there early hang out and eat and there
will be a free shuttle to take you to the Blaisdell for the fight
and bring you back to All Star Cafe for the after party. Many
of the fighters will be there so you can talk to them about the
fights and what they have set up in the future.

Revised
Card as of the weigh-ins!

Exhibition
3x1 minute rounds

Randy Apolo (Untamed, 64 lbs) vs. Kai "Boy" Kamaka
(808 Fight Factory, 57 lbs)

135lbs
3x3 minute rounds

Edric Pajarras (808 Fight Factory, 0-0, 131 lbs) vs. Harvey Nakamura
(Grappling Unlimited, 0-0, 132 lbs)

185lbs
3x3 minute rounds

Kaipo Kalama (Grappling Unlimited, 2-1-1) vs. Jay Martinez (Shark
Tank, 3-1, 183 lbs)

Heavyweight
3x3 minute rounds

Travis "The Iron Man" Fulton (Iowa, 127-32-8, 255 lbs)
vs. Ray "King Kong" Serraille (Grappling Unlimited,
2-4)

170lbs
3x5 minute rounds

Tiki Ghosen (Team Oyama, 5-3, 169.5 lbs) vs. Ronald "The
Machine Gun" Jhun (808 Fight Factory, 18-10-2, 170 lbs)

145lbs
3x5 minute rounds

Eddie Yagin (Grappling Unlimited, 6-2, 144.7 lbs) vs. David Yeung
(HMC, 2-2, 144.8 lbs)

185lbs
3x5 minute rounds

Shawn Taylor (0-1-1, 181 lbs) vs. Jason Miller (Team Oyama, 10-3,
180 lbs)

160lbs
3x5 minute rounds

Joe Jordan (5-3, 159 lbs) vs. Kolo Koka (Grappling Unlimited,
5-3, 160 lbs)

185lbs
3x5 minute rounds

Falaniko Vitale (Grappling Unlimited, 12-2, 200 lbs) vs. Justin
Ellison (1-3, 200 lbs)

Amateur Fighting
Competition 4

Is Quickly Approaching!

It
is one month away from AFC's fourth installment. I believe there
is still room for fighters that are interested, especially in
the over 200lbs class. It is a great way to gain experience in
a safe environment.

Contact the promoters by going to their web site at:

http://www.afchawaii.com

Just announced:

The Coopers are also involved with Shooto Hawaii, which promotes
amateur Shoot (MMA style) bouts. There will be some exhibitions
held at the AFC.

What is the AFC you ask?

The AFC is a 2 weight-class 'toughman' kickboxing single elimination
tournament, where one take down per round is allowed. There is
an Under 200lb division as well as a 200 and over division. The
winner of each division gets either a cash prize (in which case
he would no longer be considered an 'amateur') or a gift certificate
(thereby keeping amateur status).

Interview: Former
PRIDE World Champion Rodrigo “Minotauro” Noguiera

By Gleidson Venga / Team Tatame

Rodrigo 'Minotauro' is back and he is looking forward to his
next Pride match, tentatively scheduled for November. He´s
not satisfied at all with his last fight against Ricco Rodrigues.
Minotauro promises he will not allow his opponents to stall and
drag the fight out.

Was Ricco tougher
than expected? His style is not good, he doesn't play, he doesn´t
try to pass the guard, he doesn't try to hit… so I got pissed
off over it. I didn´t appreciate that match, I didn´t
like the way the fight went, I mean style-wise. I watched Ricco´s
other fights on tape and I saw that all his fights are the same
that way. He is good, very technical, I think he is a good fighter
but when I was going to attack, he got on top with those 120kg
and then he stopped playing.

There were some
fans in America especially that thought Ricco should be the winner.
What do you think about that? People who say that know nothing
about Vale Tudo, they don´t understand what Vale Tudo means.
In the United States, people think that the fighter who is on
the top the whole time during the match is winning. At the end
of the fight, my face was clean, the guy stayed on the top the
whole time and didn´t hurt me, he didn´t beat me
up, he didn´t even have a good punch sequence. I don´t
think that he had a good fight against me at all.

You are one of the
more prolific submission fighters the past few years, but you
didn´t finish your last 2 matches. Are you worried about
this in some way? Both opponents were pretty good defensively.
Ricco got free from a triangle that almost had him passed out.
He took his head out in time and he also escaped from a very
tight armlock. I did try, he did it well and escaped. I don´t
think it was my mistake, it was due to his skills.

In some circles,
your next opponent is rumored to be Josh Barnett? I think so,
they hope so. That will be in November and if I win the fight
my net match will be against the winner between Fedor and Cro
Cop next year.

What did you think
about the Murilo match? I think Murilo´s pretty good. If
he could have carried the energy level to the 3rd round same
pace he had in the 1st round, I think he would have submitted
the American. Everyone knows Murilo didn´t have time to
train, he wasn´t ready physically, he knew he was going
to fight only a week before the match. But I think he fought
much better, he put the best punchs standing up, he tried submit
him. It was a tough match.

What do you think
about the Cro Cop and Fedor matches? Fedor was fast, he destroyed
the guy. Cro Cop was also fast, he´s very technical. When
Vovchanchin was moving and circling according to his game plan,
Cro Cop didn´t connet with even one strike. The time he
went to the left side, the guy got the kick. Cro Cop is very
intelligent, very good in stand up position.

About the middle
weight finals, what´s your bet? I´ve heard rumors
they may put Wanderlei against Yoshida and if they do that, Wanderlei
is in the final for sure. That leaves Liddel against Quinton
Jackson, a tough match, whose winner will likely get to the finals
broken. So I bet on Wanderlei. If they arrange the brackets in
this way, I think Wanderlei takes it.

Tell us about your
training. I´ve been training a lot, I went to Bahia recently,
I´ve was there with Popo´s brother, Luiz Claudio,
the guy has fought twice for the world title, so he is teaching
me to box and he is coming to Rio next week. I´ll start
a very focused preparation on boxing for the next matches, I
think it will add much to my fights.

Your brother, Rogerio
Minotouro, is going to fight in Korea... That´s true. He
is training, he is recovered from an injury he had, he is now
training hard, and I think he will beat this guy. I hope he gets
a submission, he is a submission guy as well, but nowadays the
guys are playing defensive, they try to stop our game, so, since
they don´t get submitted, the fight becomes boring and
sort of ugly.

What can you do
in order to finish with this stalling game? It´s hard to
say, I have to improve my sprawl and try to keep the match standing
up, not on the ground. I´ve got to improve my wrestling,
since when I´m standing up, it becomes easier for submission.

Final comments?
I´d like to thank MMA Gear, they are sponsoring me. Not
just me, but they are with a our team. They are with me, Allan
Goes, Rogerio, Arona, Grillo, a host of BTT fighters. And our
website (www.minotauro.net) is excellent too, we will add a virtual
store. During the events we tell about what´s going on
the background, after the matches we will come up with news,
great interviews. At the time of the Pride GP, when we had that
confusion, I got an interview with Murilo and Arona. I think
it is very good and it worth a look.

Source:
ADCC

ICC
COMMENTS ABOUT FUTURE

ICC President Dan Dease, addressed the fans this week on the
message boards about the companies future including a very busy
weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada.

ICC
STATEMENT by Dan Dease from the UG

"We
had a very productive weekend. We created a schedule for monthly
pay per view and 48 tv show's a year. As far as the channel for
tv, the likely candidate, from a selection of three that have
expressed interest, is a broadcast network, not cable, I can't
mention the name until the ink is dry, for fear that someone
may try and interfere.

As
far as my partnership goes, after all the crap we got last time
for mentioning names, I will leave it to them to characterize
the nature of their involvement. Suffice it to say we are prepared
to take MMA to the mainstream in short order, I have been overwhelmingly
impressed with the assets at our disposal provided by the partnership.
I mean as an example they are spending $150,000 on the set design
alone to create a brand image unlike anything seen before, that
will give the ICC a look so impressive, you won't believe it
until you see it

We
have been having a little trouble getting some of the fighter's
we want for the 24th. We also found that there is an event in
Hi on the 10th, the 24th(same night), and 2 weeks after, with
some of the Hawaiian's we want already booked, on those show's.
We are having a conference call with our partners this week to
discuss our options to make this the best tourney we can. I'll
let you guys know when we arrive at a game plan. Whatever happens
I want this to be a world class tourney.

On
the Tyson issue I have noticed an interesting phenomenon. The
women who work for our partners hate the idea of having Mike
show up, he's a rapist, thug, yada yada ya etc. All the men involved
with us love the idea and most don't think he's a rapist just
a victim of a vindictive girlfriend. It actually got really heated
on whether we'd bring him. My guess is we haven't heard the last
of the women trying to get rid of him.

My
partners say yes, so the women lose out for now, and I guess
they're bringing him. I hope this doesn't alienate us with the
female segment of the fanbase. More news to come soon."

Source:
MMA Weekly

UPDATE ON SAKURAI'S
CONDITION

MMAWeekly's Scott Petersen reports from Japan that doctors did
an MRI on Mach Sakurai yesterday to check out his eye. The bone
was not damaged, as some peope compared this injury to what Sakuraba
sustained against Cro Cop. Sakurai may be able to fight in Bushido,
he also hopes to. But, it also depends on his back.

There were questions
surrounding Mach, that Sakurai might not be able to fight on
the October 5th PRIDE Bushido card due to the eye injury he sustained
in the fight, but things look good and he most likely will be
able to fight.

Source: MMA Weekly

SHAMROCK'S SURGERY
GOES WELL

MMA legend Ken Shamrock is coming off a successful knee surgery.
Shamrock just had surgery on his torn ACL last week in Reno,
Nevada. And, there is some talk that Shamrock wants a rematch
against Tito Ortiz.

It's believed that
Shamrock has mentioned to some that he should have had surgery
before the Tito fight and that was one of the reasons why he
couldn't shoot in and go for the takedowns. He now has fixed
the knee through surgery...something he has wanted to do for
quite some time.

Either way Shamrock
has shown interest that he will return to MMA. So when will he
return to MMA competition? His recovery time is not known. He
is in great shape, but at this stage of his career and because
of his age, it's believed that it will take him at least 9 months
to recover. Of course Shamrock feels he could be back in the
Octagon in a few months, but we shall wait and see.

Source: MMA Weekly

Jacaré Impresses
in MMA Debut!

by Marcelo Alonso

'It is better to lose while attacking than to win by stalling
in the fight'. Wallid Ismail repeated these words many times
at Jungle fight rules meeting. He made the importance of making
an exciting show clear to the fighters. At the end of the event
the brazilian promoter was really satisfied with the fighters
agressiveness, but one of them particularly impressed him: Ronaldo
'Jacaré', the Jiu-Jitsu phenom.

Making his debut
in Vale-Tudo after only two weeks of boxing, Jacaré showed
the same agressiveness that made him famous in Jiu-Jitsu. 'He
was the big revelation of the event in my opinion. He almost
defeated the experieced 'Macaco' training only two weeks of striking.
Imagine when I bring him to Rio to learn Wrestling with Darrel
Gohlar and Muay Thai with Luís Alves' stated an excited
Ismail. 'I loved to fight Vale-Tudo, I get much more nervous
when I fight Jiu-Jitsu. I feel that if I train six months I can
be among the best in the 83kg category.' said Jacaré who
broke his right hand punching Patino´s head. Ronaldo got
close to defeating Patino twice, but his opponent´s experience
- Macaco has 28 fights (24 knock outs in the first minute) made
the difference.

'He pretended to
attack my leg and he punched me right in my chin.' said Ronaldo
who ended up losing by knock out.

Two months ago Ronaldo
earend a a place in Jiu-Jitsu history. In only one week He won
21 fights, 18 by submission and winning four Jiu-Jitsu world
titles. Hw won his weight category and the absolute category
in both 2nd World Cup and 8th World Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Due
to this amazing feat, Ronaldo earned an invitation for an exibition
in Japan at the end of this month. He also has an invitation
from Wallid to represent Brazil Dojo, together with Ricardo Moraes,
in the Ultimate Crush event that will happen in Japan on October
13th. 'The doctor said I need one month but I think in 15 days
my hands will be ok'. guaranteed Jacare.

Source:
ADCC

UFC MAKES TRIUMPHANT
RETURN TO MOHEGAN SUN

It's been awhile since the UFC was at the Mohegan Sun, but it
looks as though the UFC will make it's return to the beautiful
Mohegan Sun on November 21st for UFC 45.

The last time Zuffa
took the show to the luxury resort was at UFC 39 which was headlined
by Ricco Rodriguez facing Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight
Championship Title.

Most likely this
show will be the card that we see the return of Ricco Rodriguez,
Phil Baroni and Robbie Lawler. We've also heard rumors that Tank
Abbott will face Cabbage on this show as well, so it looks
like UFC 45 will be another big hit to the fans in New England.

Source:
MMA Weekly

COX TALKS ABOUT
PULVER, HORN AND MILETICH'S FUTURE

Monte Cox was a special guest on Wednesday's MMAWeekly Radio
Show and talked about several of the fighters that he manages.
Monte strongly stated that people don't realize how hard Tim
Sylvia trains, and he called Sylvia the hardest-working heavyweight
fighter in MMA.

Cox said that Sylvia
is always working hard and trying to improve, and that level
of work ethic didn't decrease one bit when he knocked out Ricco
Rodriguez to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Monte said
that he is sure that Gan McGee has good endurance, but if the
fight goes past two or three rounds, it will become clear that
Tim Sylvia has better endurance.

When asked about
Jeremy Horn, who recently lost to Renato "Babalu" Sobral
in the finals of the IFC's action-packed eight-man tournament,
Monte Cox said that there are big things coming up for Horn in
the not-so-distant future. Monte said that Paul Smith from the
IFC has a financial backer who is very, very interested in having
a Horn vs. Babalu singles fight rematch with a lot of promotion
put into it.

If it goes through
and happens, it could be before the end of the year. Monte also
said that Horn doesn't blame the loss on the clock controversy
in the second round, and Horn has been saying that Babalu just
beat him and had a much better gameplan going into the fight.

Monte said that
Jeremy is going to be fighting James Zikic at a British event
in late September, and then fighting at a big South Korean MMA
event on November 1.

Regarding legendary
fighter and trainer Pat Miletich, Monte Cox said that Pat would
love to have one final send-off fight, and he would love for
it to be in the UFC, but there's a lot standing in the way of
it happening. First and foremost is the fact that Pat's neck
and back injuries are not healed and are not the kinds of injuries
that are going to fully heal without surgery. Pat's doctors have
advised him not to fight and have told him that there would be
numerous risks if he did compete in a full-contact fight, including
the possibility of paralysis.

Cox said that he
personally doesn't think Miletich should take that kind of risk,
but it's up to him. Part of the hold-up in a potential send-off
fight for Miletich is the fact that he would have to get a good
payday for the fight given the risks he would be taking.

Finally, when asked
about the big promises being thrown around by the ICC, Monte
Cox spoke of the situation with skepticism and also a bit of
optimism. Monte said that the ICC executives' statements seem
so unbelievable, and while it would be great if it all happened,
it's going to be very hard to make it happen. Cox said that he
thinks people are naturally skeptical of the ICC because they
don't have an established track record, and they have to build
one from the ground up. Monte added that the ICC ran some smaller
shows before and lost a lot of money, and they won't be able
to continue to lose money now.

Source:
MMA Weekly

9/18/03

Quote
of the Day

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."

E. E. Cummings, 1894-1962, American Poet

DSE/PRIDE
announced match up

Gracie vs Japan of PRIDE BUSHIDO.

PRIDE BUSHIDO

Saitama Super Arena

October 5, 2003

Carlos
Newton (British Virgin Islands/Warrior Martial Arts Center)

Renzo Gracie (Brazil/ Team Renzo Gracie)

Dokonjonosuke Mishima (Japan/Cobra-kai)

Ralph Gracie (Brazil/ Team Renzo Gracie)

Kazuhiro Nakamura (Japan/Yoshida Dojo)

Daniel Simones "Gracie" (Brazil/ Team Renzo Gracie)

Daiju Takase (Japan / Free)

Rodrigo Gracie (Brazil/ Team Renzo Gracie)

Kazuhiro Hamanaka (Japan/Takada Dojo)

Ryan Gracie (Brazil/ Team Renzo Gracie)

Promoter will announce 4 more match up soon.

Source:
Koichi "Booker K" Kawasaki

Super
Brawl Weigh-In Tomorrow Night!

The official Super Brawl weigh-in will be held tomorrow, Friday, September 19,
2003 at
24-Hour Fitness on Kapiolani at a special time of 6:00 pm. Normally, it is held
at about 1:00 so make note of this new time.

Come
down to meet the fighters and watch what some of these fighters
have to go through to make their weight. After the weigh-in,
run down to the Blaisdell to pick up some tickets for the fight.

Fighting
for Respect

Super Brawl's creator
wants his sport to be considered legitimate

By Jerry Campany

Super
Brawl

When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Blaisdell Arena

Card:

Falaniko Vitale (12-2) vs. Justin Ellison (1-3)

Joe Jordan (5-3) vs. Kolo Koka (5-3)

David Yeung (2-2) vs. Eddie Yagin (6-2)

Tiki Ghosen (5-3) vs. Ronald Jhun (18-10-2)

Travis Fulton (127-32-8) vs. Ray Seraille (2-4)

Jay Martinez (3-1) vs. Kaipo Kalama (2-1-1)

TBA vs. Anthony Torres (1-0)

Eldrick Pajoras (0-0) vs. Harvey (0-0)

Why not a good old-fashioned street fight?

At
Super Brawl XXX last June 13, Dennis Kang experienced his greatest
high and lowest low as a modern-day Philo Beddo. Kang beat local
boy Kaipo Kalama by majority decision to earn a chance at the
middleweight title later that night, but was told to shower up
because he had suffered a dislocated knee.

He
would be replaced by a man he had forced to quit with an arm-bar
after just 2 minutes and 22 seconds. Kang was the second fighter
in the eight-man tournament to win but not be allowed to advance
because of an injury, and he wasn't happy about it. But that
is Super Brawl.

Super
Brawl is either a sport or a street fight, depending on your
perspective. The official line is that it is a mix of tae kwon
do, boxing, wrestling and judo, but the reality is that it involves
a pair of very skilled athletes seeing who can inflict the most
damage on the other. It is an endeavor in which there is no greater
glory than being powerful enough to force a man to make a choice
between a broken limb or broken pride. But those who face that
choice wouldn't have it any other way, believing that the rules
are set up right at the line between safety and barbarity.

"I
know that I'm not going to die in there," Egan Inoue said.
"Even though I'm willing to die in there, (Super Brawl promoter
T. Jay Thompson) won't let me. You will see more injuries in
a single football game than in a year of Super Brawls, but people
don't want to believe that."

Inoue
was supposed to headline Super Brawl XXXI this Saturday night
at the Blaisdell Arena, but may not compete because of injury.
Falaniko Vitale, who knocked out Olympic wrestler Matt Lindland
in Las Vegas over the summer, will take on Justin Ellison in
the main event if Inoue can't go. Local fighters Eddie Yagin
and "Ice Cold" Kolo Koka will also be on the card.
The show begins at 7:30 p.m. and tickets start at $15.

JUST
AS PEOPLE can argue for hours over whether a bear would win in
a fight with an alligator, people used to argue over whose martial
art was truly superior. It was all just that -- a debate -- until
Royce Gracie decided to test his Brazilian jiu jitsu against
other forms of martial arts. And he got the answer he wanted,
taking on and beating all comers until the world caught up and
came up with what is now known as ultimate fighting.

But
just as the fighters have evolved, so has the sport.

In
its infancy, ultimate fighting was little more than a human cockfight,
pitting disciplines against each other in a glorified street
brawl where the only thing saving an unprepared fighter from
serious injury or worse was his attacker's compassion. That version
of the sport still exists across the nation in fight clubs and
sanctioned events called Toughman, but is frowned upon by those
who love mixed martial arts as well as those who hate it.

"I
won't even watch it," Thompson said. "It is just dragging
the everyday Joe off the bar stool to fight, which couldn't be
more dangerous. In Hawaii people seem to understand that we are
not Toughman, but people in the rest of the country aren't so
sophisticated."

Thompson,
who owns Super Brawl and has built it into the third-largest
outlet for mixed martial arts fans in the world despite being
based on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, started
the phenomenon with blood on his hands. He would get to wondering
who would win in a fight between local tough guys like Kawika
Paaluhi and Wayne Fisher and do more than wonder. He would actually
get them together at Gussie Lamour's and find out.

But
even that got old for the man who got into the sport for the
same reason as the politicians who want to outlaw it. Thompson,
who trains as a fighter but saves his finishing moves for the
courtroom, likes a good old-fashioned row as much as anyone else.
But Thompson knew that if his hobby was going to survive the
knee-jerk reactions of politicians, it would have to develop
weight classes and rules outlawing groin strikes, head butts
and strikes to the spine. He basically wanted to find out who
the best fighters were, not the dirtiest fighters.

WHEN
A 30-year-old mother of two died in a Toughman exhibition in
Sarasota, Fla., the day after Super Brawl XXX, the Hawaii State
Boxing Commission began unofficial talks about expanding its
influence to include regulating ultimate fighting. The problem
is, nobody's sure exactly what ultimate fighting is.

"I
watched that fight where Egan got knocked out and thought, 'Gee,
this is just brutal,' " Hawaii State Boxing Commissioner
Willes Lee said. "But I was probably just biased rooting
for the local guy. It would have to start with a study of some
sort to determine if it is dangerous at all. We don't even know
if boxing is safer -- if it is safer -- because it is regulated
or because it is boxing. It is not far enough along for anyone
on the commission to even comment on it."

Rule
440D-1 in the Hawaii Revised Statutes explicitly outlaws "No
rules combat, extreme or ultimate fighting or similar contests,"
but does allow contests "involving the exclusive use of
boxing, wrestling, kickboxing or martial arts."

Avoiding
the law to put on a show is as simple as changing what you call
your product, or getting a letter straight from the governor
allowing it, as Thompson says he has done. When the law was drawn
up, Thompson simply changed the description of his event, calling
it an exclusive martial art known as pancreation, which dates
back to the first Olympics.

Florida
does not regulate Toughman or mixed martial arts events, only
boxing. Hawaii is the same, but mixed martial arts have been
legalized and are thriving in Nevada and New Jersey. The Washington
Times counted four deaths in Toughman events in the past nine
months, while not being able to find a fatality in mixed martial
arts.

Thompson
will not hide from the fact that his sport is "inherently
dangerous," and says he welcomes regulation as long as it
is regulated by people who have taken the time to educate themselves
on the sport. He believes what he is doing is as legitimate as
any other sport and would like the credibility that comes with
regulation.

"We
are still a full-contact sport that has inherent dangers and
accept anyone who is proactive for fighters' safety," Thompson
said. "But mixed martial arts is so different from boxing
I would be concerned about the boxing commission's ability to
come up to speed with the safety needs and govern it."

IN
A WAY, Super Brawl is already regulated. An official from the
state's Regulated Industries Complaints Office attends each event,
and Thompson is served a subpoena afterward. He has defended
himself so many times, countering the blood an official sees
with the lengths he goes to ensure a fighter's safety, that it
has become little more than a formality.

Thompson
and his stable of athletes are ever striving toward legitimacy,
not wanting to rest until they get a TV deal and are afforded
the respect given to boxing, whether pugilism deserves it or
not. No conversation about the issue of safety is complete until
it is compared with boxing.

Ultimate
fighters and boxers generally respect each other and admire each
others' craft. But it still bothers Thompson when he turns on
his TV and the only mixed martial arts he sees are infomercials
he has produced. Thompson is a boxing fan, but has gone all this
time trying to get his sport perceived as an equal.

When
traffic stopped on Ward Avenue three hours before Inoue's fight
with Masanori Suda at Super Brawl XXIX, an event that came 350
people short of selling out the Blaisdell Arena, Thompson thought
that day might be nearing.

"We
have felt like the red-headed stepson for the longest time,"
Thompson said. "Now the stepson has grown into a champion."

Source: Star Bulletin

Ruas
and Minowa at Brazil Super Fight

Marco
Ruas’s nephew Rodrigo Ruas and Pancrase fighter Ikuhisa
Minowa have been added to the card of the first Brazil Super
Fight. The event is scheduled for next Friday the 19th, in the
southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.

Training
now with Brazilian Top Team, Minowa will face Silmar Rodrigo
(Kimura/Nova União), a very tough stand up fighter who
also has a good ground game. The Silmar Rodrigo vs. Ikuhisa Minowa
fight will be for the up-to-85kg BSF belt.

After
a no-contest fight against Haroldo Cabelinho Bunn (BTT) at 1st
Knock MMA, Rodrigo Ruas (Ruas Vale-Tudo) returns to the ring
fighting Luis Azeredo (Gold Team). As well as the seven MMA fights,
the tournament will feature a Muay Thai match, between Gerson
Silva (BTT) and Eduardo Veríssimo (Boxe).

COMPLETE
CARD (subject to change):

-
Marcelo Alfaia (BT) vs. Jose Ricardo Dragão (Gavião
Team)

- Loke The Duke Piclum (Australia) vs. Aloísio Barros
(Ruas Vale-Tudo)

- Haroldo Cabelinho Bunn (BTT) vs. Leonardo Souza (Kimura/Nova
União)

- Eric Tavares (Ruas Vale-Tudo) vs. Andre Mau Lagendre (Gold
Team)

- Rodrigo Asmus (Gracie Barra BH) vs. Muriez Linke (Polonia Gold
Team)

- Rodrigo Ruas (Ruas Vale-Tudo) vs. Luis Azeredo (Gold Team);

For
the up-to-85kg BSF belt:

- Silmar Rodrigo (Kimura/Nova União) vs. Ikuhisa Minowa
(BTT Japãn)

Muay
Thai fight:

- Gerson Silva (BTT) vs. Eduardo Veríssimo (Boxe)

Source: ADCC

RYRON
GRACIE Will Debut at New Rorion´s Event

Ryron Gracie, the eldest son of Rorion Gracie and the oldest
grandson of the legendary Hélio Gracie at 21 years old,
will make his debut in Mixed Martial Arts scene next October
11th. Ryron will be the first 4th generation Gracie representative
fighting in a professional tournament.

Ryron
is scheduled to participate in the eight man tournament at the
upcoming Ultimate Submission Showdown, the new grappling tournament
created by Rorion, where eight top grapplers in the world will
be invited to participate in this best-of-the-best confrontation.
Some of the tournament's nuances include competitors choosing
to wear whatever outfit they want, with all submissions permitted
including chokes, neck-cranks, arm-locks, knee-locks, ankle-locks,
foot-locks and takedowns in mactches without a time limit. The
first Prize is US $5000.00 and The IGJJF is still selecting fighters.

The
tournament is receiving fighters applications around all over
the world on the web-site www.igjjf.com/uss_general_info.html.

Source:
ADCC

UFC
44: Undisputed Schedule of Events

The
Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the Mandalay Bay Resort
& Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday, September 26, 2003,
with “UFC 44: Undisputed.” It’s been 2 years since
the Mandalay Bay was the venue chosen by Zuffa Sports Entertainment
for their Las Vegas debut in September 2001.

UFC
Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz (11-2-0) from Huntington
Beach, California will make his much anticipated return to the
octagon when he meets newly-crowned Interim Champion Randy Couture
(8-4-0) from Portland, Oregon for the Undisputed title in the
main event. Ortiz is coming off a significant win against legend
Ken Shamrock at UFC 40 in November 2002, while Couture is coming
off a win against former number one contender Chuck Liddell at
UFC 43 in June 2003.

UFC
Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia (17-0-0) of Davenport, Iowa will
defend his title for the first time against Gan McGee (12-1-0)
of San Luis Obispo, California. Sylvia earned the title at UFC
41 by defeating former champion Ricco Rodriguez, while McGee
is coming off a win against Alexandre Dantas on the same card.

The
9-Fight card features 2 titles defenses and a packed under card:

Tito
Ortiz vs. Randy Couture

Tim Sylvia vs. Gan McGee

Andre Arlovski vs. Vladimir Matyushenko

David Loiseau vs. Jorge Rivera

Rich Franklin vs. Edwin Dewees

Dave Strasser vs. Karo Parisyan

Jeremy Jackson vs. Nick Diaz

Hermes Franca vs. Caol Uno

Josh Thomson vs. Gerald Strebendt

The
Weigh-Ins take place in the House of Blues Concert Hall inside
the Mandalay Bay on Thursday, September 25, 2003. Doors open
at 3:00PM with an autograph session. Fighters step on the scales
starting at 4:00 PM.

Source: ADCC

"IT'S
TIME... TO BEGIN..." WITH THE UFC ON

NBC JAY LENO'S TONIGHT SHOW *

THIS FRIDAY - SEPT. 19TH - 11:30 EST/PST*

UFC
Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz and Bruce Buffer, "The
Voice of MMA & the UFC Octagon", taped a special segment
for Jay Leno's Tonight Show with American Idol host Ryan Seacrest.
Scheduled to air on TV this Friday night Sept. 19th, the humorous
and informative segment was filmed under the guidance of Bruce
Buffer along with Tonight Show segment producer Scott Atwell,
as the crew spent three hours filming at the Ultimate Training
Center in Huntington Beach, California. Also featured in the
segment are UFC veteran Fabiano Iha and MMA champion Dean Lister.
The humorous and informative segment features all answering questions
by Seacrest about the UFC, its evolution, where it is today and
the sport of MMA. Seacrest is enthusiastic and game as he is
schooled by Tito, Fabiano and Dean on what it takes to be an
Ultimate Fighter while learning special moves and while training
with all three fighters.

"This
Leno segment is an historic network television event and promotional
opportunity for the UFC and Tito Ortiz. This level of positive
mainstream TV exposure for both the UFC and the sport of MMA
is priceless in my opinion and with UFC 44 being next week, the
timing could not be more perfect. If the Tonight Show can have
Oscar de La Hoya, Bob Sapp and Hulk Hogan on promoting their
events, then it's time to begin this Friday with Tito and me
promoting the UFC and MMA.

Tito,
Fabiano and Dean all did a great job and I owe a big thanks to
Tito's manager Marc Friedman and Glenn McCusker of X-treme Promotions
for their help in coordinating all the fighters, the Octagon,
the location and all else needed in time for the shoot,"
states Bruce Buffer.

Source:
Maxfighting

Coleman
Undergoes Neck Surgery

Pride
Grand Prix heavyweight champion Mark Coleman underwent surgery
Tuesday morning to repair a herniated disc in his neck. The decorated
UFC veteran had been suffering from significant neck pain for
over three years, prompting a stuttered fight schedule. His last
bout was a victory over Don Frye in June.

Friend
and fellow wrestler Kurt Angle recommended that Coleman have
orthoscopic surgery on his neck to repair the damage. It's the
same recently discovered procedure that Angle himself opted for
in April. Pittsburgh's Dr. Hae-Dong Jho performed both surgeries.
Recovery is expected to take a scant four to six weeks, at which
point Coleman expects to resume training.

Despite
just having gone under the knife, Coleman told Maxfighting Tuesday
afternoon that his neck already feels much better. "'The
Hammer' is back, and I'm going to kick some ass," he related.
A few days of hospital food should provide good motivation.

Maxfighting
wishes Mark a speedy recovery and return to the ring.

Source: Maxfighting

This
Month in MMA History: September

Royce
Gracie was forced to bow out of UFC III in September 1994, following
his energy-exhausting victory against Kimo. In another first
round match, Keith Hackney battered 600-plus-pound Emmanuel Yarborough
in the ultimate David and Goliath clash. Ninjitsu stylist Steve
Jennum replaced Ken Shamrock in the finals of the eight-man tournament
and became a UFC champion by rallying to defeat Harold Howard.

Marco
Ruas revealed the future of the sport the following September
at UFC VII. The well-rounded Brazilian submitted Larry Cureton
and Remco Pardoel on his road to the tournament finals, where
he then chopped down six-foot-eight Paul Varelans with a barrage
of punishing leg kicks. UFC commentator Bruce Beck captured the
zenith of Ruas' performance and Varelans' collapse by boisterously
proclaiming, "Down goes Varelans!" UFC legends Ken
Shamrock and Oleg Taktarov fought to a draw in the superfight.

Mark
Coleman won his second eight-man tournament at UFC 11 in September
96. Although Tank Abbott's grizzly countenance adorned the event
poster, alternate Scott Ferrozzo upset the street fighter in
the semifinals. A nightmare ensued as Abbott was ousted, Ferrozzo
was injured and no other alternates stepped to the plate, forcing
SEG to hand Coleman the victory without a championship match.

It
was a dark day for the sport, especially in Brazil, on September
27, 1997. While bitter adversaries Renzo Gracie and Eugenio Tadeau
met in the main event of Pentagon Combat, spectators and members
of their respective camps shoved their way to the cage for a
closer view of the action. The fevered rivalry inevitably spilled
over outside the cage and a horrendous riot resulted. At some
point during the melee, or possibly at the beginning of it, Gracie's
back was slashed open by someone who had reached through the
fence with a sharp object. When the riot finally subsided, the
match was ruled a no contest.

September
97 also featured the MMA debut of Vladimir Matyushenko. "The
Janitor" cleaned up an eight-man tournament in the IFC,
which included a victory over Vernon White in the opening round.
In Brazil, Artur Mariano stopped Vanderlei Silva on a cut, which
Silva opened himself by repeatedly headbutting, in the IVC II
tournament championship.

Two
years later in September 99, Frank Shamrock defeated Tito Ortiz
at UFC 22 in a fight destined for the history books. Shamrock
left the UFC after the epic win to never return, though he has
resumed his MMA career elsewhere.

Earlier
in that month, Igor Vovchanchyn appeared to have beaten a seemingly
invincible Mark Kerr, but his win at Pride 7 was declared a no
contest because he had struck Kerr while he was down. Vovchanchyn
won a decision over Kerr in the rematch at Pride 12.

Also
in September 99, Caol Uno submitted an inexperienced Din Thomas
in the third round of a competitive match in Shooto. The two
fighters met again in the first round of the UFC lightweight
tournament in September of last year (Uno won a decision).

UFC
27 fizzled in September 2000 after the planned title match between
Tito Ortiz and Yuki Kondo fell through. Instead, the main event
featured a quick but brutal victory by Pedro Rizzo over an aged
Dan Severn. Ortiz and Kondo met three months later in Japan,
with Ortiz winning via submission.

Also
in September 2000, Joe Hurley knocked out Chris Brennan at King
of the Cage: Cage Wars. Jerry Bohlander successfully returned
to the sport on the undercard, submitting Brian Foster with an
armbar.

Don
Frye exited professional wrestling and resurrected his MMA career
in September 2001 at Pride 16. The comeback turned ugly when
an ignoble Gilbert Yvel resorted to grabbing the ropes and eye
gouging to prevent Frye's takedowns. "The Predator"
was declared the victor via disqualification. In the main event,
Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira continued his rise by
submitting Mark Coleman.

Four
days later the UFC held their first show in Las Vegas while simultaneously
embarking on a widespread return to cable pay-per-view. UFC 33
proved to be an atrocious evening, however, as all five televised
fights went the distance and many fans watching at home missed
the end of the Matyushenko-Ortiz main event because the show
had exceeded its allotted time slot.

In
the same month, Sanae Kikuta defeated Ikuhisa Minowa in a thrilling
match in Pancrase. Alexandre "Pequeño" Nogueira
also avenged an earlier loss to Tetsuo Katsuta by submitting
him with his patented guillotine choke in a Shooto bout.

Ricco
Rodriguez stopped Randy Couture at UFC 39 in September of last
year to become the UFC heavyweight champion. BJ Penn and Caol
Uno advanced in the lightweight tournament with wins over Matt
Serra and Din Thomas respectively. (Their championship match,
which took place at UFC 41, was a draw and a lightweight champion
still hasn't been crowned.) Gan McGee stunned Pedro Rizzo on
the undercard with an overhand right that badly contorted Rizzo's
nose.

Also
in September last year, Quinton Jackson scored his first big
MMA victory by upsetting Igor Vovchanchyn at Pride 22.

Source: Maxfighting

9/17/03

Quote
of the Day

"If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good,
we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That’s
all it takes to get people to win football games for you."

Paul "Bear" Bryant

Special
Hotel Rates for Onzuka.com Readers

We have just inked a deal with two hotels, the Waikiki Gateway
and the Waikiki Sand Villas, for special room rates for Onzuka.com
visitors. Click on the banners above or the links below to book
your room and you will automatically get the reduced rate.

Additional
volume discounts of booking 15 or more rooms are also available
for people who will be planning a visit to Hawaii for a family
reunion or wedding for example, or if your club wants to just
spend the weekend in Waikiki to just get away from the hustle
and bustle of everyday life.

We
both have stayed in the Waikiki Gateway and it is a nice hotel.
The best thing about it is that it is on the beginning of Waikiki
and in walking distance of All Star Cafe, Niketown, Sizzlers,
Eggs and things, Cold Stone Creamry, as well as the high priced,
I mean classy stores of 2100 Kalakaua and the like. Even if you
can't afford the stuff in these high priced stores like us, you
can sit outside to watch people who can and imagine what it is
like to buy a $500 coin purse that you can only fit a pack of
gum in.

To book a room at the Waikiki Gateway click here.

The
Waikiki Sand Vilas is more in the heart of Waikiki, only three
blocks from the International Marketplace, King's Village, and
Waikiki Beach. The hotel even has internet access workstations
available to keep in touch with the people not on a rock in the
middle of the Pacific. It overlooks the Ala Wai canal. For the
tourists, the Ala Wai is an extremely clean and pure body of
water that separates Waikiki from the rest of Honolulu (kidding
of course, if you swim in it, you may be a lock for the leading
role in Toxic Avenger 5).

To
book a room at the Waikiki Sand Villas click here.

Now
there is no reason why you mainland and worldwide readers of
Onzuka.com don't come down for a vacation or Jiu-Jitsu training
trip and check out killer MMA events like Super Brawl, Rumble
on the Rock, Amateur Fighting Competition, as well as the many
Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling tournaments. Maybe, just come
back to visit friends and family in the land of sun and fun!

Remember
to get special room rates, you have to click on the banners or
links above to take you to the hotel websites!

BJ
Penn vs. Robbie Lawler & Takanori Gomi

Highly
regarded Lightweight B.J. Penn has a lot on his plate in the
upcoming months. Penn is close to confirmed for two real big
fights in October and November.

It's
almost a given now that B.J. Penn will be fighting Takanori Gomi
at the October 10th "Rumble on the Rock" show in Hawaii.

In
addition to that, it's heavily rumored that B.J. Penn will be
fighting Robbie Lawler for UFC in November.

This
coming off the UFC Lightweight title match against Caol Uno that
ended in a draw. Any loses may have some play in the decision
to throw B.J. Penn back in another UFC title match in the future.

Source:
MMANews

INTERVIEW
OF THE WEEK: PATRICK SMITH

He jumped on the scene with his devestating performance at UFC
2 with the demolition of Scott Morris in Denver Colorado. Now
10 years later he is ready for a rebirth of sorts, wanting to
jump back into the MMA scene and he would love to have a shot
at Bob Sapp of all people. See what Pat had to say about the
current MMA game in our Interview of the Week.

Ryan
Bennett: Hey Pat, how you doing?

Pat
Smith: Hi. All right, all right.

Ryan:
I was just telling everybody, my first [MMA] experience was UFC
2 watching some guy named Pat Smith rolling in against Scott
Morris and then - “Bam!” - the wicked elbows man. You
still think about going back to those days?

Pat:
I don’t think about them days much. I think about the days
to come. I got a lot of new stuff I’m looking to bust out.
I was looking forward to fighting Ron Waterman, but these guys
weren’t willing fork over the cash is what my managers were
saying. So they made me pull out.

Ryan:
So you were going to fight Waterman?

Pat:
Yep.

Ryan:
What do you weigh right now man?

Pat:
I’m weighing in at about 248 right now.

Ryan:
So, you’d be fighting heavy for sure.

Pat:
Yep. Yeah, I’ve been up to 262. I’ve been lifting weights
for the past 4 years. I went up to 262, then I went on a quick
cardio spree and dropped all the weight. I’ve got about
8% body fat right now.

Ryan:
So, you want to get back? It’s time for you to get back
in the fight game.

Pat:
Yeah. K-1 and MMA. I want to do some boxing too. Who I really
want to fight is uh... what’s the big black dude’s
name? Real big.

Ryan:
Randleman or Jackson?

Pat:
No, no, big. He’s in the K-1 right now. Big, big, big...

Ryan:
Oh, Bob Sapp.

Pat:
Yeah, Bob Sapp. That’s who I want to tie up with.

Ryan:
Tell me what would happen if you fought Bob Sapp.

Pat:
I would knock him out within the first round. For sure.

Ryan:
What is it about his game that you feel you can exploit?

Pat:
Man, I watched some of the Kimo fight. Man, there conditioning
was so bad. Kimo threw a wild punch and, I don’t know if
it was fake or not, but he [Bob Sapp] looked like somebody hit
him with a shotgun. He couldn’t finish him off. The only
reason Kimo lost was he couldn’t realize it was the second
round. Bob Sapp doesn’t know how to kick, he doesn’t
know how to punch. He’s got big, heavy legs. A lot of those
guys stand right in front of him and let him whale on ‘em.
I won’t do that man, I’ll work him. I’ll work
him. I guarantee I’ll knock him out.

Ryan:
When do you anticipate your next fight is going to be?

Pat:
Next month. We’ve got a bunch of offers... UCC, IFC - they’re
talking about Boise. And then Sven [Bean, Ring of Fire promoter].
Sven’s throwing an event, he wants me to tie up with this
guy from K-1 next month. So, we’ve got a lot of options.

Ryan:
I’ll tell you what, a lot of the fans want to see you back.
When was the last time that we saw you fight MMA?

Pat:
‘99, Bas Rutten Invitational 3.

Ryan:
How’s your game evolved since ‘99?

Pat:
It’s at a much higher level. It’s much more intense.
I’ve added weights into my program and a lot, lot more of
the stuff on the ground. I’ve been working with Clarence
[Thatch of 3D Martial Arts], this Russian guy, and Keith [Schmeltzer]
helps me with my conditioning. So, my conditioning is real high.
It’s a new Patrick Smith.

Ryan:
I look forward to it man. Pat, thank you so much.

Pat:
No problem.

Source:
MMA Weekly

SAKURAI
BLOODY AND BEATEN IN DEEP

DEEP put together probably their best card ever for what turned
out to be one of their best shows! In this show, there was tons
of action, a title defense, the fall of a legend, and only one
dud. The action was hot... and the crowd was into it BIG TIME
even though the Ohtaku Taiikukan was NOT air-conditioned!

1st
Fight. Jyun Ishii (120 kg) -vs- Kouji (120 kg). Equal weight,
but Kouji was ripped. Ishii, who seemed to be a nice guy, was
just carrying too much weight up front to do much. No kicks thrown,
all punches as Kouji held up Ishii in the corner and kept nailing
him in the head. Kouji WOULD have finished him IF he mixed in
some shots to Ishii's big gut. Kouji wins the unanimous decision.

2nd
fight. Ryuta Sakurai (83 kg) -vs- Hirohide Fujinuma (87 kg).
The popular Fujinuma thought he would get back on the winning
streak in a fight with Sakurai, because Sakurai tore his left
pec in his last fight. But it wasn't to be as Sakurai opened
up a positioning clinic on him. Anything Fujinuma tried, Sakurai
countered. Sakurai sunk in an arm-bar at about half-way through
the first round. That move may be his baby, as he has pulled
it of before... and it looked like he pulled off that arm-bar
10,000 times before!

3rd
fight. Max Miyazawa (90 kg) -vs- Yorhinori Momose (90 kg). Slug-fest.
Both guys scoring big shots, and Miyazawa ALWAYS connecting with
a counter-overhand right! And a big right it was, because everytime
it landed, it looked like Momose's sweat glands exploded! But,
Momoso was connecting with high kicks and flying knees that got
big cheers from the crowd. The fight was a majority draw (Miyazawa
got one judges vote). Miyayawa's last fight was a draw... in
fact, most of his fights are draws. He was clearly frustrated
after the decision.

4th
fight. Dokonjyonosuke Mishima (77 kg) -vs- Tetsuji Kato (75 kg).
Mishima is awesome. When the American fans get a look at him
at Pride Bushido next month, they will wonder why he hasn't been
snatched up by the UFC. They battled, and Mishima took many chances,
crazy chances... he even tried the hand-plant/kick to the head
trick. The difference in the fight is that when Kato was on top,
he only held on (the only way he padded his Shooto record) and
when Mishima was on top, he went for the kill. Because many crazy
chances backfired, one judge ruled a draw, but Mishima wins the
majority decision.

5th
fight. Dos Caras Jr. (100 kg) -vs- Brad Kohlar (104 kg). Dud.
Dos Caras Jr. wears a wrestling mask when he fights. For Kohlar
it has been 2 years since he fought. Kohlar is on the first leg
of his comeback tour and came up with the unexpected lose. Kohlar
shoulder popped out when the fight went to the ground. Kohlar
says that he told Deep that he would come back and fight Dos
Caras Jr. for free. A disappointing ending to the fight.

6th
fight. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (76 kg) -vs- Ryo Chonan
(80 kg). U-File Camp standout Chonan really took it to Sakurai
in what may be the fight of the night! Back and forth action
with heavy shots and judo throws! Chonan's defense on his back
is incredible! He flipped Sakurai off of him many times and would
get position and hit Sakurai as if he stole something! Chonan
would get the position where he was standing above Sakurai and
would kick his leg and follow with a 2-punch "death from
above" combo! Frank Trigg never hit Sakurai as hard as Chonan
did. The 3 rounds were all the same, with the doctors stopping
the fight in the 3rd because of a nasty cut under Sakurai's right
eye that was swollen shut! A HUGE dominating victory for Ryo
Chonan! Remember that name, folks! Dana? He is for real!

Main
Event. DEEP Middleweight Championship. Champion Ryuki Ueyama
(80 kg) -vs- Masanori Suda (83 kg). Suda is the Super Brawl Middleweight
Champ and Shooto Champ. This was a good fight as well, with the
always strong Ueyama getting tested many times! Both of these
guys went to war, with Suda totally winning the stand-up. In
the 2nd, Suda had Ueyama's right leg (the knee that was wrapped)
twisted around in what has to be the SICKEST leg lock I have
ever seen! Ueyama didn't tap, and Suda rolled him into an even
worse position! Ouch! Ueyama could only hold on until the ref
stood them up. The crowd was amazed that Ueyama could walk! They
go back and forth until the final bell rang. I thought that Suda
squeaked out the win, but only one judge gave it to him. The
bout was ruled a majority draw. Ueyama retains the DEEP Middleweiht
Championship!

All
in all, it was a great show! The crowd really showed their appreciation
as the excitement was poured on thick.

What will happen to DEEP? Was this their last show? DEEP and
Pride Bushido will be run out of the same office, with one running
in the red. Hopefully we'll see the DEEP shows used as a stepping
stone for Pride and Pride Bushido before the well runs dry. This
will be an interesting year to see what DEEP is capable of doing
after an incredible show like DEEP 12th Impact.

Source: MMA Weekly

Franklin
and Dewees Talk about Fighting Each Other

Rich Franklin and Edwin Dewees are scheduled to face each other
at UFC 44 next week, and both fighters talked about the fight
on Monday's MMAWeekly Radio Show. Edwin Dewees said that he will
have the experience edge over Rich Franklin even though it's
his first fight in the UFC and Franklin's second. Dewees pointed
out that Franklin has had about ten fights, while Dewees had
that many fights under his belt before he was 20 years old. Dewees
has a record of 28-5 and just turned 21 last month, while the
28-year-old Franklin has an MMA record of 11-0.

Edwin
Dewees went on to say that he sees an aggressive fighter in Rich
Franklin who is good at everything but probably best at stand-up
fighting. Edwin thinks of himself as an explosive and exciting
fighter who can slap on submission holds at a moment's notice
and also slug it out in the stand-up. Dewees said that it will
be wan interesting fight because they are both fighters who can
end a fight in a lot of different ways.

Dewees
commented that he has been spending extra time on his stand-up
game in the past year or so, and he predicted that he and Franklin
will go right at each other and have an exciting fight on September
26.

Rich
Franklin appeared later during the show and echoed Dewees' comments
about both fighters being able to end a fight in many different
ways. Franklin said that he has seen film on Dewees and knows
that he has a very tricky guard. Franklin also expressed confidence
that he will be able to match Dewees on the ground and have an
advantage over him in the stand-up.

Franklin
said that he heard Dewees' comment about working on his stand-up
game a lot in the past year, whereas Franklin has been working
on his stand-up game throughout his entire MMA career. Franklin
said that his training regiment is a well-rounded mix of ground
work, sparring, cardio, and kickboxing.

It
was just this past April that Rich Franklin was making his UFC
debut and scoring a decisive TKO victory over Evan Tanner, and
now it is Franklin's opponent who is making his UFC debut. Franklin
said that he vividly remembers what it's like to be in Dewees'
shoes and he knows how hungry Dewees is going to be when he comes
out to fight.

Franklin
said that this is the first big fight he has ever had where he's
not the underdog, and he has been training harder than ever to
prove all the people wrong who think that his win over Evan Tanner
was a fluke. Franklin said that if he's able to get past Dewees,
he will be ready for the UFC's Big Four of Randy Couture, Tito
Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, and Vitor Belfort in the light-heavyweight
division. Regarding Belfort specifically, Franklin said that
he would love to fight Belfort at some point, but it doesn't
look like it's going to be happening on November's UFC 45 card.

Source: MMA Weekly

Phil
Baroni Accepts Challenge From Evan Tanner

The following is a post from "The New York Bad Ass"
Phil Baroni, from his official website, NYBadAss.com:

Tanner
Bring your A game

The
UFC wants me to fight Evan Tanner. What do I think about that,
will I take the fight? @#%$ yeah Ill take the fight. I think
That its @#%$ great. I said I wanted to fight the best and I
ment it. Thank you Evan for having the balls to step up. Tanner
is a very solid fighter who fought for the title at 205. After
I knock his jaw into the sixth row, It will prove to the world
I deserve a title shot at 185 lbs. Expect a bigger, meaner, faster,
stronger NYBA . Im out to prove that I am the Best P4P fighter
in MMA! I will own the UFC middleweight title in 2004. Evan you
just became #1 on my intergalatical hit list. No disrespect but
you stand inbetween me and my destiny. Bring your A game son
because Im not just looking for the W. I am going to try and
kill you.

The
New York Bad Ass

Phil
B

Source:
MMANews

Hayato
Sakurai Off PRIDE Bushido Show

According
to PuroresuPower.com, Hayato Sakurai will no longer be fighting
in the upcoming PRIDE Bushido fight on October 5.

Sakurai
apparently suffered a broken right eye socket in his fight with
Ryo Chonnan on the DEEP show yesterday. This leaves Sakurai injured
and unable to compete in the Bushido show.

PRIDE
is said to be anything but thrilled, as Sakurai was billed to
fight Renzo Gracie in probably the most anticipated Gracie vs.
Japan match on the show.

Source:
MMANews

9/16/03

Quote
of the Day

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to
an understanding of ourselves."

Carl Jung, 1875-1961, Swiss Psychiatrist

Super
Brawl 31 Update

There
has been some last minute drop outs, but you have to expect that
with everyone training so hard to look good in this talent filled
card. The good thing is that there are so many interesting match
ups that a couple of dropped fights still do not tarish this
card. Time is running out for good seats. With Egan, Niko, Ron
Jhun, Kauai Kupihea, and Eddie Yagin on the card, there won't
be many open seats. The undercard fights are also going to be
a modified 3 rounds of 3 minutes so you can expect a ton of action!

135lbs 3x3 minute rounds

Eldrick Pajorras (808 Fight Factory, 0-0) vs. Harvey (Grappling
Unlimited, 0-0)

170bs
3x3 minute rounds

Anthony Torres (Grappling Unlimited, 1-0) vs. tba

Heavyweight
3x3 minute rounds

George Randolph (Shark Tank, 9-6) vs. Ray “King Kong”
Serraille (Grappling Unlimited, 2-4)

185lbs
3x3 minute rounds

Kaipo Kalama (Grappling Unlimited, 2-1-1) vs. Jay Martinez (Shark
Tank, 3-1)

145lbs
3x5 minute rounds

Eddie Yagin (Grappling Unlimited, 6-2) vs. David Yeung (HMC,
2-2)

160lbs
3x5 minute rounds

Joe Jordan (5-3) vs. Kolo Koka (Grappling Unlimited, 5-3)

NEW FIGHTS
JUST ADDED!

170lbs 3x5 minute rounds

Tiki Ghosen (Team Oyama, 5-3) vs. Ronald “The Machine Gun”
Jhun (808 Fight Factory, 18-10-2)

Ghosen is a proven UFC veteran who trains with some of the best
in the business. His style is aggressive. His stand up is strong
and his ground is solid. Jhun will likely start slow and try
to put the pressure on Ghosen later in the fight. The winner
of this fight will likely fight for the Super Brawl title in
November.

Heavyweight
3x5 minute rounds

Travis “The Iron Man” Fulton (Iowa, 127-32-8) vs. Kauai
Kupihea (808 Fight Factory, 16-12)

Yes, you
read correctly. Fulton has over 125 MMA wins, including, victories
over Super Brawl Champion, Cabbage and Kawika Pa’aluhi.
He has more than earned his “Iron Man” nickname. Kaupahea
is back training in Hawaii and looking to make a name for himself
in the Super Brawl ring. He is a big man with KO power and good
submission and wrestling skills. He will need to utilize all
of them to beat Fulton.

185lbs
3x5 minute rounds

Falaniko Vitale (Grappling Unlimited, 12-2) vs. Justin Ellison
(1-3)

185lbs
3x5 minute rounds

Egan Inoue (Grappling Unlimited, 13-4) vs. Jason Miller (Team
Oyama, 10-3)

Jean
Jacques Machado' BLACK BELT TECHNIQUES

SHIPPING THIS MONTH!!!

Black
Belt Champion Jean Jacques Machado is releasing a new book: Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt Techniques. Considered one of the most technical
fighters and teachers in BJJ, winner of ADCC '99, Jean Jacques
is known for his incredible technical abilities and his go for
submission style that led to submitting his four opponents in
'99 ADCC in under 5 minutes each and getting the 'most technical
fighter' award.

The
book is confirmed to be shipping on September 25th. Done with
Kid Peligro, has over 100 techniques both with Gi and without
Gi. In Black Belt Techniques, Jean Jacques shows his incredible
array of moves, in his traditional style with most of them evolving
to a submission or ending up in a superior position.

This
book is a must have for the Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling
fighter!

To
pre-order your copy go to www.mmamart.com

Source: ADCC

JUNGLE
FIGHT -

An Amazing Show in the Brazilian Jungle!

The
BRAZILIAN JUNGLE FIGHT event was an amazing show, with just two
fights going the distance! The event featured great production
value, comparable with the best MMA events around the world.
The Jungle Fight was a Wallid Ismail and Antonio Inoki event
that occured on September 13th, on the banks of the Negro River,
in the middle of the Amazon Forest. Evangelista Cyborg (Brazil
Dojo) had the best fight of the night facing a real warrior,
Lucas Lopes (Kimura/ Nova União). Showing devastating
punches mixed with an aresenal of low kicks, Cyborg didn’t
give a chance to the BJJ fighter, who tried in vain to take the
match to the ground. In the second round, referee Paulão
Filho stopped the bout after Cyborg punished Lopes with a barrage
of good blows.

The
rainy Amazonian night also featured several big debuts, including
Brazilians BJJ World champion Fabrício Werdum (Behring),Ronaldo
Jacaré and his training partner Leopoldo Montenegro. Werdum
had some problems at the beginning of his fight against Gabriel
Napão (Gold Team). Werdum deserves credit however, because
whenever Napão took him down (and it was easy sometimes),
he managed to get the match back to the feet. Using some good
punches, Werdum started the second round off better, deciding
the fight early in the round after knocking Napão down
and punishing him with punches. Additionally, Montenegro didn’t
have much problems defeating the American Olympic wrestler Mark
Schultz. At first Schultz took Montenegro to the ground, but
the Brazilian put the wrestler in a triangle, obligating him
to tap out.

Jorge
Patino 'Macaco' (Gold Team) and Ronaldo Jacaré (Brazil
Dojo) had an explosive fight as the main event. Making his debut
in the MMA, the 4x BJJ world champion Jacaré was not appearing
intimidated by the experience of his opponent, who started in
MMA back in 1995. Showing a solid stand up game, Jacaré
threw nice punches at Macaco, who had a tough time in the beginning
of the fight. However, Macaco’s experience in MMA dominated
and after simulating a low kick, he punched Jacaré straight
on his chin, knocking him out.

The
only two fights that ended by judges decision featured the Americans
Ricco Chiaparelli (RAW) and Justin McCulley (LA Dojo). Chiaparelli
was making his much anticipated debut, while McCulley is more
of a veteran, but both did a great job against Brazil Dojo’s
Luis Pantera and Dario Amorim, respectively.

Due
to the great success of the first show, Wallid Ismail has already
announced the second Jungle Fight edition in January of 2004,
in the same place!

Source: ADCC

BOXING:
De la Hoya vows to protest

Oscar
de la Hoya insists he will contest the outcome of his much-hyped
fight against Shane Mosley.

Mosley
won the fight for the WBC and WBA super welterweight titles on
a points decision, leading to widespread booing among the Las
Vegas crowd.

But
De la Hoya, who was looking to avenge defeat to Mosley for the
WBC welterweight title in 2000, was clearly shocked by the decision
and said he was prepared to spend part of his $17m purse on an
investigation.

'I
feel something is wrong,' said de la Hoya. 'I will get to the
bottom of this. I am not doing this because I am a sore loser.

'I
feel the decision should have gone to me. On Monday I will push
for a full investigation.'

De
la Hoya, who refused to be drawn on whether he would go through
with his pledge to retire if he lost the fight, said the numbers
show he clearly won Saturday's rematch.

'I
threw 615 punches to his 500 and landed 106 jabs to his 33 jabs,'
he said.

I
was in control physically - I think I was the stronger fighter
Shane Mosley

'I have the finances to put the best lawyers on it. Boxing does
not need this. I am getting tired of this.'

Source: ADCC

Ultimate
Submission Showdown Update

Ultimate
Submission Showdown Update (from the event promoter)

The
Ultimate Submission Showdown (USS) sponsored by VARIG Airlines
was developed to showcase submission skills, which are rarely
seen on today's NHB arena. It promises to be another groundbreaking
event from the creator of the UFC.

Kimo,
Matt Hughes, John-Olav Einemo are the latest names on a growing
list of fighters that have declined an invitation to participate
or send a representative. The organizers are still talking to:
Matt Hume, Dean Lister, Dan Henderson, Sheldon Marr, Matt Furey,
Pat Miletich, Guy Metzger, Ken Shamrock, Ricco Chiaparelli, Vladimir
Matyushemko and Marco Ruas among others to see if they want to
participate or at least send a representative. Plain and simple:
The USS is looking for the world's best submission fighter. Do
you have what it takes? Do you know who does? Competitors from
all over the world are encouraged to apply on line: http://www.IGJJF.com/uss_general_info.html

The
first prize is U$5,000 (five thousand dollars).

It
is important to remember that all NHB fighters today are training
in some form of submission fighting. Since strikes are not permitted,
participating at this event would be just like another day of
training at the gym. Therefore, there is absolutely no excuse
for anyone who claims to be a ground fighter expert not to enter.

It
will be interesting to see who will put up and who will shut
up!

Source: ADCC

2003
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OF FREESTYLE WRESTLING FINALS PLAY BEFORE
A PACKED MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

2003
World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling

Sunday, Sept. 14, 2003

Madison Square Garden

New York, NY

GEORGIA
SQUEAKS OUT MEN'S TITLE, JAPAN RALLIES FOR WOMEN'S TITLE, U.S.
SECOND IN BOTH

NEW
YORK, Sept. 14 -- For men's freestyle wrestling, the 2003 World
Championships of Freestyle Wrestling, which concluded Sunday
night, Sept. 14, in Madison Square Garden, reflected a growing
parity. The Republic of Georgia, with one World Champion, Eldar
Kurtanidze repeating at 96 kg, along with one bronze medalist,
two fifth-place finishes, and one eight-place finish, unexpectedly
won the team title with 33 points. In second place, led by silver
medalists Cael Sanderson at 84 kg and Kerry McCoy at 120 kg,
was the U.S., with 31 points. Third was Iran, led by silver medalist
Ali Reza Heidari at 96 kg, also with 31 points, but one fewer
medalist. Russia was fourth with 30 points, and three World Champions,
but with none of their other wrestlers placing.

For
women's freestyle wrestling, the 2003 World Championships of
Freestyle Wrestling marked another year of domination by Japan,
but also a remarkable effort by the U.S. Japan had five wrestlers
in the finals. They all won. Chiharu Icho at 51 kg, Saori Yoshida
at 55 kg, Seiko Yamamoto at 59 kg, Kaori Icho at 63 kg, and Kyoko
Hamaguchi at 72 kg all will be taking home gold medals to Japan.
All seven U.S. women wrestlers medaled, but the U.S. won only
one of its five gold medal matches, at 67 kg with Kristie Marano's
second world title. In the team race, both Japan and the U.S.
had 62 points, but Japan won the team title with its five gold
medals.

The
men's outstanding wrestler was 74 kg champ Bouvaisa Saitiev of
Russia, who won his fifth World Championship to go along with
his 1996 Olympic gold medal. The women's outstanding wrestler
was 48 kg champ Irini Merleni of Ukraine, who won her third World
Championship.

While
no one gave any official award in this category, the event itself
set some important records, both for wrestling in America and
New York. The attendance for all sessions was reported to be
53,665. This is said to be a record crowd for a non-Olympic international
wrestling event. The attendance for the finals was reported as
12,757, a sell-out. A large walk-up crowd, along with some serious
last-minute selling of tickets within the wrestling community
in the New York metropolitan area, filled the Garden to capacity
for Sunday evening's finals.

For
New York, this event may be a high point in the revival of wrestling
in this region. And it was the first time that a World Championship
event of real wrestling had taken place in Madison Square Garden
since 1920, in the waning days of when professional wrestling
still had real matches.

Despite
the continuing controversies over the officiating and the rules
handed down by FILA, the international wrestling federation,
what those in attendance witnessed over these past three long
days was nothing less than a spectacular show. In the end, it
helped the sport of wrestling immensely, and may have begun to
establish a new national and international capital of wrestling
in New York City.

We
will have a lot more detailed analysis of the 2003 World Championships
of Freestyle Wrestling to come. Here are the results of the gold
medal finals and bronze medal matches:

COMPLETE
RESULTS -

Men's
Freestyle

55
kg

1-2: Dilshod Mansurov, UZB, dec. Ghenadie Tulbea, MDA, 7-4

3-4: Oleksandr Zakharuk, UKR, dec. Mohammad Aslani, IRI, 5-2
in 6:22

60
kg

1-2: Abdullaev Arif Yadulla, AZE, dec. Yandro M. Quintana Ribalta,
CUB, 4-3

3-4: Jae Myung Song, KOR, dec Sushil Kumar, IND, 3 -1

66
kg

1-2: Irbek Farniev, RUS, dec. Serafim Ivanov Barzakov, BUL, 3-1
in 7:57

3-4: Ikematsu Kazuhiko, JPN, dec. Serguei Rondon Pedroso, CUB,
6-5

74
kg

1-2: Bouvaisa Saitiev, RUS, dec. Murad Caidarov, BLR, 2-2 in
9:00

3-4: Gennadiv Laliyev, KAZ, dec. Hadi Habibi, IRI, 5-1

84
kg

1-2: Sajid Sajidov, RUS, dec. Cael Sanderson, USA, 4-3

3-4: Revaz Mindorashvili, GEO, dec. Siarhei Borchanka, BLR, 6-2

96
kg

1-2: Eldar Kurtanidze, GEO, dec. Ali Reza Heidari, IRI, 4-0

3-4: Krassimir Simeonov Kotchev, BUL, dec. Tuvshintur Enkhtuya,
MGL, 5-1

120
kg

1-2: Artur Taymazov, UZB, dec. Kerry McCoy, USA, 4-1 in 6:12

3-4: Ali Reza Rezaei, IRI, dec. Serhii Priadun, UKR, 3-0

Women's
Freestyle

48
kg

1-2: Irini Merleni, UKR, dec Patricia Miranda, USA, 5-4

3-4: Li Hui, CHN, pin Fani Psatha, GRE, 5:56

51
kg

1-2: Chiharu Icho, JPN, dec. Natalia Karamchakova, RUS, 3-0

3-4: Jenny Wong, USA, dec. Alena Kareisha, BLR, 3-2 in 6:02

55
kg

1-2: Saori Yoshida, JPN, dec. Tina George, USA, 5-2

3-4: Natalia Golts, RUS, dec. Sun Dongmei, CHN, 4-0

59
kg

1-2: Seiko Yamamoto, JPN, dec. Natalia Ivashko, RUS, 4-0

3-4: Sally Roberts, USA, pin Marianna Sastin, HUN, 5:36

63
kg

1-2: Kaori Icho, JPN, dec. Sara McMann, USA, 4-3 in 8:20

3-4: Viola Yanik, CAN, pin Lyudmila Golovchenko, UKR, 2:44

67
kg

1-2: Kristie Marano, USA, dec. Ewelina Pruszko, POL, 7-1

3-4: Svetlana Martynenko, RUS, dec. Shannon Samler, CAN, 4-3
in 8:07

72
kg

1-2: Kyoko Hamaguchi, JPN, dec. Toccara Montgomery, USA, 4-1

3-4: Wang Xu, CHN, pin Stanka Zlateva Hristova, BUL, 2:39

Source: ADCC/Eddie Goldman

Interview:
Chris Lytle (Part 2)

In
part one of this post-fight Lytle described the fight in AFC
that won him the Welterweight belt and explained his record fighting
in Pancrase in Japan. Now we finish off with his recent record
and look forward to see what is next for Chris Lytle.

KM:
The one US fight of yours since UFC I didn’t see was against
Laverne Clark in Battleground. Can you describe that one to me?
CL: It went a lot different than I thought that one would too.
I was planning on standing up and banging the whole time because
Laverne is a big standup guy. I’m going to stand up and
bang with him because that is what I’ve been working on
mainly. I’ve been working on other stuff but that is the
direction I want to go. The fight starts and I threw a couple
jabs and a good right hand and right after that the rest of the
fight he shot in on me, tried to take me down. I wanted to keep
it on the feet the whole time and someone was going to get knocked
out but he kept shooting in and trying to get me to the ground.
I was able to do pretty good on defense from there. I took him
down a couple times, he took me down a couple times, but I kind
of got dominant position there, got side mount and had him in
some trouble in the second and got his back in the third. He’s
a strong guy.

KM:
You were saying both that one and Chatt Lavender you wanted to
stand and they took you down right away, I’m wondering if
those opponents are looking back at your KO over Aaron Riley
and saying ‘I’m not standing with this guy. CL: That’s
kind of what I’m thinking. What my goal is here is I’m
hoping people will say ‘he’s beaten the standup guys
with standup and submitted Lavender quick, a ground guy’.
What I’m hoping is most people will be like ‘I don’t
know where to take him’. Hopefully I can get to where I’m
as well-rounded as possible. I think most people who are at the
upper level are really good at one area. Their style is everywhere
but they are really good at one area. I’d like to be really
good at several different areas.

KM:
I think you proved that after the Aaron Riley fight where afterwards
you were saying you’ve been training standup and just started
pro boxing and then with Lavender you looked so effortless on
your back. It’s obvious you haven’t given one up; you
haven’t given the ground training up to work the boxing.

CL: I’ve been really happy with the gym I’m at now,
Ring Sports. We got a muay thai instructor, my boxing instructor,
a black belt in BJJ Marcello Montera…

KM:
Are you still looking to do pro boxing? CL: Yeah. To be honest
with you my boxing trainer is really high on if I can keep getting
some more victories I might be able to make more money with that
avenue than with the NHB. Right now my boxing record is 7-0-1
with 5 KOs. I got a boxing match coming up October 10th I believe.
It’s supposed to be a step up in my competition so I can
really get a good gauge on where I’m at. I was supposed
to be on an ESPN 2 card on tv at the end of July but it ended
up falling through. They are saying the next few months I could
hopefully be on there, Friday Night Fights or Tuesday Night Fights
or something on ESPN 2. If I can get that avenue going that would
definitely help me out because I’ve been trying to get a
UFC fight or whatever. If I’m tv for some boxing my phone
might ring a little bit more.

KM:
Your next MMA one is October 3rd in HnS? CL: October 3rd but
no, an event out by East St. Louis. A guy named Randy is putting
on the fight. I fought there once before when I fought Dave Strasser.

KM:
Ooops. I thought Mike Camp was saying HnS but I thought HnS was
running in IN and spreading into Chicago. So that has nothing
to do with your HnS title, that is a separate show. CL: A different
show.

KM:
You are fighting Derrick Noble? What are your thought on fighting
Noble? CL: When I watched the fight I had never seen him before.
Seems like he would like to stand up and bang also. That is the
avenue I want to take here. I want to test myself and see how
effective my striking is. He seems like a good, tough guy. He’s
southpaw so it will be a little different for me. I’m just
really looking forward to getting out there and mixing it up
with someone who likes to stand because ever since that Riley
fight I haven’t had anybody want to stand up with me. I
can’t let the cat out of the bag too much here…

KM:
Any word on when you will be defending your HnS or AFC belts?
CL: No, just waiting for them to contact me. I talked to (AFC’s
matchmaker) and I’m sure we’ll be doing something here
in the future but not sure of any dates yet or anything. I like
the event down there (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), seemed like a good
place. They are great guys, always treated me right, and I’ll
be happy to fight down there.

KM:
Since you fight Noble on October 3rd and boxing on October 10th
you have a couple fights close together there. What are your
thoughts on that? CL: I’m not too happy about it. I got
that boxing match a long time ago and then they came to me with
this other fight and told me it would be on a different date.
Then they called me back and said it had been postponed and it
was a week away. I was like ‘I guess I’ll do it’.

KM:
There you are having a hard time turning down fights again. CL:
Exactly. After that I’ll take at least a month off. I’ve
been turning down a lot of boxing matches because I’ve been
NHB fights. I’ve really been trying to get more fights because
the quicker I can get more fights the quicker I can get decent
fights in boxing. With a record of 8 or 9-0 you are not going
to get any top level competitors. Plus every time I actually
get out there and have a good boxing match I can tell how much
I learn in there.

KM:
You just turned 29. CL: Yeah.

KM:
Happy birthday about a month late by the way. That is one concern
with the fights close together. I started noticing around 32
or 33 that injuries started healing slower or my conditioning
and endurance were harder. You still have a little time left
for close together fights but not all that much. CL: In all honesty
that is kind of why I’m really trying to cram a lot in right
now because I figure by about a year I don’t really want
to be competing as often. I want my boxing record to be up there
where I can pick and choose my fights a little better and hopefully
be in a position from NHB where I can be selecting better fights
and making a little bit more money.

KM:
I’m wondering if you would just decide on a couple belts
and just defend those so smaller shows like the October one against
Noble wouldn’t be something to disrupt your training over.
CL: Yes, that would be the case but at this point I feel there
are different events I would like to fight in that I have not
yet.

KM:
Like what? CL: UFC would be one. I wouldn’t mind fighting
in that. King Of The Cage. You have to be careful on any fights
you are taking there but once again that is not something I am
good about, being careful. IFC would be another one just because
I have fought for them before and they are a good organization.
My main reason behind KOTC is they get a lot of exposure and
tv. I can beat five guys in other events and one of those where
everybody sees it is going to help you out a lot more than five
shows that people didn’t see. Point blank.

KM:
Exactly. The same weekend as AFC most of the press was out at
IFC in Denver with pay-per-view coming later while many fans
could watch KOTC or UCC on pay-per-view live. I wonder how many
fans noticed your fight as opposed to John Alessio in KOTC. Speaking
of which, Mike Camp was saying something about trying to get
you against Alessio in UCC. CL: Yeah. We’re talking about
it right now.

KM:
Is this still in the rumor phase or negotiations? CL: Negotiation
phase as far as I was told last. I would like to do that, I think
that would be a good one.

KM:
What do you think about Alessio? You guys seem very evenly matched.
CL: He’s a tough young guy. He’s coming off a big win
there. That was pretty impressive. It would be very interesting.
Those are the type of fights I’m wanting right now; evenly
matched where you don’t know what is going to happen.

KM:
Now that is something that looks good enough to get you back
in UFC if you win. He used to be UCC title holder and is now
KOTC title holder, you are HnS and now AFC title holder…I
think somebody needs to put that on! CL: I’d like to do
it and I’m sure he would too.

KM:
If that does happen do you have any idea what time frame we are
talking about? CL: November.

KM:
In the meantime we have your NHB fight in October and a boxing
fight. Anything else to get across to the fans at this point?
CL: Last time everybody saw me do standup against Riley was six
months ago when I hadn’t even been boxing a year. I just
feel like I’m getting better in that aspect and I’m
hoping they’ll see my ground game is not too shabby either.
I’m just working on being really complete and going out
there and dumbfounding people, having them think ‘I don’t
know what to do against this guy’.

Source:
ADCC

9/15/03

Quote
of the Day

"Satisfaction lies in the effort not the attainment. Full
effort is full victory."

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian Political, Spiritual Leader

Congratulations
to Todd

A little late (well, actually a lot late). Todd Tanaka, a long
time Relson Gracie student and former academy manager, was promoted
to Brown belt last Wednesday. Congrats again to Todd for his
long deserved belt promotion!

Here is group picture of Relson and the brown belts that were
present on promotion day with Kyle our resident green belt.

Here is a group picture of the students that were there that
night.

Fighters'
Club TV Episode 14 Tomorrow Night!

Episode 14 is cut and submitted to Olelo programming. It will
air this

coming Tuesday at 6 pm on channel 52 and run at the same day/time

and same channel for the following 3 weeks.

Episode
14 features:

-Superbrawl
30 8-man tourney highlights

-ROUND I

-Jason Miller (Egan's opponent on the September 20 Super Brawl)
vs. Jay Buck

-Desi Minor vs. Joe Doerksen

-Dennis Kang vs. Brendan Seguin

-Kaipo Kalama vs. Jonathan Goulet

-ROUND
II

-Jay Buck vs. Joe Doerksen

-Dennis Kang vs. Kaipo Kalama

-ROUND
III

-Joe Doerksen vs. Brendan Seguin

-interviews
w/ Doerksen, Kang, and Miller

-Technique
of the Week

-Enson "Yamato Damashii" Inoue

PLUS,

-an exclusive interview w/ Superbrawl Promoter T. Jay Thompson
on upcoming Super Brawl

news.

We
would love to hear what you think of the show.

Email us at:

fightersclubtv808@hotmail.com

AND, Girls, think you're hot enough for the show? Resumes w/
pics to the

same address ;-)

Super
Brawl 31 This Saturday!

This Saturday

September 20 at the Blaisdell Arena. Get your tickets now!

Main
Event

185lbs 3x5 minute rounds

1. Jason Miller (Team Oyama 10-3) v Egan Inoue (13-4 Grappling
Unlimited 'GU')

Miller will not be an easy opponent for Egan's "comeback"
fight. He is an ultra-aggressive fighter with an unorthodox style.
Although he is a submission wizard, he will likely attempt to
land knees and punches while standing and be the aggressor in
the fight. Egan will have to stay focused and capitalize on any
mistake his younger opponent makes and make him pay for it.

Egan
needs this win bad to keep the momentum going for a rematch with
Suda in an attempt to regain his Super Brawl title. Remember,
the crazy Miller took out one of the favorites of the middleweight
tournament Jay Buck in impressive fashion. He has also shown
that he can take a beating and keep on ticking. Talks are going
extremely well for Inoue/Suda II, but there is nothing in writing
as of yet. Hopefully a match will be signed for the November
or early next year show. Let's keep our fingers crossed that
Egan gets by Miller and Suda signs on the dotted line.

185lbs 3x5 minute rounds

2. Justin Ellison (1-3) v Falaniko Vitale (GU 12-2)

Ellison is a seasoned fighter who hopes to make a name for himself
with a victory over UFC veteran Vitale. His strong suit is his
groundwork. Vitale is coming off a big victory over Matt Lindland
in the UFC and will have to be careful not to “overlook”
the opponent in front of him. A win here will likely secure his
spot in the November UFC.

160lbs
3x5 minute rounds

3. Joe Jordan (Kentucky, 5-3) v Kolo Koka (GU 5-3)

Jordan recently defeated top ranked Eddie Yagin in Super Brawl
29. He is a solid wrestler with good conditioning. Kolo is rapidly
gaining skill and is recognized as one of the most entertaining
young Super Brawl fighters. He would also like to avenge his
teammates (Yagin) loss.

145lbs
3x5 minute rounds

4. David Yeung (HMC 2-2) v Eddie Yagin (GU 6-2)

This will be a tremendous fight! Yeung has taken over two years
off from Super Brawl while nursing various injuries. Technically,
he is very well rounded and dangerous at all times during a fight.
Many fighters would have taken an easier fight to break back
in. Yagin is coming off a tough loss to Joe Jordan and will surely
be motivated. His style is always exciting. He will mix up striking
and submissions from all angles. The winner of this fight will
be right in the hunt for a 145lb title.

185lbs
3x5 minute rounds

5. Jay Martinez (Shark Tank 3-1) v Kaipo Kalama (GU 2-1-1)

The Shark Tank is famous for producing well rounded fighters.
Martinez is one of them. He will bring a solid arsenal of weapons
in the ring with him. Kalama recently fought in the 8-man Super
Brawl tourney and had a spectacular 12 second knock out in the
first round. He then fought and lost a tough war with Dennis
Kang. Kalama will look to get back on a win streak tonight.

185lbs
3x3 minute rounds

6. Randy Rowe (Meat Truck, Inc. Cincinnati 2-0) v Desi Miner
(808ff 4-2)

Rowe is young and confident. He will stand and throw in front
of anyone. Miner is coming off a tough submission loss to Joe
Doerksen and would like nothing more than to have someone stand
and trade blows with him. There may be fireworks in this one!

Heavyweight
3x3 minute rounds

7. George Randolph (Shark Tank 9-6) v Ray "King Kong"
Serraille (GU 2-4)

The K-1 veteran Randolph will have a definite edge while this
fight is standing. Look for him to try and keep it there. Kong
has showed he is not afraid to stand in front of anyone. He may
not want to stand for too long with this opponent. Look for Kong
to try and get this fight to the ground where he should have
the advantage.

Two
big boys that we want to see bang away! Kong needs a win badly
and also needs to stick to his strength, the ground. Any K-1
fighter is a good stand up fighter. Kong needs to stay away from
a pissing match standing and see if he can take Randolph out
of his element. K-1 fighters have been very successful in the
cross over to MMA, take Cro-Cop for example. Don't blink because
someone may go to sleep early on this night.

135lbs
3x3 minute rounds

8. Jim Kikuchi (3-3) v Will Hagerty (GU 1-0)

Two young fighters looking to make a name for themselves on the
Super Brawl circuit. Kikuchi is coming down in weight and carries
an aggressive style and a bit more experience than his opponent.
Hagerty has been training hard at Egan Inoue's Grappling Unlimited
and will attempt to impose his will on Kikuchi.

Hagerty is a pocket rocket and very slick with his submissions.
Kikuchi is a slamming machine who should extremely strong at
this lighter weight class as long as the weight cutting does
not affect him much. Kikuchi has been known to throw care to
the wind and bomb away on his feet, so far so good. Hagerty will
mostly likely have to win this from from his back if he can withstand
the agro ground and pounder. Maybe Hagerty has some surprises
standing for Kikuchi. We shall see.

155lbs
3x3 minute rounds

9. Santino De Franco (808ff 10-4) v Deshaun "3D" Johnson
(HMC 5-4)

The Brazilian De Franco has a solid Jiu-Jitsu background and
has lethal submissions on the ground. 3D is coming down in weight
and likes to "bang". He will attempt to resist the
take-down attempts of his opponent and "sprawl-and-brawl"!

Deshaun
is coming back from a brutal battle with Mark Moreno in Hilo.
Johnson's heart will never be questioned again after he endured
a fierce pounding. Santino is a ground wizard and coming off
a six fight win streak. The question will be if Deshaun is fully
healed after the damage he took just one month ago.

135lbs
3x3 minute rounds

10. Loren "New Guy" (HMC 0-0) v Harvey (GU 0-0)

HMC is known for putting out well rounded fighters. Expect nothing
less from Loren. Harvey has lightning fast hands and is rapidly
learning the ground game at Grappling Unlimited.

170bs
3x3 minute rounds

11. Sydney Silva (HMC 1-0) v Anthony Torres (GU 1-0)

The Brazilian Silva has a solid ground game but will probably
need more than that to defeat Torres. Torres is a monster on
the ground with tremendous submissions. The fighter with the
best striking may win this fight.

DEEP
12th Impact Fight Results

September 15 , 2003

Otaku gym 15:00 start

1st
Match

Jun Ishii (Chojin Club) vs Hagane Samurai (Hatenko)

Win
Hagane Samurai by TKO (Punch) 3R 2:11

2nd
Match

Ryuta Sakurai (R GYM) vs Hirohide Fujinuma (Aramusha)

Win
Ryuta Sakurai by Arm lock 1R 3:46

3rd
Match

MAX Miyazawa (Aramusha) vs Yoshinori Momose (Zendokai)

Draw
(1-0)

4th
Match

Dokonjonosuke Mishima (Cobrakai) vs Tetsuji Kato (Purebred Omiya)

Win
Dokonjonosuke Mishima by decision (2-0)

5th
Match

Dos Caras Jr. (AAA) vs Brad Kohler (Team Extreme)

Win
Dos Caras Jr. by TKO 1R 1:25

6th
Match

Hayato
"Mach" Sakurai (Mach Dojo) vs Ryo Chonan (U-File Camp)

Win
Ryo Chonan by TKO (Dr Stop) 3R 2:10

7th
Match DEEP middleweight title match

Ryuki Ueyama (U-File Camp/champion) vs Masanori Suda (Club-J/challenger)

Draw
(0-1) , Ryuki Ueyama still hold Champion Belt

Source:
Koichi "Booker K" Kawasaki

Interview:
AFC Champion CHRIS LYTLE

Chris Lytle, one of the most exciting Welterweight fighters,
recently defeated Chatt Lavender to win the inaugural Absolute
Fighting Championship Welterweight belt. Fans of Lytle, including
this reporter, have been tearing their hair out in the past two
years ever since Lytle lost his UFC debut against Ben Earwood
by decision after two rounds. On the one hand we have his US
record. Lytle picked up among others a draw against Dave Strasser,
went the distance to lose a decision against Nick Diaz in IFC
17 last summer in one of the most exciting fights of the night,
knocked out Aaron Riley in the first round to win the HOOKnSHOOT
belt. Most recently beat LaVerne Clark in Battleground. Chris
also has been pro boxing with a record of 7-1, 5 of which were
by KO. On the other hand we have his Pancrase record where since
2000 he went 3-5-1 mainly due to the weight division he is placed
in when fighting in Japan. Here we catch up with Chris for his
thoughts on his AFC win over Chatt Lavender and find out more
about his record in Japan.

KM:
Congratulations on winning the belt. Is this two belts now? You
still have the HOOKnSHOOT one?

CL: Yeah.

KM:
As far as the Lavender one, how would you describe that fight?

CL: To be honest it really didn’t go at all like I had planned.
I planned on keeping it on my feet a little bit more. As soon
as he shot in I was scrambling; I could feel he was trying to
go to get side mount and I was keeping my legs in a good position
where he wasn’t going to be able to achieve that so I could
try to stand back up. I kept scooting and scooting and I just
kind of saw from the position he was trying to get side mount
I could throw my left leg over and try to get a triangle choke
and I did that. I felt I had it in there really good and tight
and I was thinking ‘I got this pretty tight, I don’t
know if I can get it any tighter’. About that time I started
working for the armbar and it just came really easily. I was
thinking that happened way too easily and I kind of let off of
it a little bit and it didn’t move out. I was like ‘I
don’t think he is conscious any longer’ and I looked
over, kind of let up on the arm and nothing happened at all.
At that time I knew he was out so I started yelling for the ref
‘he’s done’. I tried to roll over and hurry up
to get him some blood going to his brain.

KM:
I was wondering at what point you knew he was out.

CL: I never really cranked on that armbar. I kind of pulled it
right away and had it but the rest of the time was me trying
to tell the ref this guy was out. I was talking to Chatt before
and he seems like a really nice guy. I wasn’t going to pop
his arm or anything.

KM:
From our side of the ring it was hard to tell through the ref’s
legs but it looked like Chatt could have been defending the arm
as he went out and that might have been why the ref didn’t
notice Chatt was out.

CL: I pulled it straight and had it locked up in an armbar position.
It was straight because I had pulled it there.

KM:
So it’s not like he was defending the armbar as I originally
thought and wrote.

CL: No. That is why it came really easily and how I kind of knew
he was out.

KM:
All that in 0:55. That is one of your quickest fights ever. Was
it ‘the’ quickest?

CL: I think I had one when I first started in some little place
that was a little quicker than that.

KM:
Looking on one of the databases that is your quickest but Mike
Camp pointed out it doesn’t list ten of your victories.

CL: Yeah, I was 10-0 before I ever fought over in Japan.

KM:
Congratulations again on getting the AFC Welterweight belt. My
understanding is when you fight in Japan you usually fight as
a Middleweight?

CL: Yeah, I’ve fought a lot of different weight classes
there. When I started they didn’t have any weight classes.
First time I got in a tournament it was like from 182-199 and
it was embarrassing because I weighed about 177. They were like
‘you have to weigh 182 to fight. I was like ‘first
off I didn’t want to fight in this weight class, I don’t
know why I’m in this weight class’. The day of the
weigh-ins they are feeding me a bunch of food and I’m trying
to get my weight up and I got on the scales and I was too light.
They sent me upstairs to eat more and I put my pants back on
and put a bunch of money in my pants, change, my manager put
gave me some change and a cell phone to put in my pants, my cup…I
barely made the weight. I was like ‘this is not smart’.
After that in Pancrase the weight class turned into 176 but they
upped it so the max is 182 now. I’m typically 170 or box
at 168 so I got the other guys to cut down to get under 182 and
myself I’m at the opposite end of that spectrum. Not a very
good weight division for me.

KM:
Yeah. That is one thing I noticed, it’s affecting your record.

CL: Clearly. Pretty close fights. They are tough dudes and I’m
not going to say I won those or anything but I don’t feel
too bad about the loss. I decided at this point it’s probably
not really smart for me to go over there…

KM:
Bingo. I was trying to politely get you to stop doing that!

CL: I came up with the same conclusion.

KM:
Does that mean we are not going to see you fighting up in weight
up in weight anymore?

CL: No, not going to.

KM:
Good. You know you are one of my favorite Welterweights in the
US but it is hard to justify the record.

CL: Part of my problem is I have a problem turning down fights.
People make me an offer and I always think ‘I can beat that
guy’ or whatever and then you fight people where that is
their full-time job and to be honest they are probably in better
shape than me. That is why I’ve been happy lately because
I’m getting paid just the same as I would to fight in other
places. Why go over where I’ve already put myself at a disadvantage
when I can stay here, not miss as much work, and have a fair
shake.

KM:
Just out of curiosity, what effect does the time zone difference
have on your fighting in Japan?

CL: I’ve been pretty fortunate when I have gone over to
Japan. They have me over there four days early because otherwise
the first three days I feel terrible. I’m trying to work
out and just get really winded really quick. I usually have pretty
good time to recover.

In
part 2 Chris talks about his upcoming schedule both signed and
rumored.

Source:
ADCC

I.C.C.
HAS TYSON ON BOARD AS "SPECIAL GUEST" IN HAWAII

MMAWeekly.com had the chance to talk with ICC President Dan Dease
who was in Las Vegas this weekend to watch the big boxing fight
between Sugar Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya.

Dease
told MMAWeekly that it is true that Mike Tyson will be a special
guest of the ICC on the islands, as the ICC holds their next
card in Hawaii. Dease said quote
"don't be surprised to see Tyson jump on mic for the broadcast."
Dease said that the ICC will have Tyson as a special guest for
the show in October, where the company will start their welterweight
tournament.

Dease
also told MMAWeekly that their second show will be held on November
15th from Las Vegas, Nevada as they hold the first round of their
Heavyweight Tournament. It's believed the location for the show
will be the Orleans Casino.

Source: MMA Weekly

DEEP
12th IMPACT 9/15/2003

The
Japanese MMA promotion DEEP has announced the following fights
for today's show in Ohtaku, Japan.

Ryuki
Ueyama vs. Masanori Suda

The
fight between Ryuki Ueyama and Masanori Suda will be for the
DEEP middleweight title.

Mach
Sakurai has agreed to a long-term deal with DEEP that has him
starting his new deal today. "Mach" will fight Chonan
Ryo who is a student of Tamura. Chonan is described as a wildly
aggressive fighter and the crowd loves him.

This
is a plus for DEEP to have two Japanese fan favorites squaring
off in the main event. Mach Sakurai is back on schedule after
his recent win over Dave Menne last month in Japan

On
this same show, we will see the return of Brad Kohler to MMA.
Kholer, the former UFC veteran, is scheduled on the show to face
Dos Caras Jr.

The
DEEP show combines pro wrestling with MMA but all matches are
legitimate! The characters of pro wrestling combined with the
unpredictable excitement of MMA makes are interesting shows and
high-grossing ticket sales.

COMPLETE
CARD

- Jun Ishii (Chojin Club) x Hagane Samurai (Hatenko)

- Ryuta Sakurai (R GYM) x Hirohide Fujinuma (Aramusha)

- MAX Miyazawa (Aramusha) x Yoshinori Momose (Zendokai)

- Dokonjonosuke Mishima (Cobrakai) x Tetsushi Kato (Purebred
Omiya)

- Dos Caras Jr. (AAA) x Brad Kohler (Team Extreme)

- Hayato 'Mach' Sakurai (Mach Dojo) x Ryo Chonan (U-File Camp)

DEEP
middleweight title match:

- Ryuki Ueyama (U-File Camp/champion) x Masanori Suda (Club-J/challenger)

Source: MMA Weekly

Renzo
vs Mach?

It looks as though Renzo Gracie could face Mach Sakurai as soon
as the next Pride Bushido according to the graciefighter website.

The
site says "Saturday, September 13 Renzo vs. Sakurai. Our
sources tell us that this is the most likely match-up for the
upcoming Pride Bushido show. The fight appears to be contingent
on Sakurai winning and being able to compete after his next fight
in Deep. "

Source: MMA Weekly

What
are Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Fighters' Potential Weakness (Part 1)

By Kevin
Finn, MMAWeekly.com

Since
exploding onto the mixed martial arts scene in 1993, with the
introduction of both the Ultimate Fighting Championships and
the Gracie family, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has become an integral
component of any mixed martial artist's repertoire. A decade
later, it continues to reign as one of the most dominant fighting
styles as even in today's upper echelon of mixed martial arts,
many fighters continue to dominate by simply employing this single
style to overcome and submit their opponents.

However,
as many top BJJ fighters, including today's vanguards the Brazilian
Top Team, have started to taste defeat, cracks in a single sided
jiu-jitsu fighting style have begun to show. This is not necessarily
a result of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's potential shortcomings, instead
a number of the finest fighters in the world have become over
reliant on a single piece of jiu-jitsu's firepower, the submission
from the guard, and thereby are foregoing much of what jiu-jitsu
has to offer.

Many
announcers in Pride, the UFC, and other MMA fight promotions
call upon the analogy of chess to describe the grappling ground
game and so too will I in discussing the relationship between
tactics and strategy as they apply to chess and MMA, for the
distinction is pertinent to both. In chess, tactics are the flashy,
quick moves that capitalize upon an opponent's mistake, effectively
bringing a smashing end to the game, such as a queen sacrifice
to induce checkmate. In grappling, the same can be said as well.
Triangles, arm bars, and guillotines are all tactical submissions,
capitalizing on an opponent's mistake of leaving an arm extended
or their neck exposed allowing a submission expert the opportunity
to bring an exciting and quick finish to a fight.

While
tactics are easily identified, such as countering a left low
kick with a quick overhand right, strategy is a somewhat broader
notion encompassing various aspects of the struggle at hand.
In chess, this may involve playing a slow, closed game building
up incremental advantages until ultimately smothering one's opponent.
In MMA, one's strategy may be as simple as keeping the fight
on the feet or somewhat more detailed such as employing knees
over fists or attacking with a strict ground-and-pound regimen.
In essence, the distinction between strategy and tactics is simply
the boundary between the general and the specific.

To
illustrate the difference between the two, let us take the example
of what I personally would do if I ended up in the ring face
to face with, say, Wanderlei Silva. If I had not firmly solidified
my strategy by fight time, once faced with that formidable "Silva
Staredown," it would probably dawn upon me that my best
strategy would be to finish the fight as quickly as possible.
Now some may try to implement that by attempting to knock Wanderlei
out with Crocopian high kicks, or perhaps an old time Vitor Belfort
machine gun fist barrage, personally, I would opt for the disqualification
route by looking for the exit nearest to my corner and making
for it. The tactical implementation of this strategy would hinge
upon which exit were closest and if that were the eastern one,
jumping the ropes and sprinting east would be that tactical decision.

A
more relevant example discerning the two issues can be seen in
Murilo Bustamante's recent Pride Grand Prix appearance against
Quinton Jackson. Murilo's strategy involved taking Quinton to
the ground, but in order to do so, he needed to apply the appropriate
tactic for the situation at hand. If you analyze the fight, you
will note that Bustamante employed a number of different takedowns:
a variety of leg sweeps while also jumping into the guard on
occasion. The specific takedown used can be noted as a tactic
while all fulfilled the desired strategic result, having Jackson
on the ground.

This
is where I feel Bustamante's fight strategy broke down and, once
again, the impetus for this article. Bustamante repeated a now
failing strategy amongst a number of the top Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
fighters today, an over reliance on tactical submissions from
the guard.

While
fantastic to witness, tactical shots in both chess and MMA require
a key ingredient: a glaring mistake by the opponent. What all
chess grandmasters understand, and I feel some high level BJJ
trained vale tudo fighters do not however, is that while tactics
are a key part of the game, they are not the sole basis upon
which to hinge one's efforts to achieve victory. The reason for
this is the simple rhetorical question: what happens when one's
opponent does not make a mistake? In today's highest levels of
mixed martial arts, to simply lie back and wait for an opponent
to make an error is to invite defeat. As the top fighters progress
in there grappling skills, fewer and fewer fight ending mistakes
are made. In addition, even when a slip of this nature does occur,
most fighters are now also skilled enough to defend against the
subsequent submission attempt, Quinton's escape from Bustamante's
textbook armbar for example. For this reason, waiting in the
guard for a critical mistake to be made is becoming less and
less effective while the punishment being taken is almost inversely
proportional.

What
then is a fighter who prefers to take his opponent into the guard
to do? Surely, a few losses have not ground-and-pounded the entire
technique into obsolescence? The answer is quite simple; I feel
that strict Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters can continue to compete
and win at the highest levels, but in order to do so, must utilize
a more complete jiu-jitsu approach. I realize that may seem a
rather mundane exercise in stating the obvious, so in order to
better understand my proposal, let us first take a look at BJJ
in its purest form: sport jiu-jitsu.

In
sport jiu-jitsu, noted by the use of gi's and the lack of striking,
the guard position can be considered essentially neutral. The
bottom fighter has the vast majority of potential submissions
at his disposal while the top fighter's primary goal is to simply
pass the guard in order to establish a superior position from
which to work. To those not trained in sport jiu-jitsu it may
seem that with so few options the top fighter has an inherent
disadvantage; however, his positional strengths are those of
potential for passing the guard and establishing a cross-side
position, a knee on the stomach, or even a full mount grants
him a strong to overwhelming advantage. To reflect this, sport
jiu-jitsu's tournament point structure closely identifies with
these positional strengths, which not coincidentally are also
relevant in real world fight situations. Two points are awarded
for a takedown, three points for passing the guard to a cross-side,
an additional two for a knee on stomach, four for a full mount
or taking the back, and of course a submission ends the fight
on the spot.

How
then is this relevant to the primary discussion at hand? While
in sport jiu-jitsu the guard position may be one of equality,
in an MMA situation where gi's are rarely used, the guard position
loses its neutrality and the balance of power shifts in favor
of the top fighter. Without the gi, as the fighters perspire,
traction is quickly lost making escapes from submission holds
become a degree easier as one can more readily slip out of their
opponent's grasp. Factor in the addition of striking and you
have the classic ground-and-pound technique which has proven
to be a successful single strategy of the highest order against
world class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters. For an appreciation
of this power, one need look no further than Fedor Emelianenko's
recent ground and pound workshop on Brazilian Top Team member
and then Pride heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

If,
as I feel, fighting exclusively from the guard in vale tudo is
disadvantageous as best, there must be an equalizing remedy for
the position. Indeed there is and to identify it, let us step
back to the sport jiu-jitsu world for a minute. Hopefully, one
noted that the tournament point allocations I spelled out for
sport jiu-jitsu are entirely geared towards the fighter who is
able to establish one of the previously outlined positions. If
so, one may also note that these positions are available mainly
to the top fighter who is working to break and subsequently pass
the guard. There is, however, one more element of the game that
I failed to initially mention: two points are awarded for a sweep.
While this in itself may not seem a convincing numerical value,
a properly executed sweep usually gives the attacking fighter
a more advantageous resulting position than the guard.

Expanding
this upwards to the MMA world, even a sweep that simply reverses
the guard, now shifts the balance of power to the newly situated
top fighter. It is here, and the stronger positions reached after
passing the guard, that I feel Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu trained vale
tudo fighters need to work for before their fight strategy should
dictate dipping into their vast arsenal of submissions. In essence,
it is the sweep not the submission that should dominate a Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu fighter's mindset when he finds himself in the guard,
for it is this single move that opens the door to the positional
strengths from which all BJJ fighters have trained to fight.

Source: MMA Weekly

9/14/03

Quote
of the Day

"No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all
himself, or to get all the credit for doing it."

Andrew Carnagie

NAGA
Hawaiian State Grappling Championships Results!

Farrington High School Gym

This is all I could think of off the top of my head. If you
know more results please forward them to me.

NO-GI
GRAPPLING DIVISIONS

1.
Kids, Youth, Women & Senior Grappling Divisions

2.
Men’s Beginner Grappling Divisions (Under 1 year experience)

1st Place: Garret Maeda (Relson Gracie/Casca Grossa)

3.
Men’s Intermediate Grappling Divisions (1 to 2 years experience)

< 145lbs (?)

1st Place: Justin Mercado (Grappling Unlimited)

3rd Place: Bernard Villanueva (Relson Gracie/Team HK)

161-200lbs

1st Place: ? (North Shore Freestyle)

2rd Place: Dexter Kauahi (Relson Gracie/Casca Grossa)

3rd Place: Guido (Grappling Unlimited)

4.
Men’s Advanced Grappling Divisions (2+ years experience)

Lightweight

1st Place: Kyle Sukihiro (Kamole)

2nd Place: Will Hagerty (Grappling Unlimited)

Middleweight

1st Place: Baret Yoshida (Grappling Unlimited)

Heavyweight

1st Place: Rylan Lizares (Grappling Unlimited)

Super Heavyweight

1st Place: Niko Vitale (Grappling Unlimited)

2nd Place: Kauai Kupihea (808 Fight Factory)

GI
GRAPPLING DIVISIONS

5.
Men’s Purple Belt & Above Gi Divisions

135-147lbs

1st Place: Kyle Sukihiro (Kamole)

2nd Place: Eben Kaneshiro (Kamole)

161-173lbs

1st Place: Rylan Lizares (Grappling Unlimited)

174-188lbs

1st Place: Jeff Furuta (Relson Gracie)

6.
Men’s Blue Belt Gi Divisions

135-147lbs

1st Place: Brad Scott (Relson Gracie/Kaneohe Team)

2nd Place: Scott Pak (Relson Gracie)

3rd Place: Bernard Villanueva (Relson Gracie/Team HK)

161-173lbs

3rd Place: Neal Tomimatsu & Corey Fukuda (Relson Gracie/Casca
Grossa) - Shared

188-202lbs

3rd Place: Dexter Kauahi (Relson Gracie/Casca Grossa)

7.
Men’s White Belt Gi Divisions

122-134lbs

1st Place: Garret Maeda (Relson Gracie/Casca Grossa)

Moseley
Takes De La Hoya in Controversial Rematch!

In
there much awaited rematch, Shane Moseley defeated Oscar De La
Hoya by judges decision after 12 rounds.

All
three judges scored the bout 115-113 for Mosley, who appeared
to come on in the later rounds. Most observers, including ESPN.COM
saw the match differently, giving De La Hoya at least 8 of the
12 rounds. More to come in the days ahead!

This
is from the BBC -

Mosley
snatches victory

Shane
Mosley gained a controversial points win over Oscar de la Hoya
to become the WBC and WBA super welterweight champion in Las
Vegas.

All
three judges awarded the fight to Mosley by the score of 115-113.

But
it seemed for the majority of the contest that De la Hoya controlled
the pace of the fight and outboxed Mosley.

British
boxing commentators Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory had De la Hoya
winning the bout by a huge margin, as did former world champions
Barry McGuigan and Jim Watt.

De
la Hoya, 30, vowed afterwards to fight the decision.

Source: ADCC

BJ
Penn vs. Takanori Gomi Signed for

Rumble on the Rock 4

Blaisdell Arena,
Honolulu, Hawaii

October 10, 2003

We have just received word that the rumored match between former
SHOOTO champion, Takanori Gomi and UFC lightweight contender
BJ Penn has been signed, sealed and delivered. This match was
being worked on since the last Rumble On The Rock event in August,
which coincidentally was the same night that Gomi lost his title
to Joachim Hansen. This match was put into flux because of the
loss, but negociations continued because even with the recent
loss, Gomi is still considered one of the best fighters at 155lbs.
BJ Penn is on a mission to prove that he is the best fighter
at 155lbs and he wants to solidify his slot with a win over Gomi.
Penn's last fight was a controversal draw with Caol Uno at UFC
41 and since then he has traveled around the country working
on further improving his skills.

The event promoters have been gaining experience with their first
three shows in Hilo, Hawaii before taking ROTR to the next level.
Their fourth event will be held at the Blaisdell Arena on Oahu
and be filled with an exciting undercard. The fight card looks
to be pitting the best fighters from Hawaii (or fighting out
of Hawaii) against the world. The rest of the card will be released
soon!

Rumble
on the Rock Tentaive Fight Card

Some of these matches are the first that we have heard of
and unconfirmed up to this point.

Rumble on the Rock from Hawaii is shaping up to be a very good
card. Here is the latest card from event promoters.

Takanori
Gomi V BJ Penn

Jake
Sheilds V Ron Juhn

Paul
Buenatello V Kauai Kupihea

Gil
Castillo V Renato "Charuto" Verrisimo

TBA
V Stephen "Bozo" Palling

Helio
"Soneca" Moreira V Leandro Nyza

Joe
Riggs V David Pa'alui

Antonio
Banuelos V Yobie Song

Gabe
Casillas V Ross "Da Boss" Ebanez

Santino
Defranco V TBA

Source: MMA Weekly

Jungle
Fight Quick Results

Ariaú Tower Hotel, Manaus, Brazil

September 13, 2003

COMPLETE
RESULTS:

-
Ebenezer Braga (Brazil Dojo) def Rodrigo Riscado (Nova União)
by guillotine choke at 1R

- Kazunari Murakami (New Japan) def Lee 'Young Gun' (Korea) by
armbar at 1R

- Marcelo
Tigre (Brazil Dojo)
def Joseph Bamguis (Boxing) by rear-naked-choke at 1R

- Justin McCulley (LA Dojo) def Dario Amorim (Brazil Dojo) by
judges decision;

- Fabrício Werdum (Behring) def Gabriel Napão (Gold
Team) by TKO at 2R;

- Shinsuke Nakamura (New Japan) def Shane (LA Dojo)

- Lioto Matida (L.A Dojo) def Stephan Bonnar (Carlson Family)
by doctor stop at 1R;

- Leopoldo Montenegro (Brazil Dojo) def Mark Schultz (Wrestling/USA)
by triangle at 1R;

- Ricco Chiaparelli (RAW) def Luís Pantera (Brazil Dojo)
by unanimous decision;

- Ricardo Moraes (Brazil Dojo) def Mestre Fumaça (Capoeira)
by TKO at 1R;

- Evangelista Cyborg (Brazil Dojo) def Lucas Lopes (Kimura/Nova
União) by TKO at 2R;

- Ronaldo 'Jacaré' (Brazil Dojo) def Jorge Patino Macaco
(MGT) by KO at 1R

Source: ADCC

Jens
Pulver in the Next IFC!

by: Keith Mills

Recently former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver made his
debut fighting at 145 lbs, in Extreme Challenge 52. He knocked
out Joe Jordan in 3:12 of round 2.

According
to manager Monte Cox, Jens Pulver looks to have an active comeback
schedule this fall and winter. First up according to Cox is Jens
fighting in the IFC in Boise, ID on October 25th. His opponent
is said to be Jake Hatton, a Team Akuma fighter known for fighting
at 155 although the weight class for this fight hasn’t been
confirmed at this time. From there Jens’ plans get more
tentative.

“We’re
going to do a 3-4 fight deal with Shooto”, says Cox, “
His first one will either be December or January. If it’s
December it’ll probably be 155 against (Caol) Uno, if not
then it’ll be January against somebody else at 145. They
don’t have Uno signed, but we are done. They are waiting
for Uno to fight Hermes Franca in UFC and then they’ll decide.”
Jens is signed to fight so regardless of whether or not Jens
wins in IFC he is heading to Japan.

Source: ADCC

Roque
To Fight In September SHOOTO Event

September 21st, 2003

Port Messe Nagoya

Aichi, Japan

Class-A
Bouts:

Joao Roque vs. Hiroyuki Abe

Jeremy Bolt vs. Kentaro Imaizumi

Class-B
Bouts:

Daisuke 'Amazon' Sugie vs. Tom Kirk

Naoki Matsushita vs. Koutetsu Boku

Hiroshi Umemura vs. Hiroyuki Tanaka

Yasuhiro Akagi vs. Shinichi Hanawa

Keisuke Kurata vs. HIRO

Akira Kibe vs. Manabu Kanou

Hirofumi Hara vs. Kotobukimaru

BJJ
Match:

Leonardo Santos vs. Mitsuyoshi Hayakawa

Source: ADCC

BASF
Card Changes, Jungle Fight Around the Corner, Forrest Back to
HEAT and Rizzo Training Hard!

The
Brazilian Beat:

By Eduardo Alonso

Here we
are, just days away of the non-conventional Jungle Fight show,
as Brazil continues to produce a high number of MMA events in
the year of 2003, showing a new and fortunate trend that will
most certainly help the sport here. As September is gearing up,
Jungle Fight is not the only show gracing this month, as Brazil
Super Fight is also rapidly approaching, as some small shows
also have their share of action scheduled for the next days.
Although shows such as Jungle or BASF are around the corner,
HEAT FC is already slowly starting to get into full gear for
November as fights are being signed at this very minute, and
the following weeks promises to deliver plenty of surprises.
With new shows popping up, in the better possible trend that
has been taking place in Brazil, fighters are also preparing
hard not only for those, but for the big leagues as well, such
as UFC and PRIDE. Veterans Pedro Rizzo and Wanderlei Silva, both
dangerous strikers, are training hard with clear goals set for
November, while Vitor Belfort manages to keep focused in the
middle of his usual media frenzy. Well, enough with the talk
as Jungle Fight will bring the rhythm of the Amazon, as drums
will set the pace and Full Contact Fighter will provide the beat
as always!

PRIDE Middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva continues his relentless
preparation for the final round of the PRIDE Grand Prix in November.
After scheduling his physical preparation with his trainer Waldemar
Guimaraes, "The Axe Murderer" is back to his technical
training routine in Curitiba, as he enjoys his newborn son and
get ready to fight twice in the same night. As his teammate Mauricio
Shogun went to the USA to compete in the IFC, Silva stayed training
as always, and he told FCF he has been experiencing full time
dedication as he will accept no result but the title of the PRIDE
GP. On the middle of the process Wanderlei and his wife finally
made Thor the official name of his son, as the kid is already
registered.

Speaking
of Chute Boxe, young team's prodigy Mauricio Shogun Rua, brother
of PRIDE veteran Murilo Ninja Rua, got back to Brazil this past
Monday after a good performance at the IFC tournament this past
Saturday. Shogun defeated Barra Gracie fighter Eric Wanderlei
in the first fight, and then lost a battle to the actual champion
of the tournament Renato Babalu Sobral in his second fight, at
the last round. Mauricio hurt his right foot during the fights,
and went to see a doctor after his participation on the show.
Back to Brazil Ninja's brother told FCF the foot is not broken
and he is going to resume training next week, looking for his
next fight as soon as it appears.

Also
on the Chute Boxe team subject, since the team is not only about
MMA and Muay Thai is the academy's origin, Chute Boxe Muay Thai
stand out Marlon Mathias recently got his so awaited and deserved
Chute Boxe black belt! Marlon has been one ranking below black
belt for three years already, and has been a stand out since
day one at the Chute Boxe academy. With several wins at STORM
Muay Thai, Mathias gained respect and fought his way to this
so awaited day. On the same day as Marlon got his black belt,
Chute Boxe prodigy Mauricio Shoun Rua was also promoted to Dark
Blue belt [Likely two rankings before black belt at Chute Boxe].
FCF sends congratulations to both guys, specially Marlon who
was awaiting this day for a long time and certainly deserved
it, as he has tons of talent!

As
has becoming an eternal subject on the Brazilian Beat, new shows
never cease to pop up in Brazil, and the huge shows aren't the
only ones appearing. As the sport is spreading all over the country,
the city of Belem, capital of the state of Para up in the North
of the country is also going to have its own show! The 1st SuperCombat
MMA fight is a show scheduled to have 6 MMA fights in its card,
taking place this next September 13th in an arena that is reported
to hold up to 7,000 people. The card is mostly composed of local
names, with the presence of an IVC veteran on the show, Andre
Cardoso facing a fighter called Artur Tubarao. The main attraction
of the show, as it is becoming a trend, is the guest appearance
of Vitor Belfort as the main referee for the show.

Speaking
of Belfort, "The Phenom" has been doing his usual share
of TV appearances and MMA events VIP appearances. This Wednesday
Vitor was interviewed live in a cable channel, as his schedule
is as busy as ever. However, Vitor Belfort is still focused in
training for the November UFC, and despite what some may think
he is keeping himself in shape and is still awaiting the confirmation
of his opponent for November.

Another
UFC veteran who is preparing himself for November is Ruas Vale
Tudo icon Pedro Rizzo. After plenty of trips helping out his
teammates, including HEAT FC in Natal, up in the Northeast of
Brazil, a trip to Puerto Rico for what should be Eduardo Simoes'
second fight of his career, and other ventures, "The Rock"
told FCF he is now only focused on his training and preparation
for November, since he needs to take care of himself as well
and was already missing hard training. Rizzo has been training
full time and he also went on to say that he doesn't care if
his opponent will be Ricco Rodriguez, Frank Mir or even Mirko
Cro Cop, if that is possible, cause he is willing to do a great
showing at the last fight of his UFC contract.

We're
just a few days away from Antonio Inoki and Wallid Ismail's partnership
show Jungle Fight. Scheduled to take place this next September
13th in a beautiful hotel at the Amazon Forrest, the show is
now going to be aired live in Brazilian PPV trough Premiere Combate.
The promoters are promising that this will be a breakthrough
show that will be a mark in the sport's history in Brazil, attracting
the attention of the whole society, mostly at the North Region
of the country. The event's fighting card changed a lot in the
last few days, and some fighters were dropped of the show for
numerous reasons, while others were added. Fighters such as Carlos
Barreto, Josh Barnett and Gary Goodridge are unfortunately out
of Jungle Fight, while Evangelista Cyborg and Jorge Macaco Patino,
among others were added. One of the main events of the show is
going to be the fight between Macaco and Jiu-Jitsu sensation
Ronaldo Jacare, in a fight that caused some controversy due to
Macaco's prior commitment with Brazil Super Fight. Pancrase veteran
Evangelista Cyborg is going to face Northeastern fighter Lucas
Lopes, in another interesting match up. FCF will keep you posted
in the latest from the show.

Mario
Sperry's show, Brazil Super Fight is also coming up this next
September 19th, at the city of Porto Alegre in Brazil, and some
changes were also made to the card of this brand new show. Jorge
Macaco Patino, who was supposed to be on the main event facing
Japanese idol Ikuhisa Minowa was cut from the show by Sperry
due to his decision of taking part at the Jungle Fight's card.
According to Mario he couldn't risk having a fighter, mostly
on the main event, performing one week before his show including
the high risk of injuries involved in an MMA fight. While Macaco
had committed to BASF before his commitment with Jungle Fight,
"The Zen Machine" told FCF he holds no grudges against
Patino, but he needed to make a decision for the sake of his
show. Macaco's replacement is HEAT FC stand out Silmar Rodrigo,
who has victories over Johil de Oliveira, and Brazilian Top Team
members Henrique Nogueira and Marcelo Alfaia on his career. Ruas
Vale Tudo fighter Ricardo Petrucio injured himself, and his fight
was canceled as his opponent Helio Dipp also got injured, breaking
his nose in training. Still the BASF inaugural card counts with
some good names such as Ikuhisa Minowa, Luis Azeredo, Rodrigo
Ruas, Silmar Rodrigo, Haroldo Cabelinho Bunn, Eduardo Simoes
and Marcelo Alfaia, all with wins in shows such as MECA or HEAT
FC. Here's the BASF fight card:

Marcelo Alfaia (BTT) vs Jose "Dragao" Ricardo (Gaviao
Team)

Luke
"The Duke" Piclum (BTT-Australia) vs Eduardo Simoes
(Ruas Vale Tudo)

Haroldo
Cabelinho Bunn (BTT) vs Leonardo Souza (Kimura/Nova Uniao)

Eric
Tavares (Ruas Vale Tudo) vs Andre "Mau" Lagrende (Gold
Team)

Gerson
Silva (BTT) vs Eduardo Verissimo (Boxing)

Gilson
"Capixu" Ferreira vs Muriez Linke (Gold Team-Poland)

Rodrigo
Ruas (Ruas Vale Tudo) vs Luis Azeredo (Gold Team)

Silmar
Rodrigo (Kimura/Nova Uniao) vs Ikuhisa Minowa (BTT-Japan)

As
the month of September goes on, HEAT FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP promoters
are already working on the second edition of the show, scheduled
for November 27th, also at the city of Natal. The first fight
of the next card, that promises to hold some good surprises,
will feature HEAT, KOTC and IFC veteran Forrest Griffin against
WVC and Bitetti Combat veteran Lucas Lopes, who's fighting Cyborg
at Jungle fight. Griffin was one of the sensations of HEAT FC
1, defeating veteran Ebenezer Fontes Braga by rear naked choke
in the first round. This past weekend Forrest also did a good
showing at the IFC tournament, defeating Team Quest fighter Chael
Sonnen before losing to the hands, and feet, of Jeremy Horn.
He did however showed great talent, and will grace the HEAT FC
ring once again in November, against a tough fighter in Lucas
Lopes. More fights of the HEAT FC 2 card are likely to be announced
next week and FCF will have the developments.

Source: FCF

Phil
Baroni Interview on MMA Weekly

Phil Baroni appeared on last week's radio show and talked about
many things as only Phil can. Many people wanted us to transcribe
the interview so Ivan Trembow did so for this week's interview
of the week.

Ryan
Bennett: What's up, man? How's it going?

Phil
Baroni: I'm doing good, man.

Ryan:
The last time we talked, you were just starting to get back into
training for the first time since your injury. How's that going
and how is your injury healing?

Phil:
I've been training real hard. I'm done with my rehab. I've been
running six-mile runs. I'm about 210 or 215 pounds. I'm in good
shape, and I'm ready to hurt someone in November.

Ryan:
Are you back into full-fledged training with grappling and everything?

Phil:
Yeah, I'm back into full-fledged training.

Ryan:
That's good to hear. There has been a lot of talk about who you
might be fighting in November. There has been a lot of talk about
you possibly fighting Kazushi Sakuraba. There was also Tony Fryklund
saying on MMAWeekly Radio saying that he respects your game and
he'd love to fight you. What do you think about a possible match-up
with either Sakuraba or Fryklund?

Phil:
Well, first of all, I would much rather fight Sakuraba. He's
a big name. He's known internationally, especially in Japan,
and a lot of guys still have him ranked very high at 185. A lot
of people think he's still one of the best 185-pound fighters
in the world. All of his losses have come at a higher weight.
That's who I want to fight. I have nothing to gain from fighting
someone like Tony Fryklund, other than he's saying he wants to
fight me and I'll fight anybody and knock their ass out. But
I want to fight the best fighters in the world, and I've said
that a million times. I don't want to take a step back. I don't
need any tune-up fights; I want to fight the best guys in the
world. I want to go to Pride right now and knock out Bustamante
for leaving the UFC with my belt.

Ryan:
So even coming off a major injury like a torn pectoral muscle,
you're still fine and ready to go?

Phil:
I'm ready to go. I've been training full-bore. I'm faster. I'm
stronger than I've ever been in my life. I'm running crazy times
in the three-mile rules; I've been running them in under 20 minutes.
I'm in ridiculous shape. I'm ready to fight, and I want to fight
right now. I went through a lot of rehab and I went through a
lot of bulls--t to get ready, and I'm ready now. I want to fight.

Ryan:
Just me an idea if you can of what the chances are that you'll
end up fighting Sakuraba?

Phil:
I know the UFC is trying real hard to get him. I know he wants
to fight at 185 and prove that he's still one of the best in
the world. A lot of people still feel that he is, but I feel
that I would knock him out easily, and fast. And that would raise
my stock, whereas fighting a guy like Tony Fryklund, or that
other guy you had on your show that other time...

Ryan:
Chael?

Phil:
Who?

Ryan:
Your boy, Chael Sonnen.

Phil:
Oh, that's right. F--k Sonnen. He's retarded. I guarantee you
he won't win that tournament. If he wins that tournament, we'll
fight. I'll fight him, definitely sign him up for the UFC, his
head will be f---ing grapes. But I'm telling you right now, if
that guy wins a f---ing fight, if he happens to win his first
fight in that tournament, I guran-damn-tee he'll withdraw from
the tournament. If he wins his first fight, he will not fight
more in the tournament.

Ryan:
So you're pretty much at a point now where you only want to fight
the best fighters in the world?

Phil:
Yeah, I want to fight the best fighters in the world. If that
guy [David] Loiseau wins, that dude from Canada who is the UCC
champ, then that would be a good fight for me. Why? Because I
want to fight the best fighters. I didn't kill myself with this
rehab, getting myself into great shape, going to rehab three
times a day, and having major surgery to come back and fight
a prelim fighter like Tony Fryklund. I want to fight the best
fighters in the world. So if that guy Loiseau wins, then I'd
like to fight him and knock his ass out. I'd send him back to
Canada as a dead Canuck.

Ryan:
(starting to ask another question)

Phil:
I mean, you've got jerk-off after jerk-off saying week after
week how they want to fight me, but Tony Fryklund had his chance
to fight me. At UFC 40, he was starting something with Tiki,
so Dana White went up to Fryklund and said, "Why are you
starting something with a 170-pounder?" and then offered
him a fight with me, and Fryklund turned the fight down. And
now he wants to fight me? Why? Because I'm coming off a bad injury?
Because people say I'll never be the same? Because people say
that's an injury that ends careers? You know what? They're right.
I will never be the same, because I'm better now than I was before.
I'm stronger, I'm faster, I've trained my body like it has never
been trained before, I look completely different, I'm f---ing
nasty and pissed off, and I'm ready to hurt someone. If Fryklund
wants to fight me now, he should have fought me at UFC 40. If
he was afraid then, he's going to s--t his pants when he sees
me now and gets his skull punched in. And the last guy his manager
Monte Cox wanted to fight me was Dave Menne, so you'd think he
would learn his lesson.

Ryan:
You mentioned Sakuraba as being the guy you want to fight, and
I'm sure the UFC would love to have him there, but if he can't
be there, you mentioned David Loiseau as another guy you'd like
to fight. Is that going to be something where you just kind of
wait and see how he does at UFC 44? And if he does win, do you
think they would bring him back that quickly to maybe fight you
at UFC 45 if they can't get Sakuraba?

Phil:
Yeah, maybe. Why not? Or maybe the other guy [Jorge Rivera] if
he knocks Loiseau out. I think that guy's undefeated, and that's
the kind of fighter I want to fight. Top up-and-coming guys or
champions, because I want to be a champion. That's the bottom
line. At the end of the day, you're remembered by who you fought
and who you beat. I could go to King of the Cage and beat up
25 Tony Fryklund's and have an artificial record like Sean Sherk,
but I always fight in the UFC. All of my fights have been in
the UFC, basically. And I've fought some of the best fighters
in the world. I've fought Matt Lindland, who is ranked number
two, or number one, or whatever in the UFC right now. I've fought
Dave Menne, who is the former champion. I've fought Amar Suloev,
who is a top fighter internationally. Why would I want to take
a step back? All I want to do is keep fighting the best.

Ryan:
Is UFC 45 in November going to be the beginning of a four-man
tournament to crown a new UFC Middleweight Champion?

Phil:
I hope so. That would be really nice, and I'd like to do it in
one day. I'd love to do it in one day. I think that would be
great for the sport, and I think it would be great for me because
I've been deserving this title shot for a long time and just
waiting for it. I've been in the UFC since UFC 30.

Ryan:
I'd like to see that. Do you think they could do that in one
day?

Phil:
F--k yeah! Why not? It's two fights!

Ryan:
You should try to push for that. I think that would be great.

Phil:
Yeah, it would. Hell yeah.

Ryan:
What did you mean earlier in the interview when you said that
you look completely different now?

Phil:
I'm bigger; I'm stronger; I'm walking around at about 215. I'm
ripped. You know, if they don't do something with this 185-pound
division, if they don't something soon, if they don't make a
f---ing title... you know, guys like Matt Lindland don't want
to fight me anymore. Why, I don't know, because I made that guy's
career. It's like Gatti-Ward, but Lindland is an idiot and he
also knows that he's eventually going to get knocked out. If
guys like that don't want to step up to the plate, and I have
to fight guys like Tony Fryklund, I'll move up to 205. I'll fight
Tito Ortiz. I'll fight Randy Couture. I'll fight Vitor Belfort.
I'm big for 185; I could fight at 205. Bustamante did it, so
why can't I do it? I want to fight Rampage Jackson. I want to
fight Vanderlei Silva. I want to fight the best fighters in the
world. I want to be the main event, I don't want to fight guys
who are f---ing bums. They don't even deserve to be in the cage
with me.

Ryan:
So you feel like you could move up to light-heavyweight without
much problem at all?

Phil:
Yeah, I'm like 215 right now. I still have unfinished business
at 185, but if the UFC doesn't do anything with the weight class,
then of course I'll move up. What am I going to do? I would definitely
move up to 205, and I would beat the best guys there just like
I would at 185.

Ryan:
Where have you been training lately?

Phil:
I've been training in Vegas, but I'm going to be headed back
to New York. I'm going to be training with my old coaches from
back in the day, my old boxing coach and my old wrestling coach.
I'm going to go back to my roots, and that's New York, that's
wrestling, and that's just being a nasty, tough, extreme kid.

Ryan:
What was the reasoning behind going back to New York to train
for your next fight, since you've had so much success in Vegas?

Phil:
You know, sometimes you forget where you came from. I got a little
complacent, and I've been living a better lifestyle out here
in Vegas than I was in New York. I'm going to back to New York,
I'm going to rent a tiny little place out in the ghetto, I'm
going to buy a s--t-box car, and I'm going to train like a maniac
in New York for six weeks. I'm going to be pissed off, and eat
tuna-fish out of the can, and Corn Flakes. I'm going to want
to hurt someone and I'm going to remember why I fight in the
UFC and what I'm fighting for.

Ryan:
What do you think about Pride Bushido since it looks like they're
going to have a weight class right around the 185-pound mark?

Phil:
Well, that's good. Maybe they could build some guys up and maybe
they'll have a tournament, and then maybe Dana could send me
over there to represent the UFC and I'll knock out all the Pride
guys.

Ryan:
What did you think about the fight at the Pride event between
Bustamante and Quinton Jackson? Were you surprised, or was it
pretty much what you expected?

Phil:
I expected it, but I was surprised that Bustamante gassed out
the way he did, and I was surprised that he was just hanging
on at the end. Basically, what happened is what I think would
happen if Bustamante fought me. He wouldn't be strong enough
to pull off a submission on me, just like he wasn't strong enough
to pull off a submission on Rampage. And I have much better hands
than Rampage, and I'm a lot faster and much better at finishing
fights. So that fight just proved in my mind that I would beat
Bustamante. Styles make fights, and his style is made to work
for me. He's a tall, lanky guy who isn't that strong. I'm a fast,
stocky fighter who is strong. I would pull Bustamante around
the ring and I would pound on his head.

Ryan:
So do you think with the four guys left in the Pride Grand Prix,
you could beat any one of those guys?

Phil:
Yeah, I know I could beat them all. Vanderlei Silva hasn't fight
anyone who has a good chin, and I've got the best chin in the
UFC. Randy Couture out-boxed Chuck Liddell, so Chuck Liddell
definitely isn't going to out-box me. Rampage Jackson, I've worked
out with him before, and I feel very, very confident that I could
beat him.

Ryan:
Who would you rank as the top light-heavyweight fighters in the
world right now, starting with number one?

Phil:
Tito Ortiz would be number one. Randy Couture has to be number
two. Number three would have to be Vanderlei Silva. Number four
is probably Rampage. Arona and Bustamante would be tied for number
five.

Ryan:
I know a lot of people are looking forward to your return at
UFC 45 in November... do we know where that's going to be, by
the way? Is it going to be on the East Coast or the West Coast?

Phil:
I believe it's going to be at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.

Ryan:
So that would be good to get a crowd on your side that's not
too far away from your hometown, right?

Phil:
Yeah, but it really doesn't matter where I fight.

Ryan:
Well, it has been nice talking with you. Good luck with your
training and good luck with who your opponent is going to be
at UFC 45. Can you call into the radio show and let us know when
you find out?

Phil:
Yeah, I'll let you guys know. As soon as I find out, I'll let
you guys know.

Ryan:
Thanks, Phil.

Phil:
No problem. Take it easy.

Source: MMA Weekly

9/13/03

Quote
of the Day

"Never give in -- never, never, never, never."

Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, British Statesman, Prime Minister

NAGA
Hawaiian State Grappling Championships Today!

Farrington High School Gym

Doors open at 10:00 AM

Tournament starts at 11:00 AM

Fees:

DAY OF THE EVENT = $65 all events, $10 Spectator (No exceptions)
Kids under 5 yrs are free!

Email
us and we can send you
a Microsoft word registration form or go to:

http://nagafighter.semkhor.com/page.asp?content_id=3016

10:00 AM

DOORS OPEN to general public (Registration & Weigh-in begins
and lasts all day)

Tentative Tournament Schedule

11:00 AM to 4 PM

OPENING CEREMONIES (National Anthem, NAGA Rules) 10:30

NO-GI
GRAPPLING DIVISIONS Begin at 11AM (Rings 1 through 3)

1.
Kids, Youth, Women & Senior Grappling Divisions

2.
Men’s Beginner Grappling Divisions (Under 1 year experience)

3.
Men’s Intermediate Grappling Divisions (1 to 2 years experience)

4.
Men’s Advanced Grappling Divisions (2+ years experience)

GI
GRAPPLING DIVISIONS: Begin at 11AM (Ring #4)

5.
Men’s Purple Belt & Above Gi Divisions

6.
Men’s Blue Belt Gi Divisions

7.
Men’s White Belt Gi Divisions, Women, Juniors & Master
Gi Competition

NO
GI FINALS:

8.
Award Championship Belts

De
La Hoya vs. Mosley II Redemption Today

HBO PPV brings one of the most anticipated boxing matches, De
La Hoya looks for redemption after his loss against Sugar Shane.

I
do not know if I will be able to catch this, so if anyone would
be so kind to tape it and let me get a copy from you, I would
be very appreciative.

JUNGLE
FIGHT - MMA WORLD LOOKS TO THE AMAZON FOREST!

Everything
is ready for JUNGLE FIGHT. Fighters and press from all over the
world, have already arrived in the Amazon Jungle Hotel, Ariaú
Towers.

After
a long journey, including a 7 hour plane trip from Rio de Janeiro
to Manaus and a 2 hour boat trip from Manaus to the place of
the event, the brazilian fighters were received by Wallid and
Mr. Inoki and then taken straight to the press conference. The
amazing structure of the hotel in the middle of the forest left
everybody astonished! “It´s just unbelievable. If
I came here to relax it would be a amazing, to fight is even
better.” stated Rico Chiparelli who arrived on Wednesday,
and has passed some time fishing for piranhas and photographing
alligators.

Wallid´s
team is working hard on the final details and the event promises
to makee history in MMA. The arena is located by the side of
Negro River, close to the tower were the guests rooms are located.
The venue will fit 450 people when the event starts tomorrow
at eleven o clock.

Paulo
Filho will be the referee in all 12 great fights. In the middle
of the show Mr. Inoki is scheduled to surprise his fans, as usual.
He will arrive in the arena swimming from the river with a big
brazilian snake Anaconda wrapped around him.

Keep
tuned, we will bring all details after the show on Sunday morning.

Final
Card:

-
Ebenezer Braga (Brazil Dojo) vs Rodrigo Riscado (Nova União)

- Kazunari Murakami (New Japan) vs Lee 'Young Gun' (Korea)

- Ricardo Moraes (Brazil Dojo) vs Paredão (Brasília)

- Lioto Matida (L.A Dojo) vs Stephan Bonnar (Carlson Family)

- Shinsuke Nakamura (New Japan) vs Shane (LA Dojo)

- Dario Amorim (Brazil Dojo) vs Justin Mcculley (LA Dojo)

- Mark Schultz (Wrestling/USA) vs Leopoldo Montenegro (Brazil
Dojo)

- Gabriel Napão (MGT) vs Fabrício Werdun (Behring)

- Marcelo Tigre (Brazil Dojo) vs Everton Gigante (Marcelo Serqueira)

- Rico Chiaparelli (RAW) vsLuís Pantera (Brazil Dojo)

- Evangelista Cyborg (Brazil Dojo) vs Lucas Lopes (Kimura/Nova-União)

- Ronaldo 'Jacaré' (Brazil Dojo) vs Jorge Patino Macaco
(MGT)

Source: ADCC

Interview:
EVANGELISTA 'CYBORG'

One
week after his astonishing victory over 'Gladiator' at the 1st
Knock MMA Muay Thai event , Pancrase fighter Evangelista Cyborg
had an memorable match against Maurício Shogun at Meca
9. Later, Cyborg was scheduled to fight on August 31st on the
Pancrase event, but due to visa problems, he was cut off the
card. Now, the Brazilian is training to fight at Jungle Fight,
in September, and at October's Inoki Bom Ba Ye. Below, Cyborg
refutes the criticism about his Meca fight and talks about his
dream to face Pride Middleweight champion, Wanderlei Silva.

At
the beginning of your Meca fight against Shogun, you did well
and almost won. What happened later?

Everybody knows that I like to fight hard all the time. Shogun
almost got knocked down, but he recovered himself and, unfortunately,
I missed that kick to his head. After three minutes of fighting,
I got tired, he was able to withstand my blows and took the fight
to the ground.

There
are a lot of people criticizing your ground game. What happened
that you didn’t fight well on the ground?

These people don’t know what was happening to me. I injured
my shoulder two months ago and, since then, I have not been training
well. I’m not training on the ground. But I’m a warrior
and I don’t run away from my commitments. The training is
painful and I have to give my life for fighting.

Do
you want to fight Shogun again?

I would love it. If he wants, I fight another Meca for free.
I want to prove that I can beat him.

And
about this team change. What happened?

I liked Budokan people, but I was kind of abandoned there, I
didn’t have support when I got injured. Now, at Inoki’s
Brazil Dojo, I know that there will be a lot of people looking
at me. Wallid is looking for a physical program for me. If I
fight 10 minutes as I wish, nobody remains on the feet in front
of me.

What
happened that you didn’t fight at the August 31st Pancrase
event?

I had some visa problems and they preferred to cancel my fight.
But I think that it won’t affect my relationship with Pride.
After all, they saw all the problems that I had.

Is
there a fighter you want to face?

I would like to fight Pride Middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva.
I’m sure that it would be a great fight and one of us would
go straight to the hospital.

Source: ADCC

DESPITE
HAVING ONLY THREE ON TEAM AT WORLDS, CUBAN FREESTYLE WRESTLERS
AIM FOR GOLD

NEW
YORK, Sept. 10 -- The Cuban freestyle wrestling team has been
one of the most successful in the world. At last year's Worlds
in Iran, Cuba won one gold and two silver medals, to take third
place in the team title behind champion Iran and Russia.

At
the 2003 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships, which start
Friday in Madison Square Garden, however, Cuba stands virtually
no chance of making a run at the team title.

The
reason is not that the Cuban wrestling program has suddenly declined.
Cuba won three of the seven gold medals at the 2003 Pan Am Games
in freestyle, and all seven in Greco. No, the reason is far simpler:
Cuba will only have three wrestlers competing at the 2003 Worlds.
Their team members that are here in New York are Yandro Quintana
at 60 kg, Sergei Rondon at 66 kg, and Yoel Romero at 84 kg.

Why
only three wrestlers are here is another story. Unlike the Iranian
team, this was not a case of problems with obtaining visas to
come to the U.S., as the Cubans here all said that they had encountered
no such difficulties.

The
official explanation, provided by the Cuban coaches Wednesday
morning as the Cuban wrestlers worked out in Madison Square Garden,
is that there has been an epidemic of pinkeye, whose medical
name is conjunctivitis, in Havana. The other four national team
members were infected with this. We were told that their doctor
did not allow them to come to this event because conjunctivitis
is very contagious.

How
and why this epidemic managed to infect only the four members
of the Cuban team that did not win gold medals at the 2003 Pan
Am Games, including defending World Champion Rene Montero and
former World Champion and 2002 silver medalist Alexis Rodriguez,
and left alone these three wrestlers that did win gold this year,
is unknown. Such a coincidence has also aroused the skepticism
of many, although there is no evidence available to us to contradict
the official story.

The
World Freestyle Wrestling Championships is a qualifying event
for the 2004 Olympics, with the top ten countries in each weight
class being guaranteed spots in Athens. Cuba must now compete
and win in a series of qualifiers next year for it to be represented
at the weights at which they are not competing here. Such a burden
would add credence to the official story of pinkeye keeping the
wrestlers home, but again, without independent verification,
all this is speculation.

Whatever
the case, Cuba is here short-handed, with their coaches valiantly
saying, 'Our objective is to win three gold medals.'

While
any team winning three gold medals at this event is a momentous
task, Cuba does have three top athletes here who have a legitimate
shot at winning a gold medal. We got a chance to speak with each
of them after they practiced at the Garden, with Mario Saletnig,
a FILA vice-president, acting as translator.

SERGEI
RONDON'S FIRST TRIP TO THE WORLDS

First
up was 66 kg wrestler Sergei Rondon. When speaking to him, the
first thing you notice is his height. He stands 174 cm, or about
five foot, eight and one-half inches tall. This makes him one
of the tallest men in his weight class. By contrast, three-time
medalist Lincoln McIlravy of the U.S. is about 5-7. 'That's the
new style now,' commented Saletnig. 'Height is very important.'

The
23-year-old Rondon is wrestling in his first World Championships.
'I'm very satisfied and very happy and excited to be here for
the first time participating in the World Championships,' he
said. Rondon earned this spot on the Cuban team by winning the
Cuban national championships, whose victors are selected to participate
at the World Championships. He succeeds veteran Carlos Ortiz,
the long-time Cuban national champion who has now retired. Ortiz
was a four-time Pan Am champion and a 2000 Olympian, finishing
sixth at 63 kg. Saletnig called Rondon 'the new kid on the block.'

Rondon
burst onto the international scene this year by winning gold
medals at both the 2003 Pan American Games and Pan American Championships.
At the Pan Am Games, he defeated American Jamill Kelly twice
in overtime. Rondo said, 'The match was very difficult and very
hard.'

He
has been wrestling since he was nine years old. He actually began
in judo, but switched to wrestling because it 'was more a contact
sport.'

This
is the first time Rondon is in the U.S. He lives in Havana and
studies sports at the University of Havana, with two years remaining
before he graduates.

Rondon
described his style as 'complete,' with good technique in both
the par terre and standing positions. No doubt the lanky Rondon,
a newcomer on the international circuit, will surprise many who
are seeing him compete for the first time.

YOEL
ROMERO TRIES TO RECAPTURE THE GOLD

In
contrast to his teammate Rondon, the international wrestling
community, and even many American wrestling fans, are quite familiar
with 26-year-old Yoel Romero. This veteran, here wrestling at
84 kg, was a World Champion in 1999, has been a three-time Pan
Am Championships gold medalist, a two-time World Cup gold medalist,
as well as a 2003 Pan Am Games gold medalist. He is also well-known
as the man who has twice defeated Cael Sanderson, besting him
at the Titan Games and the Pan Am Games, each time by one point
in overtime.

Wearing
a green Notre Dame cap as he practiced in the Garden ('I like
the color,' he explained), Romero had nothing but praise for
Sanderson.

'I
know he was a great champion because he was the person who beat
Gable's record,' said Romero, referring to Cael's eclipsing of
Gable's mark for consecutive victories in college wrestling.
'It was an honor for me to meet with him twice. Even the matches
were very difficult.'

He
continued, 'I respect very much Cael for the technique and the
strength that he has. It was an honor to compete against him.'

Romero
showed his own outstanding technique by accomplishing something
no one had done in years on Sanderson: he scored two takedowns
against him in their Titan Games match.

'His
condition is so good that it is very difficult even to score
one technical point,' Romero said. 'His technique is so high
that it was very difficult for me.' Romero added that Sanderson
is 'very quick,' but that he was able to use his own quickness
to score on him.

After
that match, Romero gave Sanderson a thumbs up sign. 'When you
know you are competing against a very difficult wrestler and
you won the bout, you feel a little excited,' he said. 'I felt
so happy because I knew the talent of Cael.'

Romero
stresses his conditioning and speed as his main attributes.

Besides
Sanderson, among the wrestlers he believes will provide his main
competition at this year's Worlds are Sazhid Sazhidov, the two-time
European champion from Russia; 2002 World bronze medalist Majid
Khodaee of Iran; and Revaz Mindorashvili of Georgia, the 2003
European Champion who finished sixth at the 2002 Worlds.

While
he studies sports at the University of Havana, specializing in
wrestling, Romero also has a keen interest in world history.
He said he wants 'to understand why things are done.'

He
started wrestling when he was ten years old. At first he was
interested in boxing, 'but there were no coaches available in
boxing,' he said.

He
stands at 179 cm, or about 5 -10 1/2. He is from an athletic
family, as his wife is a member of the Cuban national volleyball
team.

As
for the formation of a women's wrestling team in Cuba, one of
their coaches said, 'We hope next year.'

But
this year may be another one where Yoel Romero returns home to
Cuba with yet another medal to add to his collection.

QUINTANA
AIMS FOR FIRST WORLD TITLE

While
22-year-old Yandro Quintana has been wrestling on the international
scene on the senior level since 2000, and has won three straight
Pan American Championships, perhaps his greatest accomplishment
so far has been his 7-1 drubbing of 2001 World Champion Giuvi
Sissaouri of Canada in the finals of the 2003 Pan Am Games at
60 kg. Now in the U.S. for only the second time, having competed
in the 2000 World Cup, Quintana wants to prove that he is not
only the top wrestler in this hemisphere, but also the world.

He
admitted that his match with Sissaouri 'was very difficult because
I knew Giuvi's record, and his technique is very good.' Quintana
said he has been preparing for the 2003 Worlds the 'same way
I trained. I didn't change anything. Because I've been successful,
so why change?' In particular, he said he focuses on conditioning.
That way, he said, 'I can sustain the strain and the technique.'

Like
so many other Cuban champion wrestlers, he started on the mat
at a young age. When he was just seven years old, he went to
a gym. 'I found wrestling was very fascinating to observe,' said
Quintana. 'After two or three days of observing, I decided to
join the club.'

He
comes from Camaguey Province, which is Cuba's hotbed of wrestling.
Its capital, also called Camaguey, is Cuba's third largest city.
Saletnig agreed that Camaguey is much like Iowa in the United
States. 'The city, they spend a lot of time and energy to produce
good wrestling,' said Quintana. His family still lives there,
while he is studying physical education at the University of
Havana.

Quintana
is in another of those weight classes loaded with talent. 'The
level is so spread evenly, every year almost you have a new champion,
because the talent is so spread between many countries,' he said.
'It is very even.'

When
his is done competing, he said he would like to become a coach.
'The success that we have is because our coaches are very strict,
especially during practices,' he observed, and he would like
to continue in that tradition. The Cuban wrestling program runs
year-round, and aims at starting young wrestlers at the age of
nine.

Quintana's
younger brother, who is 16, has also just started to wrestle
on the Cuban junior national team. So we just may be seeing the
start of another one of those storied wrestling brother acts
bagging bundles of gold medals.

While
Cuba is quite short-handed here, the spirit and confidence of
their three wrestlers that will be competing remains high. Don't
be surprised if each of them does very, very well at the 2003
World Freestyle Wrestling Championships.

Source: ADCC

ANOTHER
OPPORTUNITY FOR GOLD

FOR STEPHEN ABAS

It was right after his triumph at the finals of the 2003 U.S.
World Team Trials in Indianapolis this past June. 2003 U.S. National
Champion Stephen Abas, wrestling at 55 kg/121 lbs., had swept
his two matches with former Iowa Hawkeye Mike Mena by decisive
scores of 6-1 and 3-0. Just minutes after that victory, he had
already shifted his focus to his next major goals: gold medals
at the 2003 Pan Am Games and the 2003 World Championships of
Freestyle Wrestling.

He
has since achieved that next goal. Avenging a loss at the Titan
Games, the 25-year-old Abas captured a gold medal at the 2003
Pan Am Games in Santo Domingo by defeating 2002 World Champion
Rene Montero of Cuba. But it was a shot at a World gold medal
that has remained on his mind since the U.S. decided to skip
the 2002 Worlds in Iran following a threat of violence to the
team.

'I
think it was the worst thing that could have happened to the
U.S. team because we're coming back hungry,' said Abas in Indianapolis.
'We're ready to win in our hometown. There's a few of us that
have been deprived of our title. I think we want to get it. And
no better way to do it than at home.'

Now
in New York, at a press event Tuesday to promote the 2003 Worlds,
Abas was calmer. 'I never wrestled in New York,' he said. 'I've
been here a couple of times, just for visiting. But never actually
competed.'

But
his enthusiasm for this event, which starts Friday, has far from
waned.

'This
is unbelievable,' he said, standing in Greeley Square in the
heart of Manhattan. 'I couldn't ask for anything else. Now it
feels like we're getting a second chance, from having it taken
away from us in 2001,' referring to the relocation of the 2001
Worlds from New York following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Abas was a member of the U.S. World Team that year also, and
had to travel to Bulgaria to compete. 'We're ready, we're prepared,
and we're all focused. So I think we'll do great.'

For
the days leading up to this event, Abas said, 'It's mostly going
to be weight control, trying to get my weight down, to make weight
on Thursday. But other than that, I'm just going to be relaxing
and getting my mind right and focused for the tournament.'

He
had anticipated that Montero would again be competing. 'There
are a lot of good guys in my weight class and I know I can't
overlook anybody. Montero is one of the great guys that always
shows up, top five or whatever,' he said. As it turns out, Montero
didn't show up here. He is one of four Cuban team members reportedly
suffering from a contagious eye infection that has forced them
to stay home.

But
the 55 kg weight is still chock full of talent. 'Also, the guy
from Azerbaijan, Abduallayev, won the Olympics in 2000. He's
also going to be a competitor in my weight,' said Abas, no doubt
recalling the controversy in the gold medal finals as Abduallayev
repeatedly grabbed the singlet of American Sammie Henson without
being penalized. Abduallayev has since been a 2002 World silver
medalist and a 2003 European Champion.

Abas
has also avenged a loss to 2001 World Champion Herman Kontoev
of Belarus. He defeated Kontoev, 8-3, at the Kurt Angle Classic
in 2002, after Kontoev had defeated Abas back in 2001.

In
Indianapolis, Abas spoke more about his first experience in the
Worlds, in 2001, when he did not place. 'My first year in the
worlds I didn't do as well as I wanted to,' he said. 'I've been
working hard to get to that point where now I'm going to be a
World Champion. And I think I'm ready.'

The
three-time NCAA champ from Fresno State believes he has succeeded
in making the transition from folkstyle to freestyle.

'I
think I fully made the transition last year,' analyzed Abas.
'After my last year in college I went to my first World Championships,
and I couldn't fully make that transition over. But I think after
that next year I just totally concentrated in freestyle. I think
I'm finally where I need to be.'

But
he added, 'There's always things I can work on. Definitely my
top position. I could maybe work on a few more turns a little
more. I think that's probably one of my worst weaknesses.'

Abas
is also a practitioner of Capoeira, the Brazilian martial art
that originated in Africa. I asked Abas in New York if he was
aware that Brazilian jiu-jitsu is very popular here, and that
Renzo Gracie's Academy is right across the street from Madison
Square Garden.

'Is
it?' he asked of BJJ's popularity. 'No, I haven't. Capoeira is
pretty much the only other thing that I'm involved in right now
besides wrestling. Wrestling really takes up a lot of my time,
and I have real little time to even do that. So whatever time
I have, it goes to Capoeira.'

So
in his second appearance at the World Championships of Freestyle
Wrestling, and his first on the mat in New York, the multi-talented
Stephen Abas just may win his first world medal.

Source: ADCC

9/12/03

Quote
of the Day

"Goals are dreams with deadlines."

Diana Scharg Hunt

9/11
Time Line Audio Clip Today at 5:00PM on KHVH AM 830

This has nothing to do with the normal content of this page,
but for those of you that do not know this, I am a huge talk
radio junkie. Yesterday I heard an incredible audio time line
on the 9/11 tragedy. They go down minute by minute on what happened
on 9/11. It is about 30 minutes, but I guarantee you will be
captivated by it.

KHVH AM 830 radio station will replay it today right after the
5:00PM news, so if you are in your car or have access to a radio
at that time, I suggest you listen to it.

I got chicken skin just listening to it.

NAGA
Tomorrow!

You can weigh in that day at 10:30AM at Farrington High School
gym. Tournament starts at 11AM.

See
you there.

The
ICC Is Coming To Hawaii!

International Cage Combat is proud to announce the first in our
Championship series. October 24th at the Blaisdell Center in
Honolulu Hawaii. We will be starting with the first leg of an
8 man tournament to determine our Welter Weight Champion. This
card will also feature a Heavy Weight Main event..

This
will just be the first of many cards to come and we will be looking
for fighters on a weekly basis soon enough. We will be holding
a series of tournaments to determine our champions in all weight
classes. Are you Ready?

The
ICC is committed to bring the fans the best possible show and
supporting the spirit of Combat Sport.

ICC
Bigger and better each time. Look for announcement for our next
big show and the start of our Amateur Series show.

Source: ICC.tv

World Super
Welterweight Championship

De La Hoya vs. Mosley II Redemption

This Saturday,
September 13, 2003

9PM EST/6PM
PST

This
is Oscar De La Hoya reminding you not to miss my fight this Saturday,
September 13th against "Sugar" Shane Mosley. This fight
is all about REVENGE for me. Mosley won our first fight (in June
2000), but most people do not know that he didn't beat a complete
me. With only one hand, believe me, even though I was a world
champion, I was an incomplete fighter, and Shane figured me out.
But this time is going to be different - I will use my combinations,
my speed and my power to beat him. Since our first bout, I have
won my sixth world title in a fifth weight class and have knocked
out 4 of my last 5 opponents, including the favored Fernando
Vargas. This fight is important to seal my legacy in boxing,
so Shane, you better be ready - because this time you're mine!

This is "Sugar" Shane Mosley letting you know that,
for me, this fight is all about REDEMPTION. When I win, I'll
be back on top where I belong. Why am I so confident? Cuz I'm
the guy Oscar De La Hoya can't beat. He can't handle my strength.
When we fought the first time I knew when we touched gloves that
I was the stronger fighter, and I still am. As for my trademark
speed, I only have one thing to say, "Oscar, your hands
can't hit what your eyes can't see." I'm 2-0 against De
La Hoya, having beat him in both the amateurs and pro's, and
on September 13th, it'll be 3-0. As for Oscar being a "new
and improved" fighter - he's still the same to me!

Source: HBO PPV

Interview:
UFC Veteran DIN THOMAS!

by: Keith Mills

UFC
vet Din Thomas most recently fought and won in the UFC against
Matt Serra in February 28th where he won a split decision. Since
then he beat Steve Berger in AFC 4 on July 19th by unanimous
decision. As a member of the American Top Team he appeared at
the AFC 5 show this past week to watch and give his support.

KM:
I missed AFC 4 where you fought Steve Berger. I know you won
but how do you think you did? DT: I did allright. I got a chance
to fight a good fighter and try to show off my skills. He was
willing to fight the type of fight I wanted and I got a chance
to show off my skills. That’s all it was about.

KM:
For those of us who didn’t see it can you describe it? DT:
It went good. For me it was the kind of a fight where it was
two veterans out there and it showed. We weren’t going all
wild, we were trying to figure each other out. I figured him
out by the second round and kind of exploded. I was able to take
over. It felt good because I know he is a good fighter and to
do that to a good fighter, you’re proud of yourself for
that.

KM:
How do you look at that fight as far as your career as a whole?
Was it a stepping stone to get back in the UFC? DT: Yeah, definitely.
The way things are going with so many Lightweights out there
you can’t afford to lose and make mistakes. When you take
a fight you have to make sure you are ready and you gotta win.
You gotta win in good fashion because if you don’t win in
good fashion it’s almost like losing.

KM:
As far as the UFC and the 155 belt…I don’t know if
‘retiring’ it or ‘putting it on hold’ for
right now is the best term…they aren’t emphasizing
the 155 division because they don’t have enough shows to
go deep into five weight classes. How do you being a 155 fighter
feel? DT: Whatever they do is cool; it’s their show as long
as they don’t get mad at me for still trying to work. I
can’t wait around for them to figure out what they want
to do with the belt or what they want to do with the Lightweight
division. I’m just going to work and when they are ready
for me and call me up I’ll be there.

KM:
What is next for you? DT: Apparently King Of The Cage. They are
trying to come down to Miami so if they come down they have my
number.

KM:
Who would you want to fight in King Of The Cage? DT: Whoever.
They have a lot of good guys over there at 155.

KM:
Is this certain enough to push in public? How confident are you
in KOTC coming to FL or you getting in KOTC? DT: It’s like
this…I don’t know what the probability is of them coming
but if they do come I’m in 100%. I just want to fight, that’s
what it is about. I’m not out there to really hurt people
or get mad at guys or hold grudges against the fighters. I don’t
care, I just want to fight MMA.

KM:
American Top Team has a couple other 155s you obviously wouldn’t
fight against with Aurelio and Franca especially. Does that ever
seem like it stalls your career? DT: No, not at all. There are
enough shows out there and enough places to go fight. Japan has
Shooto and some other shows coming up the Lightweights can get
into. I tell you right now for everybody out there, watch out
for our 155 division at ATT because you have some sleepers locked
up in a cage and we’re throwing meat to them right now.
We got a coupe 155s right now that are going to come out and
start ripping people’s heads off.

KM:
Anybody besides Aurelio and Diniz I should be keeping an eye
out for? DT: We got two more. I don’t know if I should say
their name but you’ll see them. You’ll see them and
when they come out it will be something serious.

KM:
Who do you think it would take you to fight to get you back in
the attention of the fans? DT: Sometimes the fans are so fickle
I don’t really fight for the fans sometimes. Sometimes it’s
kind of personal. On a personal level as far as testing myself
I think this guy Hansen from Norway that just beat Gomi and put
on an excellent fight…I think somebody like that would be
good for me personally. For the fans from their point of view
I think (Duane) ‘Bang’ Ludwig would be a good fight
because he is an excellent fighter.

KM:
You know how much I respect Berger but you also know people are
going to say ‘it was Berger’s first at 155, not a real
win’. DT: That’s cool. I’m not really into calling
people out. I show up an everybody is the same fighter, they
just have different faces. Everybody is good, everybody does
jiu-jitsu, wrestles, punches, and kicks. I’m just going
to try to go out there and do it better than them. If I don’t
then I’ll come back next time and do it.

KM:
As far as your website last I heard you were going to update
it with more videos. What are the plans for your website now?
DT: Actually I’m updating my highlight reel, the Din Thomas
2003. I’m working on that and it should be done in a couple
weeks. And I’m going to get some more videos just because
you reminded me. I got you back.

KM:
Anything else to get across to the fans? DT: I got another website
coming out called sneakfreaks.com coming out in a couple days.

KM:
What is Sneak Freaks going to be about? DT: Just got to see it.

KM:
Sponsors… DT: American Top Team. All my guys at American
Top Team, my boxing coach Howard Davis, Marcello, Conan, Liborio,
all my guys I train with and my man Alex Davis. It’s real
man, we are going to do big things.

Stay
tuned as we track down the rumors of KOTC coming to Florida and
Din getting his shot.

Source: ADCC

Tito
Ortiz on Carson Daly Show, ticket info by: Josh Hedges

Tito Ortiz is headed to NBC's 'Last Call with Carson Daly' on
September 16. The show tapes that Tuesday at 7:00pm at 30 Rockefeller
Center. Tickets are free but on a first come first serve basis.
To reserve your tickets simply visit Last Call's link on www.1iota.com
and register for the correct date. We will follow up with an
email invitation. You must be at least 16 years of age to be
in our audience. Thanks and we look forward to seeing you at
the show!

Source: ADCC

Ryan
Gracie Spotted in NYC!

by: Luca Atalla

Legendary
MMA fighter Renzo Gracie gave us his statement about what's happening
in NYC: 'Things are getting hectic! My brother Ryan arrived in
town today!'

But
Renzo is not joking when he says things are getting kind of hectic.
Ryan Gracie is in the US to train while he awaits confirmation
of his place in

Pride Bushido, the event that will be held in Saitama Super Arena,
Japan, next

October 5th. And his presence in city means danger:

'Now
it's time to everyone to be careful in training, and not get
hurt,' advices Renzo. 'Ryan is huge, weighting 205 pounds. He
seems powerful as always and, with the possibility of fighting
getting bigger, of course he's tense. This equation equals trouble.'

The
sparring session at Renzo's Camp in New York is so hot right
now that Renzo

himself, Daniel, Rodrigo and Ryan are in full speed working on
their conditioning.

They are waiting for more Gracies to arrive there soon, although
no on confirms who among them will fight in Pride Bushido and
against who. Be on the lookout for more accurate information
in the beginning of next week.

Source: ADCC

BRIGGS
SIGNS K-1 CONTRACT...MORE BOXERS TO FOLLOW?

MMAWeekly's
Tim Spagnola broke the news on the Soundoff Forum yesterday,
as he reported that Shannon Briggs will be the latest boxer to
join K-1.

The
big news a month ago was when Mike Tyson signed the dotted line
to fight in K-1 and now it looks as though some high profile
boxers will be on the hit list in K-1.

So
far the organization has two legit heavyweight boxers signed
with the company (we can't count Butterbean), and it looks like
more boxers are to follow.

Spagnola
was told by one insider that it appears the next high profile
boxer to be courted by K-1 is none other than Top 10 Heavyweight
fighter David Tua. It was also told to MMAWeekly that Francois
Botha could be another fighter courted by K-1.

Back
to Briggs for a moment. He has made it perfectly clear that he
wants a shot at Mike Tyson. He feels he will get his opportunity
in K-1 if he can't get it in boxing. Briggs will be appearing
with Carson Daily tonight.

Source: MMA Weekly

PAT
SMITH READY TO RETURN TO MMA

Probably best remembered for the beat down that he layed on Scott
Morris at UFC 2, Pat Smith is one of those original UFC fighters
that everyone is still wondering, “Where is he now?”
Well, after a four year hiatus, he has resurfaced in Denver.

According
to Smith, he hasn’t fought mixed martial arts since the
third iteration of the Bas Rutten Invitational back in 1999,
but he’s looking to return to the sport as soon as next
month. He was actually ready to accept the fight with Ron Waterman
as a replacement, but his management and the IFC couldn’t
reach an agreement on the necessary dollar amount.

So
now, Pat is looking at possibly making a return to the ring in
the Ring of Fire promoted by Colorado promoter Sven “Boogie”
Bean. When asked when we’d see him again, Smith said, “Next
month. We’ve got a bunch of offers... UCC, IFC... and then
Sven. Sven’s throwing an event, he wants me to tie up with
this guy from K-1 next month. So, we’ve got a lot of options.”

But
who does Smith really want to mix it up with? “Bob Sapp.
That’s who I want to tie up with,” said Smith. When
asked how he’d fare against a guy like Sapp. According to
Smith, “Sapp doesn’t know how to kick, he doesn’t
know how to punch. He’s got big, heavy legs. A lot of those
guys stand right in front of him and let him whale on ‘em.
I won’t do that man, I’ll work him. I’ll work
him. I guarantee I’ll knock him out.”

By
his own account, Smith is a renewed fighter that has been refining
his skills, working the ground game, and upping his level of
conditioning. He definitely looked good, reportedly tipping the
scales at about 250 pounds and only 8% body fat. If his skills
have improved as much as his physical condition, Smith just might
have another go around in him. Looks like the MMA world will
get to see the return of Pat Smith next month in either the IFC,
TKO or K-1.

Source: MMA Weekly

Training
in the Takada Dojo

This has Pro-Wrestling written all over it.

Takada
Dojo has assigned a heavy task to Daijiro Matsui, Norihisa Yamamoto
and Yusuke Imamura. These three will have to fight to see who
will be able to appear in the October 5th PRIDE Bushido. The
matches will be held in Takada Dojo. The first match, between
Yamamoto and Imamura, was held on August 30th.

Nobuhiko Takada, leader of Takada Dojo explains, "It's very
simple. Who is the strongest? Who is in the best condition? They
fight for one ticket to Bushido." It's hard to pick a winner
just by looking at the record and their current training. "PRIDE
is a top-quality product and that's all we want to sell."
Takada continued, "This is a big point in their lives. If
they are just here to have fun, I'd rather they go home. This
is an opportunity for them to show everyone that they want to
be on top. I want them to show their hearts to the fans"

Kazushi
Sakuraba explained the rules to the fighters. Basically, the
fights would be held under PRIDE rules but striking should be
at about 50% and kicking an opponent on all fours is forbidden.
First round is 10 minutes and the second round is 5 minutes with
no decision.

Yamamoto
and Imamura step on the mat. Minoru Toyonaga serves as the referee,
with Takada, Sakuraba and the next-to-fight Matsui watching on.

Both
fighters kept their usual fighting styles. Imamura went for a
tackle and Yamamoto came out striking. Both fighters were nervous
but there was big movement at the 5-minute mark. Evading Imamura's
tackle, Yamamoto gained top position. He then continued to strike
Imamura for about 3 minutes, causing Imamura's nose to bleed.

Yamamoto
clearly has the longer career, once being an ace in RINGS. He's
got to win here in order to have a shot at climbing to the top
again. As he rained down punches on his teammate, it was clear
that Yamamoto had his eye on the prize.

The
dojo was silent except for the breathing of the 2 fighters. Imamura
got an arm-bar from the bottom on Yamamoto but couldn't finish
with it. Yamamoto again took the lead in the 2nd round. Imamura
came in for the clinch. Yamamoto responded with a knee, gaining
top position and striking again, this time with kicks to Imamura.

Anytime
that the fighters slowed down, Takada's voice could be heard
"Action! You've got to move", "Imamura, work to
finish or he's going to beat you", "Yamamoto, go for
the finish." Looking at his face, it was clearly difficult
for Takada. If he could, he would have all his students win and
all of them fight in Bushido but that's not possible.

The
fight ended with Yamamoto in the lead. Takada said that whoever
clears this hurdle would [be prepared for the] next hard hurdle
of Bushido. Additionally, he plans to continue this style of
dojo-competition if it brings out their true strengths.

Sakuraba
felt that it was a difficult situation for the fighters. "It's
not the same as training. Regular training is hard to do if someone
is watching you all the time."

Matsui,
who is scheduled to fight next, would only give an evasive "no
comment."

They
must beat their training partners until blood flows. They have
to beat down their friends so that they can rise to the top.
This is unusual for Takada Dojo members but is probably a necessary
measure if Japanese fighters want to make their comeback in PRIDE.
And if that's what it takes…Takada will stir things up.

Norihisa
Yamamoto: It's just a regular day for me. This time it is public
but this is how we practice. I always train with him so it wasn't
very difficult. He's got a wrestling backbone but I'm better
overall. I was calm and able to think the entire time. There's
always nervousness in practice, though, so I guess in that sense
I was nervous. Fighting in the ring and fighting in the dojo
is different. The mat here is more slippery. You've got to be
careful when you move to attack because you might slip. I think
this match was a success.

Yusuke
Imamura: I'm tired. That was difficult. I was nervous and all
I could think of was avoiding strikes and going for takedowns.
(Asked about his fight with Matsui) I'll need to move more than
I did this time. I'll fight harder and I will be the one that
fights in Bushido.

Source: Pride

Sherdog's
Fan's Top Ten

Be
Heard - Vote for MMA's Top Ten Fighters

Tired
of wondering why promoters use certain fighters when so many
more deserving ones sit on the sidelines, waiting tables to make
ends meet? Make your voice heard! Cast your votes for the MMA
top ten.

Best
of all, it's totally free!

Pick
the top ten fighters in each weight class as well as the "pound
for pound," and show the promoters who's the best. Here's
all you need to know:

There
is no fee or hidden cost. It's completely free!

Votes
are 100% private. No one will ever see your votes.

The
list is tallied once a month, at 12:01 am on the 1st of each
month.

You
may change, edit, update, and rearrange your votes as often as
you like during the month. Take your time, do it right.

Use
your Expert Challenge login to vote. If you don't have a login,
it takes one minute to get one, and is totally free.

Simply Login to the Expert Challenge and click on "Vote
in this Month's MMA Top Ten" at the top. Happy voting!

www.sherdog.com

Source: Sherdog

K-1
Final Elimination October 11, USA PPV

K-1
"Final Elimination" hits Osaka, Japan on Saturday,
October 11th and televised on USA PPV with an all-star lineup.

Ernesto
Hoost

Jerome
LeBanner

Peter
Aerts

Remy
Bonjasky

Bob
Sapp

Ray
Sefo

Carter
Williams

Francisco
Filho

and others are all slated to compete.

Source: Sherdog

Renato
Babalú: The Ruas's warrior night

By André Araújo

Last
Saturday to Renato Babalú really could have been seen
into a movie theater's screen. With the face completely changed
due the punches he had received during the three bouts he did
at International Fighting Championship, held in Denver (CO),
the Ruas Vale Tudo fighter got the hardest bracket in the tournament
and brought home the light heavyweight belt. With an extraordinary
strength, he faced the last opponent (Jeremy Horn) with a huge
black eye injury. Even those marks in his face could erase his
smile. Babalú celebrated the night of victory and dedicated
the title to his recently dead brother. Babalú, as he
said, was much more "heart" than the opponents. Check
out the following interview.

Talk
about your fights in IFC. Which one was the hardest opponent
for you?

The
first fight is always the hardest one, pretty much because of
the adrenaline. In fact, all the fights I did were hard. The
first one, Trevor Prangley was the strong one, but all of them
gave me a hard time. I haven't seen any fight of him. In fact,
I got the tape with his fights one day before the bout. I decided
not to watch it. I had to study his game on the fight and once
I stepped inside the ring I though: "I will kick his ass."
I was confident and I punch standing and on the ground. He also
kicked me on the face, he was fresh, but he gave me a hard time.

And
about Shogun? You guys did the semifinals...

Yes.
Shogun has such great ground skills. He spins and moves all the
time. When the opponent is good on the feet, the deal is taking
him to the ground, but with Shogun is different. He knows ground
technique. I was better, besides we have the same ground skill
level. In fact I had received a tip from Marinho. He told me
to attack his half guard and then try to sweep him. I did it
and I submitted him with a guillotine choke. My heart was bigger
than his. The night was mine.

And
about your last fight against Jeremy Horn?

Jeremy
did two good fights and submitted one and won by TKO the other.
He was more fresh than me. His ground technique is really offensive,
but I didn't care. I began to strike... it was like the first
fight of the night. Really active. Kicks on the face, triangle
chokes... he tried to take advantage of my huge black eye, but
I defended my right side.

The
Horn's managers said the referee ended the fight before the right
time and you were in a hard time with the triangle choke Horn
was applying in Babalú. What do you say about it?

I
was defending the triangle attempt. In fact he was the one who
had a hard time with me. About this thing they said the referee
ended the fight before the right time, I guess it was not intentional.
In boxe, somebody warns the referee before the fight ends. I
didn't even know about this complaining.

Some
fight web sites compared you to the Hollywood hero Rocky Balboa,
due your huge black eye. Who was responsible for that?

Every
fighter had his cote of contribution in my black closed eye.
During the first one, Trevor punched me first. After that came
Shogun and he opened my eyelid with a punch. My eye was getting
worse and during the intermission my coach Beto Leitão
use a "super glue" to fix my injury. I guess because
the blood didn't have how to leak, my face took like I had a
baseball ball growing up in my eye. It still hurts and due the
plane trip, it looks worse now. I had too much strength and I
believed it until the end. It was a Rocky Balboa thing anyway.
It was amazing for me and for my team. We are back on the top!

And
what is thing about the "super glue" use?

This
is a way that you have to use sometimes... In this kind of tournament,
there are too much things that matters. There is my whole training,
my coach team, my family and of course the money. To stop the
bleeding, I may use saliva and even a bubble gum.

Its
true you have been living with your grandmother? She is the one
who takes care of you?

Yeah.
I have been living with her since May. She supports me and takes
care of me. When I arrived with this black eye, she was shocked...
she said: "Oh my dear god!!! What has happened with my boy!"

You
dedicated this victory to your brother, who has recently passed
away...

His
name is Luis Fernando and he was 30. He died in July by a lung
infection. I dedicated my other victory in Natal (Brazil's Northeast)
but it was not enough. I remember the day before he asked me
to win a international fight. After he died, this is my new life
goal. It is what keeps me fighting.

Tell
me about you fight evolution... you started as a Muay Thai fighter
and became a Wrestler?

It
was a natural process... In fact, I didn't jump from Muay Thai
to Wrestling... I was a Luta-Livre fighter before became a Wrestler.
The MMA came to me in Rio when I used to train with Box Thai
team.

When
are we gonna have a chance to see you fighting again? There are
some rumors you would fight at Meca against Shogun's brother
(Murilo Ninja)...

Now
I will have few vacations to recover myself..., like two weeks
and than I will start my training again. About those rumors,
Its not true. They are fooling around. Rudimar (Meca's promoter)
never talked to me about it.

And
do you still have plans about Wrestling competition?

I
had to choose between IFC and the last Pan-American games in
Santo Domingo. I also won the trials to the Pan-American, but
I decided not to go. In January, the Olympic trials will start
and around middle December I will quit MMA for a while. That
will be my last chance to go to the Olympic games.

Source: Tatame

9/11/03

Quote
of the Day

"I not only use all the brains that I have, but all I can
borrow."

Woodrow Wilson

More
Classes at Academia Casca Grossa de Jiu-Jitsu!

Starting in October, Academia Casca Grossa de Jiu-Jitsu (the
Relson Gracie Aiea Academy) will be adding additional classes
to our schedule.

The
new classes will be held on Wednesdays

from 8:00 - 10:00 PM (instructional mixed class)

and

Sundays from 3:00-5:00 pm

From 3:00-4:00 pm, due to popular demand,

there will be a dedicated kid's class!

From 3:00-5:00 pm, there will be open mats

for the Academia Casca Grossa de Jiu-Jitsu students.

Check
out http://www.onzuka.com/cgjj.html for more information!

NAGA
HAWAIIAN STATE GRAPPLING CHAMPIONSHIP This Weekend!

Farrington
High School Gym

Doors open at 10:00 AM

Tournament starts at 11:00 AM

Fees:

DAY OF THE EVENT = $65 all events, $10 Spectator (No exceptions)
Kids under 5 yrs are free!

Email
us and we can send you
a Microsoft word registration form or go to:

http://nagafighter.semkhor.com/page.asp?content_id=3016

Rule's
meeting on Thursday at 7:30 pm at Player's Sports Bar Alakea.

10:00 AM

DOORS OPEN to general public (Registration & Weigh-in begins
and lasts all day)

Tentative Tournament Schedule

11:00 AM to 4 PM

OPENING CEREMONIES (National Anthem, NAGA Rules) 10:30

NO-GI
GRAPPLING DIVISIONS Begin at 11AM (Rings 1 through 3)

1.
Kids, Youth, Women & Senior Grappling Divisions

2.
Men’s Beginner Grappling Divisions (Under 1 year experience)

3.
Men’s Intermediate Grappling Divisions (1 to 2 years experience)

4.
Men’s Advanced Grappling Divisions (2+ years experience)

GI
GRAPPLING DIVISIONS: Begin at 11AM (Ring #4)

5.
Men’s Purple Belt & Above Gi Divisions

6.
Men’s Blue Belt Gi Divisions

7.
Men’s White Belt Gi Divisions, Women, Juniors & Master
Gi Competition

NO
GI FINALS:

8.
Award Championship Belts

AFC
4!!

Coming October 18, 2003

RECRUITING
FIGHTERS!!

Spots
are limited and will be on a first come first serve basis...Check
out

WWW.AFCHAWAII.COM

Call 306-9326

for more information

Come and see all the action happening on

Saturday,
October 18, 2003

Source:
LINEBRED, LLC

Brazilian
Portuguese Classes Start Soon!

Farrington Community School for Adults is offering conversational
Brazilian

Portuguese language classes, once a week, beginning Saturday,
September 20, 2003 for

the end of Summer term.

Instructor-Sandy
Tsukiyama de Oliveira

(DOE teacher, member-Hawaii Interpreters & Translators Assn.,
Leader,

vocalist-Mistura Brazilian Jazz Band)

The
Brazilian Portuguese program at FCSA has been ongoing for over
3 years.

Teaching
materials-

Photocopied pages from the textbook, Fala Brasil!

Purchase of two additional books, 501 Portuguese Verbs, and Portuguese
Verbs &

Essentials is recommended. Both available at Borders Books &
Music. Also

available from instructor, casssette tapes of textbook dialogues
& drills.

Please
call FCSA for details on registration & fees. 832-3595.

Located on the campus of Farrington High School, in the heart
of beautiful,

central Kalihi, corner N. King & Kalihi Sts.

Latest
Official PANCRASE Rankings (as of 9/5/2003)

[Open-weight]

the 10th Open-weight K.O.P. Josh Barnett (U.S.A./NJPW) *NEW!

#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./freelance)

#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 KEI 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) *IN!

#3 Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism) *down from #2

#4 Ricardo Almeida (U.S.A./Renzo Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy) *IN!

#5 Kazuo Misaki (Pancrase GRABAKA) *down from #3

#6 Chris Lytle (U.S.A./Ring Sports Palmers Gym) *down from #4

#7 Hidehiko Hasegawa (SK Absolute) *down from #5

#8 Shonie Carter (U.S.A./AIKI Training Hall) *down from #6

#9 Kosei Kubota (PANCRASEism) *down from #7

#10 Eiji Ishikawa (Pancrase GRABAKA) *down from #8

[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 (RJW/CENTRAL)

#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

Dave
Strasser - UFC Veteran (Part 2)

Dave
Strasser may be a new name to the fans of the UFC but as he explained
before his UFC debut against Romi Aram he has been fighting MMA
since 1996. You’d have to look back over two years to find
his last loss and it was to current KOTC Welterweight Champion
Ronald Jhun. Want to see his second most recent loss? Go back
to November of 1999!

Later
in September Strasser takes on Karo Parisyan in UFC 44 in Las
Vegas, NV.

KM:
I missed your last fight, the debut in the UFC against Romi Aram
(UFC 42 4/25/03). Didn’t even see it yet. How would you
describe that fight against Romi? DS: When I was in it I felt
good. We had a gameplan and I think I stuck to it pretty well.
The way I fight is a little bit different because I knew he was
a very strong wrestler, very powerful. It seemed like when he
tied people up and took them down he was able to control them
very well off the top so our plan was not to get tied up and
taken down. I think I did a little more back-peddling trying
to stay up and use my boxing. I felt good right after the fight,
I felt that I did what we planned on. When I watched the tape
myself I though ‘man, I don’t fight that way’
and then somebody had to remind me this was the way we planned
on fighting, how we wanted to do it. It made more sense so I
felt a little better like the second or third time I watched
it. It was kind of a good fight in the sense I was able to show
not only I’m a tough guy but I do have skill off the bottom
and I do have skill on the top, I have good standup defense and
offense. If you win with one punch or a quick submission there
are a lot of questions unanswered. In that sense I think it was
a good form, that I know what I’m doing and not just some
one-hit wonder kind of guy.

KM:
We were talking during the previews that you have experience
going back years but this was your UFC debut. Is there any sense
of justification? How do you fell about that now? DS: When you
talk about Mid-West fighters people don’t talk about me.
I tend to get lost in the shuffle because there are a lot of
good fighters out of the Mid-West. I think that was good justification
to show that ‘hey, this guy knows what he is doing, he’s
well-rounded, well-conditioned, he knows his stand-up, his ground,
everything’. I think that gave a little more justification
to us because everybody talks about Iowa has great wrestlers
or Illinois and you never even hear Wisconsin has good wrestlers.
I think the state of Wisconsin gets overpassed. I brought some
good news towards it and hopefully my school which is growing.
We are getting better and better fighters here.

KM:
I was wondering what the impact on your gym would be. DS: Actually
more and more people are recognizing me like around the area.
For the longest time our gym has not been really big. We came
in here without a lot of credentials and I fought in Japan and
the US all over the place but it’s like ‘I’ve
never seen you on pay-per-view’. I’ve never said I’m
affiliated with a Gracie or affiliated with this guy, it’s
always been Dave Strasser’s Freestyle Academy. I think being
in the UFC justifies all the hard years and training building
up like ‘hey, these guys are doing something right, they
know what they are doing, that it is a real school and not just
a bunch of guys that get together in a garage and learn off a
videotape, that they know what they are doing’. I guess
it’s like someone who goes to school for three and a half
years but doesn’t get a diploma, well they are not a college
graduate. Often they go for that last semester or couple credits
and they get that degree all of a sudden ‘oh, they are smart
because they are a college graduate’. It’s a piece
of paper. I knew what I was doing for the longest time but it
justifies what I’m doing, shows I know what I’m doing.

KM:
As far as this next one against Karo Parisyan what are your thoughts?
DS: I think he’s a really tough guy. I think he’s another
guy that kind of got lost in the shuffle. Not many people heard
of him or saw him but I think he’s a super fighter. I think
he’s very talented and he’s a young guy too, another
young guy. I think it’s a good opportunity for both of us
to show what we know. A lot of people are like ‘I’ve
never heard of these guys so it’s not going to be a good
fight’. Some of the best fights happen between guys you
have never heard of because there is so much talent out there.
These fights are good not only to further their career but also
for the UFC because you bring in new blood and guys are excited
about it, willing to put it out there and fight for everything.
I think those are the fights of the night. I think that Crunkilton
and Franca was one of the best fights there; two guys first time
up on that big of a stage and they let it all lay out. I thought
it was a super fight and both of them showed a lot of heart and
technique and charisma and it shows two new guys out there...it’s
worlds apart.

KM:
You know I agree. I’ve only seen Karo once in King Of The
Cage and I thought that was the fight of the night between him
and Fernando Vasconcelos (KOTC 22 3/23/03). Did you get a chance
to see that tape? DS: Actually I haven’t. I’m trying
to track that tape down but I heard he did very well. I heard
great things about both those guys. A lot of times when you hear
great things and never see them they are willing to put it all
out on the line.

KM:
I thought it was very exciting, mostly grappling work with some
striking, but myself…I’m interested to see Karo in
a position where he is defending from or trying a striking based
strategy. He impressed me with his ground skills greatly but
I’ve only seen that one fight. What did you see so far?
DS: I actually fought on the card he fought Sean Sherk. He fought
Sean Sherk twice and I fought Chris Lytle (Reality Submission
Fighting 3/30/01). I was impressed with him; he was very aggressive,
exciting style stand-up. He’s one of those guys that kind
of goes for the homeruns. He really comes at you which I really
think is great.

KM:
That is exactly what I haven’t had a chance to see yet.
Now that you are returning, that you are not a rookie, are you
feeling any less nervous or feeling any different now? DS: Some
of me knows what is going to happen as far as when you get to
the weigh-ins and the camera work so I kind of know that and
will be ok with that. You wonder if there is a little more pressure
because you have been in there before and you gotta show something
else, so it that sense there is a little more pressure but I
think that type of pressure is good. You got to work hard and
come in better. I know this guy, it’s his first time so
he is really going to be excited to make a good show so I think
it’s going to be a good fight. I think that he will bring
it to me or I will have to bring it to him. I can’t just
rest and say I’ve been here before you have to let me win,
I’m going to have to earn that victory. A little more pressure
but I think it’s good pressure.

KM:
I’m a little concerned here it is you have three fighters
at AFC and then your fight in the UFC and your own show in October,
I was wondering if any of this is going to distract you from
your training for the UFC. Is any of this having any effect on
your training for the UFC? DS: No, actually it’s kind of
nice because I’ve been able to train with these guys and
get them in top shape when I’m kind of peaking right now.
I know Keith and Justin Wisniewski will be down there to get
a light workout in, the lifting and running and all that type
of stuff. Come back Saturday…when there are a bunch of our
guys getting ready for fights I think it’s a little bit
easier because everybody wants to get better and everybody does
get better. In that sense once they are better they help me get
better too. Last time I think I was the only guy around that
time that had a fight coming up so the guys I was training with,
even though they are in good shape they weren’t really trying
to peak and weren’t getting better in some ways. Some of
the guys that want to put on a good show October 18th are going
to be working out hard. It’s always easier when guys are
coming in with a purpose. If they come in saying ‘I don’t
have a fight, why do I have to do this conditioning’ it’s
easy for one bad apple to spoil the bunch. Everybody here has
the same type of pressure ‘I got to look good for September
5th’ or ‘I have to look good for September 26th’
or ‘October 18th’ or whatever is coming down the road.

KM:
Anything else to get across as far as your fight in the next
UFC? DS: It’s an opportunity I really am happy for. Again,
I’ve shown a lot and I really want to show more, that I
can improve on something.

Watch
Strasser improve on his UFC debut by catching UFC 44 live or
on pay-per-view on September 26th.

Source:
ADCC

A
Few Stories, A Few Questions for Everyone

One
fighter says it’s the anticipation that gets him. Another
says it’s the pressure, the strain on trying to balance
a life at home. Another says it’s the critics, the Underground
Forum that gets under his skin.

In
Part Three, Frank Shamrock, Mark Coleman, Randy Couture, Jens
Pulver, Carlos Newton and a host of other colorful MMA personalities
divulge the best and worst things that come with being mixed
martial artists.

I
try to ask every fighter I interview, What is the best thing
about being a mixed martial artist? What do you love the most
about fighting?

“The
best thing,” said MMA legend Frank Shamrock, “is when
I feel that [opponent] mentally or physically give up. I get
such a rush of confidence and closure and energy because I know
if I take one more step forward, I’m gonna break him.”

Rising
light heavyweight Rich Franklin said it’s the thrill of
victory: “After you win, when you’re standing there
and your hands are in the air. It’s unlike any other sport
because you’re not on a team, you’re not sharing your
victory with four other guys or 10 other guys. You’re there
and your hands are in the air, and the other guy’s are not.
Even though fighting is a team sport, because I have team and
they’re here to help me everyday, when it comes down to
it, you’re the one in the ring. You’re the one that
sweat. You’re the one that bled. You’re the one that
earned the victory.”

Heavy-handed
middleweight Benji Radach said it’s not just about the feeling
after; it’s the whole experience. “The traveling and
everything is awesome,” he said, “but the feeling I
get beforehand … I’m freaking out the whole day. I’m
nervous, I’m thinking about the fight all the time. You
always have the fight above your hand and on your back -- for
months. You go over the fight 30,000 times in your head. Then
you go to the fight, you’re done and it’s all gone.
The wait is gone, and you’ve won … that’s the
best feeling.”

“The
best thing is overcoming your fear,” said UFC veteran Gil
Castillo. “It’s something that’s in every guy’s
head -- confrontation and combat. If you can overcome that and
work through it …. I think Vince Lombardi said it best:
Man’s finest hour is when he’s exhausted in victory
on the playing field.”

It’s
the strategy and mental wars that enrapture Randy Couture. “The
best thing for me,” he said not long after he picked apart
Chuck Liddell, “is the one-on-one technical and practical
nature of the sport. It’s very physical and it’s very
tactical, and that’s what I loved about wrestling and one
of the things that I think attracted me to wrestling for all
those years. Basically, fighting is an extension of that wrestling
spirit that I bring to the fight anyway. And that’s what
I really like about it is the fact that this guy has a bunch
of strengths and weaknesses and then you’ve got strengths
and weaknesses that you bring to this. Those styles are what
makes the fight game really interesting to me.”

“There’s
a certain amount of certainty, singularity,” says former
UFC middleweight titleholder Dave Menne. Certain honesty about
it. Not to glorify it, but it’s something real.”

Said
UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia: “The best thing about
it is that you’re living a dream. I’m living what I
want to do everyday. I’m not getting up and doing the nine-to-five
job that I was doing for five or six years and being miserable
doing it. I get up and I’m happy about what I’m doing.
I get up and do what I want to do. There’s nothing greater
than being in the gym all day, then coming home and eating and
taking a nap, and getting up and going to the gym again. You
know, just having fun doing what you’re doing, living a
dream. Not everyone can do that; not everyone can say they’ve
done that.”

After
I ask about the best thing, I ask about the worst.

“The
worst is the lack of respect we get from the overall community,”
said Jens Pulver. “To work day in and day out as hard as
you possibly can and to give your blood, sweat, and tears, and
have people negate what you do, and to simplify it down to just
subs and trying to punch people.”

“Not
being understood,” said Carlos Newton in agreement with
Pulver.

“You
know what it is,” said Matt Serra, as he finished up his
final days of training camp before defeating Kelly Dullanty,
“you just give up some stuff. Whether it be a favorite food
or just simple things. But I’ll tell you right now, whatever
you sacrifice, it’s ten times better after your fight.”

Frank
Trigg said it’s the critics. “Dealing with the Underground,
dealing with the Internet junkies,” said the top five welterweight
on the worst thing about fighting. “What upsets me is you
have guys who have never competed in anything ever in their lives,
who are trying to tell you whether you’re good or not. It
wouldn’t be so bad if they had the guts to say it to your
face. What they do is they want to challenge you on the Internet,
when they’re 5000 miles away from you. It’s been one
of the toughest things to deal with.”

The
anticipation is the worst for Rich Franklin. “That sucks,”
he told me in an interview before he beat Evan Tanner. “You
line up fights and you’re just sitting there waiting for
the fight to come. You train on a daily basis [and] it stays
out of your mind, but when you’re fighting somebody good
you can’t help but think about it. And you think about it
quite a bit. My whole life revolves around what I do. Fighting
dictates every aspect of my life, so you’re constantly thinking
about it.”

“I
don’t know if there is a worst thing,” said Tim Sylvia,
the only fighter to ever give me that answer.

“The
training, the cardio most certainly,” said Frank Shamrock.
“That and the public perception. People think we’re
animals. Quite the opposite is true.”

Din
Thomas said it’s the “criticism you get from other
people who don’t understand fighting.”

Mark
Coleman said it’s the stress. “Just the pressure,”
he said. “Just the stress that it puts you under. For me
personally, I do take it very seriously and it almost seems like
every fight becomes more important and more pressurized. It’ll
take its toll on a marriage, and it’s really hard to balance
out a family life and a fight life.

Said
David Loiseau, who faces Jorge Rivera at UFC 44: “Your future
as a fighter is never certain. You never know what can happen.
Especially in this sport, injuries come left and right. What
if [a fight organization] doesn’t want you anymore? What
are you left with? To survive, you have to win.”

UFC
14 was in July 1997. It was the second UFC I attended live and
the second time I had traveled the long way, via car, to Birmingham,
Alabama. In one of the opening bouts of the night, local martial
artist Donnie Chappell was set to try his hand at “ultimate
fighting,” as a Birmingham newspaper reported at the time.

So
I watched with interest as Chappell, who didn’t appear especially
athletic, was welcomed into the Octagon with a warm ovation from
the Alabama faithful. I remember turning to a friend and saying
something like, “Watch this. The local guys always get smashed.”

Chappell,
brave as he was for getting in there, followed suit. He was choked
in about a minute by a brash young opponent named Anthony Fryklund.
As Chappell tapped out in submission, his adversary stood and
brazenly stepped on his chest. A wild scene followed as John
McCarthy raced into the ring and pinned the culprit against the
fence. Chappell, despite just losing in dominating fashion, eyed
his opponent menacingly as if a second bout would have somehow
concluded differently. (Trust me, it would have only ended quicker.)

The
tension eventually cooled and Anthony Fryklund apologized, though
I don’t think Chappell accepted. Five years later I asked
Fryklund -- now “Tony” Fryklund and a member of Miletich
Fighting Systems -- why he had stepped on Chappell’s chest
that night in Birmingham. His answer personifies the early days
of the sport, when enthusiasts and fighters alike, hungry for
knowledge, used any means necessary to further their development:

“Visualization
is a huge key as far as training,” he said, about a week
before he returned to the UFC and beat Rodrigo Ruas. “Having
no one to train with before, I had two tapes. I had the World
Combat Championship and the Extreme Fighting with Kevin Jackson.
Those were the only two ultimate fighting tapes I had, and I
watched them over and over and over. And the only grappling that
I watched was Renzo Gracie and Ben Spijkers.

“A
lot of people think I stepped on Chappell’s head, which
I didn’t. I walked on his chest, and it was a firm step,
but I didn’t pick my knee up and stomp him. If you’ve
seen the Ben Spijkers-Renzo Gracie tape, [Gracie steps on Spijkers
chest after the fight]. I would wake up and go to sleep watching
it. I didn’t know grappling, so I just kept watching that
tape.

“I
had never been in that atmosphere before. When the ref stopped
the fight, I was still in fight-mode. All those things coming
out and the adrenaline … [stepping on Chappell’s chest,
just like Renzo Grace] was my reaction. I sat back and I said,
‘I did exactly what I saw on that tape! I can’t believe
I just did that in front of everyone!’ That’s how green
I was.”

Source:
Maxfighting

WHY
ROYCE GRACIE WILL NOT BE IN THE UFC ANYTIME SOON

There has been plenty of speculation about the future of Royce
Gracie. Will he return to the UFC for the 10th anniversary show?
We receive a few emails a day asking if Gracie will be back,
but by all indications this won't happen for a few reasons.

-
No Gi - Gracie has made it clear on many occasions that he wants
to wear his gi in any future fight. So that wouldn't be a big
deal right? Wrong. While the UFC may or may not have a huge problem
with it, the Athletic commissions would. The Nevada State Athletic
Commission made it perfectly clear that when they drafted up
the rules a few years back before UFC 33, it was drafted by the
commission that the Gi would not be able to be worn in mixed
martial arts in their jurisdiction, so unless Royce would abandon
the gi, it most likely wouldn't happen.

-
Speaking of rules by the NSAC, another rule that is enforced
in the UFC is the rule which states that kidney shots are illegal.
This is a standard move used by Royce in the past using it in
the guard. Is it a big deal? Probably not, but it was an offensive
weapon used by Royce that he would not be allowed to use in fights.

-
Rounds and Judges decision. When the UFC changed it's rules to
include rounds and incorporate judges decisions years back, those
"new" rules didn't sit well with the Gracie family.
The first family of MMA helped revolutionize the sport, but now
the sport has changed with the times and it's been questioned
if the Gracie style is changing with the times as well. Either
way, it's another rule exercised by athletic commissions across
the U.S. and it just goes to show that these commissions will
not create "special rules" in the States like they
do in Japan.

Add
all these factors into it and the prospects do not look good
for the return of Royce Gracie. Many Internet reports have said
he will be fighting in the UFC soon, we on the other hand don't
see it happening.

As
one UFC official told MMAWeekly, the "possibility of this
happening are slim to none".

Source:
ADCC

Super
Brawl 31 Fight Card Announced!

September 20 at the Blaisdell Arena. Get your tickets now!

Main
Event

185lbs 3x5 minute rounds

1. Jason Miller (Team Oyama 10-3) v Egan Inoue (13-4 Grappling
Unlimited 'GU')

185lbs 3x5 minute rounds

2. Justin Ellison (1-3) v Falaniko Vitale (GU 12-2)

160lbs
3x5 minute rounds

3. Joe Jordan (Kentucky, 5-3) v Kolo Koka (GU 5-3)

145lbs
3x5 minute rounds

4. David Yeung (HMC 2-2) v Eddie Yagin (GU 6-2)

185lbs
3x5 minute rounds

5. Jay Martinez (Shark Tank 3-1) v Kaipo Kalama (GU 2-1-1)

185lbs
3x3 minute rounds

6. Randy Rowe (Meat Truck, Inc. Cincinnati 2-0) v Desi Miner
(808ff 4-2)

Heavyweight
3x3 minute rounds

7. George Randolph (Shark Tank 9-6) v Ray "King Kong"
Serraille (GU 2-4)

135lbs
3x3 minute rounds

8. Jim Kikuchi (3-3) v Will Hagerty (GU 1-0)

155lbs
3x3 minute rounds

9. Santino De Franco (808ff 10-4) v Deshaun "3D" Johnson
(HMC 5-4)

135lbs
3x3 minute rounds

10. Loren "New Guy" (HMC 0-0) v Harvey (GU 0-0)

HMC is known for putting out well rounded fighters. Expect nothing
less from Loren. Harvey has lightning fast hands and is rapidly
learning the ground game at Grappling Unlimited.

JUST
ADDED!

170bs
3x3 minute rounds

11. Sydney Silva (HMC 1-0) v Anthony Torres (GU 1-0)

Counter courtesy of www.digits.com