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November
Pride
Bushido 5
(MMA)
(Yokohama Arena, Japan)
September
Ring
of Honor 6
( Kickboxing/MMA)
(Kauai)
Tentative
9/25/04
NAGA Hawaii State Grappling Championships
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Tentative)
9/11/04
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(Aloha Stadium)
August
Ring of Honor 6
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Tentative
8/28/04
Hawaiian Grappling Challenge
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8/15/04
Pride
Final Conflict
(MMA)
(Saitama Super Arena, Japan)
July
Bushido 4
(MMA)
(Nagoya Rainbow Hall, Japan)
7/26/04
False Crack Mondays
(MMA, Kickboxing, Toughman)
(Volcanoes Night Club)
7/24/04
Submission Wrestling Tpurnament
(Sub Grappling)
(Kahului, Maui, Hawaii)
July 9-12
BJJ
World Cup (CBJJO)
(BJJ)
(SESC gym, Salvador, Brazil)
7/9/04
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(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
6/26/04
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(Kickboxing)
(Palama Settlement)
6/21/04
False Crack Mondays
(MMA, Kickboxing, Toughman)
(Volcanoes Night Club)
6/20/04
Pride Critical
Countdown 2004
(MMA)
(Saitama Super Arena, Japan)
6/19/04
UFC
48: Payback
(MMA)
6/18/04
Super
Brawl 36
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
|
|
June 2004 News Part
2
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Quote
of the Day
"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."
Edmund Hillary, 1919-, New Zealand Mountaineer
|
UFC
48 Results
UFC 48: Payback
Saturday, June 19th, 2004
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, Nevada
COMPLETE
RESULTS:
Georges
St. Pierre over Jay Hieron
TKO at 1:45 in Round 1
Trevor Prangley over Curtis Stout
Submission via neck crank at 1:09 in Round 2
Matt Serra over Ivan Menjivar
Decision after in Round 3
Evan Tanner over Phil Baroni
Decision after in Round 3
Matt Hughes over Renato
Verissimo
Decision after in Round 3
Frank Mir over Tim Sylvia
TKO via referee stoppage due to broken arm from arm bar at :50
in Round 1
Frank Trigg over Dennis Hallman
TKO via referee stoppage due to strikes at 4:15 in Round 1
Ken Shamrock over Kimo Leopaldo
TKO via referee stoppage due to strikes at 1:26 minutes in Round
1
|
Pride
Results
Pride Final Conflict
Saitama Super Arena in Japan
June 20, 2004
Kazushi
Sakuraba def. Nino Schembri
Judges' decision
Quinton Jackson def. Ricardo Arona
TKO via via referee stoppage due to strikes in Round 1
Sergei Kharitonov def. Semmy Schilt
TKO via referee stoppage due to strikes from the mount in Round
1
Naoya Ogawa def. Paulo Cesar "Giant" Silva
TKO via referee stoppage due to strikes from the mount in Round
1
Hidehiko Yoshida def. Mark Hunt
Submission via armlock in first round.
Antonio Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira def. Heath Herring
Submission via arm's triangle choke
Fedor Emelinanenko def Kevin Randleman
Submission via Kimura in round 1.
Fedor overcomes Randleman
at Pride
The rematch between Rodrigo Minotauro and Fedor Emelinanenko
may by getting closer. Ending the Pride GP Heavyweight, at Saitama
Super Arena in Japan, Fedor overcame Kevin Randleman. The American
started better and took the Heavyweight champion to the ground,
while hitting him. Fedor was confident. He swept and reversed
the situation. He got few good punches and ended to submit Randleman
via Kimura. Now we do have the name of four finalists of pride
GP Final Conflic, which happens on August 20th: Sergei Kharitonov,
Naoya Ogawa, Rodrigo Minotauro and Fedor Emelianenko.
R. Minotauro rules
Heath at Pride GP
Rodrigo Minotauro one more time proved his Boxing training has
been making the difference at this Pride GP, which is happening
now at Saitama Super Arena, in Japan. Showing a sharpening Boxing,
Brazilian gave a hard time to Heath Herring on the standing game.
This fact open the way for Minotauro complete the second task:
on the ground. Brazilian Top Team attacked the arm, tried the
triangle choke, and Herring was brave and swept Minotauro in
the first round. However, in beginning of second one, Minotauro
used his secret weapon. The same move used against Hiro Yokoi
was enough to beat Herring: arm's triangle choke. Rodrigo Minotauro
was the third name to qualify to Pride GP Final Conflict, which
happens on August 20th. During the super-fight between Hidehiko
Yoshida and K1 star Mark Hunt, Japanese submitted Hunt via armlock
in first round. It was Hunt's debut night at Pride.
Ogawa & Kharitonov
in the final of GP
Sergei Kharitonov was the first name among the Heavyweights to
guarantee his presence at the final of Pride GP, which is going
on now at Saitama Super Arena. Kharitonov has just defeated Semmy
Schilt in round 1. Both fighters exchanged lot of punches and
Schilt was the first one to take the fight to the ground, when
attempted a choke. Kharitonov escaped and got the mount, when
punished the opponent. Schilt swept and both returned on the
feet. So Kharitonov took Schilt down and reached once again the
mount. Then Russian fighter punished Schilt until the referee's
stoppage.
Over the second GP's bout, Brazilian one more time saw his plans
ruined. At this time, Giant Silva didn't resist to Japanese Naoya
Ogawa's attacks and was disqualified of the GP. Ogawa knocked
Silva down and gave him a hard time on the ground. From the side,
Ogawa tried the submission, Giant got his arm free and escaped.
The Japanese was superior and kept the fight on the ground, reached
the mount and abused of ground'n pound. The referee once again
had to interrupt the combat.
Nino & Ricardo
Arona lose at Pride GP
The Pride GP's night, held at Saitama Super Arena, in Japan,
started bitter for Brazilians Nino Schembri and Ricardo Arona.
Nino Schembri was the first one to step inside the ring, against
Japanese Kazushi Sakuraba, who is retiring from Vale-Tudo. Sakuraba
did it nice. He defeated the Chute Boxer by referee's decision.
Besides the result, Nino showed he improved his game on the feet
and exchanged lots of punches with Sakuraba, even he always had
tried to take the fight to the ground.
On the other super-fight of the night, the one who will decide
Wanderlei Silva's opponent at Pride, American Quinton Jackson
got the blast and overcame Brazilian Top Team's representative,
Ricardo Arona. Arona did start okay, with good low kicks and
truing to take Jackson to the ground and submit. Jackson showed
signs he would give up in the first round. But during a triangle
choke attempt, Jackson raised Arona and threw him against the
canvas. Arona got a little dizzy and allowed Jackson to punch
him on the ground. The referee had to interrupt the fight and
declare Jackson the winner.
Source: Tatame |
"Ken
Shamrock will face Tito Ortiz next."
ATKINS INSIDER: UFC UPDATE
BY TODD ATKINS
Word
is now out from several sources that Ken Shamrock will face Tito
Ortiz next. I broke this story a few weeks ago in a previous
Atkins Insider column and now the wheels are in motion for the
second installment of this fight to take place.
Dana
White and Lorenzo Fertita continued to make future plans based
on what they thought would happen. Dennis Hallman had already
been approached about fighting Matt Hughes next, but with him
losing to Trigg that fight has obviously been scratched.
Matt
Lindland is signed to a ONE FIGHT deal (they think he will lose
to Dave Terrell).
This
is what Dana White was banking on for UFC 48.
Hughes
to beat Charuto (Hughes won)
Hallman
to beat Trigg (Trigg won)
Baroni
to beat Tanner (Tanner won again)
Phil
Baroni really suffered a major loss in this one because there
was a new long term contract waiting for him had he won.
Ken
to beat Kimo (Ken won)
ZUFFA
is very happy that Ken won because they are hoping for another
huge live gate, and PPV buys for the rematch of Ken Shamrock
vs. Tito Ortiz.
Dana
and Lorenzo also felt very strongly that Frank Mir would beat
Tim Sylvia by submission. Ricco Rodriguez is going to get a tune-up
fight probably in UFC 50, and then he will get a title shot if
he wins.
Source: Fight Sport |
Monday
Night Fights
Weigh-Ins Announcement
Sunday June 20.2004 at 808 Fight Factory, the weigh-ins will
start exactly at 11am and will end at 12pm if fighters are not
there they will have to weigh-in Monday. So please be prompt..
For directions please call me at 808-330-4483. This will also
be the last day for pre-sale.
**SIDE NOTE**
To all you fathers I apologize but we have to weigh in your Students
or Son's for the fight on Monday on a very special day to honor
you. We apologize for the inconveince.
Source: Event Promoter |
Pride
Critical Countdown 2004 Fight Card
From Dream Stage Entertainment
LOS
ANGELES, California – The bout order has been announced
for CRITICAL COUNTDOWN 2004, which will take place on June 20
th , 2004 from the Saitama Super Arena in Japan and is scheduled
to debut on North American pay per view on same day delay.
The
bout order is as follows (from first to last):
Fight
Card
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Nino “Elvis” Schembri
Quinton Jackson vs. Ricardo Arona *
Semmy Schilt vs. Sergei Kharitonov **
Paulo Cesar “Giant” Silva vs. Naoya Ogawa **
Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Mark Hunt
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Heath Herring **
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Kevin Randleman **
* This bout is for the rank of #1 middleweight; the winner will
be positioned for a title shot in October 2004
** Tournament bout
Fight Card Subject to Change
The
schedule for the tournament is as follows:
PRIDE
FC 16-Man Heavyweight Tournament
CRITICAL
COUNTDOWN 2004
June 20, 2004
Saitama Super Arena
(Second Round)
FINAL
CONFLICT 2004
August 15, 2004
Saitama Super Arena
(Semi-Finals and Finals)
Source: Pride |
FEDOR
READY FOR RANDLEMAN
Pride Critical Countdown Profile: Fedor Emelianenko
If
there is one name that embodies dominance more than Fedor Emelianenko
then few have ever heard it. Because as things stand in this
modern era of MMA, the PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor is, without
a doubt, the most dominant force in his weight class in the world.
He is the consensus number one ranked heavyweight in the world
on most MMA polls and many have him as the odds on favorite to
win this year’s Open Weight Grand Prix.
With
the successful run of Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva in
last year’s Middleweight Grand Prix, it is easy to understand
why Fedor would choose to enter this tournament when he has nothing
to prove to anyone other than to solidify his dominance of the
heavyweight division. Standing 6’ tall, weighing in at 233
pounds and having an impressive 16-1 record, it’s undeniable
that he has the talent to run the gauntlet.
Fedor,
a product of the famed Red Devil Sportsclub in Russia, burst
onto the scene fighting for the RINGS organization in their international
competitions. After dispatching his first three opponents (including
current PRIDE Middleweight contender Ricardo Arona), Fedor ran
into MMA veteran Tsuyoshi Kosaka in the annual RINGS King of
Kings tournament and was stopped due to a cut early in the fight.
Since
that minor setback, Fedor has not looked back on his current
quest of dominance. After finishing out the year 2001 going undefeated
in all six of his fights, Fedor was invited to PRIDE to prove
himself against his toughest competition yet.
First
up was veteran Pancrase and PRIDE monolith Semmy Schilt at PRIDE
21. After three full rounds of dominating on the ground, Fedor
was awarded a unanimous decision victory. Next up was another
Golden Glory member, Heath Herring, and just as in his fight
against Schilt, it was all Fedor. Dominating top position as
always, he opened up a series of gashes on the “Texas Crazy
Horse” and, after the first round, it was determined that,
due to the cuts on Herring’s face, he could no longer continue.
Fedor was now standing tall with an 11-1 record.
Then
came the news that everyone had begun to buzz about, Fedor would
face Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the PRIDE Heavyweight Championship.
It seemed inevitable since Fedor came to PRIDE that the two should
meet. Nogueira had dominated the heavyweight division recently
and it was Fedor who was the rising star.
In
classic Fedor fashion, he dominated the entire fight. Try as
he would, Nogueira could not escape the Russian monster’s
grasp, let alone breathe without getting a mouthful of the powerful
Fedor’s fists. After all was said and done PRIDE had crowned
a new Heavyweight Champion.
Fedor
didn’t stop there, after returning to RINGS for one more
fight, the champion returned victorious as he dismantled Kazuyuki
Fujita and Gary Goodridge at PRIDE 26 and Total Elimination 2003.
Then a series of events lead to Fedor not appearing in a PRIDE
ring until the upcoming Grand Prix.
It
had appeared as if Fedor would be on a collision course with
rising star Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, but a finger
injury kept Fedor from defending his title at PRIDE’s Final
Conflict 2003 show. In his place, the man whom he had defeated
for the title, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was penciled in to face
Filipovic for the interim Heavyweight Championship. After pulling
off what most consider an upset, Nogueira submitted Mirko and
set up what many thought would be a unification rematch with
Fedor in 2004. But then management issues created havoc preventing
Fedor from returning to PRIDE to defend his title.
It
seemed that after having switched management teams, Fedor claimed
his PRIDE contract was with his former management group rather
than with him. This caused all sorts of problems logistically
with PRIDE and got worse when it was announced that Fedor would
be competing for Antonio Inoki at the annual Bom-Ba-Ye instead
of for PRIDE at their Shockwave 2003 show. PRIDE considered serious
legal action over the issue before finally allowing Fedor to
compete for Inoki after realizing it wouldn’t be good face
for them to possibly alienate their champion and have him bolt
ala the UFC.
After
months of negotiation and posturing, the deal was finally signed.
Fedor would compete in the Open Weight Grand Prix and headline
the event’s opening round card at Total Elimination 2004
by facing Grand Prix 2000 Champion Mark “The Hammer”
Coleman. For the second straight year a champion would take the
ultimate test and, rather than sit back and wait for the outcome
of the tournament, he would enter it himself to prove once and
for all he is the best in his weight class.
At
Total Elimination 2004 the battle of the ground ‘n pound
kings took place. The old master Coleman and the new model Emelianko
matched up in what was a short, but very entertaining bout full
of twists and turns. Surprisingly to some, it was Coleman, not
Fedor who comanded much of the early action, taking the giant
Russian to the ground as the two eventually ended up in the corner
with Fedor’s back to Coleman.
It
was in this spot of danger that Fedor’s championship mentality
came into place as he avoided a choke on a couple of occasions
before twisting out of the position and eventually taking Coleman’s
arm and submitting the 2000 Champion, thus advancing and setting
the stage to face his second Hammer House product in two fights.
As
Critical Countdown neared the announcement was made that Fedor
would be facing Mark Coleman’s protégé Kevin
Randleman in the second round of the tournament. Randleman fresh
off his upset victory over Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic
will be looking to avenge the loss of Coleman and add another
huge upset to his growing legend.
To
win the fight Fedor must use his size advantage over Randleman
to control the action and not let the more athletic Randleman
to take any type of advantage over him. However if Kevin gets
the advantage it could be interesting to see how Fedor would
handle a situation that he’s never been in before, so like
many fights are between similar fighters, it will come down to
who makes the biggest mistake and who capitalizes first.
Luckily
for Fedor, his title will not be on the line in any of the fights
remaining in the tournament. Win or lose, it is up to Fedor to
do as he is expected to do. If he does just that, he’ll
be adding another belt to his collection and put a stranglehold
on the top spot of the heavyweight rankings for a long time to
come.
Source: MMA Weekly |
'Kazushi
Sakuraba' by the Gracies, Minotouro, Wanderlei and Schembri!
With Rafael Werneck
On June 20th, Japanese star Kazushi Sakuraba returns to the ring.
After almost seven months away, he is to face the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
expert Antonio 'Elvis' Schembri, at the next Pride GP. We caught
up with some of the great Brazilian fighters who have faced 'Saku'
in the past and asked them what they think about him. Check it
out!
'Sakuraba
was crucial for the development of MMA in Japan. At the time
the competition between Japanese and foreign fighters was established,
he was THE star. It opened great market for all figherts around
the world. If the best bouts remained between non-Japanese fighters,
I believe the Japanese audience wouldn´t be as supportive
as they are nowadays' Renzo Gracie.
'Kazushi
Sakuraba has always performed the 'Gracie Killer' role. Some
people thought his career was over when he lost three consecutives
times to Wanderlei Silva, but he is a man who deserves to be
respected. Step into the ring thinking that you can beat him
easily, that is the first step to being defeated by him. He is
a brave guy, who knows how to fight standing and knows how to
take the opponent down. If you are going to fight him, you better
know what to do when you put him into your guard, otherwise you
are going to lose' Rogerio 'Minotouro' Nogueira.
'He
is a man who made history in MMA with his unique style. Before
I faced him, I watched several tapes of his fights and it was
beautiful. But MMA evolved and he should have evolved too. Fighting
with hands down, without the proper protection for the face is
pretty to the audience, but becomes very dangerous when he fights
a man who has a good punch.' Wanderlei Silva.
'Sakuraba
is a guy who has beaten many Brazilians fighters, including me.
He is truly a Japanese idol and everybody wants to see him fighting.
He is young, only 35, and I think he has a lot do in the MMA
world yet' Royler Gracie.
'I
consider Sakuraba a great fighter for everything he’s done.
He always attracts a great audience and, losing or winning, he
is a showman. Besides that, as a top fighter, he is complete.
He knows how to fight on the ground and has good striking skills.
He is one of the most perfect fighters in Pride' Antonio 'Elvis'
Schembri.
Source: ADCC |
CAN
SCHEMBRI GO TWO FOR TWO?
Pride Condition Critical Profile: Antonio “Nino” Schembri
Even
though UFC 48 is being called “Payback” there is one
fight in PRIDE’s Critical Countdown show that has that very
term in mind. The fight is the second battle between Japanese
MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba and Brazilian Chute Boxe fighter
Antonio “Nino” Schembri.
The
two first did battle in March of 2003 at PRIDE 25. Sakuraba was
coming off a walkover victory against nearly comatose Gilles
Arsene at PRIDE 23 and Schembri was coming off a split decision
victory over MMA veteran Daiju Takase at PRIDE’s The Best
2 show (a precursor to the current Bushido series).
What
had originally been booked as an apparent stepping stone match
for Sakuraba turned out to be one of the bigger upsets of 2003
as Schembri pulled off a knockout victory at the six minute mark
of the first round. From the beginning the fight seemed to be
in the hands of the well-worn veteran. Sakuraba was dominating
the fighter formerly known as “Elvis” up until it appeared
Kazushi’s overconfidence got the better of him and he let
slip his defenses.
Faster
than you could say “Elvis has left the building” Schembri
landed a wicked knee out of a clinch, staggering the famed “Gracie
Hunter” before finishing him off with knees and kicks. Youth
had been served that night, but as they say revenge is a dish
best served cold and the Takado Dojo quickly answered back.
With
only 3 months to savor his victory over Sakuraba, Schembri was
matched up against Sakuraba’s student, wrestler Kazuhiro
Hamanaka. In what was an extremely hard fought battle, the debuting
Hamanaka dominated the position in the fight, often having the
Brazilian in bad spots on the ground and getting the better of
the standing exchanges. In the end Schembri had suffered the
first loss of his career, via judges’ unanimous decision.
Now
a year later Schembri returns to PRIDE to face the man he had
upset a year prior. But things are much different now than they
were before. Neither fighter is quite the man they were in the
first meeting, which could make for the second meeting to be
something completely different.
For
starters Sakuraba is a year older and battle scarred. After tough
fights against Kevin Randleman, Wanderlei Silva, and Antonio
Rogerio Nogueira have added more damage to the already worn frame
of the Japanese superstar. Schembri on the other hand is making
his first fight appearance since his loss to Hamanaka and is
sporting a new training team.
Origially
versed in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Schembri has taken up with Muay
Thai specialists Chute Boxe Academy looking to further his striking
skills. This could make for an interesting change in that while
he has dominated BJJ oriented fighter, Sakuraba has had trouble
against CBA style Muay Thai. And while of course Schembri is
no Wanderlei Silva, there are few fighters in the world who know
Sakuraba as well as Silva and know how to exploit his weaknesses
as the famed “Axe Murderer” does.
So
in the end this fight could very well end up as the first fight
did, with Sakuraba glazed on his back with Schembri’s hand
raised in victory. As the saying goes, the more things change,
the more they stay the same and that is what the former Elvis
impersonating Brazilian would hope to see as a win would vault
him quickly towards more possible big name match-ups and paychecks.
And if that’s the case you can expect to hear Schembri saying,
“thank you, thank you very much” well into the future.
Source: MMA Weekly |
MARK
HUNT VS YOSHIDA
Pride Critical
Countdown Profile: Mark Hunt
With
a solid record of 16-7 under K-1 kickboxing rules, most would
wonder just what in the world Mark Hunt is doing crossing over
into MMA. The quick answer has to be money. I'm sure that Pride
is throwing a pretty tidy some Hunt's way to enter their ring.
While
most fight fans around the world don't quite understand some
of the strange matchups, such as Hunt versus Hidehiko Yoshida,
the Japanese fight culture seems to view it differently and acceptingly,
perhaps even longingly.
Despite
being a solid kickboxer with a head and, maybe more importantly,
a chin made of granite and a powerful punch that could drop an
elephant, Hunt does not appear to have hardly any training, if
any, on the ground. I can't attempt to know what's going through
his head in accepting a match with Yoshida, but I am nearly positive
that I know what will be going through his head when he is tapping
out to the choke hold that Yoshida will apply to him on June
20th. Stars. Stars and little chirping birdies will be going
through his head.
This
New Zealander belongs nowhere near an MMA ring at this point.
He is stepping in with one of the greatest athletes that currently
graces the Pride ring. Yoshida is an Olympic gold medalist in
Judo, a world champion in Judo, and, criticized or not, proven
himself in the MMA arena. He withstood the striking of Wanderlei
Silva for fifteen unforgiving minutes.
Yoshida
is a smart fighter. He will avoid the strikes of Hunt and, before
he knows what happened to him, Yoshida will have put Hunt on
his back, worked his Gi sleeve around his neck, and choke Hunt
out. Hopefully for Hunt, he has done some sort of takedown defense
training because, otherwise, I don't see this fight going any
other way. His only shot is if he can possibly land that one
big punch, which I don't think he can.
Pride Critical
Countdown Profile: Hidehiko Yoshida
Initially when Hidehiko Yoshida was signed to face Royce Gracie
in a special rules match at PRIDE’s Shock Wave 2002 event
few if any American MMA fans gave the former Olympic Judo Gold
Medalist a snowball’s chance in hell of defeating the highly
decorated legend.
Not
only did Yoshida hang with the only man in UFC history to win
a 16-man tournament; Hidehiko beat Gracie at his own game, the
ground game using a gi. Now while the referee stoppage was questionable
in the minds of many, what wasn’t questionable was the fact
that like it or not, Yoshida was quickly becoming a man to watch
in MMA.
A
few short months later Yoshida was back in the PRIDE ring, this
time in a full on MMA bout against legend Don Frye. Many thought
that if Yoshida’s victory over Gracie was a fluke then surely
he wouldn’t stand a chance against the hard-hitting Frye
whom up to that point had only lost one fight in his illustrious
career.
Quickly
after a brief exchange standing the fight went to the ground
where the skill of Yoshida showed again quickly maneuvering Frye
into an arm bar to which the referee had step in before Frye’s
notoriously bad penitent for not tapping almost cost him a broken
arm.
Yoshida
went on to finish out the 2002 year undefeated as he submitted
PRIDE staple Masaake Satake at the annual Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye. It
would be 8 months before Yoshida would step into the ring again,
but this time there would be more at stake than just his creditability
and legitimacy in MMA.
As
PRIDE was reforming after near bankruptcy and the death of President
Naoto Morishita the company made a bold move by announcing a
Middleweight Grand Prix to take place over two events consisting
of eight fighters. The first fighter chosen for the event by
the late Morishita was Yoshida himself, an honor he quickly accepted
and thus the stage was set for Yoshida to either prove or disprove
the critics who had seemingly singled him out despite his blossoming
MMA career.
After
many months of negotiation and mystery the eight had been chosen,
along with Yoshida there would be some of the elite fighters
below 205lbs competing in the tournament, amongst them PRIDE
Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva. For the first round of
the tournament Yoshida was selected to face RINGS veteran Kiyoshi
Tamura of the U-File camp, the man who defeated Japanese national
hero and PRIDE Executive Director Nobuhiko Takada in his retirement
match a year earlier.
In
a surprise choice of tactics, Yoshida attempted to stand and
trade punches with the more than cappable Tamura for the majority
of first few moments of their fight. However this tactic did
not last long as after a swift Judo throw the two Japanese gladiators
were on the mat and quickly Yoshida used his gi to his advantage,
submitting Tamura with the rarely used ezekiel choke. Yoshida
was on his way to the finals along with Silva, Quinton “Rampage”
Jackson, and UFC representative Chuck Liddell.
Given
first choice of opponents Yoshida wasted no time in singling
out the ultra dangerous Silva as his next opponent. Thought more
so crazy than brave by many fans and media alike, Yoshida lasted
longer than any expected against the brutal Brazilian buzzsaw
by going the full two rounds with Silva. And while he lost a
unanimous decision, there was no doubt that Yoshida was more
than just a flash-in-the-pan publicity stunt with his valiant
effort against the eventual Grand Prix Champion Silva.
As
December dawned things happened in the MMA world that had never
happened before, there would not be one, but three MMA shows
on the same evening on three of Japan’s biggest television
networks. Chosen as one of the headlining main event for PRIDE’s
entry into the New Year’s wars would be the match up of
Hidehiko Yoshida VS Royce Gracie 2.
In
a special rules MMA bout consisting of two 10-minute rounds,
Yoshida and a topless Gracie battled back and forth with Yoshida
maintaining top position throughout the first round and Gracie
dominating the second round. In a fight that might have been
too close to call in the minds of some, the proceedings were
ruled a draw due to Royce’s desire to have the fight not
go to a judges decision at the end of both rounds.
After
taking time to concentrate on his ever growing Yoshida Dojo students,
Hidehiko decided it was time to again return to the MMA ring
at PRIDE’s Critical Countdown 2004 show. This time he would
be facing a formidable opponent from the world of K-1, 2001 World
Grand Prix Champion Mark Hunt.
To
win this fight Yoshida would be best advised to not remain standing
against the very powerful New Zealand striker making his MMA
debut. More than likely we will see Yoshida take Hunt to the
ground and work a submission against Mark who will be entering
the fight with only a couple months of Jui-Jitsu training.
A
win would further cement Yoshida’s place as a national hero
in Japan and continue to shape him as a star attraction for PRIDE.
A loss could possibly be devastating not only for his drawing
potential but it would further feed the mass of critics and fans
who are not yet sold on this gold medal winner’s MMA creditability.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Is
Sakuraba finished?
by: Luca Atalla
Many people here in Brazil and abroad think Kazushi Sakuraba's
career as a fighter is over. I disagree.
Although
the Japanese star hass 2 wins and 5 losses in his last 7 fights,
it's not enough to convince me that the peculiar and famous orange
trunks are about to be seeing only at souvernir shops in the
Saitama Super Arena after 22 matches in Pride.
One
thing however complicates the Takada Dojo athlete's life: the
striking development of most of the good fighters we see over
there. Sakuraba had always had the impressive ability of facing
ground fighters and beating them. Besides his first loss to Kimo
Leopoldo (who is in action in UFC this weekend), Saku was never
dominated on the ground. And he fought experts at ground fioghting
arts, such as Renzo Gracie, Carlos Newton, Allan Goes, Royce
Gracie and Kevin Randleman: and he did pretty well, as usual.
Against
strikers, however, his history is different. One year before
kissing Wanderlei Silva's foot in their first bout in March of
2001, Saku did not show his stuff against not-that-dangerous
kick boxer Guy Mezger (January 2000). Against Igor Vovchanchyn,
Saku was too exhausted after a 90 minute combat against Royce,
so we can't tell if he would lose to the Ukrainian again.
Throughout
it all, Sakuraba's defeats happened against striking experts,
like against Mirko 'Cro Cop'. Even against Nino 'Elvis' Schembri
and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, two Brazilian grapplers who complicated
Saku's strategy with kicks, punches and especially with knees.
So,
Wanderlei Silva is right when he analyses Saku's style: The Pride
GP champion said there's no longer room in the MMA scene today
for fighters who face their opponents and act dangerously by
keeping a low guard. But still according to Wanderlei, there
are still plenty of fans that want to see a charismatic star
with high technique and personality, able to attract the crowd
and perform great exhibitions in and out of Japanese ring. And
Saku fits that bill!
Source: ADCC |
Update
on the Russia's RED DEVIL Team!
by: Keith Mills
St.
Petersburg, Russia - This weekend, Red Devil fighter Fedor Emelianenko
takes on Kevin Randleman in Pride FC Critical Countdown 2004,
making this the perfect time to check in on the rest of the Red
Devil team. Red Devil provided the fighters for the Russian team
in Euphoria Entertainment’s 'Russia vs. the US' show last
March, as well as the main fighters in M-1 in Russia. They also
fight frequently in 2Hot2Handle in Rotterdam.
There
are two M-1 shows scheduled for this year, on October 9th in
St. Petersburg and December 4th in Moscow. This time around the
October show will be an 8-man tournament in the 80-85 kg division
(Middleweight in US classes) while the December show will be
an 8-man +93 (Heavyweight) tournament. Although both these shows
are far enough off to have changing cards in the next couple
of months the St. Petersburg tournament looks to have both Red
Devil’s Andrei Semenov and Canadian Denis Kang, two fighters
that fought last December to a controversial draw. Mike Pyle
and Ryo Chonnan are also currently scheduled, although rumors
of Amar Suloev have not been addressed.
Also
of note with the Red Devil team is Sergei Golyaev is confirmed
to be in Euphoria Entertainment’s next show in October,
just one week after the St. Petersburg M-1. The format of this
New Jersey show is two 8-man tournament opening rounds in both
Lightweight and Heavyweight divisions. So far information from
matchmaker Miguel Iturrate is scarce. Even so this much is posted
on M-1’s website for the Lightweight tournie opening round:
-
Yves Edwards (USA) vs. Naoyuki Kotani (Japan)
- Phil Johns (USA) vs. Hermes Franca (USA)
- Rich Clementi (USA) vs. TBD
- Joachim Hansen (Norway) vs. Sergei Golyaev (Russia)
Golyaev
getting former Shooto champion Hansen in the opening round could
be just what the Russian team needs after March’s Russia
vs. USA show. Shooto’s #1 ranked Hansen beat Takanori Gomi,
ranked currently by FCF as #2 and Shooto as #5 to take the belt
Gomi held at the time. If he wins the second round could be tougher
as he would likely face a UFC vet. Just being booked in this
tourney says a lot about how Sergei is perceived.
The
heavyweight tournament scheduled by Euphoria for the same day
will feature Sergei Kaznovski and Roman Zentsov. More details
are forthcoming.
Source: ADCC |
Márcio
Pé-de-Pano
By André Araújo
The
opposite fight
An American wrestler and a BJJ Brazilian black belt. One is 50
and the other only 26 years old. One brings 60 Vale-Tudo bouts
as a records and the other will debut. This is the fight between
experienced The Beast Dan Severn and the BJJ world champion Márcio
Pé-de-Pano, which is scheduled to happen on August 14th
at International Fighting Championship (IFC) in United States.
Waiting for this moment since last year, the Gracie Barra Combat
Team seems not to care so much about the Severn's "The fact
he is way longer experienced than me it doesn't bother me at
all. It may be an advantage for him, but I will step inside the
ring with the same will, like it was his debut as well. I am
not fighting him, I will fight myself!," guarantees Pé-de-Pano
during exclusive interview to TATAME. Read it bellow!
Tell me about what do you think it may happen the fight against
Dan Severn?
I hope to win. I will give the best and I am sure he will do
the same. Now I am sharpening my Boxing and I will start my Wrestling
training. Only after this I will take care about Jiu-Jitsu.
It has been a while you had been trying to debut in Vale-Tudo.
Why did it take so long?
My debut hasn't happened because I haven't received a good deal
and the events were not as good. Now I finally received a great
proposal and the opponent is something... He got the fight closed.
You are about to debut against a fighter who has already fought
60 bouts. What do you think about it?
The fact he is way longer experienced than me it doesn't bother
me at all. It may be an advantage for him, but I will step inside
the ring with the same will, like it was his debut as well. I
am not fighting him, I will fight myself! If I feel great physically
I will rule!
You must know Severn's bouts... What does worry you about his
game?
He is such a heavy fighter. Any of his punches my KO. But I will
use a lot of Jiu-Jitsu, I'll take him down and I will do everything
I can to surprise him... I will avoid his game and impose mine.
You are 26 years old and he just turned 50. Do you think it may
be an advantage for you?
Not at all. This difference is a score for him..., look at Randy
Couture.... I don't see who this age thing as an advantage. In
Vale-Tudo it does not exist. He has been fighting all the time
and because he stills on the ring, he proves he has determination,
disposition and such an amazing will. He probably has the same
will than I, and he is no longer a fool.
Debuting in his place... the audience may consider you as an
underdog. It does bother you?
This is this thing with every BJJ fighter..., but I do not have
obligation to win for the team or for the others. I will fight
for me, and I do not care about other people's guess. Facing
Severn will be a great responsibility for me and at this time,
no one can say I fought against some "dead chiken".
Tell me about Gi tournaments... Are you gonna fight the Mundial
and BJJ World Cup?
It is all depending of this bout. I already can tell you for
sure I will be out of BJJ World Cup. Over the Mundial, I might
fight on it, but I'm not sure yet... the fact is I do need to
train Jiu-Jitsu and it may be a good chance for me, but I will
focus on this MMA. I want to built my way on it.
Source: Tatame |
Quote
of the Day
"Vision doesn't usually come like a lightening bolt. Rather,
it comes as a slow crystallization of life challenges that we
one day recogize as a beautiful diamond with great value to ourselves
and others."
Michael Norwood, Author, THE 9 INSIGHTS OF THE WEALTHY SOUL
|
Super
Brawl 36 Results
Super Brawl/Extreme Challenge 155lb National Champion Tournament
Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, HI
June 19th, 2004
Tournament
Quarter Finals:
Justin James (Omaha, NE) def. Deshaun Johnson (HMC)
Unanimous decision [(29-28), (29-28), (30-27)] after 3 rounds.
Note: JDeshaun Johnson took the fight with only four hours
notice.
Ryan Schultz (Team Quest) def. Mike Aina ( BJ Penn’s MMA)
Split Decision [(29-28), (29-30), (29-28)] after 3 rounds.
Kolo Koka (Grappling Unlimited) def. Bart Palaszewski (Team Curran)
Unanimous Decision [(29-27), (29-28), (30-27)] after 3 rounds.
Roger Huerta (Minneapolis, MN) def. Harris Sarmiento (808 Fight
Factory)
Submission due to strikes at 2:12 minutes in Round 3.
Tournament
Semi Finals:
Ryan Schultz def. Deshaun Johnson
Submission via rear naked choke at 2:55 minutes in Round 1.
Note: Justin James fractured orbital bone, Deshaun Johnson
replaces James.
Roger Huerta def. Mike Aina by Judges Decision [(30-27), (29-28),
(29-28)] after 3 rounds.
Note: Kola Kola tore his ACL and is replaced by Mike Aina.
Tournament
Finals:
Ryan Schultz def. Roger Huerta
Verbal submission due to dislocated jaw at 1:47 minutes in Round
1.
Ryan Schultz is the 155lbs Super Brawl/Extreme Challenge Tournament
Champion.
MAIN
EVENT:
Falaniko Vitale def. Yushin Okami (Tokyo, Japan)
Split Decision [(29-27), (28-29), (29-28)] after 3 rounds.
|
UFC
48 Tonight
Main
Event
Heavyweight (205 lb. and over) Bout
Ken Shamrock vs. Kimo
Co-Main
Event
For the UFC Heavyweight Title
Tim Sylvia vs. Frank Mir
Middleweight
(185 lb. and under) Bout
Phil Baroni vs. Evan Tanner
Welterweight
(170 lb. and under) Bout
Frank Trigg vs. Dennis Hallman
Welterweight
Bout
Matt Hughes vs. Renato
Verissimo
Middleweight
Bout
Curtis Stout vs. Trevor Prangley
Lightweight
(155 lb. and under) Bout
Matt Serra vs. Ivan Menjivar
Welterweight
Bout
Georges St. Pierre vs. Jay Hieron
|
UPDATED
ODDS SEES SOME CHANGES
Our friends at sportsbook.com and Joey Odessa have released the
latest odds
from "Payback" at UFC 48. These were as of last night.
UFC 48:
Payback
Saturday, June 19
Mandalay Bay - Las Vegas
Ken Shamrock -115
Kimo -115
2F-120/-120
**The least bet fight on the main card until Wednesday night.I
have seen
Shamrock as high as -200 in Las Vegas Sportsbooks, but not over
-135
'Offshore.' Initially the money began being placed on Shamrock
to win, but
the lastest money has been bet on Kimo. I think public money
has been a
reflection of each of their last two bouts, favoring Kimo, as
the odds have
gone to a Pick'em fight.
(UFC Heavyweight Championship)
Tim Sylvia -230
Frank Mir +180
1over -185/+145
*This bout was initially bet out the gate on Tim Sylvia. He climbed
from
the opening -225 to -260 and then -285 before the Frank Mir supporters
came
in and bet Mir at the healthy plus money. The bout has since
settled at
Sylvia -230. The Las Vegas players may bet their hometown figher
back
down late. I would not be suprised if money moves this bout down
to Sylvia
-200 or lower by fight time.
Phil
Baroni -135
Evan Tanner +105
1over -145/+105
*The most anticipated 'betting' matchup on the card. Evan Tanner
being
sponsored by www.Sportsbook.com against NY Badass Phil Baroni.
The action
has been two way for the most part, but Phil Baroni has been
getting the
mid week money.
The bout opened at a PK -115/-115 and now the odds have swung
in Baroni's
favor to -135. This bout shouldn't climb higher than -135 'Offshore'
on
either fighter by fight time, despite a Las Vegas Casino hanging
Baroni
-170 earlier in the week. People are betting the UNDER 1 Round
Prop as well
hoping for a fast finish. It opened at 1 OVER -190 and currently
sits at 1
OVER -145.
Matt
Hughes -145
Renato
Verissimo
+105
2over -145/+105
*This bout is interesting. I had Matt Hughes initially written
in at
-250, but in anticipation of public money based on each fighters
last
performance I opened at Hughes -170. Hughes now has still been
bet all the
way down to -145. Six months ago, Matt was considered one of
the best
fighters in World and now is barely a 7-5 favorite over a guy
who won in an
upset as a considerable underdog to former Matt Hughes victim
Carlos Newton.
Frank
Trigg -130
Dennis Hallman +100
2over -155/+115
*Good two way action bout so far. Dennis Hallman has gotten a
little bit
more action and the line has moved from -135 to only -130. A
very small
move in Hallman's favor. The Over/Under hasbeen bet UNDER since
the opening
number of 2over-175 to the present 2Over -155
Matt
Serra -145
Ivan Menjivar +115
2over-250/+200
*Very interesting bout. Matt Serra the UFC Vet against Menjivar
in his UFC
debut. Originally had Serra written in as a much higher favorite
than his
opening number of -170, but the buzz was all Ivan Menjivar, so
I used for
the lower number. Menjivar has since been bet all the way down
from +140 to
+115.
Georges
St. Pierre -280
Jay Hieron +220
2under -195/+155
*Another interesting bout from my side of the counter. St Pierre
the UFC
Vet against another newcomer to the UFC. People keep talking
up Jay Hieron,
but the line has actually moved in the other direction. St Pierre
opened at
-275 and currently sits at -280. Players have been betting the
OVER 2
Rounds Prop as well.
Trevor
Prangley -260
Curtis Stout +200
2F-120/-120
*Stout has gotten the early money so far. Public opinion is that
I was
wrong in making Prangley too high priced against UFC Vet Curtis
Stout.
PRIDE GP
2004
June 20, 2004
*The PRIDE card will most likely see the most line movement as
the UFC
bouts become final and wagers are graded freeing up customers
money at the
Sportsbooks.
Fedor Emelianenko -260
Kevin Randleman +200
(Heavyweight Tournament)
*This bout opened at Fedor -230 and has gradually been bet up
to -260. I
expect Kevin to be bet near post time on June 20th.
Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira -450
Heath Herring +300
(Heavyweight Tournament)
*This bout has seen the most movement out of the PRIDE matchups.
Nog opened
a whopping -550/+400 and money has been flowing in on Herring
ever since.
Sergei Kharitonov -125
Semmy Schilt -105
(Heavyweight Tournament)
*The initial bets on this matchup were on Schilt, but the players
grabbed all the Sergei -105 when it went down and continued to
bet him up
to the current line of Kharitonov -125/-105.
Quinton Jackson -170
Ricardo Arona +140
(Middleweights)
*Two way action on this bout thus far. I believe the number will
not move
more than 15 cents in either direction as each fighter looks
enticing at
these odds.
ODDS TO WIN ENTIRE GP TOURNAMENT:
Fedor Emelianenko +125
Kevin Randleman +500
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira +135
Heath Herring +1700
Paulo Cesar Silva +2500
Naoya Ogawa +2200
Semmy Schilt +1800
Sergei Kharitonov +1000
Source: MMA Weekly
UFC
48 - Weigh-in Results
Ken
Shamrock (218) vs. Kimo (244 )
Tim Sylvia (263) vs. Frank Mir (253)
Matt Hughes (170) vs. Renato Verissimo (170)
Phil Baroni (183.5) vs. Evan Tanner (184.5 )
Frank Trigg (169) vs. Dennis Hallman (170)
Matt Serra (155) vs. Ivan Menjivar (154)
Trevor Prangley (185) vs. Curtis Stout (183)
Georges St. Pierre (169) vs. Jay Hieron (167).
Source:
Maxfighting |
'Iron
Mike' gets OK for fight in Hawaii
The former boxing champion is expected at Aloha Stadium
By Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.com
Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson received the blessing
of the Hawaii State Boxing Commission yesterday to headline a
split K-1/boxing card this September at Aloha Stadium.
The commission met with K-1 president Scott Coker and local promoter
Tom Moffatt at its monthly meeting to discuss the parameters
of the proposed card, but barring any surprises, Tyson will fight
here in Hawaii.
"The commission is not about to put any blocks on the promotion,
barring legal issues," commission consultant and former
executive officer Bobby Lee said. "Of course, we will want
to see the contracts and other paperwork, but we would like to
see this fight happen in Hawaii."
Coker and Moffatt sat before the commission yesterday and outlined
a plan that would have Tyson fight Jerome Le Banner in a strict
boxing match. Le Banner has made his name in kickboxing with
a 30-9-1 record in the sport but is 5-0 with 4 KOs as a boxer.
Ray Sefo, another kickboxer, would be Tyson's opponent if Le
Banner cannot go, but the commission seemed comfortable with
Le Banner, even viewing tapes of him in action following the
meeting.
Tyson, a former heavyweight champion, is scheduled to box July
30 in Louisville against Kevin McBride.
K-1 has had a promotional contract with Tyson since April for
one boxing fight and an option for another, according to Coker.
Tyson served as color commentator for a K-1 pay-per-view special
broadcast from Aloha Stadium last year.
Although its enthusiasm was evident during the meeting, the commission
made it clear that Tyson must meet all Hawaii state law requirements,
including a physical and a personal appearance in front of the
State Boxing Commission, to be licensed.
Moffatt envisions a full card of six to eight fighters -- local
names like Brian Viloria, Teddy Limoz and Samson Po'uha were
mentioned as undercard possibilities -- in boxing matches preceded
by a like number of K-1 fights possibly including Bob Sapp and
Akebono. Moffatt said he expects to approach 30,000 in attendance
and told the commission that it was looking at 100 million viewers
on pay per view.
K-1 is a mixed martial art that bills itself as a mix between
karate, kickboxing, tae kwon do and kung fu.
Because the state regulates boxing but not mixed martial arts
like K-1, the commission would only have a say in the boxing
aspect of the event. Moffatt says he would like to see a K-1
show for a few hours, with a boxing show to follow after an intermission.
Having K-1 and boxing in the same building was thought to be
a possible snag, but commission chairman Randy Ahlo says it was
not and never would have been.
"Nobody has ever asked us anything like this before,"
Ahlo said. "We told them if they complied with the bylaws,
we would have no reason not to approve it."
Coker says if this event is successful, he expects it to be just
the first meeting in a long relationship with the state. He has
boxers Shannon Briggs, Ray Mercer and Francois Botha under contract
and said he would like to do similar shows at least once a year.
"The Japanese influence here makes Hawaii a natural,"
Coker said. "It works timewise for Japan. And it actually
works against the U.S. (mainland) because of the time frame here.
But, you know ... worldwide, it's going to be fantastic."
Coker said it would not be a problem getting mainland viewers
to stay up for the event.
"Of course. It's Mike Tyson."
Source: Star Bulletin |
Tyson
might fight K-1 opponent in Hawai'i
Advertiser Staff
The Hawai'i State Boxing Commission yesterday agreed to consider
a license application from former world champion Mike Tyson for
a proposed Sept. 11th Aloha Stadium combination boxing and K-1
fight card, officials said.
Approval could come as soon as next month, pending completion
of contracts and physicals and agreement on suitable matchups.
"We didn't approve of anything yesterday," said Alan
Taniguchi, the commission's executive officer. "We told
them (the promoters) they need to provide us with a contract
that says, 'Mike Tyson is fighting X or Y.'"
Tyson would also be required to have a physical examination by
a commission doctor, but that could come as close as a week before
the fight, Taniguchi said.
Commissioner Willes K. Lee, who is scheduled to become the chairman
next month, said, "They (promoters) have formally begun
the process, but they haven't submitted anything yet."
Lee said, "As long as he (Tyson) meets all the requirements
just like any other fighter, we would approve it."
The promoters - California-based Scott Coker and Honolulu's Tom
Moffatt - said they would like to match Tyson in a 10-round boxing
match with either Jerome Le Banner or Ray Sefo, both of whom
have primarily been K-1 heavyweight fighters.
K-1 is a mixed martial art style combining boxing, kicking and
other forms. Boxingrec.com lists Le Banner with a 2-0 boxing
record and Sefo with a 4-1 mark. Promoters listed Le banner's
overall "professional fighting record" at 50-8-1 and
Sefo's at 45-11-1. Tyson is 50-4 as a boxer.
Promoters mentioned the possibility of having Brian Viloria or
other local fighters appear on the card but no contracts were
presented or prospective opponents announced. other bouts would
involve K-1 fighters.
The boxing and K-1 cards would be separate components of the
same show. By state statute, the commission has jurisdiction
only over boxers and their managers and promoters.
The card could also be shown internationally on a pay-per-view
basis, they said.
Source: Honolulu Advertiser |
'MINOTAURO'
OR 'CRO COP' AS POSSIBLE OPPONENTS FOR VANDERLEI
 
Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira & Mirko "Cro
Cop" Filipovic
The
Japanese media is reporting that either Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira
or Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic will most likely be Vanderlei Silva's
mystery opponent for the PRIDE show on December 31st.
Source:
Fight Sport |
HUNT
NEWS
Mark Hunt
Former
K-1 champion Mark Hunt recently did some PR with the Japanese
media regarding his upcoming fight against Hidehiko Yoshida on
the PRIDE card on June 20th.
Hunt
went on to say that he's been working on some submissions and
will try to catch Yoshida with a guillotine choke.
Source:
Fight Sport |
SAKURABA
TO UNVEIL NEW MOVE
Kazushi Sakuraba
Kazushi
Sakuraba spoke with the Japanese media, and said that he will
unveil a new move he has been working on.
Sakuraba
calles the move the 'Hamgolian chop', which differs from his
regular Mongolian chop.
Source:
Fight Sport |
IFC
Hits The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on August 14th. by: Keith Mills
Sturgis, South Dakota - Information is starting to come out about
the IFC
show at the 64th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on August 14th.
A total of
ten fights will take place with the card so far looking like:
Card
Subject To Change:
- Travis Wiuff vs James Irvin
- Paul Buentello vs Andre Mussi
- Jaqueline Andrade vs Jennifer Howe
- Nathan Marquardt vs Jeremy Horn
- Marcio 'Pe De Pano' Cruz vs Dan Severn
Supposedly
five World Championship belts are on the line but so far that
has not been confirmed. IFC issue belts in each standard weight
division plus two women's divisions. They have belts in each
class for Native American, Canadian, US, Americas, and World.
That makes a total of fifty-five belts available with only twenty-five
issued at this time. If it is true there are five "World
Championship" belts on the line that would account for Howe
while the other World Champions are Gan McKee (Super Heavyweight),
Vernon White (Heavyweight), Renato Sobral (Light Heavyweight),
Gil Castillo (Welterweight), Mathieu Nicourt (Lightweight) and
Howe. The vacant belts in World class are Middleweight, Featherweight,
Bantamweight, and Flyweight. It should be noted that White has
dropped in weight since winning the IFC belt and unconfirmed
but very strong rumors state his Heavyweight belt will be vacant
by this show.
With
UFC and Pride (and just about every other show) vet Horn fighting
recently at Middleweight it is a safe bet his fighting former
King Of Pancrase Nathan Marquardt would be for the vacant World
Middleweight belt.
Andrade
is the IFC America's Women's Light Heavyweight (135-150) champion
while Howe is the HOOKnSHOOT 125 champion and the IFC World Women's
Middleweight (120-135) champion, making that fight one fans of
the women's divisions have been looking forward to for some time.
Although Howe usually fights around 125 without cutting weight
she is used to fighting larger opponents and is usually considered
one of the best 135 division fighters around.
AKA's
Paul Buentello is the current King Of The Cage Heavyweight champion,
which makes this especially interesting considering the open
rivalry between KOTC and IFC/WEC. Don't expect an official statement
on that whole situation any time soon but look for the sparks
to fly in California this summer! As far as the possibility of
this fight being for the belt it would actually make more sense
for Team Extreme's Travis Wiuff fight to be for the belt considering
Travis is a UFC vet, much more experienced in MMA, and has been
fighting on the world-stage to a greater degree. Wiuff recently
beat the M-1 champion and filled in for two Brazilian shows all
on short notice and earlier this month beat a Pride and UFC vet.
Hell, why not have Buentello vs. Wiuff for White's vacated belt?
Now that would be front page news!
Look
for more information on this show to be released in the weeks
to come.
Source:
ADCC |
Trigg
vs. Hallman II: A Rematch Made In Heaven
By Loretta Hunt
What
makes a "good" rematch? There is no tried and true
recipe, but when you have a legitimate one on your hands, you
just know it. Accusations fly. Mud slings. And neither side can
seem to agree on anything.
For
welterweights Frank Trigg and Dennis Hallman, scheduled to square
off again this Saturday at UFC 48, one need only witness their
initial clash a year and a half ago at November 2002's World
Fighting Alliance: Level 3 to know that these two were meant
to tango again.
Like
many memorable bouts that have come to pass, this pairing wasn't
even intended at first. World-class wrestler Trigg had originally
been scheduled to fight Pat Miletich for the WFA welterweight
title, until a bulged disk in Miletich's neck sidelined his training.
Hallman stepped in on two weeks notice, an intriguing replacement
for the sheer fact that the confident ground specialist had an
uncanny knack for tapping out accomplished wrestlers.
They
met on their feet and exchanged a volley of blows, with Hallman
landing a notable punch that drew blood from Trigg's split lip.
The rAw representative fought back though, forcing Hallman against
the fence with some fire of his own before pouring on his patented
knees in the clinch. It was one knee here that seemed to land
a little too low for Hallman's liking, and he collapsed to the
ground, writhing in pain. At the time, Nevada State Athletic
Commission guidelines (still geared towards boxing) gave Trigg
the win, as well as the belt, when Hallman couldn't continue
following his allotted five minute recovery time. Due to Hallman's
persistence, the regulation has since been amended, albeit it
not retroactively, and regardless, the question still remains:
Who was the better fighter that night?
Of
course, there is a natural discrepancy between the two fighters
as to who was ahead on the WFA score cards before the bout's
premature finale. "I was having a pretty decent fight,"
Hallman recalls frankly. "I got kicked in the balls. I wasn't
able to continue and it insulted me that Trigg walked around
like he won a friggin' gold medal at the Olympics or something.
He thought it was the greatest thing in the world that he kicked
me in the balls and won that way. Personally, I would have been
pretty humble about a victory like that."
"As
far as me and my camp's standpoint, it's probably not a good
rematch because I beat him up so decisively the first time,"
counters Trigg, "even though it did end so quickly and controversially
from his side of the table. It was one of those deals where he
got hit, he realized he couldn't stand the amount of pressure
I was going to give him for the rest of the fight, he took his
first opportunity he could find to get out of the fight and as
a result he quit. He just gave up. He could have stood like a
man and tried to fight again, but he chose not to."
For
Hallman, it's unfinished business. "I want to prove to Trigg,"
he says. "I don't really know if it's so much about proving
things to people. He knows. He knows how it really went. He's
gonna get my proof along with everyone else I guess. It's really
just about between me and him."
But,
according to Trigg, Hallman has no gripe. "He's kind of
like a dead horse-he doesn't know when to lie down," he
remarks. "To me, there's no beef and I don't see why he's
even got a problem. He got beat fair and square," Trigg
adds before briefly pausing. "Unless he's feeling guilty
about quitting. If he feels guilty about that, then he has a
beef, but that's not with me. It's with his own spirit and soul."
Both
self-assured and boisterous in their own ways, neither has been
one to sugarcoat their comments in the past. Hallman has called
Trigg a chicken shit for not jumping at a rematch fast enough.
Trigg has called Hallman a moron for pursuing the rematch altogether.
But, with former UFC welterweight champion BJ Penn seemingly
out of the picture since Zuffa's official announcement that he
had been stripped of his title, both contenders agree that the
stakes of this bout have risen substantially. "There's no
champ," comments Trigg. "We've basically got myself
and Hallman fighting. We've got Hughes and Verissimo fighting
and we're all trying to fight our way through to say hey, we're
the four guys that should be up for the title. The two winners
of this should be fighting for the title in August. That's just
the way it should work."
If
this indeed be a "silent" welterweight tournament at
UFC 48, this talented quartet is as deserving as any to get their
shot at the gold. Will two-time Hughes submitter Hallman be the
one to pull it out? Or will hardnosed ground and pounder Trigg
forge ahead? Who will be the better fighter come Saturday night?
This is one rematch that can put that query to rest.
Source:
FCF |
QUINTON
JACKSON INTERVIEW
He has his hands full with Ricardo Arona this weekend, but Quinton
Jackson talks about his documentary with the homeless, who his
toughest opponent was ever, and Ricardo Arona and Vanderlei Silva
in our two part interview at MMAWeekly.com.
MMAWeekly:
Quinton how are you?
Quinton
Jackson: What's up blood?
MMAWeekly:
How are you doing, you staying out of trouble?
Quinton:
Yeah, I'm staying out of trouble.
MMAWeekly:
Before we talk training and before we talk about your upcoming
fight with Ricardo Arona, I tell you what, I was reading one
of our articles and I've got to give it you man. You've been
doing a lot of things other than just fighting. You've got a
documentary coming out July 1st, called "City of Lost Souls:
The L.A. Homeless." Tell me a little bit about that project.
If I understand it right, you went out to the homeless and were
interviewing some of the guys and doing a documentary. Tell me
a little bit more about it.
Quinton:
Yeah, I'm in L.A. a lot and I kept seeing all these homeless.
I don't think I've ever seen so many homeless people in one spot
in my life. I thought, why are so many people homeless. So, I
decided to go out there and ask them, what's going on? Why are
so many people out there homeless and hear their stories and
I thought it would be a good way to maybe keep some kids from
following their footsteps and making the same mistakes they did.
You know what I'm saying. So, I just went out there. I decided
to go out and do a documentary, me and a couple of my friends.
We just went out there and, you know what I'm saying, f#%ing
started interviewing them and shit.
MMAWeekly:
That's got to be pretty cool to watch, I can only imagine. These
stories, everyone sees them on the streets, Quinton, with the
people you talked to, how did they get in that position?
Quinton:
A lot of them got in that position from drugs. I ain't gonna
lie to you, crack is a motherf#%er. All you people out there,
don't ever even think about trying crack man. Crack is a motherf#%er.
It will take everything away from you like it did those people.
Man, crack has taken everything from those people and they still
do it. They know it was crack that did it to their lives but
they still do it.
MMAWeekly:
Fascinating, that's got to be a tough way to go, no doubt about
it. Quinton, you came up in some hard times kinda, when you grew
up. Tell us about your background growing up.
Quinton:
My background growing up wasn't a pretty site at all, you know
what I'm saying. My shit wasn't as bas as some people's but it
was just different, you know what I'm saying. Some people don't
even believe the stories I tell them. I grew up in a broken home,
where I didn't think some family members even liked me and it
was just being an outsider in your own family. That's the way
it was for me, so I just kept to myself and played video games.
If I got in a little trouble, you know what I'm saying, on the
streets. I grew up on the streets, I am a street thug, always
have been that way, you know. I never joined gangs and I never
experimented with a lot of drugs.
I
just knew that it wasn't right. The only drug I ever did was
marijuana, that's the only drug I ever even tried, in my entire
life because I just knew it wasn't right. Where I came from,
if you tried any other drugs, you were an outcast, you know what
I'm saying. I just grew up in the streets, fighting and shit,
all my life, you know what I'm saying, and doing all this shit,
you know what I'm saying. I was raised by pimps, thugs and drug
dealers. Those are the type of people who influenced me. They
were my mentors. I didn't have a father at home to keep me the
right way. After I turned ten, when mom and dad got divorced,
so it was down hill from there.
MMAWeekly:
It's interesting, I've done some community service with some
young kids and the stories are very similar to yours. It's one
of those things where, the kids I grew up with, you joined the
cub scouts at age eight or whatever. For you, it was either,
hey, at age eight, I could join a gang or I could sell drugs
and make some money. I mean, that's the way the lifestyle was
right?
Quinton:
Yeah, you know it. By the time I was eight years old, I was already
on the track of making money. The dude that helped me out, that
usually, you know what I'm saying, the guy that lived across
the street from me was a lot older and stuff. I'd make a little
money with him because my mom wouldn't help me with no money.
I'd cut some grass, wash some cars, got to the store fro him
and he saw me as trust worthy. You know, I'd always bring him
back his change and receipts. I was a young thing, you know what
I'm saying, eight years old. So, he put a gun on me and put some
crack on me and he was smart.
The
police won't chase kids you know. When it came to the park, selling
drugs, F#%k it, I'd be the one with the gun and the drugs on
me, you know what I'm saying. At first, it started out, when
he wanted to make a deal, he'd call me up when he's got it for
me, and later, as I got older, he showed me what cost what and
I was the man. He was smart man, cause he was like, he told me
he was a con artist and shit too. He told me like, look, if I
go to jail, shit, I'm going to jail. If you go to jail, you're
going to juvenile. It was the right thing to say. He be like,
do you want me to go to jail? And I was like, nah because he
was like, if I go to jail, you ain't getting no more money and
that was the only place I could get money from. And he's like,
I'll pay you to do this right here and when the police come,
all the other drug dealers are going to run, but me, I'm going
to stay there acting like I'm playing basketball.
You
just do what you do, play with these kids around the park and
make some money. So that's what I did. I bet I sold drugs from
eight, all the way up to probably like fifteen or sixteen.
MMAWeekly:
How did you get out of it? How did you get away from that?
Quinton:
Well, you know, I moved to another neighborhood and shit and
I kinda like, wanted something better with my life and I started
wrestling and it f#%ing changed my life. I started doing good
in school and shit. I just wanted something better you know,
cause I saw all my friends that I grew up with. Everybody was
older than I. I didn't even hang with kids my age. I always hung
with older people, you know what I'm saying.
That's
why I'm trying to have a childhood now because I didn't really
have a childhood. I always hung with older people and shit. I
saw them disappearing ans some of them didn't come back and a
couple of my friends go killed and shit. I was like man, what
the f#%k, where the f#%k you been at, I hadn't seen you. You
know, I was a little kid, like eight, nine, ten, eleven years
old and my other friends disappeared for six or seven months.
I was like, where you been?
I've
been in jail and shit. I know I didn't want to go that way, so
luckily my mom remarried and bought a house in a little nicer
neighborhood. I went to their school and they had wrestling there.
I used to be a real big pro wrestling fan, so I always wanted
to be a pro wrestler. I begged the coach to let me go out.
MMAWeekly:
So, you get into wrestling, you stay out of trouble like you
said. How do you go from the wrestling room to MMA?
Quinton:
Well, you know, I think everything happens for a reason. So I
started wrestling and shit. At first I got my ass kicked but
then, after a while, I went undefeated for a long time until,
you know what I'm saying, the motherf#%ers decided they had to
cheat me to beat me. My coach saw my determination in what I
did and he had another coach, his best friend, this coach was
coaching Dave Roberts, a friend I always talk about.
We
used to train together. We started wrestling each other. Dave
and I wrestled each other nine times but we still remained friends.
I went on to college and started wrestling in college. I was
like a year older than Dave but he was still wrestling in high
school and stuff. I came back and Dave was in college and shit.
I came back and he told me about what he was doing with fighting.
Dave had always tole me that he did Martial Arts while we wrestled
but I didn't believe him. Told me he did Tai Kwon Do and this
shit. I didn't know what the f#%k he was talking about.
Then,
later I came back and he took me to this show and they were whooping
ass. They were slamming folks and taking people down and I was
like man, what the f#%k? I said, they ain't getting in trouble?
He said, nah, you know what I'm saying. This is kind of racial,
I saw this black guy beat up this white guy up in the cage. I
was like, what the f#%k, he's going to get in trouble. He said,
nah man. I said, I can beat up on white folks and not get in
trouble? I said, sign me up. Man, I can slam down some white
folks. Cause, you know what I'm saying, I start laughing cause
Dave's white too. You know what I'm saying, it's like an inside
joke. In Memphis, man, if you fight a white guy in the street
and you're a black man, they'll hide you up under the jail.
MMAWeekly: So, you wrestled in college for a short time?
Quinton:
Say what?
MMAWeekly:
Did you wrestle in college for a short time?
Quinton:
Yeah, Junior college. I didn't start, I was a scrub. They f#%ked
me up. I don't even want to say what they did to me. That college
f#%ked me over man.
MMAWeekly:
What school was it?
Quinton:
I don't even want to say man. It was pretty bad what they did
to me. I got injured and shit. I got injured in training and
them motherf#%kers just told me, ah, if it hurts later on, go
to the emergency room. It did, I woke up screaming man, at three
O'Clock in the f#%king morning man, cause I knew that the body
part that I injured and the motherf#%kers, they do shit. I was
in a little small town and I needed an MRI and the motherf#%kers
wouldn't take me to get an MRI. Then, the motherf#%kers had the
nerve to send me the doctor's bill to my momma's house. What
kind of shit is that?
MMAWeekly:
Wow, that's no good man. So, you get into fighting and the rest
is history man. You're are one of the best fighters at 205. It's
a great, it's an amazing story and a great one none the less.
So Rampage, how has training been going man?
Quinton:
Training has been going pretty good man. I've been training my
ass off. Every thing's for the fans man. If there wasn't any
fans, there wouldn't be a sport, so
f#%k it.
MMAWeekly:
So here you are, you've got all these things going on and you're
giving out a phone number for fans to call you. What's up with
that?
Quinton:
Man, I just figured, if you're a fan, why can you not be a friend.
I meet all the fans when I got to the UFC. It's the only time
I get to meet the American fans. You know, cause I'm always dealing
with the Japanese fans. I can't talk to their motherf#%ing ass.
I know a little Japanese but I don't know enough to talk to their
motherf#%ing ass. So, you know what I'm saying, I just wanted
to talk to some fans. I see them at the UFC when I go to the
UFC and when I got to King of the Cage and all them shows. I
see them but it's the only chance I get to see the American fans.
Most of them are pretty cool, you know what I'm saying. I was
like f#%k, I'll give them my phone number and let them be my
friend, cause if you're a fan, you're a friend. That's how I
think. I don't know why other people don't think that way but,
they like you because they like what you're are ding and shit.
I know a lot of people have a lot of questions they want to ask
me. A lot of people don't know about the sport. They're in the
sport but they want to know stuff about training. They don't
even know what to do and I can put them on the right step.
MMAWeekly:
I think it's cool. I just worry that one crazy person will get
your number. I think that's the only thing a lot of people worry
about.
Quinton:
What can a crazy person do with my number? What can they do with
it?
MMAWeekly:
I don't know.
Quinton:
All they can do is play on my motherf#%ing phone. They can't
find out where I live from my phone number because it's not even
in my name. So far, I have had any crazy people calling me, thank
God. But, if somebody crazy does call me, it's cool, you know
what I'm saying, like, some people on blocked numbers that call
and hang up in my face and shit. It just makes me stop answering
blocked calls, so it's going to hurt people trying to call me
from over seas. If the number don't show up, I don't answer it
because if it doesn't show up and, they're acting crazy, I don't
have their motherf#%king phone number.
MMAWeekly:
No doubt about it, I think some fighters are fan friendly but
you've taken it to a new level. On thing that's pretty cool is,
on your website, you've got a little raffle ticket, a little
contest going on. Tell the fans a little bit about how that is
working out.
Quinton:
Yeah, yeah, I'm going to be 100% straight up with you motherf#%ers
now. I wanted to have a contest where somebody could win and
be my water boy. I could take somebody that would never have
a chance to go to Japan, a fan, you know what I'm saying, and
go watch the big show because ya'll have no idea how big it is
in Japan. American fans have no idea. I want to take whoever
wins the contest, they could be my water boy, they could go to
Japan with me and hang out with me and go to the fight and walk
me down to the ring and be my water boy. I was going to get it
all set up and was telling my friend that does my website and
he got so excited, he just put it up now without thinking everything
through. But, he said he's keeping track of everybody who's buying
stuff. He's writing it down and they get some type of number
when they buy something. I told him that it would be cool if
he sent a raffle ticket with their stuff too, but the guy who
does my site, he's a friend and stuff too, he said he's keeping
track of everybody that's ordering stuff and who ever wins gets
to be my water boy.
MMAWeekly:
So, bottom line is, they buy something on the site, www.rampagejackson.com,
and they'll get a kind of raffle ticket right?
Quinton:
Yeah, I wanted him to send the people the raffle ticket but he
said everybody that buys something, they have to have an order
number anyway so, he said he writes it down in his book. So,
even if you guys don't get a raffle ticket sent to your house,
he has the number for you guys.
MMAWeekly:
Yeah, they get an order number and I'm sure he's keeping track
of the order numbers.
Quinton:
I don't do any of that stuff. You know me, I'm a fighter. I don't
know any business. I don't know shit man. I barely know how to
check my email.
MMAWeekly:
[laughs] That's very cool. I think that's a great thing. You've
got to be the most fan friendly fighter my man. I'm telling you,
with all the stuff you've got going on, that's very cool, no
doubt about it. Let's talk about this fight with Arona. Tell
me about it. We talked months ago when you were in the Grand
Prix, when you were supposed to fight Arona the first time. Bustamante,
of coarse stepped up to the plate. You knew a lot about Arona
back then, what's different between when you were training for
him months ago for the Grand Prix to now? What's the difference
or is there anything different?
Quinton:
Yeah, it is different. I have a different strategy now, you know
what I'm saying. At first I had another strategy and coach and
I, we always make strategies for the people we fight. This time,
I have a different strategy for Arona, which is weird, you know
because we haven't even fought.
MMAWeekly:
What is different then? I mean, why change strategies from now
compared to then?
Quinton:
Because it is a better strategy. If I could pull it off you know.
Cause you know there are different ways of fighting. I haven't
fought in a while. You know I broke my hand and I needed a warm
up fight but doesn't look like I'm going to get one so, but I
broke my hand. The hand is good and stuff but I just have to
fight different, fight smarter.
MMAWeekly:
With that said, people have been talking a little bit about your
training. No Tito Ortiz this time around, how come?
Quinton:
Do what, no Tito Ortiz, what?
MMAWeekly:
For training, how come Tito hasn't been training with you?
Quinton:
Shit, I don't know. He trains with me when he has time but most
of the time, I train with my teammates and they aren't even professional
fighters.
MMAWeekly:
Do you have any big guys to help you out to get ready for a guy
like Arona?
Quinton:
You don't always need big guys. When you're training, you need
big guys, little guys, everybody. You don't always need big guys.
I got two guys close to my size.
MMAWeekly:
OK, you got any predictions for this fight? What do you expect
to do in this fight?
Quinton:
I expect to win the motherf#%king fight. That's all I can say.
I ain't going all the way to Japan to lose, f#%k that shit. I
have to win this fight. It's on Father's Day and my birthday,
so GD, I need to win this fight.
MMAWeekly:
So, it doesn't matter if it's a KO or a decision?
Quinton:
I don't want a decision man. I don't want to fight f#%king twenty
minutes. I don't want to fight for twenty f#%king minutes.
MMAWeekly:
People wanted me to ask about women.
Quinton:
Women, they don't want to know about the women.
MMAWeekly:
Which is better, American porn or Japanese porn?
Quinton:
American porn by far. Japanese porn blips out everything, you
can't even see pussy or hair, nothing.
MMAWeekly:
So it's not really porn then.
Quinton:
Yeah, exactly.
MMAWeekly:
The ideal woman for Quinton Jackson, what does she look like?
Quinton:
She's got long black hair, slanted eyes, she barely speaks English.
She's got a nice handful of titties and a nice ass.
MMAWeekly:
She barely speaks English?
Quinton:
Yeah, I like that.
MMAWeekly:
So, where would she be from, if that's the case?
Quinton:
She's got to be from Japan. I'm trying to tell you man, Japanese
women are the best women in the world. They do everything for
you. They don't let you do shit for yourself. They do everything
for you.
MMAWeekly:
The Asian women work hard basically?
Quinton:
Asian woman work hard, they're no like American women. American
women, they get mad when you ask them to fix you something to
eat, you know what I'm saying. Especially black women. They give
you an attitude and shit. I dated this one Japanese girl, she
got mad when I brushed my own teeth.
MMAWeekly:
[laughs] So, you're saying that American women are high maintenance?
Quinton:
F#%k yeah. My Japanese girl used to try and wipe my ass and I
was like, woah, woah. That's where I draw the line. I can wipe
my own ass. I'm not a baby. [laughs]
MMAWeekly:
What's your favorite movie?
Quinton:
F#%k man, ya'll are going to laugh at me if I tell you my favorite
movie. GD, you're asking me the hard questions.
MMAWeekly:
I'm coming hard at you, what's your favorite movie?
Quinton:
The Last Dragon.
MMAWeekly:
The Last Dragon?
Quinton:
[singing] You are the last Dragon...
MMAWeekly:
I don't think I've seen it, who's in that?
Quinton:
F#%k man, I don't even know man, ain't no real famous motherf#%kers.
You ain't seen The Last Dragon? It's an old movie man.
MMAWeekly:
What's the premise of the movie? What's the storyline?
Quinton:
There's a black guy that's a Kung Fu Master. You haven't seen
The Last Dragon? You'd like it, you'd laugh. [quoting from the
movie] Sho nuff, who's the master? Sho nuff.... You never seen
that shit?
MMAWeekly:
I'm going to have to go rent it now.
Quinton:
I'm sorry, I forgot, you're white huh?
MMAWeekly:
Yeah, exactly. What's your favorite food?
Quinton:
My favorite food. I'm not a favorite person. I don't even like
eating that much man. I guess my favorite food is pizza.
MMAWeekly:
Pizza, do you eat pizza when you train?
Quinton:
Sometimes, f#%k yeah. When I've got to cut weight and get down
to the grind now, I leave all that shit alone.
MMAWeekly:
So, do you eat anything, I mean, some guys are on a strict diet.
Are you on a strict diet when you train?
Quinton:
Well, I supposed to be. I've go a nutritionist and shit keeping
me on a strict diet but, you know what I'm saying, f#%k, everybody's
gonna cheat.
MMAWeekly:
OK, good enough. Your toughest fight ever?
Quinton:
Yeah cause it surprised the shit out of me. I was training for
Arona but then I had to fight that motherf#%ker. It was tough
as f#%k on me, you know what I'm saying, cause the people at
that level, you need a game plan for them. You've got to have
a game plan. If you don't have a game plan, what the f#%k you
doing? I was like, damn man, I'm not a bright motherf#%ker but
I look like a smart guy when I fight though.
MMAWeekly:
Talk real quick about what's in your CD player. What's in your
CD player?
Quinton:
You can see deez nuts, is that what you're talking about?
MMAWeekly:
I knew that was coming.
Quinton:
I'm just f#%king with you. I be rapping, they got me rapping
in Japan. I be listening to my own shit.
MMAWeekly:
You've got your own stuff out?
Quinton:
I got my own shit. I don't need to be listening to everybody
else. I listen to my own shit.
MMAWeekly:
Break off some for us right now, come on man.
Quinton:
I don't want to f#%k with ya'll right now. [laughs]
MMAWeekly:
Tell us about you CD or DVD you've got out.
Quinton:
It's a demo. My CD is just a demo tape right now. It ain't finished
cause I make my shit in Japan. They got me putting down shit
in Japan. So, every time I go there, I go to the studio and put
some shit down. I'm trying to get a record deal in Japan. I've
been keeping it on the down low but I'm letting that shit go
right now cause you're asking me to many motherf#%king questions.
MMAWeekly:
I'm coming hard at you. Dude, if Bob Sapp can have a CD, Quinton,
come on man, you've got to be able to sell a lot of those shouldn't
you?
Quinton:
Well, ya'll have no idea how famous Bob Sapp is man. Bob Sapp
has his own dildo in Japan. Y'all are laughing but I'm telling
the motherf#%king truth right now.
MMAWeekly:
You're kidding me.
Quinton:
No man, ya'll have no idea how famous Bob Sapp is in Japan.
MMAWeekly:
Do you think he's done fighting?
Quinton:
Nah, Nah, Bob Sapp, he never was a fighter. He's a hustler. He's
out there hustlin, you know what I'm saying. Shit happens like
that sometimes. Bob Sapp, he'll be back man. He's making his
money man but when his contract is up, Bob Sapp's smarter than
you think he is, When his contract is up, he's doing to retire
and live off his other shit that he's made. He'll still probably
make money in Japan after his fight career's over. Bob Sapp did
something that no other man has done in Japan before man, blew
up that quick.
MMAWeekly:
Yeah, no doubt about it. Someone wanted me to ask you about Matsui.
Quinton:
Man, what the f#%k's wrong with you, asking me about Matsui man?
F#%k Matsui! Man, I'll slam Matsui on his motherf#%king head
next time. That motherf#%ker ain't even going to step in the
motherf#%king ring with me man. F#%k Matsui man! He's a f#%king
bitch. Matsui's a bitch ass motherf#$ker man. Man, that motherf#%ker
doen't even look at me man. F#%k Matsui man.
MMAWeekly:
Tell me how you really feel Quinton.
Quinton:
Man, I'll tell ya, if there's any fighter I don't like man, it's
f#%king Matsui man.
MMAWeekly:
I can get that. My gosh dude. Why do you hate him so bad, just
cause the fight?
Quinton:
Yeah man, this motherf#%ker acted like he had to be carried out
on a stretcher. Man, you guys didn't see that shit man. They
didn't show that shit man. He had to be stretched out on a motherf#%king,
he had to be carried out on a motherf#%king stretcher cause he
got kneed in the nuts, and I didn't even knee the motherf#%ker
in the nuts. Man, he's a bitch man.
MMAWeekly:
I think you have destroyed Baroni's and Lee Murray's F-bomb record.
Quinton:
Well, f#%k both of them. It's my record. Lee Mary, I like Baroni
but f#%k Lee Mary.
MMAWeekly:
How come you don't like Lee?
Quinton:
He talks too much motherf#%king shit.
MMAWeekly:
Yeah?
Quinton:
Yeah, how in the f#%k is he going to talk shit about Tito, then
when it comes time to fight, he don't want to fight Tito? He
made himself look bad. Lee Mary, I'll tell him to his face, you
a stupid motherf#%ker and let him come to Pride.
MMAWeekly:
You'd want to, you'd take him on?
Quinton:
Man, f#%k Lee Murry. He ain't got shit. I'll put in short work
with that motherf#%ker. He's a shit talking motherf#%ker man.
I'm all about America, where the f#%k he from?
MMAWeekly:
[laughs] Quinton, always a pleasure my man. I've got to wrap
it up.
Quinton:
I always wrap it up man. You don't know what these women got
out here playa. I always wrap it up.
MMAWeekly:
Words to live by. Hey, a pleasure. I'll talk to you soon.
Quinton:
Alright, take care.
MMAWeekly:
Good luck against Arona OK.
Quinton:
Thanks man.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human
beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind."
William James, 1842-1910, American Psychologist, Professor, Author
|
Super
Brawl 36 Tonight
Super Brawl/Extreme
Challenge 155lb National Champion Tournament
The
SB/EC National Tournament has become one of the biggest tournaments
of the year. Past competitors have gained access to both Pride
and UFC (Ricco Rodrigues 1999, Bobby Hoffman 1999, Heath Herring
1999, John Marsh 1999, Wesley “Cabbage” Correira 2002,
Travis Wuiff 2002, Joe Doerksen 2003) and two going on to be
UFC Champions (Josh Barnett 1999 and Tim Sylvia 2001). With the
caliber of talent in 2004 tourney, look for at least one more
rising star tonight!
Quarter
Finals
1.
Justin James Hawaii contender
(Omaha,
Nebraska, 6-4)
James
of Omaha, Nebraska is an explosive fighter who has the ability
to end fights quickly. Dain Agbayani was originally slated in
this spot and it is in the process of being filled.
2.
Ryan Shultz Mike Aina
(Team
Quest, 6-2) ( BJ Penn’s MMA, 1-0)
Schultz
of Gresham, Or. Is a member of Team Quest and has a recent win
over UFC veteran Gil Castillo. Aina may have only one pro fight,
but coming with BJ Penn’s recommendation expect a quality
fighter.
3.
Bart Palaszewski Kolo Koka
(Team
Curran, 8-3) (Grappling Unlimited, 8-5)
Koka
is a solid fighter who has announced this will be his last night
of fighting. Look for him to be highly motivated. Palaszewski
has won 8 in a row and recently beat Purebred’s Hiroaki
Okada.
4.
Roger Huerta Harris Sarmiento
(Minneapolis,
Minn. 9-0) (808 Fight Factory, 10-7)
Huerta
is a student of Dave Menne. He has a 9-0-1 record and a solid
college wrestling background. Sarmiento has won 7 of his last
8 fights including the Super brawl 33 tournament qualifier. He
will attempt to avoid the takedown and use his superior striking.
HCW
Exhibition (Super Brawl Rules Match)
5.
Kenjiro (Godzilla City, Japan) v Kaniela (Deepest bowels of the
Pali)
This
will professional wrestling “shoot” match. Competitors
must follow Super Brawl rules.
6.
Winner Bout #1 v Winner Bout #2
7.
Winner Bout #3 v Winner Bout #4
Intermission
185lbs
8.
Tony Espitia Kai Kamaka
(Westbrook
Kickboxing, Hilo. 2-0) (808 Fight Factory)
Espitia
has a strong striking background and is likely to try and keep
this fight standing. Kamaka is making his return to the ring
after more than three years. In those three years he has been
honing his skills as coach at the 808 Fight Factory. He will
be well rounded and ready to battle.
Tournament
Finals
9.
Winner Bout #6 v Winner Bout #7
MAIN
EVENT
10.
Yushin Okami 185lbs Falaniko Vitale
(Tokyo,
Japan 8-1) (#1 Contender, 17-3)
Okami
is a highly regarded Japanese opponent whose specialty is the
“Ground and Pound”. He will use his extensive Judo
skills to attempt to take Niko down and use his long arms to
pound his way to victory. Vitale will not be easy to take down.
An impressive performance tonight could land him in the biggest
event in the world, Pride Fighting Championships. Look for him
to try and land big strikes standing and if the fight goes to
the ground he will stay active and look for a submission.
|
Marcos
'Parrumpinha to face Baret Yoshida in NAGA
Marcos 'Parrumpinha' is all fired up. The ATT instructor is set
to face Submission Grappling specialist Baret Yohida in a Superfight at the NAGA event
on June 26th. Parrumpinha promises an exciting match: 'It's going
to rock. I am all fired up!
Source:
ADCC/Kid Peligro |
MaxPreview:
UFC 48 Getting Rare "Payback" in Vegas
By Jake Rossen
Concussed from contentious contract dealings, Zuffa will attempt
to repair one injured corner of the title picture with UFC 48:
Payback, a June 19 PPV event from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas,
Nevada. Former heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia - stripped after
testing positive for performance enhancers - will vie for his
vacated title against hometown hero Frank Mir. That coronation
will take a back seat to a marquee contest between veterans Ken
Shamrock and Kimo.
Here's
a look at the action scheduled to take place. As always, please:
plenty of wagering.
Main
Event
Heavyweight (205 lb. and over) Bout
Ken Shamrock vs. Kimo
The
Lowdown: One of the few MMA pioneers believed to make a blip
in buyrates, Ken Shamrock returns to the UFC after an eighteen-month
absence. His November 2002 bout with Tito Ortiz remains Zuffa's
biggest success to date, though it remains to be seen what that
prolonged beating did for Shamrock's box office status. Sporting
a 2-3 record since a 2000 comeback, the 40 year old has been
mixing up his training with Erik Paulson and is said to be in
good shape following resolution of knee problems.
Kimo
comes in after two strong showings in two different arenas: he
made quick submission work of contemporary Tank Abbott in June
'03, then rocked gargantuan Bob Sapp before losing in an August
K-1 fight. While he made his name as a brawler in the SEG-era
UFC, Kimo has pursued a steady regimen of jiu-jitsu in his decade-long
career and has the appearance of someone who has made significant
progress.
The
two originally met in a 1996 event, with Shamrock eating a few
solid shots before applying a kneebar for the victory. It was
arguably Ken's last significant win.
Odds
On: For all his name recognition, Shamrock has not looked formidable
in a fight since May 2000, when he gave Kazuyuki Fujita all he
could handle...and still wound up losing due to heart flutters.
Eight years removed from his prime, he'll be facing someone who
has improved in all areas of the game and doesn't have nearly
the same mileage on his body. Don't expect déjà
vu here: expect Kimo to use his size advantage and vastly improved
striking and jiu-jitsu to frustrate Shamrock en route to a decision.
Co-Main
Event
For the UFC Heavyweight Title
Tim Sylvia vs. Frank Mir
The
Lowdown: Stepping down as champion after a steroid controversy
in late 2003, Tim Sylvia has had to be patient in attempting
redemption. A scheduled title bout with Andrei Arlovski in April
had to be postponed after there was more confusion over Sylvia's
urine samples and residual elements. With Arlovski now injured,
Las Vegan Frank Mir steps in to contest for the belt.
Sylvia
brings in an unmatched combination of reach, polished striking,
and takedown defense. He claimed the title after a one-sided
win over Ricco Rodriguez in early '03, then defended it successfully
against Gan McGee in September. UFC fans have never seen his
ground game, but there's little reason to believe a protege of
Pat Miletich would flounder there.
Mir,
meanwhile, is a mat machine, outworking opponents with submissions
and reflexes that belie his 240 lb. frame. Mir has made quick
work of Roberto Traven, Pete Williams, and Tank Abbott: he had
more trouble against the lanky Wes Sims, but still managed a
victory. Brawler Ian Freeman, however, had him donating blood
in a July 2002 bout. In several fights, Mir's cardio has looked
underwhelming.
Odds
On: Sylvia. Mir will have considerable trouble taking him down,
which leaves a very dangerous game to be played on the feet.
Sylvia by KO.
Middleweight
(185 lb. and under) Bout
Phil Baroni vs. Evan Tanner
The
Lowdown: There's more "Payback" to be had here, with
Tanner and Baroni attempting to resolve a controversial ending
to their November 2003 bout. Baroni seemed to have Tanner on
the ropes, but a doctor stoppage to check a cut on Tanner allowed
for some recuperation time and for the fight to head for the
ground. Eating elbows from under the mount, referee Larry Landless
believed Baroni was giving up. He was not, and a post-fight altercation
led to a brief suspension.
Baroni
brings heavy-duty firepower on the feet; Tanner brings it via
vicious elbows from the mount. Baroni could not put up much of
a fight against Team Quest's Matt Lindland in two fights; Tanner
is filling his bag of tricks in that very camp.
Odds
On: Tanner, though it's dependent on how quickly he brings it
to the mat. He got a gift intermission last time, and if he wades
into Baroni's flurries again, it'll be over quickly. Assuming
the strategy is sound, Tanner by TKO.
Welterweight
(170 lb. and under) Bout
Frank Trigg vs. Dennis Hallman
The
Lowdown: Completing the trifecta of titular encounters, Trigg
and Hallman will look to resolve an old score. The two competed
for the WFA welterweight title in late 2002, an evenly matched
contest that ended when Trigg inadvertently struck Hallman in
the groin. Unable to continue, Hallman had to suffer the loss.
Trigg's
last bout was a wrestling clinic with Matt Hughes, which ended
when Hughes took his back and got the submission win. Hallman's
biggest win since their first encounter was a submission victory
over the durable Ray Cooper in October. He remains best known
for his 2-0 record against Hughes. The winner of this bout is
likely to be looking at a welterweight title shot in the near
future.
Odds
On: Hallman may be more motivated to erase the bad taste of their
last fight and Trigg's sloppy mistake in the Hughes bout could
be a huge boost for Dennis' confidence. Hallman by submission.
Welterweight
Bout
Matt Hughes vs. Renato
Verissimo
The
Lowdown: Five-time champion Hughes returns after his surprise
loss to BJ Penn in January. A far cry from the dominating wrestler
he was in previous defenses, Hughes looked passive and plodding,
allowing Penn to impose his will without response.
With
Penn having joined K-1, the division is once again open. If Hughes
wishes to recapture the title, he'll first have to contend with
Verissimo - fittingly enough, Penn's teacher. Verissimo looked
sharp in two tough fights against Gil Castillo and Carlos Newton;
his expression of jiu-jitsu may be the toughest test for Hughes
yet. Look for Verissimo to stay busy on his back and put Hughes
on high alert.
Odds
On: Assuming he wants to re-ignite his career, Hughes should
use superior positioning skills to get Verissimo in bad situations.
If he's as lax as he was against Penn, though, it'll be a longer
climb back to the top. Hughes by decision.
Middleweight
Bout
Curtis Stout vs. Trevor Prangley
The
Lowdown: Stout returns to the UFC for the first time since a
lackluster decision loss to Phil Baroni in 2001. He's found success
in HookNShoot and other indie shows, racking up wins with impressive
hands.
Prangley
makes his UFC debut coming off a win against Andrei Semenov.
The AKA team member likes his wrestling and submissions and will
look to get Stout to the mat for the finish. His only professional
loss is at the hands of Renato Sobral.
Odds
On: Prangley looks to have the tools and the experience to overwhelm
the outclassed Stout. Prangley by submission.
Lightweight
(155 lb. and under) Bout
Matt Serra vs. Ivan Menjivar
The
Lowdown: Serra returns after decisioning Jeff Curran in January
and suffering a tough loss to Din Thomas in February 2003. (The
in-ring announcement was Serra by decision; it was actually a
win for Thomas.) A longtime student of Renzo Gracie, Serra's
bread and butter is submission. Though he can strike, don't expect
a kickboxing exhibition from him.
Menjivar
makes his UFC debut after a long stint in Canadian shows, and
comes with an impressive highlight reel that depicts an explosive,
capable athlete with strong wrestling and several years of jiu-jitsu
under his belt. Both fighters have similar body types, though
Menjivar has had several fights at 145 lbs. His two losses come
from bouts at higher weights. Time will tell whether he will
turn up his effectiveness as a lightweight.
Odds
On: Serra is the vet, and Menjivar will have to deal with the
jitters that come with being in the big show. Putting that aside,
Menjivar is the better wrestler and stand-up striker. If he doesn't
get caught, look for him to dominate for a decision victory.
Welterweight
Bout
Georges St. Pierre vs. Jay Hieron
The
Lowdown: St. Pierre comes off two solid wins against respected
athletes Pete Spratt and Karo Parisyan. The Canadian native made
his name in regional shows.
Hieron
comes out of literally nowhere, with few fights to his credit
and no major names attached to his record. When training partner
Jason Miller bowed out due to personal problems, Hieron stepped
in. Experienced in kickboxing, Hieron also brings in an amateur
wrestling background and is a white belt under Rodrigo Gracie.
Odds
On: Man of mystery or not, Hieron has his hands full with the
very capable St. Pierre. Georges by submission.
For
comments, EMail jrossen@maxfighting.com
Source: Maxfighting |
|
2nd
International Black Belt Japan v Brasil in the works
Word
is that the 2nd Brazil v Japao Challenge is already in the works.
The event is set for July 29th at the Olympia house in Sao Paulo,
Brazil. Names being mentioned to be fighting in the event are
Bibiano Fernandes, Leo Vieira, Mario Reis, Fernando 'Terere',
Fabio Leopoldo, Leticia Ribeiro & Roberto Godoi and for Japan
Yuki Nakai, Hayakawa Misuyoshi, Wado Toshiyuki, Kukuzumi Shinsuke,
Takashi Watanabe & Cristiano Kaminishi.
More
on this as it develops.
Source:
ADCC/Kid Peligro |
Interview
– Wanderlei Silva
By: Gleidson Venga / Team TATAME
Anyone who thinks that his knee injury may have dropped the beast's
desire is wrong. Wanderlei Silva is hotter than ever and he promises
lots of surprises this year. The PRIDE champion doesn´t
mince words as he warns that he will kick asses in '04.
The
knee that took you out of the June Pride event is 100% recovered?
It already is. I´m working out specifically in order to
fortify my ligaments and we´ve been hitting each other
at the academy.
So
you´ll face Yuki Kondo in August? I´ve already started
preparing and when I get back to Curitiba I will continue to
get ready. I will have more time for this fight's preparation,
so I intend to be in way better shape physically and technically.
And
after Kondo, your opponent will come from the match between Quinton
Jackson and Ricardo Arona. Do you think there´s a favorite?
It´s a stalemate, either of them would win. I think Jackson
is a very strong guy, who plays well standing. He defeated Bustamente,
who is Arona´s coach, so I think it may be more complicated
for Arona.
You
have any preferences for this match? No, actually I want to fight
against Jackson again, because the last time we fought I feel
I didn't get off completely. I wanna get him fully! I would like
to get Arona too because he speaks way too much. Let´s
see if he will be so courageous at the time he is supposed to
be.
How
about the defeats of teammates Ninja and Macaco? It´s not
normal for Chute Boxe to lose in Pride! Those defeats have an
explanation, both of them. Macaco went until the end, and he
fought well. It's been two months since he joined us an he fought
standing too. For him, the fact that he´s training with
us now is new and he´s still adapting. Our team has been
rebuilt again, with great acquisitions, and now we have a very
mixed training, so when we get back to full power, we will see
everybody winning.
Soon
Nino Schembri will face Sakuraba, what would we expect from this
match? We´ve been training Nino to show a new approach,
in order to make him better than Sakuraba, to bring the fight
standing and then bring it to the ground, which is his specialty.
He´s training real hard, he´s very connected with
us, he´s teaching us Jiu-Jitsu, so I think he will do much
better than he did last time.
Do
you have any guesses for the Pride Heavyweight GP? I think it
will be between Fedor and Minotauro. I think if everything works
out well and they arrive in the finals, it would be like my fight
with Jackson, It will certainly be a historical fight.
Don´t
you think Randleman could surprise Fedor? No, I don´t.
I don´t think he will get passed Fedor this time. Unless
he lands that real heavy punch he has.
But
Fedor wouldn´t be that silly ... There it is, Cro Cop wasn´t
either … but a fight is weird. It may be Ogawa, who knows.
But the probabilities are higher for them. Although, Minotauro
will do a rematch with Herring, and that first fight between
them was very hard, and Herring improved a lot since then, so
it will be a real tough fight. I think this Pride GP will be
real hard. That Japanese fighter (Yokoi) had presented some difficulties
to Minotauro, I mean, it was not a big deal, but he wasn´t
that easy as well.
Ok,
let´s get to the point, who will be the heavyweight fighter
for Chute Boxe? Napão is already there training with us,
by the way, I have trained on stand with him already. He went
to our academy, he´s training, I´m teaching him a
couple things and it seems to be working since he has changed
all over his game. He has a good boxe, he´s learning how
to kick, he´s big, but leaner, around 100 kilos, but we
will bring him up to 110kg now, and very strong. Let the guys
get ready for him, he will come different. If he gets there and
stay there holding up, he has everything to become our big shot,
he´s a nice guy and very technical.
Wanderlei,
would you tell us what´s the importance of Jiu-Jitsu in
your training, since your ground game has been spoken about a
lot these days. Jiu-Jitsu is as important as Muay Thai is, I
would have have just one of them instead of the other. If my
opponent is not that good on the ground he will be fucked up!
We´ve been training a lot of Jiu-Jitsu here, we really
are! Actually, my Jiu-Jitsu is not used to submit, I use it to
achieve good position in order to attack and submit by tapping
out. Now I´m at 98kg, I will start a work to go up to 103kg
and then I will drop down to 93kg in order to fight in August.
I´ve been doing one of the best preparations I´ve
ever did.
So
you will be sharper than ever? I will get there completely ready,
let them get ready for me, 'Hands of Stone'.
What
can we expect from Wanderlei Silva these next few months? Since
I did just one fight in this first part of the year, in the second,
if I don´t get injured or stuff like that, I´m intending
to do three matches. In there is the match on December 31st,
but it will be a surprise. They will be battling for the audience
in Japan, but they will put a very well known guy to fight against
me.
Source:
ADCC |
Pé-de-Pano
debuts in Vale-Tudo against Dan Severn
by André Araújo / Team TATAME
BJJ black belt and World Champion Márcio 'Pé-de-Pano'
(Gracie Barra) has confirmed his Vale-Tudo debut. It's gonna
happen on August 14th, at the International Fighting Championship
(IFC). His opponent is a well known fighter with 60 bouts on
his record, former Ultimate Fighting Champion Dan Severn will
fight Cruz in South Dakota. The Brazilian, who will represent
Gracie Barra Combat Team, has been postponing his MMA debut since
last year. 'My debut did not happen yet because I haven't received
a good proposal and the events were kind of weak. Now I have
a good deal, a nice show and a great opponent.' celebrates Pé-de-Pano.
Severn's
experience seems not to scare the Brazilian black belt: 'It makes
no difference to me. It may be considered as an advantage for
him..., but I will step inside the ring like it is his first
fight as well,' guarantees the GBCT's athlete, who adds: 'I think
my best opponent is myself. I don't have to prove anything to
anybody. This fight is something personal for me and I fight
for myself.' However, the age difference between the fighters
worries the champion 'He is now 50 and it may count points for
him. Look at Randy Couture... Dan Severn has been fighting all
this time and this age thing has no importance in MMA. He has
determination and he wants to be there. He is not a fool,' theorized
Márcio Pé-de-Pano.
His
debut in Vale-Tudo may spoil Pé-de-Pano's plans for the
BJJ Mundial and the BJJ World Cup. The Gracie Barra athlete had
been training to fight in the open class and weight division
in both competitions. 'Going to Bahia is something that is pretty
much out of my plans already, and the Mundials will depend on
my preparation. I do need to train with a gi, but I might fight.
Now I just have this MMA bout in mind. I will do my best to rule
Vale-Tudo,' guaranteed the CBCT's athlete.
Source:
ADCC |
Nino
Schembri
By Marcelo Alonso
New
team, old 'friends'
Antônio
Nino Schembri is about to debut as a Chute Boxer next Sunday,
June 20th, doing one of the super-fighters of the Pride GP. However,
his opponent is an old 'friend' of his new team. Kazushi Sakuraba
is on the way to retiring and he chose Nino as a rematch. Last
time they met, the Japanese ended lying on canvas after a knee.
Check out bellow how is Nino's training and what he does expect
for this rematch and Chute Boxe's debuting.
Why
did you switch Gracie Barra to Chute Boxe?
I
had many problems after my dad passed away. I realized I need
to fight for money. My first idea was training with Renzo, but
I had no money to go to US... and then Master Rudimar invited
me to train at Chute Boxe. I thought it was great, since Chute
Boxe is one of the best Vale-Tudo teams in the world. For now
I ama Chute Boxer. If I got anybody upset, I hope they understand
me. That is called life.
How
do you fell during the training?
It
has been sucha a amazing experience for me. I was welcomed by
master Rudimar and Rafael and the whole crew. I've never trained
so hard in my entire life... he train everyday, work out, run
and train Muay Thai also.
Are
you handling well the Chute Boxe's style?
I
was breaking down..., but I am getting used to... I think it's
like that. Vale-Tudo is for real.
What
do you have to say about Chute Boxe ground level?
Really
good. I got really impressed when I got here.
Are
you teaching more than learning?
I
am sure I've been learning more. WE have been changing lots of
information and I imporve everyday. I'm not here to compete with
a friend.I am here to learn. The whole crew has been helping
me out a lot on the feet and I try to pass some of the ground
skills I know.
What
is your graduation on the feet?
I
would say I am a white belt with lot of determination (laughing).
Tell
me about this new challenge with Sakuraba?
I
departed to Japan last Monday and I have been training in Japan
since. I will dressed as Elvis and I can tell you by my training
I will do a great fight on the ground..., but if I do need to
exchange punches on the feet, I will do it! He is far heavier
than me, but I reached 85kg and I feel fine.
Source:
Tatame |
Belfort's
extra power to beat Randy
On United States since June 6, Vitor Belfort got an extra power
to his third battle against Randy Couture, on August 21st, in
Las Vegas. Last week his wife Joana Prado informed him by phone
she's pregnant. 'When she told him, he called us here in Brazil.
Vitor is very happy with the news,' told us his manager Ricardo
Saito.
During
his first week in US, Vitor first went to Las Vegas, where he
was one of the stars of the UFC 49 TV advertising. Then, the
Light Heavyweight champ went to a city over the mountains next
to Los Angeles. The place where Vitor is living now is a famous
Boxing training camp and still had received names such as the
Mexican Oscar de la Hoya. Now Vitor is waiting for his coaches
Leonardo Vieira and Distac, that departure to US this Friday.
Source: Tatame |
De
Souza back to Peru looking for Pride
Tony de Souza returned yesterday to Peru. After almost two months
training at Nova União gym, in Rio de Janeiro, De Souza
is in his bornland, where he intend to stay a month and a half
to come back to Brazil. Tony is taking this opportunity of being
in Peru to also take the visa to Japan. It seems that Pride's
men Nobuyuki Sakakibara and Nobuhiko Takada liked his participation
at last Meca 11.
"Japanese
considered Tony's fight the best of the night and they also considered
Tony the best fighter", stated André Pederneiras,
the leader of Nova União team. According to Pederneiras,
they have already invited Tony to fight at next Pride's shows,
taking to Japan his beggar's look that he took to Meca and turned
the audience crazy calling him "Mendigo" (beggar, in
Portuguese). "They liked the Mendigo thing and they want
it at Pride. We now want to face Takanori Gomi, probably in one
of Bushidos", announced Pederneiras.
Source: Tatame |
Sapp
To Make Big-Screen Debut
by Michael Afromowitz
K-1 martial arts fighter to play starring role in big budget
film “Elektra”
K-1
megastar Bob “The Beast” Sapp will make his long awaited
motion picture acting debut alongside actress Jennifer Garner
in Elektra, a spin-off of last year’s Hollywood adaptation
of popular Marvel Comics title, Daredevil.
For
the last month, the 6 foot 4 inch, 360-pound former NFL lineman
turned K-1 martial arts fighter has been residing in Vancouver,
Canada, working on the set of the latest superhero adaptation
slated for release in February 2005. Sapp, who had repeatedly
mentioned the strong possibility of beginning a new career in
acting, spent a considerable amount of time on the set of the
film prior to his May 22nd bout with Japanese star, Kazuyuki
Fujita, during the K-1 “Romanex” event in Saitama,
Japan.
Elektra
casts the 29-year-old Sapp as “Stone,” an evil assassin
whose physique is made of stone. Garner returns to the silver
screen as Elektra Natchios, the beautiful and deadly costumed
assassin. The forthcoming flick expands on a Daredevil storyline,
whereby the lead woman recovers from a near death experience
to battle a clan of mystical ninjas collectively known as “The
Hand.” Sapp’s character is a member of the group.
Aside
from her starring role in Daredevil, the 32-year-old Garner received
acclaim for her performances in Hollywood blockbusters Pearl
Harbor and Catch Me If You Can. Her latest project, 13 Going
On 30, is playing in theatres nationwide and has grossed nearly
$55 million to date at the box office.
Sapp’s
latest venture comes less than two years after the big man made
his splash debut in Japanese martial arts fighting competition.
His freakish size and strength quickly propelled him to larger
than life status in Japan where the native of Colorado Springs,
Colorado has appeared in over 200 television commercials and
as a guest on every major talk show. Sapp graced the cover of
TIME magazine’s Asia edition and has been hired as a spokesman
for a slew of Japanese consumer products ranging from ice cream
to bento boxes.
Sapp’s
wild popularity caught the attention of the American media last
year prior to his United States fighting debut. After landing
on the cover of leading daily business periodical, The Wall Street
Journal, his story was covered in ESPN magazine, Muscle and Fitness,
and leading hip-hop publication, The Source. Both NBC’s
“The Tonight Show” and FOX Sports Network’s “The
Best Damn Sports Show, Period” welcomed Sapp as a guest
last August.
Source:
Sherdog |
AT
AGE 40 CAN SHAMROCK STILL HAVE AFFECT IN MMA?
UFC 48 Payback Profile: Ken Shamrock
With
the name Ken Shamrock there hardly needs to be an introduction.
What can you say about a guy that has been there and back and
everywhere in between?
Shamrock
was there at the start, UFC 1, where he ultimately lost to fellow
UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie. He's defeated Japanese legend
Masakatsu Funaki, Pat Smith, Matt Hume, Bas Rutten, Mo Smith,
Dan Severn, and even his opponent for UFC 48, Kimo. Of course,
he does have a few losses in there. He's dropped bouts to Dan
Severn, Kazuyuki Fujita, Don Frye and, most recently, Tito Ortiz.
The
loss to Ortiz especially was somewhat of an enigma. Though the
loss was definitely a mark on his record, it also showed that
Shamrock is still a viable commodity in the modern days of this
sport. Despite the loss, his battle with Ortiz helped drive the
ZUFFA-era UFC to it's largest-to-that-date live gate and, reportedly,
it's best pay-per-view numbers.
Although
many fans have written Shamrock off after his loss to Ortiz,
Shamrock still believes he's got some gas left in the tank and
wants to prove to the world that he can still compete. Though
he didn't make an excuse out of it, Shamrock did face Ortiz with
a torn anterior cruciate ligament that has since been repaired
and is nearly 100% healed.
Shamrock
has also switched up his training routine believing that he may
have gotten a little stagnant over the past few years. He has
been training with submission specialist Eric Paulson and a slew
of other different training partners in an attempt to shake things
up and maybe bring something a little different to the table.
Known
for solid takedowns and impressive leg submissions, Shamrock
usually is the stronger of the two opponents in the ring. In
this one though, he expects to come in somewhere around 217-220
pounds, whereas Kimo should enter the Octagon well over 240 pounds.
A definite minus for Shamrock.
Kimo
has also improved since the early days of the UFC when Shamrock
submitted him in four and a half minutes with a knee bar. He
has continued training in jiujitsu and is vastly improved on
the ground. His standup game is still suspect as he hasn't shown
much of it in recent fights.
Shamrock
will most likely be looking to test Kimo on his feet to see where
he measures up. If he doesn't appear to be winning the war there,
look for him to take Kimo down and try to keep him on his back
in order to ground and pound him into submission. Kimo will be
looking for an opening for a submission, but he'll have to get
Shamrock down first. That may be tough as it's not apparent if
Kimo's has the takedown abilities to handle Shamrock, though
his edge in weight should help him out, but Shamrock's submission
defense is pretty solid and he won't be easily caught.
As
long as his knee and conditioning hold up, Shamrock can win the
fight against Kimo. If it doesn't however, we maybe witnessing
Ken Shamrock's final fight in MMA.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
|
THE
MOST DISLIKED GIANT IN MMA?
Paulo
Cesar Silva may not be a name well known to MMA fans. His alter
ego Giant Silva however is becoming a name that has, since his
debut at Shock Wave 2003, become slightly more ingratiated into
the MMA collective conscience.
Standing
7 feet 5 inches tall and weighing in at around 530lbs, there
is no doubt Silva lives up to the nickname of Giant. For lack
of a better word, there is no other way to describe this normally
very cordial and gentle individual.
While
he is a fan favorite in Japan, here in the United States he doesn't
seem to be respected. The fans for whatever reason have not reacted
the same as the Japanese, none the less, he has a chance to gain
respect in this Pride Grand Prix. A very nice man and gentle
giant outside the ring, once you get the 7'5 man inside an MMA
ring the nice attitude quickly changes.
There
is no doubt that his first foray into MMA against Heath Herring
was awkward. The tall lumbering Silva was easily outmaneuvered
by the well-rounded Herring. Despite taking severe punishment
to his legs and being quickly submitted once the fight went to
the ground, Silva’s aggression shown through, enough so
that it seemed as if there may actually be a fighter underneath
the former pro wrestler’s façade.
After
taking a few months to work on his fighting skills, especially
his ground game, at Renzo Gracie’s Academy under the tutelage
of the Bitencourt brothers, Silva returned to PRIDE to compete
in their Heavyweight Grand Prix’s first round event Total
Elimination 2004. This time matched up against former Sumo wrestler
Henry “Sentoryu” Miller things would be much different
for Silva.
After
a brief exchange the two massive individuals went to the ground
with Silva on his back and Miller in his guard. It seemed like
it would be Silva versus Herring all over again as Miller began
to take selective shots at Silva. Then things took an unexpected
turn…
With
only a few months training in Jiu-Jitsu, the 530lb Silva managed
to take Miller’s arm and slowly, from his back, maneuver
the former Sumo wrestler’s arm behind him, setting up a
kimura. The unexperienced Miller (making his MMA debut) had no
idea how to defend such a move and quickly tapped out. The Giant
was moving on to the next round of the tournament.
At
Critical Countdown Silva will be facing former Olympic Judo Silver
Medalist and fellow pro wrestler Naoya Ogawa. Ogawa is coming
off the fastest fight of the evening at Total Elimination where
he downright embarrassed former K-1 star Stefan Leko winning
via choke. Thus setting up an interesting battle which may be
the most difficult fight to call in the second round of the tournament.
For
Silva the strategy is simple, use his size and weight advantage
over the smaller man and stay away from submissions and primarily
chokes. It was clear how uneasy the idea of choking out makes
Silva when Herring only had to apply one for a second before
he tapped out at Shock Wave 2003. If he can avoid Ogawa’s
repertoire of submissions it could be an easy win for the largest
fighter in MMA history and make things a little more interesting
as the final four converge in August for Final Conflict 2004.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
JAPANESE
BEST BET TO WIN GP?
Pride Critical Countdown Profile: Naoya Ogawa
At
6’4” tall and 250lbs, former 1992 Olympic Silver Medal
winner Naoya Ogawa is not your average Japanese fighter. Originally
choosing pro wrestling as his profession after competing in the
Olympics, Ogawa further rose his stardom competing in various
companies capturing many titles and accolades.
Then
in 1997 the Judo specialist competed in his first MMA bout, a
victory over Rens Vrolijk at the Red Devil Free Fight Gala in
Holland. It would be two years before he would compete again
in MMA, but the second time would pose a much greater challenge
for Ogawa.
As
a young upstart MMA company called PRIDE was working hard to
gain recognition and reverence they decided to invite Ogawa to
compete in their sixth event against former UFC standout Gary
“Big Daddy” Goodridge. In a clash of styles, the larger
and stronger Goodridge looked to use his brute force striking
against the more ground oriented Ogawa. But like how things usually
start strong and finish weak, Goodridge could not keep up the
pace against the calmer Ogawa eventually being mounted and then
submitted with a keylock.
Ogawa
would spend the next three years alternating between PRIDE and
the UFO companies fighting three times all victoriously. Then
as PRIDE was putting together the line-up for their Heavyweight
Grand Prix 2004 they decided to invite back Ogawa whom had performed
well for them in his two appearances. Due to his popularity and
attention he would bring to PRIDE the organization decided to
allow Ogawa the choice of opponents, his selection was former
K-1 star Stefan Leko representing Team Golden Glory out of Holland.
The
strategy seemed painfully obvious to many MMA insiders, Ogawa
was getting one of three fighters (along with Henry Miller and
Giant Silva) he had told PRIDE he would only compete against,
three fighters whose combined MMA record at the time was 0-1.
The obvious strategy paid off as Ogawa quickly finished off the
inexperienced Leko on the ground with a choke in just over 90
seconds and was on his way to Critical Countdown.
Next
up for Ogawa is one of the other three men he wanted at Total
Elimination, 7’5” fellow former pro wrestler Giant
Silva. The strategy again seems obvious, Ogawa is facing off
against a lessor experienced fighter, but has he bitten off more
than he can chew?
Standing
seven and a half feet tall and weighing 530lbs it is easy to
say that Silva is the biggest challenge Ogawa has ever had to
face. With the obvious size and strength advantage could Ogawa
take down the giant and outmaneuver him to get a win? That is
the question everyone will be asking. If the past gives vision
to the future it may be the answer is yes he can.
In
Silva’s first MMA fight he took on 6’2-5” (depending
on who you ask) 250-260lb Heath Herring and was defeated soundly
as soon as the fight went to the ground. Even though Silva took
Herring down he was unable to hold position against the smaller,
lighter fighter. The situation may be the same for Ogawa whose
agility has kept him out of trouble against larger foes, namely
Gary Goodridge.
A
win would propel the popular Ogawa to the finals in August and
depending on the outcomes of Critical Countdown’s other
Grand Prix bouts it is possible Ogawa’s road could become
much more difficult regardless of whom he chooses in the semi-finals.
A loss wouldn’t mean the end of the world for Ogawa either
as he would easily return to his regular meal ticket, pro wrestling,
and continue to profit from it.
Either
way this is a large test for Ogawa on many levels and depending
on how he does he could legitimize his run in MMA or dispel the
hype that surrounds him and possibly end his forays into MMA.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
MONSON
BREAKS DOWN PRIDE GP AND TITLE FIGHT AT UFC
American Top Team member, Jeff Monson has been keeping busy doing
some boxing along with Mixed Martial Arts. He talked about his
boxing, how he is a different fighter than when he competed twice
in the UFC, his goals for the future, as well as gave his insight
on the Pride Grand Prix and UFC 48.
Monson
made his professional boxing debut about a month and a half ago.
He has two professional boxing matches under his belt and he
stated, "I think I kinda needed to do this to get to the
level I want to be at." His objective is to get comfortable
enough to stand with anyone. He said training at ATT has made
him a better fighter and hopes boxing will further his improvement.
Monson
has always been looking to get into Pride, "My goal is to
win Pride," he stated. He likes the competition level of
the Pride heavyweights and feels like he can compete with them.
Jeff commented, "If I fight one of those guys, I'd expect
to win," he went on to say that he always expects to win.
While
he was on the topic of the Pride heavyweights, he discussed the
Grand Prix. He would have picked Mark Coleman to win the tournament
but he lost to Fedor Emelianenko in the first round. When asked
who the guy to beat is, Jeff replied, Randleman already beat
him. He thinks Fedor is a bad match-up, style wise, for Minotauro
Nogueira, but that Fedor's style can be neutralized. He hopes
to see Randleman win it all because he knows him and likes him,
but has his reservations about it happening.
Switching
to the UFC heavyweights, Monson gave his take on the Frank Mir
and Tim Sylvia title fight and the Ken Shamrock against Kimo
bout, both happening next weekend at UFC 48. Jeff is friends
with Mir and thinks if Frank shows up in shape, "he's got
a really good shot." He pointed out that no one has seen
Tim's ground game and compared Mir's submission skills to be
on the same level as Minotauro's and Josh Barnett's, as far as
heavyweights go. He went on to say, "I think Frank's overall
game is better," than Tim's.
Looking
at the Shamrock and Kimo fight, Monson said everything short
of picking Kimo to win the fight. He thinks it is Ken's heart
that keeps him in the sport but maybe the body of the aging warrior
can no longer do what Ken's mind wants it to. He doesn't think
Kimo has taken the punishment that Ken has over the years and
has learned new skills to compensate for his body getting older.
Monson
has a busy schedule coming up. This weekend, Jeff will be competing
in the "Nashville Open." A "Music City" grappling
tournament, an eight man professional tournament. He will be
boxing again on the 25th. In October, he will plans on being
in the eight man MMA heavyweight tournament to be held at the
Taj Mahal, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
To
hear all of what Jeff Monson had to say, like his views on government,
get yourself a Premium Membership. For only five dollars a month,
you gain access to the radio archive, our video library of one
on one interviews, behind the scenes coverage of weigh-ins and
press conferences, Tips of the week from the top fighters in
Mixed Martial Arts and more. With UFC 48 and the Pride Grand
Prix on the horizon, there is no better time to become a Premium
Member.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
Slimmed-down
Baroni vows revenge against Tanner; is uncharacteristically relaxed
for biggest fight of his career
By Frank Curreri
LAS VEGAS -- Asking Phil Baroni to give a prediction for his
upcoming fight is like asking a midget, "So, how do you
like being short?"
You
already know the answer.
"I'm
gonna break his jaw," Baroni said Tuesday while dining at
the upscale Grand Lux Café in Las Vegas, days before his
grudge match with Evan Tanner.
"The
only time it will go to the ground is when he hits the ground."
More
than any other mixed martial artist in the world, Baroni always
foresees catastrophe for his next opponent. Problem is, the UFC's
most noted trash talker hasn't fulfilled one of those forecasts
in nearly two years.
The
New York Bad Ass last tasted victory in September 2002, and is
winless in his past two fights.
"No
one can be as hard on me as I am on myself," said Baroni,
who has 5 wins and 3 losses. "I haven't felt good about
myself in two years. When you lose, you feel like shit. I haven't
been able to look in the mirror and feel good for two years now."
But
make no mistake about it, the man Phil Baroni sees when he stands
in front of a mirror today looks dramatically different than
the one who fought Tanner on Nov. 21 of last year.
The
Baroni who banged with Tanner was a pro bodybuilder clone incapable
of scratching his own back; the Baroni that will show for their
sequel is less bulky and more closely resembles a gymnast.
"I
was blown up," he said. "I started thinking, 'Why am
I blown up? Why am I tired?' I was trying to be cosmetic. It
was stupid.
"He'll
look bigger, but I'm stronger," Baroni said of Tanner, a
former 205-pound fighter.
Kickboxing
specialist Keith Trimble says the slimmed-down Baroni - who usually
weighs 200 pounds the week prior to a fight but now tips the
scales around 188 - is in the best shape of his career and his
fists are faster than ever.
"His
hands look phenomenal," Trimble said. "All he worries
about now is just winning the fight. He doesn't get that bodybuilder
pump. He's more of an athlete now."
It
is harder to judge any changes in Baroni's attitude toward life
and fighting, though his training partners speak of many.
The
bombastic, brutally honest UFC veteran said he has regained the
confidence he lost during the most tumultuous chapter of his
career. Baroni's life last year read like the lyrics to a country
music sob tale. He temporarily lost his job due to suspension,
fought Tanner despite a torn pectoral muscle that had not completely
healed, spent two days in the hospital following the Tanner fight
with pneumonia, and seriously questioned how much sand was left
in his hourglass as a fighter. But Baroni did not lose his girlfriend
or three dogs, so all hope was not lost for his achy, breaky
heart.
"I
did a lot of soul-searching," Baroni said.
Though
the public will not soon forget Baroni striking the referee for
wrongfully halting his fight with Tanner, both Baroni and Larry
Landless have long ago forgiven each other. Landless was man
enough to admit he made a mistake by stopping the fight; he thought
he had heard Baroni, who was under duress from Tanner's wicked
elbow strikes, verbally submit. Baroni suffered a three-month
suspension for his outburst. The 28-year-old was left to ponder,
how many more chances do I have to be a championship-caliber
fighter?
Trying
to salvage his career, Baroni not only shed his bodybuilder physique,
he also rediscovered his fighting roots. Baroni had crafted such
a strong identity as a slugger, that he de-emphasized the ground
and takedown skills that made him an All-American wrestler in
college. Before, a lot of Baroni's pre-fight preparation was
aimed at stopping what his opponent does best. Before clashing
with Tanner last year, Baroni had a laundry list of attacks to
worry about: How do I respond if he gets me on the mat and unleashes
elbow strikes? What about his leg locks? What about fighting
from the clinch? How do I offset his front kicks?
"I
worried about what everyone else was doing. That was the biggest
mistake." Baroni said. "Now I'm worrying about what
I'm going to do. I'm forcing my style on them from now on. There's
no way I'm changing anything I do for now on."
But
sitting in a ritzy, Las Vegas restaurant, with high-society types
within earshot, Phil Baroni is not quite the same. It is Tuesday;
the fight is four days away. Usually, Baroni would be starving
himself. He'd be uptight and quick-tempered, and occasionally
yell at someone.
"A
little nasty," Trimble said of Baroni's typical pre-fight
demeanor. "You could say, 'Hello' and if he didn't know
you he'd bite your head off. Now he's calm. He's at peace with
himself."
Baroni
will have no trouble making the 185-pound limit, so he feasts.
He gulps down a salad, then some asparagus, broccoli and carrots.
Then he puts a hurting on some grilled halibut and steamed rice.
"I
train like a savage beast," Baroni says. "I might as
well eat nice."
No
one has ever questioned Baroni's work ethic - which is superb
and beyond reproach - but many have blasted his cocky brand of
sportsmanship. There is rarely ambiguity in a UFC fan's heart
whenever Phil Baroni's name is mentioned. There are few figures
in UFC history, save for Tank Abbott, Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock,
that get fans riled up on fight night quite like Baroni. Middle
ground is impossible when it comes to Baroni. Fans either love
him or they hate him. But they all probably agree on one thing:
Caution is a virtually a foreign word to Baroni, and his willingness
to slug with anyone always produces thrilling pugilistic theater.
Baroni
is fully aware, for better or for worse, of his ability to work
a crowd and sell tickets. So even though UFC legends Ken Shamrock
and Kimo are the poster boys for Saturday night's UFC event,
even though their rematch is billed as the main event, Baroni
claims to know the real reason the event's theme has been dubbed
"Payback."
"This
is the fight of the night," Baroni said matter-of-factly,
referring to his showdown with Tanner. "The reason it's
called 'Payback,' is because of my fight. I'm the one they come
to see. I bring it every time I'm out there. As far as the fans,
if they don't like me, I'll win them over. They're all cheering
when I knock people out."
It
might take a Californian 15 seconds or more to say the aforementioned
six sentences. A southerner might require 20 seconds or more
to make the statement. But for the fast-talking, quintessential
New Yorker like Baroni, the words take all of 10 seconds to come
out. And 90 miles per minute is how Baroni speaks even when he's
relaxed, as he was Tuesday night while he studied the hefty bill
and counted cash. Most people are wearing fine threads in the
dimly-lit café; Baroni is wearing a baseball cap on backwards.
He is wearing shorts with the words "Bad Ass" on the
side and a red tank-top with his name emblazoned on the back.
Teammates
Jason Miller and Jay Hieron - an unbeaten fighter who makes his
UFC debut Saturday - stand beside the dinner table and imitate
Baroni's dancing style. Based on Hieron's rendition - hips side-to-side
and a finger jabbing toward the sky - Baroni's patented dance
is a cross between something out of a Village People video or
a page stolen from John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever."
Baroni
bends over and laughs out loud. It is an unprecedented gesture
for Baroni so close to fight time. He mentions his dogs: two
Chihuahuas, one Brussels Griffin (the breed of pooch that starred
in the hit movie, "As Good As It Gets." But what about
this business of dogs being an extension of their owners?
"I'm
tough enough," says Baroni, who seems comfortable in his
skin for the first time in a long time. "I don't need no
pit bulls. I need some dogs to sit there on the couch and give
me kisses."
Source:
Maxfighting |
Vincent
Gets "Pulverized" in Jens’ TV Debut
By Jade "Ninjamonkey" Prout
Jens Pulver, the only man ever to hold the UFC Lightweight Championship
title, won his second pro boxing fight on ESPN’s Tuesday
Night Fights with a split decision after four rounds of action.
He is certainly not the first Mixed Martial Artist to delve into
the world of boxing, but he is the first to appear in a nationally
televised match.
His
opponent, Steve Vincent, came to the ring with a 3-0 record (all
three wins by knockout) and a four-inch height advantage over
the compact Pulver. Jens was 1-0 after winning his pro debut
by knockout. The commentators noted that although Jens lacked
Vincent’s amateur background, his extensive experience in
wrestling and martial arts was a definite asset in any fighting
venue. They were very respectful towards the sport of MMA, which
was a pleasant surprise.
The
first round saw Jens advancing and Vincent keeping his distance
with a combination of footwork and a stiff jab. It seemed that
Pulver’s game plan was to cut off the ring and use hooks
and uppercuts on the inside. Halfway through the round, Jens
dropped his guard just long enough for Vincent to land a left-right
hook combination that sent Pulver to the canvas, but Jens persevered
and absorbed several more hard punches before the bell. A solid
10-8 round for Vincent.
The
pace was similar in the second round, with Jens coming forward
and Vincent sticking and moving. At one point, Vincent seemed
to unbalance himself while slipping a jab and Pulver capitalized
with a monstrous left that floored his opponent. When the action
resumed, Jens stayed aggressive, but Vincent landed some good
shots before the round ended. I gave this round to Jens with
a 10-8 for the knockdown, although Vincent seemed to be the more
active puncher.
The
third round started with Pulver looking to break the deadlock.
He did so in an explosive fashion, whip-lashing his opponent
with a devastating left that would have sent Vincent to the ground
had he not grabbed the ropes. Vincent seemed flustered by the
knockdown, but came out swinging after the 8-count and got the
better of most of the exchanges. Jens managed to connect with
a few nasty power punches, including a vicious left hook in the
final seconds. This was another 10-8 round for Pulver.
Vincent,
surely aware that the scorecards were against him, came out looking
for a knockout in the fourth round, but Pulver was not having
any of that. Although Jens didn’t do much punching in this
round, he continued to put on the pressure and took everything
his opponent could throw at him. Pulver hung in there until the
final bell sounded to end the contest. Vincent earned a 10-9
round, but without a knockdown, it just wasn’t enough.
Perversely,
one of the judges scored the fight 38-37 in favor of Vincent.
This judge may have either scored both of Jens’ knockdown
rounds as 10-9 or called one of them a tied round, but we’ll
probably never know. Of course, it doesn’t really matter,
as the other two judges called it 37-36 in favor of Pulver, giving
him the win. It may not have been a pretty fight, but as Pat
Miletich once said: "Reality ain’t always pretty."
Congratulations
Jens, and best of luck to you in the future. We hope to see you
in Tim’s corner Saturday night!
Source:
MMA Fighting |
Quote
of the Day
"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what
you have to do."
Epictetus, 50-120, Stoic Philosopher
|
Official
Super Brawl Weigh-in Tonight at Round Table Waikiki!
For all you folks lucky enough to have steady 9-5 employment,
you probably never got to a Super Brawl afternoon weigh-in. Well
no excuses this time.
Great
Pizza, cold beer and Super Brawl athletes weighing in at 7pm Thursday night. Round Table Pizza Waikiki (below the
Ohana East on Kaiulani Street), free validated parking around corner in garage
(Kuhio entrance).
Beeeee Theeeerrrrrreeeee! |
SERRA
CLIMBING BACK UP THE 155 LADDER
UFC 48 Payback Profile: Matt Serra
He
was ranked as high as #6 at 155, but after a couple of tough
losses he has dropped off the radar of the Top 10. If there is
one word to describe Matt Serra, though it would be tenacity.
From being the first ever American BJJ black belt under Renzo
Gracie, to his unrelenting ground attack, there are few things
in MMA that Serra does not approach with a tenacious zeal and
getting back as one of the best at 155 is important to him.
After
debuting in MMA at Vengeance at the Vanderbilt series it was
obvious that Serra was not a fighter whose immense potential
could go ignored, thus he was invited to make his debut at UFC
31 against veteran MMA gatekeeper Shonie Carter.
In
what was one of the more entertaining fights of 2001, Serra dominated
the more experienced Carter on the ground, capturing dominant
position many times throughout the fight. Then with around one
minute left in the fight, a seemingly locked-up decision victory
for Serra went the way of one of the most famous moments in UFC
history.
Carter,
an unconventional striker with a flare for dramatics unleashed
a spinning backfist catching Serra flush on the face as he was
aggressively attacking Shonie. Quickly the nimble and dexterous
Serra’s body shook with the force of the blow as he crumbled
to the ground, and so with only 9 seconds left in the fight,
it had seemed that Serra had snatched defeat from the jaws of
victory.
Not
one to let defeat get him down, Serra went on to win his next
two fights, defeating Yves Edwards and Kelly Dullany, the latter
of which was used as a recent example by the UFC as proper technique
of a triangle choke in their efforts to educate fans.
As
2003 winded down the announcement came that there would be a
four-man tournament to decide the vacated UFC Lightweight Championship
and Serra, along with BJ Penn, Caol Uno, and Din Thomas would
compete against each other over two events to crown a champion.
In
the first round, taking place at UFC 39, Serra was matched up
against arguably the number one lightweight in the UFC at the
time, BJ Penn. Unfortunately for Serra, after a three round war
with Penn it was BJ that the judges favored that night and he
was eliminated from the tournament.
Next
up for Serra was an undercard appearance against the other fighter
who had lost in the tournament at UFC 39, American Top Team member
Din Thomas. In a back and forth battle that could have easily
gone either way, Serra was awarded the victory via split decision
to the crowd. However it was later found out that the closeness
of the fight had led to a mistake in tabulating the judges’
scorecards and while in his dressing room enjoying what he thought
was a hard earned victory, Serra was told that it was Thomas,
not he whom had won the fight.
Undeterred
Serra was again invited back to the UFC on Super Bowl eve to
fight Jeff Curran on the undercard of UFC 46. Showing now ill
effects of his confusing loss to Thomas, Serra dominated the
fight, taking every round on every judges’ scorecard thus
leading up to his return invite at UFC 48.
At
UFC 38 Serra will be facing the tough Ivan Menjivar making his
UFC debut. Menjivar, a Salvadorian born fighter living in Montreal
has been a fixture in the Canadian MMA scene going 12-3 mostly
for the UCC organization. He is a complete fighter, winning fights
both with submissions and with his strikes, as this could be
Serra’s biggest test since his fight with Penn.
The
strategy for Matt is simple, take Ivan down and neutralize his
strikes. With Serra’s extremely good ground game it could
only be a matter of time before Menjivar makes a mistake against
a class of fighter he has never faced in Serra. A win would place
Serra in good standing with the UFC as he seeks to remain within
contention for a title shot if the UFC ever reinstates the Lightweight
Championship. A loss could mean a lengthy trip elsewhere as it
would be difficult for the UFC to justify bringing back a fighter
with a barely above 500 record to a division they clearly have
little faith in helping bring in ticket purchases and PPV buys.
Win
– Jeff Telvi – Guillotine Choke– VATV 7 –
1-29-2000
Win – Greg Melisi – Submission (Arm Bar) – VATV
11 – 2-24-2001
Loss – Shonie Carter – KO (Spinning Backfist) –
UFC 31 – 5-4-2001
Win – Yves Edwards – Decision (Majority) – UFC
33 – 9-28-2001
Win – Kelly Dullany – Submission (Triangle Choke) –
UFC 36 – 2002
Loss – BJ Penn – Decision (Unanimous) – UFC 39
– 9-27-2002
Loss – Din Thomas – Decision (Split) – UFC 41
– 2-28-2003
Win – Jeff Curran – Decision (Unanimous) – UFC
46 – 1-31-2004
Source: MMA Weekly |
QUADROS
INTERVIEW
His
background is extensive in MMA. Stephen Quadros has called big
fights for every organization. From Pride, to K-1, to Inoki Bom
Ba Ye, to currently doing work for the WEC. Quadros has seen
plenty of fights in his day and he breaks down this week's Pride
Grand Prix and UFC 48 cards for MMAWeekly.
MMA
Weekly: Stephen good to have you here with MMAWeekly and as you
know it's a huge week for the sport of MMA. Let’s preview
some of the fights coming up this week in both UFC and PRIDE.
Stephen
Quadros: OK, but understand, that all my predictions are with
the assumption that the two competitors are 100% healthy, with
no injuries.
MMA
Weekly: No problem. Let’s start off with UFC 48, one match-up
that a lot of people are anticipating is Phil Baroni’s rematch
with Evan Tanner. Give us your expert opinion on this fight.
Stephen
Quadros: This one is hard for me to pick. Tanner made a wise
decision to go with Team Quest. They obviously know the chinks
in Phil’s armor, or at least Matt Lindland, who beat Phil
twice, does. Baroni did have Evan’s number early in their
last fight and seemed on the verge of finishing him. But Baroni
has changed training environments yet again. I believe this musical
chairs approach with training environments will eventually have
a negative effect on him, but he may have enough “heart”
and fistic firepower to beat Tanner if they stand too long. Will
the fight be? I doubt it. I really don’t know who is going
to win this one but I expect a knockdown, drag out battle.
MMA
Weekly: Next up we’ve got Renato Verissimo fighting Matt
Hughes. With the UFC having recently stripped BJ Penn of the
Welterweight Championship this becomes very important to the
UFC rankings, how do you think this one will go?
Stephen
Quadros: Verissimo is going to have problems with Hughes. If
Matt is on, he will muscle and pound the Brazilian. But it’s
no secret that Hughes can be vulnerable to submissions. He needs
to turn this into a fight similar to his second go with Carlos
Newton. If I were Pat Miletich, I would have Matt stand and bang
with Renato. Hughes by decision
MMA
Weekly: Then there is the Heavyweight Championship match between
big Tim Sylvia and submission specialist Frank Mir. Considering
this is the first time that Sylvia has fought in well over 8
months and Mir’s endurance issues in his last fight against
Wes Sims, this one could be very interesting. Tell us what you
see for this match-up.
Stephen
Quadros: This is a good match for the UFC and it comes at a time
when they really need it. I believe that Sylvia will win by KO.
MMA
Weekly: Lastly there is the main event between Ken Shamrock and
Kimo. You’ve called fights involving both fighters at various
stages of their careers. Shamrock is saying he is finally healthy
for the first time in years and Kimo seemed to do well against
the rather limited Tank Abbott in his last fight. What do you
see this fight coming down to and who arises victorious?
Stephen
Quadros: I’ve always liked Ken. I have worked with him as
a commentator and have called several of his fights and found
him to always be professional Kimo is the more improved fighter
though. Because Shamrock is the more famous of the two he has
many more distractions than Leopoldo does. Will he be able to
focus on the training needed to beat the Hawaiian? I don’t
think so. I pick Kimo in this one, probably by decision.
MMAWeekly:
Before we get into the Pride Grand Prix, I’m sure you know
what I’m going to ask as it is the curiosity of everyone
in MMA, why is Stephen Quadros no longer calling fights for PRIDE?
Stephen
Quadros: Bas Rutten and I had worked for three years on the American
PRIDE broadcasts with a producer named Michael Braverman. With
Braverman’s help we had defined what many feel was a unique,
entertaining, educational and cutting edge style of broadcasting
and event portrayal. Part of this “almost” originated
before Braverman joined the show when we were about to film the
intro to PRIDE 9. I had suggested to Bas that we deviate slightly
from a traditional show opening. People who have hung out with
the two of us know that we bring out a funny and special quality
in one another. So we were going to try to capture that on film.
I wanted him to punch me, kick me and choke me during the opening
sequence while I was introducing him. This was all staged for
effect and done safely because he and I have plenty of movie
fighting experience. We filmed it and started telling all of
our friends and acquaintances when we got back from Japan to
be sure to watch the beginning of the show for a little surprise.
But the ones who were surprised were Bas and I when we saw that
they had cut to a camera angle of the outside of the building
and/or the inside crowd while the shenanigans we had dreamed
up ended up on the editing room floor. We were disappointed,
our little input, our creation had been cut out by who knows
who. But help was on the way as Braverman started working with
PRIDE, and us, a few shows later. He understood what we wanted
to do and nurtured our zaniness, understanding that Bas and I
both had on-screen talent, acting experience on network TV shows,
knowledge and what people “now” see is that rarest
of gems in broadcasting, chemistry. Those years working with
Bas Rutten and Michael Braverman were unforgettable. I will always
remember the good times we had in Japan. It was true teamwork.
I am proud of the progress we made. I feel we pioneered something
unique.
Then
after PRIDE 25, one of the greatest shows we’d ever done,
Michael Braverman left PRIDE. I’m not sure on the specifics
but I kind of had an uneasy feeling about it. Braverman was replaced
by Jerry Millen, from Detroit. I did one show with Millen; PRIDE
26 and things were a lot different. Several weeks after I returned
from that event I was let go. I saw that coming. My replacement
was a friend of Millen’s, also from Detroit, named Damon
Perry.
“Why
is Stephen Quadros no longer calling fights for PRIDE?”
I actually don’t know because in the telephone conversation
when I was relieved of my position I was told by Yukino Kanda
what a good job I had done for three years, but they were going
to “try” another commentator. I did not ask “why”.
It wasn’t important to me to know the ”thinking”
behind such a move. I didn’t agree with it. It wasn’t
about money because I hadn’t asked for a raise in over 3
years. It wasn’t about not getting along with Bas. Duh,
it was an internationally known fact that we worked beautifully
together. It wasn’t about a lot of things. I just didn’t
care what the reasoning was. Obviously, at a meeting somewhere,
someone had to have uttered something to the effect of “Hey,
let’s replace Stephen Quadros with Damon Perry.” And
it was approved and put into action. The move speaks for itself;
it was straight out of Dilbert (the popular newspaper comic strip).
I have not watched an English language broadcast since my departure,
so I have no opinion of my successor(s). But I understand that
Mr. Perry was replaced after two shows, which also happened to
be the two biggest shows PRIDE ever did. Did they make a mistake?
(Laughs) No comment, I wish them the best.
MMA
Weekly: How has your relationship with Bas Rutten changed, if
at all, after your dismissal from PRIDE?
Stephen
Quadros: There is sadness in both our hearts that we don’t
get to see each other and pull all the pranks that we used to
constantly pull on people, on the plane ride over, around the
hotel, in the production meetings, on the air during ESPN Japan
shows, etc. But our personal friendship and bond has not changed.
We understand that life goes on. He put in his two cents and
fought to get them to keep me. He showed his loyalty, and I appreciate
this.
He
is like a brother to me. I respect him, not just as a fighter
and martial artist, but more importantly as a good person, a
father, a man of principles and integrity. He and I are a lot
alike. To sum up that similarity please alloy me to quote some
dialog from a movie script written by Oliver Stone, in which
Al Pacino’s portrayed a character named Tony Montana in
the 1983 film Scarface, “All I have in this world is my
balls and my word and I don’t break ‘em for no one.”
That’s me and that’s Bas. I always had his back and
he always had mine. That will not change.
MMA
Weekly: Looking back for a moment, what were some of your fondest
memories in your time with PRIDE?
Stephen
Quadros: I’m not sure some of these things will transfer
well or be comprehensible to your readers. Some of these memories
are, well, kind of whack. Where do I start? I’ll just go
random here… Bas will remember ALL OF THESE! One time, I
forget what PRIDE show it was after, we were at the airport getting
ready to fly back to the States. It was me, Bas, Josh Gross and
Jeff Sherwood (Sherdog). We were in one of the many fast food
noodle places at Narita airport and Josh asked me what time it
was. I have one of these really cheap Casio watches with a timer,
stopwatch, world clock, etc. You know, a low rent Dick Tracy
watch. Anyway, I start pressing buttons trying to get to the
time and noticed Bas is starting to laugh at me because he’s
thinks I’m jerking their chain by purposely delaying the
answer about the time with all this fumbling. He and I have this
thing that we thinks it’s funny to annoy each other …
and everyone around us. I mean we think it’s hysterical.
So I DO start just pushing buttons to delay the answer of time
and act like I am really concerned about finding out what time
it is and REALLY concentrate on that dumb little watch. Bas is
laughing more as I FINALLY tell Josh it’s whatever time
it was. THEN, I am almost finished with my bowl of noodles so
I hoist it up to my mouth and start slurping the last remnants
of soup and noodles. The bowl is covering my face. For some STUPID
reason, I start to cough and laugh at the same time. I mean it’s
really loud! Bas thinks I am doing it on purpose and starts laughing
UNCONTROLLABLY. I still have the bowl up over my face making
all these really weird and revolting sounds while simultaneously,
and unbeknownst to them, laughing my ass off. They never knew
this but I was actually on the verge of choking. All for art…whatever.
This went on for a LONG TIME, I mean maybe 3 minutes. I finally
lowered the bowl. Bas and I are in tears we are laughing so hard.
Josh and Jeff are just looking at us with these puzzled, worried
expressions, surely thinking that we had gone completely and
utterly insane. There are SO MANY stories of goofy things like
this that I could tell you. But I had better move on…
Back
when all the PRIDE accommodations were at the Tokyo Hilton, which
incidentally may have the best breakfast buffet on Earth, most
of the fighters would go to eat at this little Denny’s type
place next door called The Royal Host. I am sure those poor people
that worked there HATED when the fighters would come there to
eat. Especially the Dutch crew, who were always the LOUDEST and
most fun loving. I mean when Gilbert Yvel, Bas Boon, Marc DeWeerd,
Cor Hemmers, Ramon Dekker (who is actually fairly quiet), etc.
walked in, the poor employees would practically run for cover.
It was a Kodak moment. Then Bas and I would come join them and
it was as if someone poured gasoline on a campfire, it really
got loud! It suddenly became an atmosphere like one of the old
west saloons right before the fistfights break out. You could
practically see the other patrons frown, finish their meals and
leave. We were one big merry band of Vikings! On a side note,
my times in Holland were fantastic, off the hook; the kind of
experiences that people only read or dream about. I was treated
VERY WELL over there. But that is a whole different chapter…in
my, uh, upcoming book. (Laughs)
MMA
Weekly: What about some of your favorite moments in the ring?
Stephen
Quadros: Royce Gracie versus Kazushi Sakuraba (at the second
round of PRIDE’s 2000 Grand Prix) was the craziest thing
I have ever seen. Saku’s pre-fight entrance was a total
mind game. That match was 90 minutes of strategy, slap stick
comedy and MMA greatness. Honestly, the fight was slower paced
than most but riveting nonetheless because of the symbolism and
things at stake. A poker faced prankster, Saku, against a serious
martial artist, Gracie. Several days before, Saku just about
threw a fit when Royce didn’t show at the rule meeting.
In the fight I had never seen Royce display such aggression and
his kickboxing had really improved. But Sakuraba’s nonchalant,
and at times impish attitude was extremely entertaining but probably
extremely aggravating to the Brazilian. When Rorion Gracie, Royce’s
brother and cornerman threw in the towel, the Tokyo Dome erupted
in a display of vocal praise that I have never seen before or
since. And then after defeating Royce, Saku was supposed to face
Igor Vovchanchyn in the tournament, a guy who was truly feared
at that time for his punching power. Maurice Smith, who was commentating
with Bas and I, was emphatic that there was no possible way Sakuraba
would be coming out. And then he did…and almost beat Igor!
Sakuraba is special, arguably the most creative and charismatic
mixed martial artist ever.
MMA
Weekly: I know you have a very special connection with many of
the fighters from PRIDE as well, who are some of the fighters
you most admire and enjoyed working with?
Stephen
Quadros: I have known Wanderlei Silva since 1999, when I was
a judge down in Brazil for Sergio Batarelli’s IVC (International
Vale Tudo Championship) productions. But when Silva came to PRIDE
he really grew as a fighter. He is one of the most intense guys
I have EVER seen in the sport. His first fight with Sakuraba
was vicious and impossible to forget. His battle with Mirko “Cro
Cop” Filipovic was a stellar revelation of how complete
his standup had become. I was very sad when Jose “Pele”
Landy, another fighter I hold in high regard, left the Chute
Boxe team because they had all become like an extended family
to me. Wanderlei, Rudimar Fedrigo, Rafael Cordeiro and Pele are
some of the best and most treasured people ever in the sport
of MMA.
The
first time I ever saw Quinton “Rampage” Jackson fight
was at an early King of the Cage event and I knew in the back
of my mind that he was going places. I remember interviewing
him for that show after his fight with Marvin Eastman. He, like
Don Frye, Gary Goodridge and Ken Shamrock, has the rare ability
to think on his feet. The next thing I knew, he was over in Japan
fighting Sakuraba. On camera Quinton and I developed a kind of
Muhammed Ali/Howard Cosell type of relationship. We really fed
off of each other. He is a natural born fighter and a star. One
of the greatest in the game. I mean, not many guys who started
in wrestling can go in and knock out K-1 fighters in a kickboxing
match (Cyril Abidi) or dominate Chuck Liddell! He is such a funny
guy. One of my favorite people to interview!
Watching
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira become the best fighter in the world
was exciting. He is a gentleman, kind of like a Brazilian Randy
Couture, and highly skilled at submissions. Equally powerful
to Nogueira is his nemesis, Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor also is
a down to Earth and personable man. When Fedor dethroned Nogueira
it was a towering moment in MMA history. That match was important
historically because two of the greatest ever fought for the
highest title at the time. Mirko Filipovic was a fighter, like
Quinton Jackson, that I urged the PRIDE bigwigs to sign after
he appeared in his first PRIDE show. Mirko has a great sense
of humor and is obviously a threat to anyone at heavyweight.
I got along great with all these guys.
When
Don Frye came to PRIDE I was really happy. He’s has one
of the strongest, most stubborn minds ever. There is no quit
in him and he’s a quote a minute. Igor Vovchanchyn, like
Emelianenko, was from the speak softly and carry a big stick
school. Igor was such a huge crowd favorite at one time that
his pre-event introduction elicited an even louder crowd response
than Sakuraba. Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman may be polar
opposites as people but as teammates and training partners they
always bring the heat to a match. I recall the first show Randleman
attended; he came back stage and hung out with Bas and I for
a long time. I thought, “Man, this guy has to fight over
here.” And it was such a joy to watch Dan Henderson, a guy
I nicknamed “Dangerous” partly out of tribute to Dan
Gable, become one of the most feared finishers in the sport.
Royce Gracie, with his dominance over the early UFC, is the man
who was responsible for me (and the rest of the planet) to discover
groundfighting and it’s effectiveness. Working with him
was phenomenal, especially when I was able to hang out with and
interview his father, the great Helio Gracie. These are really
important individuals who are largely responsible for where we
are today.
Ken
Shamrock was probably the first celebrity American MMA had ever
produced. He is really savvy about the whole game and the “business”,
maybe better than anyone. I had known Ken since I was a judge
at UFC 8 where he had his first fight with Kimo. Too me, if I
were a fighter who faced Ken, I would thank him after the match,
win or lose, knowing that because of his understanding and commitment
to pre-fight hype and all-out in-ring effort, a guy would make
more money fighting him than he would against almost anyone else
in the business. Another guy who really understood building up
a fight was “Big Daddy” Gary Goodridge. But the thing
that impresses me most about him is how much he continues to
improve as a fighter. Like UFC great Randy Couture, Gary is a
devout student of the game. There are so many more people and
stories I could get into but I’m going to move on in the
interview. Wait for my book (laughs). Actually there is no book,
for a while.
MMA
Weekly: Next up we have PRIDE’s Critical Countdown show
which encompasses the second round of the Heavyweight Grand Prix
plus the return of two huge Japanese favorites. First up there
is the rematch between Kazushi Sakraba and Antonio Schembri.
You called their first fight back at PRIDE 25, what do you see
for things this time around?
Part
II
Yesterday Mick Hammond had Part I of the interview with the Fight
Professor, Stephen Quadros. Quadros broke down the UFC card,
today he talks about the Pride Grand Prix, plus where the sport
of MMA is heading in Part II.
MMA
Weekly: Next up we have PRIDE’s Critical Countdown show
which encompasses the second round of the Heavyweight Grand Prix
plus the return of two huge Japanese favorites. First up there
is the rematch between Kazushi Sakraba and Antonio Schembri.
You called their first fight back at PRIDE 25, what do you see
for things this time around?
Stephen
Quadros: Elvis is a great grappler in the Abu Dhabi style. But
Sakuraba was handing him his ass standing in the first fight
before the unexpected KO win by Schembri. If Saku is not healed
enough from his multiple injuries he could lose again. But if
he is healthy he will beat Elvis.
MMA
Weekly: 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix Champion Mark Hunt will be
making his MMA Debut against Hidehiko Yoshida. Do you really
see this one lasting long considering Hunt’s limited knowledge
of the ground game?
Stephen
Quadros: No. Yoshida will submit Mark Hunt. Hidehiko Yoshida
is one of the greatest athletes in Pride.
MMA
Weekly: In the number one contenders match for the Middleweight
Championship we’ve got your good friend Quinton “Rampage”
Jackson taking the returning Ricardo Arona making his first appearance
in PRIDE since 2002. How do you see this match going between
these two strong and determined fighters?
Stephen
Quadros: What a tough match, for both guys! Arona has been accused
of having a stall-type style in the past, mainly because of all
his experience in grappling only events. I feel Quinton will
win with strikes late in the fight. Jackson has had some tough
opponents over the past several years.
MMA
Weekly: Now we are going to go over the second round of the Heavyweight
Grand Prix. In the first match we have Naoya Ogawa taking on
Giant Silva. It’s pretty obvious to many that Ogawa is trying
to take the path of least experience. First he went up against
Stefan Leko who had no MMA fights and now he’s fighting
Silva who has two. What do you see for this fight?
Stephen
Quadros: I’m not that excited about this fight. Ogawa should
win easily.
MMA
Weekly: Next up we have “Hightower” Semmy Schilt fighting
the surprising Sergei Kharitonov. You’ve called fights by
both of these fighters as well, does Semmy’s reach determine
this fight or can Kharitonov take him down and submit him?
Stephen
Quadros: I believe that Semmy will win, maybe by knockout. Kharitonov
looked good against a bloated Ninja Rua. But Schilt is the most
potent striker in the heavyweight MMA, even more so than Cro
Cop in my opinion. Semmy has only been submitted by Nogueira
and Barnett, two of the greatest submission heavyweights in MMA.
Is Sergei in their class? Not yet.
MMA
Weekly: There’s one rematch in the Grand Prix, Antonio Rodrigo
Nogueira facing off against Heath Herring. You called their first
fight back at PRIDE 17; do you see anything different happening
for this rematch?
Stephen
Quadros: This is going to be a very taxing fight for both guys.
Whoever wins, and I’m picking Nogueira by decision, is going
to be very tired advancing in the tournament.
MMA
Weekly: Lastly we’ve got upset maker Kevin Randleman going
up against PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko. You’ve
seen both of these guys dominate fighters on the ground, who
do you see winning this bout and how?
Stephen
Quadros: Fedor should be able to win this, probably inside the
distance. But you can never count “The Monster” out.
They are both different in that Kevin is very outward, edgy and
in your face, while Fedor is silent and seemingly mellow (until
the bell rings, that is). It’s my opinion that Fedor Emelianenko
is the best fighter in the sport at this moment. Providing he
doesn’t get too banged up I pick him to with this tournament.
MMA
Weekly: Obviously you’ve been keeping very busy over the
last few months with various projects. Tell our readers what
you’ve been up to.
Stephen
Quadros: Accepting applications and holding tryouts for my next
wife (laughs). Actually I have been playing a lot of music. I
am a drummer in case you don’t know, mainly rock & roll.
I am currently in a killer hard rock/punk/alternative group called
“The Deadagains”. We JUST went into the studio last
weekend and are going to be gigging around L.A. soon. Shall I
hype the band? We are a hard act to follow. We have some awesome
songs and a sick level of high energy. It’s so much fun
to play in a band that goes balls to the wall. I have quite a
history playing music actually, sort of a Star Wars prequel to
my activities and reputation in the martial art fight world.
I am also gigging occasionally with a classic rock cover band.
It’s a trio and we play bars in out back places like Temecula,
CA. We play biker classics like “Born To Be Wild” and
“Light My Fire”. Playing drums is how I get my cardio
in. I still teach three kickboxing classes per week also. Bas,
Quinton, Phil Baroni and Maurice Smith have all come in and worked
out.
I
just finished doing all the fight choreography on an independent
film called “PitFighter”. Whoa, that is going to rock
when it comes out! It’s the first independent feature financed
by 20th Century Fox. It stars Dominiquie Vandenberg (Gangs of
New York, Barb Wire, Mortal Kombat), Steven Bauer (Scarface,
Traffic) and Stephen Graham (Snatch). It’s a really wild
ride.
I
was just on C.S.I. Miami, Without A Trace (both on CBS) and Karen
Sisco (USA). I heard that my episodes of Matlock, Beyond Belief
and Walker Texas Ranger are in reruns too. Time to check my mailbox
for those residual checks (laughs).
MMA
Weekly: What kind of plans do you have for the rest of the year
and beyond?
Stephen
Quadros: As far as my future, I feel confident that my place
in martial arts fight game history is already secure because
of the various things I have done in the avenues created by and/or
available to me. This includes, but not limited to, being contributing
editor/columnist with Black Belt magazine (I named my monthly
column “FightSport” back in 1998), editor of “FightSport
With Stephen Quadros” magazine (the offshoot of my Black
Belt column), editor of “Kickboxing Ring Report” magazine
and website (where I was the first print journalist to rank MMA
fighters in 1995), and co-author of “Bas Rutten’s Big
Books of Combat.”
I
was lead commentator for PRIDE, Too Hot To Handle, K-1 World
Grand Prix Finals 2000, Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2001, Kuwait Shidokan
Jitsu, M-1, Holland Cage Fights and King of The Cage “Road
Warriors”, as well as color commentator for Scott Adams’
World Extreme Cagefighting, etc. I look forward to stepping up
the pace in the future (laughs).
Point
blank, I wish to be the English Language voice of K-1 MMA. I
feel I am the best choice for that position and such a move would
be mutually beneficial. I have always maintained a good relationship
with K-1. I have also been reached out to by several entities
about the prospect of me heading a major fight organization.
I feel eminently qualified for such a position. As a matter of
fact I feel strongly that if put into such a position with absolute
financial and political backing, I could make the event and MMA
mainstream within 2 years. We shall see…
MMA
Weekly: Switching gears and speaking of your commentary for the
WEC, at WEC 10 you worked with MMA Weekly’s own Ryan Bennett
and former UFC announcer Jeff Blatnick. Can you tell us what
that experience was like?
Stephen
Quadros: Those guys are great! I had always like Ryan’s
work as post fight interviewer for the UFC and he does an excellent
job as a play by play guy. It’s funny, I hadn’t done
color commentary in years, since all my work with PRIDE and almost
all the other shows I’ve done was play by play. But it’s
FUN doing color again, all the pressure is on HIS shoulders,
not mine (laughs)! I have always respected Jeff Blatnick as an
athlete (he won an Olympic gold medal in wrestling) and as a
commentator for the SEG era UFC’s. To me he’s a legend
and has done many things behind the scenes to help the sport
of MMA. The extra cool thing is that the three of us had instant
chemistry when we sat down together. I look forward to working
with those guys again! I’d love to go to Hawaii and commentate
on BJ and JD Penn’s Rumble on the Rock shows with Bennett.
MMA
Weekly: You are one of the most informed and knowledgeable individuals
in MMA today; in your time in the sport can you tell us how you
view of the evolution of the sport from where it was to where
it is?
Stephen
Quadros: There are two umbrella answers to that question: one
is how the sport is fought, the techniques, strategies, etc.,
and secondly is how the general public perceives the sport and
what inroads have been made in getting it to household name status.
Here
it is 11 years after the first UFC and things have changed dramatically
in regards to skill levels. At the beginning there was an almost
condescension toward standing striking styles because ground
fighters like Royce Gracie and Mark Coleman had been so dominant.
But then came guys like Bas Rutten, Igor Vovchanchyn, Maurice
Smith and Pele and the picture changed. Now a fighter must know
everything: kickboxing, boxing, Muay Thai, freestyle wrestling,
Greco Roman wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, Sambo, Judo, everything. In
the beginning it wasn’t mixed martial arts, it was “style”
versus “style”. Now it IS truly MMA.
The
thing that made the game so primitive in the beginning, the style
versus style thing, was actually what attracted the casual person
to it. The early UFC was like a real life version of the Mortal
Kombat and Streetfighter video games and many people in households
across the nations owned and played those games. Inside the UFC’s
Octagon in those days one guy wore a gi and a black belt, another
guy wore a kung fu uniform, another a wrestling singlet, a fourth
wore Thai shorts, a fifth dressed as a Sumo fighter. It looked
diverse, interesting. There was a texture and a mystique in that.
Now the fighters pretty much dress the same and in many ways
fight the same way. Occasionally there will be a Matt Hughes,
a Sakuraba, a Wanderlei or a Genki Sudo who will create a definitive
and different method to victory. But to John Q Public it may
still look the same. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we have to “educate”
them on the moves, etc., but do people want to be educated when
they plop down $30 for a pay per view? No. They want to be entertained
and quickly. They don’t want to think, they want to escape.
Commentators have to be hypnotists not school teachers. You can
teach a parrot to say “armbar” or “left hook”.
But that same parrot can’t be taught HOW to make the audience
member WANT or CARE to know what it means. That is a quality
you either have or you don’t; you can’t learn it in
“fake voice” school.
Occasionally
you’ll get a guy like Frank Shamrock or Phil Baroni who
will come out and make brash statements and get everyone riled
up and peak people’s interest. But for the most part everyone
in American MMA is wearing the standard uniform and trying to
maintain the status quo. Guys with real balls will be able to
step outside the box and become superstars. And trust, me, that
will be a short list. For every Roberto Duran or Sugar Ray Leonard
there were hundreds and maybe even thousands of boxers in the
70’s and 80’s who would be no more than standard fare.
It takes courage to dare to be different.
To
be different means you have to make a stand and possibly deal
with a thing called criticism. As crazy as it sounds, there are
some competitors who would much rather get in the ring and get
their asses kicked by Fedor, Cro Cop or Wanderlei than be criticized
by a casual fan hiding behind an anonymous computer screen name.
So here you have all these hardcore fans who know every move
and every term and every fight stat that has already happened
and look down on people who are new and curious about the sport
because they don’t know all these obscure, albeit meaningless
details. Nowadays it’s like a private club and the public
hasn’t been invited…yet. In the beginning it was simple,
it was obvious: one guy won and one guy lost. Now there are so
many rules and bureaucracy that you practically need a law or
psych degree to understand a judge’s or a promoter’s
decision. And even having that understanding you still may not
agree with it and feel betrayed and then leave it behind.
The
“sport” has become civilized, political and uniform.
Uniqueness is missing. The window of opportunity is being effected
by the experimental decision making thus far. Is the sport gaining
momentum here in America? Not on a consistent basis. I’ve
said it before and I’ll say it again now, we need a messiah,
like boxing had with Muhammed Ali. He MADE boxing into an international
high paying business. The problem has been though, with MMA,
when someone comes along that could deliver the sport to that
level, the sport and/or promoters try to own them. And if they
can’t possess them, they try to destroy them. Apparently,
long-term gameplans need not apply to the current state of MMA
in America. Things seem to be fairly random and disorganized,
with a special out clause for double standards.
MMA
Weekly: Things have seemed to explode in Japan recently with
K-1 and Inoki getting involved in MMA, there’s a lot of
competition for fighters like never before, can you give us your
opinion on what’s going on right now in Japan?
Stephen
Quadros: It’s great. It’s good for the fighters and
it’s good for the fans.
MMA
Weekly: Thanks for the interview Stephen; it’s been an honor.
Stephen
Quadros: Thanks for interviewing me Mick! It was a pleasure.
Visit me on the world wide web at www.StephenQuadros.com
Source: MMA
Weekly |
RAMPAGE
READY FOR RICARDO
Pride Critical Countdown Profile: Quinton Jackson
They
say opportunity only knocks once in a lifetime. It comes and
if you aren’t ready for it, it leaves never to return again.
For Quinton “Rampage” Jackson opportunity has knocked
once, and luckily for him it may be knocking again.
Flashback
to November 2003, opportunity’s first visit to Jackson’s
door. It’s PRIDE’s Final Conflict 2003 show, Jackson
is in the finals of the Middleweight Grand Prix, standing tall
and proud after having eliminated Chuck Liddell earlier in the
evening. As he stands in the ring he is opposed by his nemesis,
the man who he has wanted to fight all along, PRIDE Middleweight
Champion Wanderlei Silva.
In
what seemingly was fate working its way to Jackson, he had for
the most part been dominating the fight, taking Silva to the
ground and was proceeding to repeat the beating he had given
to Liddell just hours earlier. Then things got interesting, with
Jackson in Silva’s guard and working to improve position
in the eyes of many, the referee stopped the action and yellow
carded the fighters, signifying a lull in action thus restarting
the fight standing.
From
there it was all downhill as the dangerous Silva was placed back
in the position he most dominates, standing and striking. Only
a few short seconds later a series of knee strikes placed Jackson
firmly on the canvas floor, opportunity had packed its bags and
left town, or so it seemed.
Disgusted
with his performance Jackson vowed he would return and get his
desperately wanted rematch with Silva. On little less than two
weeks notice Jackson was again in the PRIDE ring, this time for
Shock Wave 2003 on New Year’s Eve against Ikuhisa “The
Punk” Minowa.
After
dominating Minowa the majority of the fight Jackson was declared
the victor after a viscous knee shot to Minowa’s head on
the ground a minute into the second round. Jackson had taken
his first step towards redemption, but not without its cost.
During the fight Jackson had broken bones in his hand, thus shelving
him for the first half of 2004. Adding insult to injury Jackson
watched as it was Minowa, a fighter he had defeated just two
months prior was given a shot at Silva at Bushido 2 in February.
Then
things seemingly got worse for Jackson, as he was finishing up
his recovery from his injuries it was announced that Silva would
be facing Japanese star Yuki Kondo at Bushido 3 in May. Opportunity
was looking further and further away as it seemed as if distance
were being place between Jackson and what he felt was his, a
match with Silva. But just when things are darkest does the light
shine down the brightest, and it began to shine Jackson’s
way.
Due
to injury a leg injury Silva’s match with Kondo was postponed
until later this year. In its stead PRIDE determined that there
would be a number one contender’s match at Critical Countdown
with the winner facing the winner of the Silva VS Kondo for the
title in the future. Opportunity had again come to Jackson’s
door as he was signed to face Brazilian Top Team member Ricardo
Arona in the number one contender match.
In
what looks to be a battle of contrasting styles, the usually
quick to finish Jackson will be facing a fighter in Arona who
has gone the distance in all but two of his fights. Both men
are coming off of layoffs, Jackson’s six months will be
the longest he has had since entering MMA four years ago, while
Arona is making his first fighting appearance in over a year
after being sidelined with numerous injuries and illnesses.
For
Jackson to win he will have to do as he’s always done, be
competent enough standing to get in on his opponent and slam
him to the ground and then use his strength to ground ‘n
pound his way to victory. However as aggressiveness is Jackson’s
game it can also be his nemesis as Arona’s training with
the BTT has made him a very competent submission specialist and
at any time Jackson’s over aggressiveness could lead to
a mistake to which Arona will capitalize on.
As
the match says, the winner will be the number one contender for
the Middleweight Championship. If Jackson wins he will finally
get his shot at the title, regardless of who holds the belt when
he gets it. A loss would put Jackson again in the position to
have to work his way back to a title shot. But with his popularity
and trademark style it would be no surprise to see opportunity
again come knocking for Jackson and you know he will always be
willing to fight for it, as he himself says “I need that
money! That money would look good in my pocket, know what I'm
sayin'?"
Loss
– Marvin Eastman – Decision – KOTC 4 – 6-24-2000
Win – Ron Rumpf – TKO – CFA 2 – 7-29-2000
Win – Warren Owsley – Arm Bar– Dangerzone –
10-28-2000
Win – Rob Smith – Decision– KOTC 6 – 11-29-2000
Win – Charlie West – Decision – Gladiator Challenge
1 – 2000
Win – Dave Taylor – TKO – Gladiator Challenge
2 – 2-18-2001
Win – Rocko Henderson – Submission – Gladiator
Challenge 3 4-7-2001
Win – Bryson Haubrick – Submission – KOTC 8 –
4-29-2001
Win – Ken Williams – Submission– Gladiator Challenge
4 – 6-17-2001
Loss – Kazushi Sakuraba – Rear Naked Choke– PRIDE
15 – 7-29-2001
Win – Yuki Ishikawa – KO (Punches) – PRIDE 17
– 11-3-2001
Loss – Daijiro Matsui – DQ (Groin Strike) – PRIDE
18 – 12-23-2001
Win – Masaaki Satake – TKO (Slam) – PRIDE 20 –
4-28-2002
Win – Sean Gray – TKO (Referee Stoppage) – KOTC
13 – 5-17-2002
Win – Igor Vovchanchyn – Broken Rib– PRIDE 22
– 9-29-2002
Win – Kevin Randleman – KO – PRIDE 25 – 3-16-2003
Win – Mikhail Illoukhine – Submission (Strikes) –
PRIDE 26 – 6-8-2003
Win – Murilo Bustamante – Decision (Split) – PRIDE
2003 – 8-10-2003
Win – Chuck Liddell – Referee Stoppage– PRIDE
Final Conflict 2003 –
Loss – Wanderlei Silva – TKO (Knees) – PRIDE Final
Conflict 2003
Win – Ikuhisa Minowa – TKO (Referee Stoppage) –
PRIDE Shock Wave 2003 – 12-31-2003
Source: MMA Weekly |
Diego
Sanchez - At The Top and Climbing
Diego 'The Nightmare' Sanchez is only 22 years old and he's been
training in Mixed Martial Arts for just a couple of years. But
with his recent victory over American Top Team fighter Jorge
Santiago, Diego is quickly on his way to establishing himself
as a top contender in the world of no holds barred fighting.
Diego
fights out of Jackson's Submission Fighting gym located in his
hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where a large and loyal
fan following shows their support at every local King of the
Cage. Fighting is so popular in New Mexico that several smaller
shows, such as Fight World, have rolled out their events with
fantastic results. King of the Cage, in fact, is negotiating
with a local sports team for the use of their stadium. One thing
that may be said about the people of New Mexico is that they
love their fights. And their fighters.
"The
people of Albuquerque love to fight, they love to watch fights,
they love to talk about fights," declares Diego. "Anything
to do with fights."
Diego
describes how the sport has won over many boxing fans in New
Mexico. "They love boxing, but now MMA is getting bigger.
The younger crowd loves MMA, and the older crowd has begun to
discover that it is a better, more complete sport."
Diego
speaks with great pride about bringing a Championship belt home
with him. "The fans here are the greatest." He proclaims.
Sanchez
may be relatively new to submission fighting, but he honed his
athletic abilities at a young age. He has twice been the New
Mexico state wrestling champion while attending Del Norte High
School. This created a thirst in Diego that ultimately led him
to Jackson's Gaidojutsu (way of the street) gym, and the world
of Mixed Martial Arts. Diego has refused to look back, devoting
himself full time to the mastery of his craft.
Taking
the fight for the King of the Cage title on short notice after
John Alessio chose to vacate the title, Sanchez won a decisive
victory over Santiago, earning a unanimous decision. But he still
was not satisfied with his performance, stating that he had been
recovering from an injury and was unable to run before the fight.
"I
didn't feel as strong as I usually am," said a critical
Sanchez. "I plan on taking a month to heal and rest and
then prepare for whatever is next."
With
no planned fights in the future, Diego has his sights set on
Japan.
"It's
always been a dream of mine to fight in Japan," he said.
In
the meantime, Diego is preparing for the Abu Dhabi trials in
Vancouver, though he still is not certain exactly how he will
get out there.
When
asked if he has his sights on anyone in particular, a confident
Diego states, "I will fight whoever they throw in front
of me." He also stresses that he is not finished winning
fights or titles. "I am not done yet." He states, "There
are more belts out there to win; this is only a stepping stone."
Source: Maxfighting |
Quote
of the Day
"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that
one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome
while trying to succeed."
Booker T. Washington, 1856-1915, American Black Leader and Educator |
Official
Super Brawl Weigh-in Thursday Night at Round Table Waikiki!
For all you folks lucky enough to have steady 9-5 employment,
you probably never got to a Super Brawl afternoon weigh-in. Well
no excuses this time. Great Pizza, cold beer and Super Brawl
athletes weighing
in at 7pm Thursday night. Round
Table Pizza Waikiki (below the Ohana East on Kaiulani Street), free validated parking
around corner in garage (Kuhio entrance).
Super Brawl/Extreme Challenge 155lb National Champion Tournament
The
SB/EC National Tournament has become one of the biggest tournaments
of the year. Past competitors have gained access to both Pride
and UFC (Ricco Rodrigues 1999, Bobby Hoffman 1999, Heath Herring
1999, John Marsh 1999, Wesley “Cabbage” Correira 2002,
Travis Wuiff 2002, Joe Doerksen 2003) and two going on to be
UFC Champions (Josh Barnett 1999 and Tim Sylvia 2001). With the
caliber of talent in 2004 tourney, look for at least one more
rising star tonight!
Quarter
Finals
1.
Justin James Hawaii contender
(Omaha,
Nebraska, 6-4)
James
of Omaha, Nebraska is an explosive fighter who has the ability
to end fights quickly. Dain Agbayani was originally slated in
this spot and it is in the process of being filled.
2.
Ryan Shultz Mike Aina
(Team
Quest, 6-2) ( BJ Penn’s MMA, 1-0)
Schultz
of Gresham, Or. Is a member of Team Quest and has a recent win
over UFC veteran Gil Castillo. Aina may have only one pro fight,
but coming with BJ Penn’s recommendation expect a quality
fighter.
3.
Bart Palaszewski Kolo Koka
(Team
Curran, 8-3) (Grappling Unlimited, 8-5)
Koka
is a solid fighter who has announced this will be his last night
of fighting. Look for him to be highly motivated. Palaszewski
has won 8 in a row and recently beat Purebred’s Hiroaki
Okada.
4.
Roger Huerta Harris Sarmiento
(Minneapolis,
Minn. 9-0) (808 Fight Factory, 10-7)
Huerta
is a student of Dave Menne. He has a 9-0-1 record and a solid
college wrestling background. Sarmiento has won 7 of his last
8 fights including the Super brawl 33 tournament qualifier. He
will attempt to avoid the takedown and use his superior striking.
HCW
Exhibition (Super Brawl Rules Match)
5.
Kenjiro (Godzilla City, Japan) v Kaniela (Deepest bowels of the
Pali)
This
will professional wrestling “shoot” match. Competitors
must follow Super Brawl rules.
6.
Winner Bout #1 v Winner Bout #2
7.
Winner Bout #3 v Winner Bout #4
Intermission
185lbs
8.
Tony Espitia Kai Kamaka
(Westbrook
Kickboxing, Hilo. 2-0) (808 Fight Factory)
Espitia
has a strong striking background and is likely to try and keep
this fight standing. Kamaka is making his return to the ring
after more than three years. In those three years he has been
honing his skills as coach at the 808 Fight Factory. He will
be well rounded and ready to battle.
Tournament
Finals
9.
Winner Bout #6 v Winner Bout #7
MAIN
EVENT
10.
Yushin Okami 185lbs Falaniko Vitale
(Tokyo,
Japan 8-1) (#1 Contender, 17-3)
Okami
is a highly regarded Japanese opponent whose specialty is the
“Ground and Pound”. He will use his extensive Judo
skills to attempt to take Niko down and use his long arms to
pound his way to victory. Vitale will not be easy to take down.
An impressive performance tonight could land him in the biggest
event in the world, Pride Fighting Championships. Look for him
to try and land big strikes standing and if the fight goes to
the ground he will stay active and look for a submission.
|
Monday
Night Fights
Weigh Ins Annoucement
Sunday
June 20.2004 at 808 Fight Factory weigh ins will start exactly
at 11am and will end at 12pm. If fighters are not there they will have to
weigh in Monday so please be propmpt.
For
direction please call me 808-330-4483 that will also be the last
day for pre-sale.
**SIDE
NOTE**
To all you fathers I apologize but we have to weigh in your Students
or Sons for the fight on Monday on a very special day to honor
you. We apologize for the inconvenience. |
Shamrock
vs. Gracie: It’s On?
San Jose, California -- There were rumblings coming out of Northern
California last week that Frank Shamrock and Cesar Gracie will
finally meet one on one in the cage. This fight has been in the
works for nearly one year under three promotions, including Shamrock’s
Shootbox in November 2003, but word is these two will meet on
August 14 at Rumble on the Rock in Hawaii.
“Semantics,”
Shamrock says, is probably what has held up this fight “a
Shamrock/Gracie fight is a pretty big deal,” he said, but
“I think we have it together.” Shamrock has concluded
his negotiations and his contract is signed. But is Gracie aware
of the fight? “I think so because he was there,” Shamrock
said, referring to the May 6 Rumble on the Rock event where Gracie
was flown in to sign his contract and collect his $5,000 “Frank
Shamrock Will Show” guarantee fee.
When
reached midweek, Gracie stated “Rumble on the Rock has not
contacted me,” as a matter of fact “I was assured at
that time (on May 6) by JD Penn (ROTR representative) that there
would definitely not be a show in August.” Gracie and his
manager, Chris Sanford, have made attempts to contact ROTR management
since hearing of this fight from me. “I have no idea about
this fight... I will be at the Sturgis show on August 14,”
while “from everything I’ve heard from them (ROTR),
everything is moving in the right direction,” Shamrock said,
“I started training” at American Kickboxing Academy
last week in preparation for the fight.
My
attempts to contact Penn for clarification were unsuccessful.
Will Frank Shamrock get the chance to put his reputation and
skills to the test to see if Shamrock Submission Fighting can
be victorious versus the history and dedication of the Gracie
Family and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on August 14? Time will tell.
Source: ADCC
|
Watch
UFC for Free at Round Table Pizza Waikiki!
Watch the UFC live on Pay-Per-View live and for free at Hawaii's
home for Mixed Martial Arts.
Located in the Ohana
East Hotel on Kaiulani street, this venue is a tremendous place to watch sporting
events without a bad seat in the house. 17 Big Screens all set
to UFC!
Saturday
afternoon at 3pm.
|
Trevor
Prangley In Final Preparation For His UFC Debut
Trevor
Prangley is in final preparation for his UFC debut on June 19
when he faces veteran Curtis Stout at “UFC 48: Payback”
in Las Vegas, Nevada. The South Africa native has a 7-1 professional
record, including a recent win over UFC and M-1 veteran Andrei
Semenov at Euphoria MFC on March 13. The 31-year-old feels this
is his year to step up in MMA, but will never take an opponent
lightly. I took an opportunity to sit down with Prangley following
an evening training session this week at American Kickboxing
Academy to discuss his upcoming fight.
JC:
You’re wrapping up final preparations for your UFC debut.
Tell me about the week at AKA. TP: It has been a rough week,
as every week is at AKA. There are a lot of tough guys and I
appreciate the work by Frank Shamrock, Jon Fitch, Javier Mendez,
“Crazy” Bob Cook and Josh “The Punk” Thomson...
it’s been great for me and I really appreciate it.
JC:
What did the training consist of? TP: It’s been a lot of
sparring and a lot of grappling, as well as a lot of cardio,
so I feel that got me as ready as I could get in the time I had.
JC:
Any game plan for June 19? TP: The game plan is always to win.
It’s very difficult to set up a game plan in MMA because
you can watch 5 of the guys fights and he can come out and do
things totally different. The game plan is to be aggressive and
to impose my will and control the fight.
JC:
Stout lost to Semenov and you’re coming off a win over Semenov.
Can that play into the fight? TP: It could and it couldn’t.
As everybody knows, styles make matches and match ups make matches.
It just depends. Semenov might have clashed with his style and
he might be very comfortable with my style. I cannot take him
any lighter then if he had beaten Semenov. I’m not going
to say I beat this guy and he beat that guy so I am definitely
going to beat him. That’s just not how it works. I’ve
seen video and Curtis seems to be a really strong individual,
athletic and tough. I’m not taking him at all lightly because
Semenov beat him.
JC:
What are you going to be doing the final week going into June
19? TP: I’ll be doing hard cardio, but mainly pre-core.
No grappling and no sparring anymore, but focus mitts and maybe
some technique training. Two to three short spurts a day up until
Thursday.
JC:
Come June 19 when the cage locks at the Mandalay Bay are we going
to see Trevor Prangley? TP: We’re going to see Trevor Prangley
that’s for sure. He’s waited a long time and people
close to me know that I will be there. He’ll be there to
fight.
JC:
If you can take one aspect of your training into the cage with
you what would it be? TP: That would be to get off first, win
the clinch and get the takedown. That’s what we have been
working on and that is what I intend to do.
JC:
Are you looking past this fight? TP: Not really. I take it one
fight at a time. You look past that one you might miss this one
and I can’t afford to do that right now. Like I said, Stout
is a formidable opponent.
JC:
Closing words? TP: I want to thank everybody who has helped me,
thank God and Jesus for saving my life and giving me the opportunity
to compete where I’ve competed. I want to thank the guys
at AKA and all my guys up at The Lion’s Den... Derek Cleveland
for all his help. I want to thank the press for giving me all
the coverage. Sometimes I think it’s more then I deserve.
And thank Zuffa/UFC for giving me a chance.
JC:
I’ll see you in Vegas next week, Trevor. TP: Thanks, Joseph.
Source: ADCC
|
Rodrigo
Minotauro off to Japan
Rodrigo
'Minotauro' left Brazil heading for Japan last Friday night.
The Brazilian will be participating in the second phase of the
Pride GP next Sunday, facing the American Heath Herring.
The
match will be a rematch of the Pride 17 bout, where 'Minotauro'
won by judges decision, at the time taking the heavyweight belt.
The
Brazilian knows he won´t have an easy time in this combat.
He states:
'Heath
Herring is a very tough guy. He has developed a lot himself,
since our fight, so I´m certain it won´t be easy.
But I´m well trained and I´m sure I can win.'
About
the other bouts, 'Minotauro' makes his bets:
'Arona
beats Quinton Jackson and Fedor will beat Randleman. I hope he
wins because I want to face him in the finals of the event, in
August!'
Source: ADCC/Tatame |
Quote
of the Day
"Until you make peace with who you are, you'll never be
content with what you have."
Doris Mortman, Author
|
UFC
48: 'Payback' Is This Week
UFC 48: Payback
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, Nevada
We’re
less then one week away from “UFC 48: Payback” at the
Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. With only two
changes since the initial line-up was officially announced by
UFC owner Zuffa, LLC, the 8-fight card main event features heavyweights
Ken Shamrock and Kimo Leopoldo in a rematch of their February
1996 fight at “UFC 8: David vs. Goliath.”
Matt
Hughes enters the octagon as a contender against Renato Verissimo
after successfully defending his UFC welterweight title 5 times
in 2.5 years. Tim Sylvia and Frank Mir meet in a fight to fill
the UFC heavyweight championship vacated nearly 8 months ago.
Phil Baroni and Evan Tanner meet in a rematch of their November
21, 2003, middleweight fight at “UFC 45: Revolution.”
Baroni feels that fight was prematurely stopped and has been
granted this rematch. Dennis Hallman and Frank Trigg meet in
a rematch of their November 23, 2002, welterweight fight at “WFA
Level 3.” The controversial ending of that fight helped
to change Nevada MMA law.
The
card is completed with lightweights Matt Serra taking on Ivan
Menjivar, middleweights Jay Hieron taking on Georges St. Pierre
and Curtis Stout taking on Trevor Prangley.
The
card is subject to change:
Heavyweight:
Ken Shamrock vs. Kimo Leopoldo
Welterweight: Matt Hughes vs. Renato Verissimo
Heavyweight Championship: Tim Sylvia vs. Frank Mir
Middleweight: Phil Baroni vs. Evan Tanner
Welterweight: Dennis Hallman vs. Frank Trigg
Lightweight: Matt Serra vs. Ivan Menjivar
Middleweight: Jay Hieron vs. Georges St. Pierre
Middleweight: Curtis Stout vs. Trevor Prangley
Source: ADCC |
BOUT
ORDER ANNOUNCED FOR CRITICAL COUNTDOWN 2004
LOS ANGELES, California – The bout order has been announced
for CRITICAL COUNTDOWN 2004, which will take place on June 20th,
2004 from the Saitama Super Arena in Japan and is scheduled to
debut on North American pay per view on same day delay.
The
bout order is as follows (from first to last):
- Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Nino “Elvis” Schembri
- Quinton Jackson vs. Ricardo Arona *
- Semmy Schilt vs. Sergei Kharitonov **
- Paulo Cesar “Giant” Silva vs. Naoya Ogawa **
- Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Mark Hunt
- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Heath Herring **
- Fedor Emelianenko vs. Kevin Randleman **
*
This bout is for the rank of #1 middleweight; the winner will
be positioned for a title shot in October 2004.
**
Tournament bout
Fight
Card Subject to Change
The
schedule for the tournament is as follows:
PRIDE
FC 16-Man Heavyweight Tournament
CRITICAL
COUNTDOWN 2004
June 20, 2004
Saitama Super Arena
(Second Round)
FINAL
CONFLICT 2004
August 15, 2004
Saitama Super Arena
(Semi-Finals and Finals)
PRIDE
FC: CRITICAL COUNTDOWN 2004 will premiere on North American pay
per view through iNDEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH NETWORK, UrbanXtra,
TVN1, VU!, and Viewer’s Choice Canada on Sunday, June 20th,
2004. The premiere time is 9:00pm EST, 6:00pm PST and the count
down show is at 8:30pm EST, 5:30pm PST. For additional replay
times, please contact your pay per view provider or pridefc.com.
Source: ADCC |
2nd
IGJJF Open
After
the success of the first IGJJF Open anticipation had been building
leading to this year's event. Promoter and head organizer Rorion
Gracie is proud to announce the 2nd IGJJF Open!
Date:
Saturday & Sunday, August 28-29, 2004 - 10:00am (doors open
at 9:00am)
Location:
Lynwood High School, Main Gym, 4050 Imperial Highway, Lynwood,
CA 90262
With
its go for it rules and high level of competition, the 1st IGJJF
was an exciting event with loads of action and submission. This
year promises to be even better.
PRIZES:
Besides medals for all first, second, and third place winners,
the first place winners of each belt will qualify for a drawing
to win an all-expenses-paid unforgettable 3-day cruise trip to
Ensenada, Mexico. Grandmaster Helio Gracie will be teaching a
seminar on the cruise ship. The schedule date for departure from
Los Angeles is Friday, September 10th, 2004, with the return
date of Monday, September 13th, 2004. Winners will be responsible
for their travel expenses to and from Los Angeles.
For
more info and to sign up go to www.igjjf.com
Source: ADCC |
Is
The Contender Among Us?
Pete Spratt Takes a Crack at NBC's Reality TV Boxing Show
By Loretta Hunt
After a four-month coast-to-coast casting search, NBC has completed
the first round of its efforts to find American boxing's next
great champion. Expected to hit the small screen early next year,
The Contender will document the training trials of sixteen up-and-comer
pugilists duking it out for a one million dollar purse. With
Mark Burnett Productions at the helm, the company responsible
for such runaway reality TV hits likes Survivor and The Apprentice,
thousands got their chance to strut their stuff, with some MMA
fighters among them. Co-executive producer Bruce Beresford-Redman
estimates about 10% of the hopefuls who auditioned have been
pure mixed martial artists. "We've seen a number,"
says Beresford. "We've seen a lot of kickboxers, we've seen
a lot of ultimate fighting types. We've seen a couple of guys
that did pankration."
UFC
welterweight veteran Pete Spratt made the forty-five minute drive
to the Dallas sessions, completing an arduous multi-step process
of sparring, interviews, and medical examinations. "Really,
the main thing that made me pursue this is because there's so
much talk about who's the best fighters in the world, whether
it's boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai," says Spratt. "I
just want to go in to prove that mixed martial artists can go
into other sports and be dominant and be successful as well."
Spratt was positive of his experience with casting directors,
and awaits word if he will be among the sixty semi-finalists
to be flown out to Los Angeles in July for the next round and
another battery of tests.
Popular
boxing personalities Sylvester Stallone and "Sugar"
Ray Leonard have been enlisted as on-camera mentors to the sweet
sixteen that will be whittled down from this larger group. All
sixteen finalists will represent one weight class that has yet
to be determined.
To
find out The Contender's take on MMA, as well as how other mixed
martial artists fared through auditions, check out the full story
in this month's issue of FCF.
Source: FCF |
MaxPreview:
UFC 48
Getting Rare "Payback" in Vegas ::
By Jake Rossen (June 14, 2004)
Concussed from contentious contract dealings, Zuffa will attempt
to repair one injured corner of the title picture with UFC 48:
Payback, a June 19 PPV event from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas,
Nevada. Former heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia - stripped after
testing positive for performance enhancers - will vie for his
vacated title against hometown hero Frank Mir. That coronation
will take a back seat to a marquee contest between veterans Ken
Shamrock and Kimo.
Here's
a look at the action scheduled to take place. As always, please:
plenty of wagering.
Main
Event
Heavyweight (205 lb. and over) Bout
Ken Shamrock vs. Kimo
The
Lowdown: One of the few MMA pioneers believed to make a blip
in buyrates, Ken Shamrock returns to the UFC after an eighteen-month
absence. His November 2002 bout with Tito Ortiz remains Zuffa's
biggest success to date, though it remains to be seen what that
prolonged beating did for Shamrock's box office status. Sporting
a 2-3 record since a 2000 comeback, the 40 year old has been
mixing up his training with Erik Paulson and is said to be in
good shape following resolution of knee problems.
Kimo
comes in after two strong showings in two different arenas: he
made quick submission work of contemporary Tank Abbott in June
'03, then rocked gargantuan Bob Sapp before losing in an August
K-1 fight. While he made his name as a brawler in the SEG-era
UFC, Kimo has pursued a steady regimen of jiu-jitsu in his decade-long
career and has the appearance of someone who has made significant
progress.
The
two originally met in a 1996 event, with Shamrock eating a few
solid shots before applying a kneebar for the victory. It was
arguably Ken's last significant win.
Odds
On: For all his name recognition, Shamrock has not looked formidable
in a fight since May 2000, when he gave Kazuyuki Fujita all he
could handle...and still wound up losing due to heart flutters.
Eight years removed from his prime, he'll be facing someone who
has improved in all areas of the game and doesn't have nearly
the same mileage on his body. Don't expect déjà
vu here: expect Kimo to use his size advantage and vastly improved
striking and jiu-jitsu to frustrate Shamrock en route to a decision.
Co-Main
Event
For the UFC Heavyweight Title
Tim Sylvia vs. Frank Mir
The
Lowdown: Stepping down as champion after a steroid controversy
in late 2003, Tim Sylvia has had to be patient in attempting
redemption. A scheduled title bout with Andrei Arlovski in April
had to be postponed after there was more confusion over Sylvia's
urine samples and residual elements. With Arlovski now injured,
Las Vegan Frank Mir steps in to contest for the belt.
Sylvia
brings in an unmatched combination of reach, polished striking,
and takedown defense. He claimed the title after a one-sided
win over Ricco Rodriguez in early '03, then defended it successfully
against Gan McGee in September. UFC fans have never seen his
ground game, but there's little reason to believe a protege of
Pat Miletich would flounder there.
Mir,
meanwhile, is a mat machine, outworking opponents with submissions
and reflexes that belie his 240 lb. frame. Mir has made quick
work of Roberto Traven, Pete Williams, and Tank Abbott: he had
more trouble against the lanky Wes Sims, but still managed a
victory. Brawler Ian Freeman, however, had him donating blood
in a July 2002 bout. In several fights, Mir's cardio has looked
underwhelming.
Odds
On: Sylvia. Mir will have considerable trouble taking him down,
which leaves a very dangerous game to be played on the feet.
Sylvia by KO.
Middleweight
(185 lb. and under) Bout
Phil Baroni vs. Evan Tanner
The
Lowdown: There's more "Payback" to be had here, with
Tanner and Baroni attempting to resolve a controversial ending
to their November 2003 bout. Baroni seemed to have Tanner on
the ropes, but a doctor stoppage to check a cut on Tanner allowed
for some recuperation time and for the fight to head for the
ground. Eating elbows from under the mount, referee Larry Landless
believed Baroni was giving up. He was not, and a post-fight altercation
led to a brief suspension.
Baroni
brings heavy-duty firepower on the feet; Tanner brings it via
vicious elbows from the mount. Baroni could not put up much of
a fight against Team Quest's Matt Lindland in two fights; Tanner
is filling his bag of tricks in that very camp.
Odds
On: Tanner, though it's dependent on how quickly he brings it
to the mat. He got a gift intermission last time, and if he wades
into Baroni's flurries again, it'll be over quickly. Assuming
the strategy is sound, Tanner by TKO.
Welterweight
(170 lb. and under) Bout
Frank Trigg vs. Dennis Hallman
The
Lowdown: Completing the trifecta of titular encounters, Trigg
and Hallman will look to resolve an old score. The two competed
for the WFA welterweight title in late 2002, an evenly matched
contest that ended when Trigg inadvertently struck Hallman in
the groin. Unable to continue, Hallman had to suffer the loss.
Trigg's
last bout was a wrestling clinic with Matt Hughes, which ended
when Hughes took his back and got the submission win. Hallman's
biggest win since their first encounter was a submission victory
over the durable Ray
Cooper
in October. He remains best known for his 2-0 record against
Hughes. The winner of this bout is likely to be looking at a
welterweight title shot in the near future.
Odds
On: Hallman may be more motivated to erase the bad taste of their
last fight and Trigg's sloppy mistake in the Hughes bout could
be a huge boost for Dennis' confidence. Hallman by submission.
Welterweight
Bout
Matt Hughes vs. Renato Verissimo
The
Lowdown: Five-time champion Hughes returns after his surprise
loss to BJ Penn in January. A far cry from the dominating wrestler
he was in previous defenses, Hughes looked passive and plodding,
allowing Penn to impose his will without response.
With
Penn having joined K-1, the division is once again open. If Hughes
wishes to recapture the title, he'll first have to contend with
Verissimo - fittingly enough, Penn's teacher. Verissimo looked
sharp in two tough fights against Gil Castillo and Carlos Newton;
his expression of jiu-jitsu may be the toughest test for Hughes
yet. Look for Verissimo to stay busy on his back and put Hughes
on high alert.
Odds
On: Assuming he wants to re-ignite his career, Hughes should
use superior positioning skills to get Verissimo in bad situations.
If he's as lax as he was against Penn, though, it'll be a longer
climb back to the top. Hughes by decision.
Middleweight
Bout
Curtis Stout vs. Trevor Prangley
The
Lowdown: Stout returns to the UFC for the first time since a
lackluster decision loss to Phil Baroni in 2001. He's found success
in HookNShoot and other indie shows, racking up wins with impressive
hands.
Prangley
makes his UFC debut coming off a win against Andrei Semenov.
The AKA team member likes his wrestling and submissions and will
look to get Stout to the mat for the finish. His only professional
loss is at the hands of Renato Sobral.
Odds
On: Prangley looks to have the tools and the experience to overwhelm
the outclassed Stout. Prangley by submission.
Lightweight
(155 lb. and under) Bout
Matt Serra vs. Ivan Menjivar
The
Lowdown: Serra returns after decisioning Jeff Curran in January
and suffering a tough loss to Din Thomas in February 2003. (The
in-ring announcement was Serra by decision; it was actually a
win for Thomas.) A longtime student of Renzo Gracie, Serra's
bread and butter is submission. Though he can strike, don't expect
a kickboxing exhibition from him.
Menjivar
makes his UFC debut after a long stint in Canadian shows, and
comes with an impressive highlight reel that depicts an explosive,
capable athlete with strong wrestling and several years of jiu-jitsu
under his belt. Both fighters have similar body types, though
Menjivar has had several fights at 145 lbs. His two losses come
from bouts at higher weights. Time will tell whether he will
turn up his effectiveness as a lightweight.
Odds
On: Serra is the vet, and Menjivar will have to deal with the
jitters that come with being in the big show. Putting that aside,
Menjivar is the better wrestler and stand-up striker. If he doesn't
get caught, look for him to dominate for a decision victory.
Welterweight
Bout
Georges St. Pierre vs. Jay Hieron
The
Lowdown: St. Pierre comes off two solid wins against respected
athletes Pete Spratt and Karo Parisyan. The Canadian native made
his name in regional shows.
Hieron
comes out of literally nowhere, with few fights to his credit
and no major names attached to his record. When training partner
Jason Miller bowed out due to personal problems, Hieron stepped
in. Experienced in kickboxing, Hieron also brings in an amateur
wrestling background and is a white belt under Rodrigo Gracie.
Odds
On: Man of mystery or not, Hieron has his hands full with the
very capable St. Pierre. Georges by submission.
Source: Maxfighting |
HUGHES
VS ST.PIERRE FOR TITLE?
UFC 48 Payback Profile: George St. Pierre
These
quotes sound like they are from opponents of Matt Hughes....
"He
has unbelivable strength", "he is the strongest fighter
I have ever fought", "My head was slammed throught
the mat..." and while some opponents have said that about
Matt Hughes, those listed above were from opponents of one Georges
St. Pierre.
Currently
the TKO Canadian Welterweight Champion, George St. Pierre is
another of the "Great MMA Secrets" of the Great White
North. On June 19th, however, he will be entering the Octagon
for the second time in his short career to prove that his unanimous
decision victory over Karo Parisyan at UFC 46 was no fluke.
Some
MMA insiders believe if St. Pierre wins his next fight, he will
set up a showdown against Matt Hughes for the UFC title. Obviously
Renanto "Charuto Verissimo" and Jay Hieron both have
something to say about that.
St.
Pierre will enter the cage to face someone that is even less
of known quantity than he is, Jay Hieron. (Hieron is a late replacement
for Jason Miller, St. Pierre's original opponent, who has run
into some legal trouble and was unable to compete at UFC 48.)
St.
Pierre fights out of the Tristar Martial Arts Center, the same
gym that has produced many of the top fighters in Canada, including
St. Pierre's UFC 48 stablemate Ivan Menjivar, UFC veteran David
"The Crow" Loiseau, and Canadian stars Steve Vigneault
and Donald Ouimet.
Only
23 years old and having a professional record of just 5-0, it
would appear that St. Pierre is lacking in the experience department.
Although that may be true, for only having 5 fights, he has faced
some pretty solid competition. His wins include opponents such
as the aforementioned Karo Parisyan, Pete Spratt, and Thomas
Denny.
St.
Pierre is a well rounded fighter that is good on his feet, but
just good enough to take things to the ground, where he excels.
His strength appears to be in going to the ground, with him usually
on top, and ground and pounding his opponents into a TKO or opening
them up for a submission. With a strong base in Brazilian Jiujitsu,
St. Pierre is well versed in submissions and has an excellent
submission defense working for him as well.
As
for his opponent, Jay Hieron, I'm still trying to figure out
how he landed this opportunity, other than he fights for Team
Renzo Gracie and his trainer being Rodrigo Gracie. Of course,
Hieron does have a 3-0 professional record and was 1-0 as an
amateur, but none of his opponents has a win to their credit
and three of them have only one fight each, all losses to Hieron.
He apparently has a base in wrestling and Brazilian Jiujitsu.
Garnering some second hand information, it appears that Hieron
throws a pretty solid punch and has decent standup skills, has
a tremendous sprawl and solid submission defense.
Not
having faced near the type of competition that St. Pierre has,
I would be surprised if Hieron will be able to mount much offense.
But then again, that's why they fight the fights, you never know
what will happen in this sport. I would expect that St. Pierre's
higher caliber of opposition will have prepared him for most
of what Hieron can dish out and that he will be able to get Hieron
to the mat and work his ground and pound attack on him and then
go for the submission. Although with some great strikers in his
camp, St. Pierre might just try and stand a little longer than
usual with an unknown quantity like Hieron.
NC
- Ivan Menjivar - UCC 7 - 1/25/2002
Win - Justin Bruckman - Arm Bar - UCC 10 - 6/15/2002
Win - Travis Galbraith - TKO - UCC 11 - 10/11/2002
Win - Thomas Denny - TKO - UCC 12 - 1/25/2003
Win - Pete Spratt - Rear Naked Choke - TKO 14 - 11/29/2003 -
Win - Karo Parisyan - Unanimous Decision - UFC 46 - 1/31/2004
Source: MMA Weekly |
A
CHOKEOUT, A SHUTOUT, AND A CAREER ENDS FOR 2000 OLYMPIAN KEVIN
BRACKEN
It wasn't supposed to end like this. Greco-Roman wrestler Kevin
Bracken had won the 2000 Olympic Trials and the World Team Trials
from 2001 to 2003. The 2004 Olympic Trials were thus supposed
to be his event, one in which the 32-year-old Bracken, who placed
sixth at the 2000 Olympics, would get one last crack at earning
an Olympic medal.
But
2004 was not going the way he had expected. Bracken, wrestling
at 66 kg/145.5 lbs., lost in the U.S. Nationals, ending a four-year
winning streak in that event that began in 2000. He did manage
to climb back into contention by winning the two-day Challenge
Tournament at the Olympic Trials, which were held May 21-23 at
the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. There he faced other top contenders
who had qualified for this event, and now Bracken seemed to be
returning to form. He outscored his three opponents in the Challenge
Tournament 21-2, shutting out two of them. That put him into
the finals of the Trials against top-ranked Oscar Wood, who had
never before won at this level of competition in Greco-Roman
wrestling.
But
Wood is hardly some pushover. It was he who upset Bracken in
the quarterfinals of the 2004 Nationals, 4-0. Wood was a two-time
All-American wrestler at Oregon State, in 1996 and 1998, and
later joined the Army and the World Class Athlete Program where
he specialized in Greco.
Wood
got his best finish ever at the 2004 Nationals, placing second
after losing in the finals to Faruk Sahin. But shortly before
the Olympic Trials it was announced that Sahin has tested positive
for the banned substance phentermine, a stimulant which is on
the list of prohibited substances of FILA and the World Anti-Doping
Agency. Sahin was given a preliminary suspension and thus could
not compete at the Trials. That put Wood into the top spot in
Greco at 66 kg/145.5 lbs., and into the finals of the Olympic
Trials.
There
Kevin Bracken would get his rematch with Oscar Wood in a best-of-three
series to decide who would represent the U.S. in the Athens Olympics
in August.
Their
first match, at the event's morning session on May 23, started
off like so many others in Greco-Roman wrestling. After a minute
of no scoring, Bracken was put on the mat because of a passivity
call against him, and Wood was able to score with a one-point
gut wrench. Then things veered in a direction you often see in
other combat sports, but not in Greco.
Wood
secured a headlock on Bracken which went around his neck. It
was not a strangulation, but more like a version of the kind
of choke commonly used in jiu-jitsu. Maintaining this hold, Wood
drove Bracken to the mat and then to his back. He pressed his
opponent downwards, and at just 1:47 of the first period the
referee signaled a fall.
This
proved to be no ordinary headlock. After the match ended, Bracken
lay almost still on the mat. His coaches and medical personnel
then rushed onto the mat to assist him. It was clear Bracken
had not just been pinned, but had been choked out.
Bracken
has competed in mixed martial arts and is very familiar with
chokes, but these holds are not allowed in Greco-Roman wrestling.
Finally Bracken recovered and wobbled back to his feet, obviously
dazed. Nonetheless, the referee did not call a choke and the
pinfall stood.
Bracken's
recollection of what happened confirmed that he had been choked
out. 'It was the best dream I ever had,' he cracked later. 'When
I woke up, I saw [Coach] Shon Lewis's face. And I closed my eyes
again. Then I saw his face again. Then I closed my eyes again.
And then I saw my father and my brother. Then I closed my eyes
again, and then I saw the trainer. So each time I saw somebody
different.'
When
he finally came to, Bracken recalled, 'The trainer started running
some tests on me. I just looked up at my coach and I said, 'What's
the score?' And he just waved his hands and said it's over. And
that's when I realized the match was finished.'
But
Bracken shrugged off the choke. 'It wasn't that big of a deal,
really. It happens to me all the time in practice. But that was
the first time in competition,' he said. Asked if the wrestling
referees were that familiar with these types of chokes, he replied,
'I think they've seen it before, but until you've felt it, that
thing's pretty tight. It will put you out.' Asked if they ever
stopped these holds, he said, 'Sometimes they do and sometimes
they don't. And unfortunately for me, they didn't.'
Wood's
analysis was different. 'In college, I was a pinner but a lot
of times you can't catch people,' he said. 'What pinned him was
how hard he fought the front head lock.'
Nevertheless,
Bracken still had another shot in this best-of-three series at
becoming a two-time Olympian. So he rested up and prepared for
the evening session of the finals for his second match with Wood.
This
time, though, there would be no doubt about who won and how.
In the first period, Wood scored with a two-point gut wrench.
Bracken had opportunities to score from the standing and par
terre positions, but could not. Late in the third period Bracken
was called for passivity again, and place down. Leading 2-0 but
needing that critical third point to avoid overtime and a clinch,
and with just 30 seconds left in regulation, Wood scored another
point with a hand-to-hand gut wrench. That made it 3-0, enough
to give Wood the match, the series, and a berth at the 2004 Athens
Olympics.
Though
defeated, Bracken had one more move left: He took off his shoes
and left them in the middle of the mat. 'That means it's over,'
he later explained for those unfamiliar with this storied tradition
of how veteran wrestlers indicate their retirement from competition.
Bracken then punctuated this gesture by performing a backflip,
and the knowledgeable wrestling crowd arose and gave him a rousing
ovation.
While
Bracken is now retired from wrestling, he did not rule out again
competing in mixed martial arts. 'I might here and there,' he
said. But before he decides that, he has some nagging medical
problems for which he now, to his dismay, has some time to devote.
'I'll probably have to have some surgeries, one on my elbow and
one on my shoulder, one on my thumb. So we'll see how it goes,'
he said.
Bracken,
whose wife Stephanie gave birth to their first child in April,
hopes to remain in Colorado Springs, where he had been training
at the Olympic Training Center. 'I'd like to have a spot at the
Olympic Training Center coaching, if there's one available,'
he said. 'If not, then I'll get a job doing something.'
After
the match, Wood praised his now-retired foe. 'Kevin is a world
champ and he fought hard,' he stated.
Before
ending what was likely his last interview as a competitive wrestler,
Bracken offered his services to the man who had just defeated
him on the mat, and who had replaced him on the U.S. Olympic
Team.
'Oscar's
tough,' commented Bracken. 'Any help I can give him at the Olympics,
I'll be there to help him.'
Source: ADCC |
Quote
of the Day
"There is no point at which you can say, 'Well, I'm successful
now. I might as well take a nap.'"
Carrie Fisher, 1956-, American Actress, Novelist
|
FORMER
UFC CHAMPION JENS PULVER TO MAKE PRO BOXING DEBUT JUNE 15
by: Eddie Goldman/ADCC Wrestling Editor
He has been a Division I college wrestler at Boise State. He
has been a UFC lightweight champion. Now he will be making his
professional debut in a third combat sport: boxing.
Jens
Pulver will enter the ring on Tuesday night, June 15, in his
first foray into professional boxing. His opponent has not yet
been announced. The venue is The Belvedere, located at 1170 West
Devon Avenue in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.
The
two main events feature super middleweights Omar Sheika (24-6,17
KOs) vs. Manu Ntoh (15-7, 9 KOs) and cruiserweights Rich LaMontagne
(28-5, 23 KOs) vs. Chris Thomas (14-3, 13 KOs). These two fights
are scheduled to be telecast live on ESPN2's 'Tuesday Night Fights.'
Right
now it has not been decided if Jens Pulver's pro debut will be
televised by ESPN2. According to publicist Trayce Zimmermann,
his fight may become the swing fight, meaning it will be shown
if there is time, but that will not be decided until Tuesday.
Here
is the press release for this card.
Media
Contact: Trayce Zimmermann/TZPR
For
Immediate Release: ESPN2's TUESDAY NIGHT FIGHTS- June 15th Featuring
Chicago's Chris Thomas and 3x UFC Champion Jens Pulver
CHICAGO
(June 10, 2004) - ESPN2 returns to Chicagoland on June 15th for
a live broadcast of 'Tuesday Night Fights' from The Belvedere
in west suburban Elk Grove Village. Just the second TNF of the
summer, this edition includes the pro boxing debut of 3x UFC
Superstar Jens 'Little Evil' Pulver.
The
10 round televised co-main event, Chicago's Chris 'Cold Steel'
Thomas (14-3, 13 KOs) faces Rich 'The Mountain' LaMontagne (28-5,
23 KOs) in what is expected to be a battle of Cruiserweight power
punching. The 6'3' Thomas was born and raised on Chicago's southeast
side and is a former Chicago Golden Gloves Champion. LaMontagne,
of Everett, Massachusetts, is best known for his brutal knockout
of Chicago's Michael Bennett in August of 2002 on ESPN2's Friday
Night Fights.
'This
is a very intriguing fight between a guy who has been there in
Lamontagne and a guy who is trying to get there in Thomas. These
two make for a lethal combination,' said Bobby Hitz.
In
the main event, former world title challenger and world ranked
contender Omar Sheika (24-6, 17 KOs) of Paterson, New Jersey,
will square off against Manu Ntoh (15-7, 9 KOs) of Atlanta, Georgia.
Scheduled for 10 rounds, this fight is guaranteed to be an all
out slugfest from bell to bell. Sheika, of Palestinian decent,
expects a large turn out from Chicago's huge Palestinian community.
In
addition, 3-time Ultimate Fighting Lightweight Champion Jens
'Little Evil' Pulver will make his boxing debut. A huge star
in the world of mixed martial arts, Pulver expects a tremendous
amount of support from those fans who now have the opportunity
to see him fight in Chicagoland. Legal in the states of Nevada
and New Jersey, UFC/MMA is illegal in Illinois. A fan favorite,
Pulver has fought in front of sold out crowds at The Mandalay
Bay and The Meadowlands.
Pulver's
life story has been told in 'Little Evil: One Ultimate Fighter's
Rise to the Top' available on amazon.com. In the book, Pulver
tells of the daily horrific abuse by his alcoholic father including
an incident where his father puts a shotgun into the mouth of
10-year-old Jens and threatens to blow his head off. 'Fear taught
me to fight with my fists. Fighting helped me to deal with the
demons. I fought for my life and became a World Champion and
one of the most feared cage fighters in the world.'
Other
bouts on this packed card include the return of Canadian Olympian
Heavyweight Art 'The Polish Warrior' Binkowski and at least three
other bouts.
All
bouts are subject to change without notice.
Doors
open at 7:30 P.M. First bout at 8:00 P.M cst.
Ticket prices: $35 - general admission, $50 - reserved ringside,
and $100 - VIP reserved ringside.
To
Purchase: 630/295-9800 or at HitzBoxing.com.
Source: ADCC |
Ricardo
Arona hunts Rampage and Wanderlei!
by Rafael Werneck
Away from MMA action since his victory over Murilo ´Ninja`
Ruaback in November of 2002, Brazilian Ricardo Arona is training
hard for his return
to Pride. He is expecting to face American Quinton ´Rampage`
Jackson on June 20th, in one of the Pride GP's special matches.
The Brazilian Top Team athlete is anxious to beat the man he
was supposed to fight almost one year ago, during the first round
of Pride GP-2003.
'I
suffered a foot injury, and my teammate Murilo Bustamante had
to replace me, and he was not able to defeat Jackson. But now
I am going to face him. I hope I can win in my return to Pride.
This is the way to conquer the middleweight belt' said Arona,
who has seven victories and one loss on his MMA record.
Asked
what he knows about Quinton Jackson, Arona stated. 'He is very
strong when he is standing up. He knows how to take his opponents
down. He is a dangerous guy but I´ve been working specific
tactics to beat him. I will neutralize his game whether we are
standing or on the ground.'
At
the age of 25, Arona considers himself a much more mature fighter
since his last fight in Pride. `Nowadays I´m much more
relaxed to do my job. I am a professional fighter and I got used
to stepping into a ring to fight and win.´
Like
his teammate Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira, Ricardo Arona is trying
to improve his striking skills. But unlike Minotauro, he won´t
try to KO Quinton Jackson using punches. 'I prefer to not take
that risk. I will use my boxing to defend myself, to feel comfortable.
My main goal is take him to the ground and win the bout by submission
using my Jiu-Jitsu skills'.
PRIDE
GP - Lineup Subject To Change:
For
the rank of #1 middleweight:
- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (USA) vs. Ricardo Arona
(Brazil)
The winner of this match will be positioned for a title shot
in October 2004
PRIDE
GP Tournament Matches:
- Fedor Emelianenko vs. Kevin “The Monster” Randleman
- Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira vs. Heath Herring
- Paulo Cesar “Giant” Silva vs. Naoya Ogawa
- Semmy Schilt vs. Sergei Kharitonov
Other
Confirmed Bouts:
- Kazushi Sakuraba (Japan) vs. Antonio “Nino” Schembri
(Brazil)
- Hidehiko Yoshida (Japan) vs. Mark Hunt (New Zealand)
Source: ADCC |
PRIDE
MAY STAGE ANOTHER LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT GP
2003 GP champion Vanderlei Silva.
The
Japanese media reports that DSE/PRIDE is seriously considering
staging another light heavyweight Grand Prix, which would begin
on their upcoming show in Las Vegas.
Source: Fight Sport |
Quote
of the Day
"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the
past or the present are certain to miss the future."
John F. Kennedy (1917-63)
|
John
Alessio Talks!
by: Keith Mills
John
Alessio explains for himself why he vacated the King Of The Cage
Welterweight belt.
KM:
What happened? JA: Nothing. I haven’t been able to train.
I’ve been working a lot and it’s really been getting
in the way of my training. When I was going to take the fight
I was only able to get into the gym two or three times a week.
I wasn’t up to par.
KM:
Now what? JA: I gave up my belt and Diego Sanchez is going to
fight Santiago for it.
KM:
How do you feel about giving up the belt? JA: I’m cool with
it. I know it was a pay-per-view show and I wanted the show to
go on. I know the title fight is important to have on pay-per-view.
I was basically the one who said ‘I can’t fight, I’ll
give up my belt if I have to’ and Terry invited me to come
back any time I wanted to. It’s cool but my whole thing
is if I’m going to be the champ I have to train like a champ
and fight like a champ and I wasn’t going to be able to
do either of those. I have 100% confidence I could beat Santiago
and beat Santiago training half-assed but I’m not about
to risk it. Personally I think his style clashes big time with
my style. I was working from 5 in the morning until 3 or 4 in
the afternoon manual labor. I come home, take a nap, and try
to get into Millennia and was just gassed out. Didn’t have
what it took. I talked to the team, Javi and Romi, and we all
thought the best thing for me…I’m really close right
now to working something out with UFC and Bushido and I don’t
need to risk a loss. If I trained 100% and lost that is it but
if I go in there and don’t train it’s my fault.
KM:
Does this mean you are taking a break from MMA like a summer
off? JA: Not necessarily. Things should be slowing down here
pretty soon, they have just been really busy. I am looking to
fight in August.
Source: ADCC |
Latest
Pancrase Official Rankings (as of 6/7/2004)
[Open-weight]
the 10th Open-weight K.O.P. Josh Barnett (U.S.A./New Japan Pro-Wrestling)
#1 Yuki Kondo (PANCRASEism)
#2 Semmy Schilt (Holland/Golden Glory)
#3 Yoshiki Takahashi (PANCRASEism)
#4 Sanae Kikuta (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#5 Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#6 Nathan Marquardt (U.S.A./Colorado Stars)
#7 VACANT
[Super
heavyweight(221lbs. and over)]
the 1st Super heavyweight K.O.P. VACANT
#1 Semmy Schilt (Holland/Golden Glory)
#2 Ron Waterman (U.S.A./Team Impact)
#3 Keigo Takamori (Pancrase MEGATON)
#4 Tim Lajcik (U.S.A./Gladiators Training Academy)
#5 Sehaku (RJW/CENTRAL)
#6 Jun Ishii (Chojin Club)
#7 Jimmy Ambriz (U.S.A./New Japan Pro-Wrestling)
#8 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 3rd Light heavyweight K.O.P. Yuki Kondo (PANCRASEism)
#1 Sanae Kikuta (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#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 David Terrell (U.S.A./Cesar Gracie Academy)
#7 Yuki Sasaki (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#8 Keiichiro Yamamiya (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#9 Osami Shibuya (PANCRASEism)
#10 Ikuhisa Minowa (freelance)
[Middleweight(165.7lbs.~
under 181lbs.)]
the 4th Middleweight K.O.P. Ricardo Almeida (U.S.A./Renzo Gracie
Jiu Jitsu Academy)
#1 Nathan Marquardt (U.S.A./Colorado Stars)
#2 Izuru Takeuchi (SK Absolute)
#3 Crosley Gracie (U.S.A./Ralph Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy)
#4 Kazuo Misaki (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#5 Eiji Ishikawa (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#6 Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#7 Shonie Carter (U.S.A./AIKI Training Hall) *UP from #8
#8 Yuichi Nakanishi (freelance) *UP from #10
#9 Hidehiko Hasegawa (SK Absolute) *DOWN from #7
#10 Hikaru Sato (PANCRASEism) *DOWN from #9
[Welterweight(152.5lbs.~
under 165.7lbs.)]
the 1st Welterweight K.O.P. Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#1 Koji Oishi (PANCRASEism)
#2 Takafumi Ito (PANCRASEism)
#3 Kenichi Serizawa (Wajutsu Keishukai Suruga Dojo)
#4 Satoru Kitaoka (PANCRASEism)
#5 Yuji Hoshino (Wajutsu Keishukai GODS)
#6 Takuya Wada (SK Absolute) *UPfrom #7
#7 Hiroki Nagaoka (MMA Dojo DOBUITA) *DOWN from #6
#8 Heath Sims (U.S.A./Team Quest)
[Lightweight(141.4lbs.~
under 152.5lbs.)] VACANT
[Featherweight(under
141.4lbs.)] VACANT
Source: Mr. Oitate, Pancrase Org |
Hawaii
International Muay-Thai Boxing Association
E-Mail:
giraldimuaythai@yahoo.com
President,
Tony Giraldi
On
behalf of our staff members, students, competition fighters and
sponsors for Hawaii International Muay-Thai Boxing Association
and Giraldi Muay-Thai, Hawaii, USA. We would like to say Aloha
and God Bless to our former President, Ronald Reagan as he is
layed down to rest in peace. And send our blessings to his wife
Nancy Reagan and his children Son's Ron and Michael Reagan and
daughter Patti Davis.
Aloha,
Tony Giraldi
|
PRIDE
ANNOUNCES PLANS
Kakuto.com reports that the outline of the PRIDE Middleweight
GP next year has been announced. 16 fighters will fight and the
event will be in March or April.
"The
fighters at this moment are Vanderlei Silva(27), Hidehiko Yoshida(34),
Kazushi Sakuraba(34), Yuki Kondo(28), Kiyoshi Tamura(34), these
fighters have been decided. Like the Heavyweight Grand Prix,
it will open through 3 events during half a year. The Opening
Round will be in Las Vegas.....
The
Opening Round will be in March or April, the second round in
May or June and Final Round in July or August as the Heavy Weight
GP does. The Opening Round will be most likely be in Las Vegas.
This
is the first time for DSE to launch overseas. The Las Vegas event
this year had already been canceled due to timing problems but
DSE want to stick to Las Vegas, "to show the biggest performance
in US."
Although
K-1 has already made it's debut, the hall is always in a hotel,
the capacity is about 5,000 at most. On the other hand, DSE had
already obtained a licence to open, so it can open its own event
by itself. It will send some of it's staff to the States and
they are in a hurry to be ready for Middleweight Grand Prix next
year, searching for a 10,000 capacity hall.
Source: MMA Weekly |
TRIGG
READY FOR UFC 48
MMAWeekly SoundOff Radio continued to bring you sixteen fighters
in sixteen days with Frank Trigg on Friday. "Twinkle Toes"
Trigg will be fighting Dennis Hallman one week from today at
UFC 48.
He
spoke about the rematch with Hallman, what exactly happened with
the Jimmy Kimmel show that led to ABC showing a re-run instead
of airing the episode with Ken Shamrock, as well as gave his
opinions on the UFC 48 match ups.
Trigg
said he has been training as usual, "nothings really changed."
He has been working on submissions and submission defense, trying
to be a more patient fighter. Frank attributed his over aggressiveness
to playing a role in his loss to Matt Hughes at UFC 45.
In
an effort to force the issue and end it quick, he was the one
who got caught instead. Frank stated, when he was able to get
the early take down on Hughes, "I kinda got really, really
excited and overly extended and just like, went after some stuff
and tried to force some stuff that just wasn't there and as a
result, the fight was over quickly."
When
Hallman was on the radio show earlier this week, he had some
choice comments about Frank Trigg. Frank said he is just looking
at Dennis as "just another opponent." Having fought
Dennis before and got the "W," he feels confident.
He added, "I know what he's going to do." Trigg went
on to say, "I've already had the opportunity to kinda look
the lion in the mouth, so to speak, and find out it was just
a cub." When asked what he learned from their first fight,
Frank replied, "He's a quitter."
Trigg
was at the taping of the Jimmy Kimmel Show that featured Ken
Shamrock and was supposed to air Wednesday. The reason it wasn't
aired was for statements Kimmel made about the city of Detroit
burning the city down if they won the NBA championship. The state
of Michigan, the governor included, wanted Kimmel to apologize
for his comments.
Jimmy
Kimmel, being the comedian he is, showed a history piece showing
the violent past of Detroit. This, as you can imagine, didn't
go over well. The state of Michigan threatened to pull the Kimmel
show from airing in that area. The network decided to show a
rerun instead of the originally scheduled show that featured
Ken.
While
Frank was on the radio show, he offered his picks on the UFC
48 card. Of coarse, he predicted victory in his fight with Dennis
Hallman. He said, "The fight will not go the distance, end
violently with him [Hallman] falling to the canvas."
The
way Trigg sees the Tim Sylvia and Frank Mir heavyweight title
fight playing out is, "I see Mir falling down with a broken
jaw." The Shamrock and Kimo match up, Trigg is going with
Ken. He said Ken looked to be in good shape when he appeared
at the taping of the Jimmy Kimmel show and has experience in
his favor. Although he picked Shamrock, he said "this fight
could go either way."
In
the grudge match between Phil Baroni and Evan Tanner, Frank is
going with Baroni. His reasoning was Phil's intensity. He thinks
the Ivan Menjivar and Matt Serra bout is a hard one to call and
could go either way. He couldn't make a prediction on the remaining
fights because he hasn't heard of or seen some of the participants.
Frank
Trigg is somethings the co-host of MMAWeekly SoundOff Radio and
will be during our event coverage of UFC 48. Frank's website
is www.FrankTrigg.com. All the latest news on Frank can be found
there. Be sure to check out his clothing line of hats and shirts
as well as his many sponsors.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Macaco
trains to be back on the ring
Not even the two loses in sequence (to Kasuo Misaki at Pride
and Delson Pé de Chumbo at Meca 11) were enough to shake
down Jorge Patino Macaco. The Chute Boxer is already training
for a new challenge, who has been already planned. 'I've been
training to return to the rings in a month from now. The event
will be held abroad, but I still cannot reveal the name of the
event,' guaranteed Macaco, who made a brief analyze of the fight
against Pé de Chumbo at Meca, held in Teresópolis
(RJ), on last June 5th.
'Wining
or losing belongs to fighter's life. I say I didn't fight well.
Maybe because of the cold weather or because the late night.
But its all excuses. I congratulate Delson for his great job
and that is it. One day you win and in the other, you lose. The
important thing is I'm back, baby!,' revealed Macaco.
Source: Tatame |
'MINOTAURO':
'I WILL KNOCK OUT HEATH HERRING'
Rodrigo
'Minotauro' Nogueira arrived in Japan yesterday and announced
to the Japanese media that he will knock out Heath Herring when
they meet up in the second round of the PRIDE Heavyweight GP
on June 20th.
Source: Fight Sport |
Quote
of the Day
"Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock
and it shall be opened unto you."
the Bible
|
Hawai'i
Champions Going To The Junior Olympics
Hawai'i
champions set for Junior Olympics: Ten Hawai'i State Junior Olympic
Boxing Champions will compete in the 2004 U.S. Junior Olympic
National Championships on June 17-27 at Brownsville, Texas.
The
finalists and two at-large boxers will box-off at the Elite Training
Camp on June 28-July 3 with winners earning a berth in the Pan-Am
Junior Olympics in September and a dual match in Russia or Sweden.
Maui's
Thomas Ordonez has been selected as an at-large boxer, and Bruce
Kawano an elite camp coach for USA-Boxing.
The
Hawai'i delegation consists of: Keola Mckee (85 pounds, Wailuku),
Jefferson Bolibol (101 pounds, Waimanalo), Bruno Escalante Jr.
(106 pounds, Waimanalo), Thomas Ordonez (110 pounds, Kihei),
Cedric Benigno (114 pounds, Honolulu), Chazz Moleta (119 pounds,
Kahului), Corey Dennison (125 pounds, Kapolei), Aaron Manuel
Jr. (132 pounds, Waipahu), Vincent Delgado-Wells (138 pounds,
Honolulu), Joel Bissen (154 pounds, Wailuku). Kawano, Jeff Mckee
and Robert Benigno will serve as coaches. Kawano will also serve
as the team manager.
Source: Honolulu Advertiser |
Monday
Night Fights
HMC'S Johnson to Fight Japans Fukuda for P.I.P Welterweight Belt
June 21.2004 @Volcanoes/ Doors Open @ 630pm/Fights Starts 730pm
We
are pleased to announce Deshawn Johnson will fight Undefeated
Edsel Fukuda a freelance fighter from Japan for the vacant Punishment
In Paradise Welterweight Championship Belt.
Welterweight
Championship MMA Match
165lbs. 2x3 Minute Rounds
Deshawn Johnson (HMC) Vs. Edsel Fukuda (Freelance,Japan)
Featherweight
MMA Match
135lbs. 2x3 Minute Rounds
Mark Oshiro (Bulls Pen, Kalihi) Vs. Kini Sofa (Hardknocks, Waianae)
Welterweight
Kickboxing Match
147lbs. 3x11/;2 Minute Rounds
Marcus Moreno (Bulls Pen, Kailihi) Vs. Louis (Team Bigdogs, Waianae)
Welterweight
Kickboxing Match
147lbs. 3x11/2 Minute Rounds
Toni “The Tiger’ Rodriquez (Team Bigdogs) Vs. Alex
(Home Grown Muay Thai)
Super
Lightweight Kickboxing Match
137lbs. 3x11/2 Minute Rounds
Ryan Lee (Bulls Pin, Waipahu) Vs. Chad (Bigdogs, Waianae)
Welterweight
MMA Match
175lbs. 2x3 Minute Rounds
Rae Cavako(Eastside, Kailua) Vs. Mickey Tafflinger (Team Nanakuli)
Super
Middleweight Kickboxing Match
172lbs. 3x2 Minute Rounds
Kevin Smith (Team Bigdogs,Waianae) Vs. Bryon Ingram (Freelance,
California)
Flyweight
MMA Match
145lbs 2x3 Minute Rounds
Kevin Delima (Bulls Pen, Kalihi) Vs. Curtis Rivera (Freelance,
Waianae)
Welterweight
Kickboxing Match
147lbs. 3X2 Minute Rounds
Frank Moreno (Bulls Pen, Kalihi) Vs. Dyson (Team Bigdogs, Waianae)
Light
Middleweight Kickboxing Match
159lbs. 3x11/2 Minute Rounds
Zane Kamaka (Freelance, Waianae) Vs. Mike (Hardknocks, Waianae)
Ticket
Information $15.00 Advance/Door $20.00
Ticketmaster.com
West Oahu
Brennan Kamaka 808-330-4483 or second2none@hawaii.rr.com
East
Oahu
Dino Fernandez (Bulls Pin) 330-7108 or Bullspin1@aol.com
Source: Event Promoter |
CONVERSATIONAL
BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE CLASSES
START TODAY!
The classes started this past Saturday, so if you had the
yearning to know what exactly are those Brazilians saying, this
class is for you. It is a small group and very informal, which
makes for a fun and not threatening environment. And if we are
not getting scoldings in this class, than no one will. The contact
info is at the bottom, please sign up now!
Oi gente!
Obrigada
por sempre promover as aulas de Português no Farrington
Community School for Adults.
Por gentileza, faz o favor de colocar as seguintes informacões
no seu website.
CONVERSATIONAL
BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE
NUTSHELL
COURSE DESCRIPTION
With concentration on everyday, modern Brazilian usage, special
attention is paid to quickly gain understanding of polite, informal
and colloquial language, verb conjugations, past & present
tenses, masculine-feminine nouns & adjectives (big obstacles
in Romance language-learning) with goals of attaining native
pronunciation and fluency of speech. Brazilian regional variations
in proununciation and vocabulary are recognized.
This
class is ideal for:
1) Those interested in travel to Brazil
2) English speakers with Brazilian friends/spouses/partners
3) Practitioners of Brazilian martial arts (Capoeira, Jiu Jitsu)
4) Speakers/students of other Latin-derived languages.
ABOUT
THE INSTRUCTOR:
Sandy
Tsukiyama de Oliveira,
a Honolulu native, was drawn to the musical culture of Brazil
while studying for her BA in Ethnomusicology at UH Manoa in the
1970s. Portuguese language studies were at UH-Manoa with Dr.
Stefan Baciu, and at Windward Commnunity School for Adults with
Cecy de Souza Browne. Sandy worked as a Spanish & Portuguese-speaking
tour escort for over 10 years receiving hands-on experience in
the language locally while promoting the Hawaii visitor industry.
She
lived in Rio de Janeiro, from 1980-83; spending the first year
at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Escola de Música
on Rotary International Post-Graduate Fellowship for International
Understanding, afterward working as a vocalist in upscale restaurant/bars
and teaching English.
Performing
in Brazilian music groups (The Rio Trio, Mistura, Banda Carioca)
after her return to Hawaii, Sandy maintained her contact with
Brazilian culture in the community while pursuing education in
simultaneous conference interpretation at UH Manoa Center for
Interpretation and Translation Studies. She then continued in
the field of Secondary Education, receiving certification for
Spanish and Special Education.
Sandy
has worked freelance as an English/Spanish/Portuguese interpreter/translator,
as well as in Federal and State courts, for the Honolulu Police
Dept., US Immigration and Naturalization Service, various international
conferences, is on staff for the Bilingual Access Line of Helping
Hands Hawaii and is a member of the Hawaii Interpreters and Translators
Assn. Currently a Special Education teacher at Roosevelt High
School, she has been teaching Portuguese at FCSA for the past
four years.
TEXTBOOK:
Fala Brazil! Português Para Estrangeiros
by Pierre Coudry & Elizabeth Fontão (Pontes Editores)
Accompanying cassettes/CD available
RECOMMENDED
SUPPLEMENTAL BOOKS:
501
Portuguese verbs
by John J. Nitti & Michael J. Ferreira (Barron's)
Portuguese
Verbs and Essentials of Grammar
by Sue Tyson-Ward (Passport Books)
For
information on registration, location, dates, fees & class
times, please visit the Farrington Community School for Adults
website:
http://fcsa.k12.hi.us
or call: (808) 832-3595
|
Joe
Doerkson vs. Joe Riggs at the UFC???
Souces have told MMA Ring Report that the contract for Doerkson
has been signed sealed and delivered. Doerkson has been rumored
to be on the card for quite some time and finally gets his shot
but it won't be an easy one. Doerkson has done everything in
order to get a shot at the big show including winning an eight
man tournament in Superbrawl and defeating the
likes of Denis Kang, Jay Buck, Brendan Seguin, and Chris Leben
along the way. His opponent, Joe Riggs is another fighter that
has been chomping at the bit to get a chance to square off in
the world famous Octagon and will finally find his way there
against the Canadian Jiu Jitsu stylist Joe "Dirte"
Doerkson. Riggs is another worthy competitor that has won five
fights in succession with all five fights wins via K.O. Both
will be fighting in the UFC for the first time, and should be
great additions to the UFC middleweight picture if this fight
happens.
Source: MMA Ring Report |
Cacareco:
from Gracie Barra to Brazilian Top Team?
by: Luca Atalla
GRACIE Magazine photographer Gustavo Aragão was surprised
when he arrived at BTT QG, early today, and saw ADCC 2003 absolute
runner-up Alexandre Cacareco stretching. Cacareco is, until last
word, part of Gracie Barra Combat Team, and nobody in GBCT knew
anything about it. According to Jose Mario Sperry, leader of
BTT, it was a big news for him too. ‘I was as surprised
as Aragão. He really went to BTT to roll today, but he
did not sign anything with us yet. Actually, I don’t know
what happened to him at Gracie Barra and there are many things
to talk before we can say he’s part of BTT.’
Renato
Babalu, who usually trains with Cacareco at Gracie Barra, said
he was not surprised with that information. ‘I don’t
know why, but I was expecting that already, since he was more
than two months without training with us. If he departed indeed,
I wish him the best, and I hope he enjoys the good training there
with Murilo Bustamante, Ze Mario Sperry and his ‘friend’
Paulão Filho, among others.’ Babalu is leaving to
Cuba tomorrow to improve his wrestling and boxing skills.
When
Babalu talks about Paulao Filho as Cacareco’s friend, he
speaks with ironic tone. It’s well known that Paulao and
Cacareco (who fought in submission wrestling against each other
once – it was a draw) had personal problems between themselves.
However, it seems that it will not be the big problem for Cacareco
to become part of BTT. ‘When I saw him at BTT, I almost
went to challenge him. I lost my temper and almost did a big
thing. But a common friend went to seal the peace between us.
I realized that sometimes I think like in the old times. Nowadays,
the thing is professional and it’s normal people changing
teams all the time. I can’t go against it,’ said Filho.
We
are in the middle of a big holiday in Brazil now and few people
are available. But keep checking ADCC news website to be updated
with Cacareco’s and Gracie Barra Combat Team statement.
Source: ADCC |
KOTC
preview with Contender Diego Sanchez
by: Keith Mills
As
we reported earlier this week defending Welterweight champion
John Alessio has dropped out of this weekend’s pay-per-view
show ad vacated his belt. Now Alessio’s original opponent
Jorge Santiago from American Top Team and #1 ranked contender
Diego Sanchez will fight for the belt. Sanchez fought Ray Elbe
last month, beating him at 1:07 with submission to strikes. Diego
has never gone to a decision and he is known as being an explosive
fighter that gets the job done quickly. This could be a very
exciting match with two of the best ground fighters in the KOTC
Welterweight class even without the belt on the line.
KM:
What is the official word from your point of view, that you are
the replacement for Alessio? DS: Alessio vacated. I don’t
know why he vacated, I guess he had his troubles or whatever
with KOTC or he didn’t want to fight me eventually. May
be he didn’t want to fight me or Santiago. I think he knows
he is almost there to A-level so why risk it. He knows we are
both guys that are potentially dangerous. We’re all almost
there to the A-level.
KM:
So you are going to be fighting Santiago? DS: That’s right.
KM:
Is this for the belt, the vacant belt? DS: Yeah.
KM:
What are your thoughts on fighting Santiago? DS: I’m not
sure. I’ve seen tape on him, he’s 7-2, black belt in
BJJ, tall lanky guy, I know he’s pretty good but I beat
the guy we both agree is their number one submission grappler
from the ATT Pablo Popovich. You never called me back after that
one but I ended up beating him at the US Team Trials.
KM:
You have seen some tape on him, which have you seen? DS: When
he fought John Cronk. He submitted him in the second round.
KM:
That was at KOTC in Florida. You haven’t seen the AFC videos?
DS: No, I haven’t.
KM:
Have you ever faced other members of ATT in submission wrestling
tournaments? DS: Just Popovich.
KM:
What are your thoughts on finally getting your belt shot? DS:
I’m excited. Honestly I’ve never been more prepared.
I’m training my ass off out here for eight, nine weeks non-stop.
I’m ready for it. I’m happy I was blessed with the
opportunity to go for the title shot. I was going to do it in
August, the winner of Alessio/Santiago but there were like ‘you
deserve it and it’s your time’.
KM:
How much notice did you have? DS: Two weeks.
KM:
You are Santiago have somewhat similar styles. DS: Somewhat but
we are very different. I’m Brazilian jiu-jitsu on the ground
where I’ll calm my pace and relax (but on the feet) I won’t
give you a second to even think, I’ll be all over him. More
aggressive. What I’ve seen he likes to be on his back, clam
on his back…he does some standing but from what I’ve
seen he leaves his chin up. His gameplan probably will be to
stand with me knowing I beat one of his guys that probably beats
him on the ground. If he wants to stand it will be a big mistake
and he will end up getting KO’d.
KM:
This is your first time in Soboba. DS: That’s great. It’s
sea-level and it’s outside. I’m going to be able to
breath like I’ve never been able to breath before in a fight.
KM:
We have gone over the whole altitude advantage from living in
New Mexico. DS: This fight I’ve taken more seriously than
any fight. My lungs are there, my strength is there, I feel stronger
than I ever have before.
Source: ADCC |
Frank
Shamrock Comments Relationship
with Ken Shamrock
The following is part 1 of boxinginsider.com's interview with
Frank Shamrock.
Boxinginsider.com:
Ken's is makeing his UFC fighting return against Kimo on June
19th. How do you see that fight unfolding?
Frank
Shamrock: I think it's going to be a very physical fight. Although
Kimo is a pretty good technician, I think Ken is a far better
technician. Kimo definitely has a fight on. I really feel like
Ken's strength in this fight is to [bang] with him, to beat him
up a little bit. Kimo has got some striking ability but he doesn't
really know how to strike. I think Ken can really tire him out
by whacking him around a little bit. Then on the ground, so long
as Ken stays up on top and damages him I think he can fatigue
him out pretty quickly and get him either him either with a hold
or a choke or just beat him down -- "Well, you are grounded,
pal".
Boxinginsider.com:
Will you be in Las Vegas for the fight?
Frank
Shamrock: I wish I were. I signed up about two months ago to
do an appearance seminar in New Jersey so I'm going to watch
it on pay per view after the gig. I miss the whole thing, unfortunately.
Boxinginsider.com:
As far as future matches, I know Ken was been itching for a Tito
Ortiz rematch when he is healthy. He would like a match with
Royce Gracie. He recently tried to negotiate matches with Dan
Severn as well as Tank Abbott. Is that who you would like see
with Ken face in his next four fights?
Frank
Shamrock: Yes, absolutely. I would do the Tank Abbott one-first
because it would sell big. Ken has obviously got himself together
mentally. I mean he is focused on cleaning up his losses and
securing his record and his legacy, which is good. I'm glad he's
on that path in all those fights. What people fail to realize
-- is it takes nine years to build a generation on television.
It takes years. It takes nine years to build a generation of
fan base. Ken is one of the only guys who has been in the public
for that complete length of time but who has also crossed over
into other areas of public awareness at such a high level.
As
I said, Ken has most probably attacked all of the mixed martial
arts. He should be, and can still be, the poster boy for what
a mixed martial arts sport and fighter is. He just needs to leverage
those things properly. If he is on the right path of fighting,
even he needs someone good to take care of his financial stability
in the future; he needs to concentrate on his stuff.
Boxinginsider.com:
One of the most-asked question each week from the website is:
What is your current relationship with Ken Shamrock?
Frank
Shamrock: My current relationship with him is: we've talked a
few times in the last few months, I got to see him at the UFC
-- that's about it. We don't talk on a day-to-day basis or a
week-to-week basis. Maybe about once a month we talk to each
other on the phone or we run into each other at events -- and
that's about it. I've met his wife; I haven't seen his kids for
a long time. I talked to them on the phone a little while ago,
but that was pretty much about it.
BoxingInsider.com:
If we could go back to the beginning. When did you first meet
up with Bob and Ken Shamrock?
Frank
Shamrock: I met Bob in 1988 I think it was, or 1989 -- somewhere
around there. I was 13. I am 35 now and I've known him 18 years.
Bob came to interview me at home in Reading, California. I had
been through a number of group homes, so Bob's was an elevated
level of security, as they call it. He came out and interviewed
me and kind of liked me so he said he was going to try to get
me at his home. I think about three weeks later he showed up
and picked me up, and I was placed in his group home. I think
I met Ken about three to four months later. He was away at college
and had come back to visit Bob and to see everybody. That was
the first time that I had actually met him then. I was 13 and
I think we started training together about 8 or 9 years later.
Boxinginsider.com:
What was the relationship like when you guys were training together
in the early days?
Frank
Shamrock: You know, Ken's a different kind of guy. Ken's a real
fighter. He's a real warrior in that sense. It is very difficult
to get close to him, and I never really developed a close personal
relationship with him -- especially in the early days of training,
because he really didn't want to train me. He thought -- and
rightfully so, at the time, because it was truly about fighting,
it wasn't about martial arts, or style or whatever -- he really
thought that I didn't have the elements necessary to be a real
fighter. I'm soft-spoken, I'm not an angry, aggressive person
-- and he thought that if I wasn't going to make a fighter, he
was basically wasting his time.
But
Bob definitely wanted to do it, so he did it even though he didn't
want to.
Boxinginsider.com:
Did that cause some friction in your relationship?
Frank
Shamrock: Not really. I understood that he didn't want tot train
me. But I didn't really have a relationship with him. I had deep
respect for his physical abilities and for his person -- he's
a large, intimidating person. It was new to me; I hadn't really
done anything sport-wise or physical-wise for a while; I hadn't
really tested or tried my body out -- so I just went for it.
But with Ken I never really developed that kind of close relationship.
We were always in a teacher-student kind of relationship when
we first started working out together.
Boxinginsider.com:
The most-asked question each week from the website by far is:
What is your current relationship with Ken Shamrock?
Frank
Shamrock: My current relationship with him is: we've talked a
few times in the last few months, I got to see him at the UFC
-- that's about it. We don't talk on a day-to-day basis or a
week-to-week basis. Maybe about once a month we talk to each
other on the phone or we run into each other at events -- and
that's about it. I've met his wife; I haven't seen his kids for
a long time. I talked to them on the phone a little while ago,
but that was pretty much about it.
Boxinginsider.com:
Did you feel that the two of you could work well training together
for the next phase of both your careers?
Frank
Shamrock: Absolutely. I've always told Ken and let him know that
-- without being disrespectful -- that the knowledge and the
level of training that we have is just astronomical. [We'd be]
able to build a team of athletes and trainers that I've never
seen anywhere else in the world -- with the amount of skill that
we have at present. I've always thought it would be great to
work, train, and exchange with Ken, being family, being my brother
and all -- with everything, business -- everything.
I
see a giant future for both of us, working together, because
this is a bigger story than two brothers doing it all. It is
much better than one brother, or two brothers who don't talk.
But who knows? Ken is a very stoic person. He is who he is, and
I have just never been able to break into that with who I am,
and Ken's never had a good click in that way. We've always had
a relationship based on something else -- training, fighting,
whatever it is we were doing. In that way it is a little different.
Boxinginsider.com:
You did some fights early on in your career out of Pancrase.
Ken was already famous over there - and you had been there for
a bunch of his fights. Did you feel that you had to live up to
any expectations?
Frank
Shamrock: Oh, yes, of course. There's always that in any kind
of older sibling relationship or younger sibling relationship,
and then as well in professional relationships. So that was always
there. Deep down inside that was one of the reasons why I felt
that I had to leave in 1997 and make my own way because it's
good -- I was getting as much as I believed the people there,
and the people I was working with they didn't believe it or see
it that there was another level that I was going to go to. They
just figured that I was always going to be Ken's little brother,
helping him out, working as his student.
Boxinginsider.com:
You then went the some route as Ken and went to the US to fight
in UFC where many people feel you became the greatest champion
in UFC history. What was it like establishing a legacy on your
own?
Frank
Shamrock: It was very fulfilling. I really believed. I'm sort
of an intellectual kind of guy when it comes to studying and
doing things. I really believed at that point in time that I
had the physical, the mental, and the technical ability to pretty
much do whatever I wanted to in the way of fighting. In the fighters
I was training I was really testing my theories and testing the
things that I believed in on those guys, and they were very successful.
So I knew, and I really, truly believed it, and I went to Canada,
I went to my dad and I said "I really believe this is going
to happen" and they both looked at me as if I had an extra
finger coming out of my head, or whatever. They very politely
told me that I wasn't a fighter, that I should concentrate on
training and teaching and doing these other things.
That
was really crushing to me to hear my mentor, my teachers, telling
me that. So it almost became necessary to do all those things,
and when I did them I had the fulfillment of something that not
only I really believed in working, but also something that people
kind of knew might happen, but I think more people were saying
things like "Poor Frank, he's going to go and get his butt
kicked." So it was very fulfilling in that way. It was kind
of like not that "I told you so" but one of those "I
knew I could do it" things.
Boxinginsider.com:
You also left the Lion's Den then joined up with Maurice Smith
and Team AKA. Was there friction between you and Ken then, and
what was the dispute over?
Frank
Shamrock: Yes. Ken wasn't happy that I left and the way that
I left. I really didn't know how to articulate to him that [what
I was doing] was holding me back from a career that I really
believed in. I couldn't find a way to articulate that to Ken.
So I kind of hectored at it and I told him what I was doing.
Then one day I just got up early and I left. I left everything
behind and I went to a new school and I went to a new area and
I took with me my blue boxing gloves, and that was it. I left
everything else behind. I left the name, and I started again.
It
wasn't my intention. My intention was to carry on the Lion's
Den, to carry on with traditions that we had created. When I
left Ken said that I couldn't come back, that I couldn't use
the name, that no one could train with me, and that essentially
I was no longer a part of the family because of my choosing to
leave. So I just accepted that and continued on, and that was
where the friction started. He wasn't happy about that and he
told his athletes not to participate with me, and it started
this thing of friction. I never wanted it. I just wanted to do
what I really believed in. Because of my lack of relationship
with Ken I was unable to express to him that I truly believed
in that and that I wanted to go do that.
Boxinginsider.com:
And over the last few years - has that has sort of improved?
Like You mentioned.
Frank
Shamrock: We got over it, as time will do. It's been so long
I can't even remember why it was such a big deal. When I look
back on it, it was like "Wow, if that had never happened
I would still be the same unhappy guy who's never going to achieve
what he believes in and that wasn't my card in life.
Boxinginsider.com:
Did you feel that the two of you could work well training together
for the next phase of both your careers?
Frank
Shamrock: Absolutely. I've always told Ken and let him know that
-- without being disrespectful -- that the knowledge and the
level of training that we have is just astronomical. [We'd be]
able to build a team of athletes and trainers that I've never
seen anywhere else in the world -- with the amount of skill that
we have at present. I've always thought it would be great to
work, train, and exchange with Ken, being family, being my brother
and all -- with everything, business -- everything.
I
see a giant future for both of us, working together, because
this is a bigger story than two brothers doing it all. It is
much better than one brother, or two brothers who don't talk.
But who knows? Ken is a very stoic person. He is who he is, and
I have just never been able to break into that with who I am,
and Ken's never had a good click in that way. We've always had
a relationship based on something else -- training, fighting,
whatever it is we were doing. In that way it is a little different.
Boxinginsider.com:
In your own words, what is Ken's place in mixed martial arts
history?
Frank
Shamrock: Ken is definitely one of the pioneers. If this sport
were to die, Ken would be one of the only remembered people,
which is either really good or really bad -- I'm not sure. Ken
is at the top. He has always been my teacher and mentor and I
put him above myself in all of these things. I have always wanted
the best for him because he has worked harder and done more for
this sport than anyone else out there.
Part
2 with Frank Shamrock will run following UFC 48.
Source: Boxing Insider |
UFC
48 OPENING ODDS FROM JOEY ODESSA
Our friends at sportsbook.com and Joey Odessa have released the
latest odds from "Payback" at UFC 48. Below is an explanation
of what the odds mean or check out the "Best Bets"
page.
For
example Ken Shamrock vs Kimo. Shamrock is the favorite at -135,
meaning you would have to bet $135 to won $100. Kimo is the underdog
at +105 so you would bet $100 to win $105.
UFC 48: Payback
Saturday, June 19
Mandalay Bay - Las Vegas
_____________________________
11:15 PM EST
Ken Shamrock -135
Kimo +105
2F-120/-120
11PMEST
(UFC Heavyweight Championship)
Tim Sylvia -225
Frank Mir +185
1over -185/+145
****WAS IMMEDIATELY BET in 1st HOUR. Time is up to -260/+200.
10:30PM
EST
Phil Baroni -115
Evan Tanner -115
1over -190/+150
****Was immediately bet as well on Baroni, but line will stay
same as
Sportsbook.com is sponsoring Tanner. We like Evan to win.
10PM
EST
Matt Hughes -170
Renato Verissimo +140
2over -145/+105
10PM
EST
Frank Trigg -135
Dennis Hallman +105
2over -175/+135
9PM
EST
Matt Serra -160
Ivan Menjivar +130
2over-250/+200
9PM
EST
Georges St. Pierre -275
Jay Hieron +225
2under -250/+200
9PM
EST
Trevor Prangley -275
Curtis Stout +225
2F-120/-120
Source: MMA Weekly/Sportsbook.com |
MURRAY
CAN'T LEAVE COUNTRY TIL SEPTEMBER
"Lightening" Lee Murray discussed why he isn't fighting
Curtis Stout at UFC 48, next Saturday night with MMAWeekly. Among
other things, he addressed Joe Riggs' comments made on the radio
show earlier this month about him.
Murray
said he was training hard and preparing himself to fight Curtis
Stout, but when he went to get his travel Visa, problems arose.
Lee can not travel outside of England until an "out standing
court case" is settled. He expects his legal matters to
be resolved sometime in September. He thinks the UFC will allow
him to compete in a match in England, to stay busy, then have
him back on the UFC 50 card.
Murray
has been a hot topic, as of late, on the radio show. On Monday,
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson had a few choice words to
say about Murray. Lee said he was "surprised" that
Jackson would be talking about him and added, "He has no
f@#%ing business talking about me."
Joe
Riggs also accused Murray of ducking him but Lee had a different
story. Riggs stated that after Murray saw tape of him fighting,
Lee no longer wanted to fight him. Murray maintains that he has
never seen Joe Riggs fight and before Joe's name was brought
up as a possible opponent for him by the UFC, Lee had never heard
of him.
Lee
said he could understand why Joe is upset but that Joe's account
is not accurate. Murray said, "The UFC come up with these
names. I went, who's Joe Riggs? No disrespect to the guy, I've
never heard of him." Originally, Lee wanted to fight either
Phil Baroni or Evan Tanner but they are fighting each other.
Lee said, looking over the list of names, he chose to fight Curtis
Stout for a few reasons.
Curtis
has fought in the UFC before and took Phil Baroni to a decision.
Lee thought Stout had better name recognition than Joe. Lee commented,
"I'll fight the winner of Riggs and Doerksen or the winner
of Baroni and Tanner, I don't mind." He said that at the
time, Riggs was "fighting against no names," but if
a guy is fighting in the UFC and at the top level, he will fight
them. He added, "I don't duck people."
Source: MMA Weekly |
BARNETT
TALKS ABOUT FUTURE PLUS GP
Josh Barnett was the featured guest on MMAWeekly SoundOff Radio
Thursday. He talked about not knowing who his next opponent will
be, now that Tim Lajcik pulled out of the fight and gave his
expert opinions on the Pride Grand Prix as well as the heavyweight
title match between Tim Sylvia and Frank Mir.
You
know you have truly made it in your chosen profession when you
have your own action figure. Josh Barnett knows that feeling
and called it "surreal." He humbly stated, "I
have gotten to do way more than I ever expected." He said,
fighting for Inoki and New Japan, he really has the best of both
worlds and his decision to fight in Japan has paid off.
On
July 19th, Josh is set to defend his "King of Pancrase"
title, the only problem is he doesn't know against who. He was
scheduled to fight Tim "The Bohemian" Lijcik but Tim
pulled out of the fight while the ink was still wet on the contract.
Right now, Josh really doesn't care who is opponent will be.
There are rumors that it could be Ron Waterman but Josh really
thinks Waterman hasn't proved himself enough to deserve such
an opportunity. That, of coarse, wouldn't stop Barnett from taking
the fight and "making short work of him."
Barnett
was asked to give his opinion on the Pride Heavyweight Grand
Prix. He said, his "gut would have to go with Fedor."
He likes Randleman but pointed out Kevin being "unpredictable"
in his performances. You never know what Kevin Randleman will
show up. Josh thinks Fedor has the better shot at making it to
the finals and picked Semmy Schilt as the "dark horse"
to win it all.
Looking
at the UFC 48 match up between Tim Sylvia and Frank Mir, Josh
thinks it is going to be all Sylvia. "I expect Tim to knock
him out in the first round," said Barnett. He added, "It
ain't getting out of the first round as far as I can see, unless
Mir's running." Josh didn't have a lot of good things to
say about Frank Mir. Josh commented, "He doesn't really
have any take downs. He's good on the ground, but he's got no
wind. He ain't got much heart either." Barnett went on to
say, "He doesn't like to get hit and it's pretty hard to
be a good fighter if you don't like to get hit."
When
asked how he would stack up against the heavyweights in the UFC,
Josh maintains that he would still have the belt if he were still
in the UFC. As far as rankings go, Barnett feels like the lowest
he should be is third and "skill wise," he puts himself
at number one. He thinks Fedor Emelieneko would pose the biggest
threat to him out of the top ranked guys out there. He characterized
Fedor as a well rounded fighter, very confident right now and
powerful in his movements.
Josh
has also launched his own website, www.joshbarnett.tv. The site
has been up and running for about a month now and one unique
feature is Josh's own "Web-Journal." To keep up with
all the latest news on Josh Barnett, that is the place to go.
To
hear all of what Josh had to say on the radio show, get yourself
a Premium Membership. For only five dollars a month, you gain
access to the radio archive, our video library of one on one
interviews, behind the scenes coverage of weigh ins and press
conferences, Tips of the week from the top fighters in Mixed
Martial Arts and so much more. With UFC 48 and the Pride Grand
Prix on the horizon, there is no better time to become a Premium
Member.
Source: MMA Weekly |
LUDWIG
BACK IN K-1 WORLD MAX MIX
Despite losing in a qualifier bout back in May, Duane "Bang"
Ludwig finds himself right back in the mix of the K-1 World Max
Tournament. He has been selected to compete in an alternate bout
for the tournament with the winner stepping in should anyone
in the main portion of the tournament be forced to withdraw for
any reason.
In
the past, K-1 has used what is regarded as a "survival rule"
where if a competitor is forced to withdraw from the tournament
after winning his bout, that competitor's defeated opponent would
step in and fill the vacated position. Perhaps the most well
known instance of this was when Ernesto Hoost, who lost his bout
to Bob Sapp who then had to withdraw due to injury, reentered
the 2002 K-1 World Grand Prix and went on to win the overall
tournament title. It appears that K-1 is trying to move away
from the "survival rule" and use alternates instead.
So
on July 7th, Ludwig will again head to Japan to enter the K-1
ring. This time he will square off against Serkan Yilmaz who
is 3-3 in K-1 competition. Despite his spotty record, Yilmaz
is a tough fighter according to Ludwig's manager Sven Bean, "He's
tough and really aggressive. He took (World Max Champion) Masato
to a decision and he does a lot of crazy, spinning Tae Kwon Do
style kicks."
According
to Bean, Ludwig was planning on focusing strictly on MMA, despite
having lost his last MMA bout to BJ Penn, but "this is an opportunity
to get right back in the mix in the World Max. We just decided
that we didn't want to pass up the opportunity."
Ludwig
is the ISKA Light Middleweight World Muay Thai Champion and will
be defending that title this winter for Bean's Ring of Fire promotion.
So, if he wins this alternate bout and is called upon in the
main draw of the tournament, it may well be a while before we
see Bang back in the MMA ring.
Source: MMA Weekly |
PRIDE
Bushido 4: Brazilian Top Team vs. Team Japan
SportsNavi.com is reporting that the theme for the PRIDE Bushido
4 show on July 19th will be the Brazilian Top Team vs. Team Japan.
Possible
BTT participants that were mentioned were Rogerio 'Minotoro'
Nogueira, Mario Sperry, Murilo Bustamante, and Paulo Filho.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Tyson:
All Things Must Pass
By Jim Cawkwell
The events
of every calendar year in boxing usually manifest an unpredictably
ordered array of greatly contrasting emotions. From euphoric
highs to bland indifference or extreme distaste and right down
to the devastating lows; reactions are usually nothing if not
intense. Barely halfway into 2004 we have already seen Lennox
Lewis abdicate his throne; seemingly plunging us into a void
which will not be adequately filled in the foreseeable future.
Former pound-for-pound champion Roy Jones Jr was deposed in a
rather less willing fashion and certain deficiencies have been
brought to light in our scoring system in the Marquez-Pacquiao
super-fight, ever so slightly compromising the image of the entire
sport… yes, again.
But
there is one individual who manages to stir the gamut of the
aforementioned emotional barrage more than any other. In light
of the dramatic events also previously mentioned, many people
with awfully short memories are beginning to seriously wonder
if he can ascend to prominence once more.
The myth of Mike Tyson has been dug up and buried so many times
that it’s conceivable that his new entourage will resemble
the dance cast from Michael Jackson’s 'Thriller'. The public
hold a fascination for Tyson that simply will not allow him to
leave boxing. Whether it is fueled by morbid curiosity or sentimentality
is irrelevant; what is certain is that it, along with his last
physical gift in the form of his punching power, is the only
thing that is keeping the myth of Mike Tyson alive.
He
still physically resembles the prodigy that truly realized Cus
D’Amato’s violent vision and wrote wondrous new pages
in boxing’s history. But reality has an indifferent attitude
to quashing fanciful dreams and it reminds us that the precocious
young boxer who inspired fear in every man that ever saw him
fight is no more. In his place is a thirty-seven year old man
who more regularly succeeds in inflicting more damage upon himself
due to his vitriolic tongue than anyone else. Certainly, he may
be capable of causing injury to another fighter through legitimate
means, but those wounds would heal; Tyson might never recover
from his pain.
Some
fans are too ready to forgive when the need to reconcile the
ill deeds of a fallen hero arises. When Tyson returned to boxing
after his incarceration for raping Desiree Washington, I was
astounded at just how many people were ready to overlook the
crime and focus on Tyson resuming his career; desperate enough
was the need to believe.
And
even now far too many people gladly forget Tyson’s professional
exploits of the last few years: the disdain for training, the
violently erratic public conduct and the gratuitous fleecing
of American and European audiences in exchange for increasingly
paltry showings.
It
is not my intention for this article to be perceived as a character
assassination on Mike Tyson. I would not dare to disrespect this
once formidable champion of the noble art. The facts speak for
themselves and I seek to enlighten those who are unfamiliar with
a more intimate perspective of Tyson and his life to this point,
but also to draw attention to the reasons why I feel he will
not attain the heavyweight championship once more.
To
anyone who has reacted with astonishment and disgust at the misconduct
he has displayed in the past I would keenly recommend the book:
"Money, myth and betrayal" by Montieth M. Illingworth.
This fine publication goes to great lengths to outline grievous
deceptions and corruptive influences and their gradually corrosive
effect on an already vulnerable human being.
Even
Tyson’s aura of invincibility is shown to be one that was
flimsily held together in contrast to the persona that was first
crafted and broadcasted in snippets to the public during his
rise to fame. The feeble version of Tyson that was bullied and
beaten by Lennox Lewis in 2002 made many appearances long before
that famous night in Memphis. But for Angelo Dundee, "Enry’s
‘Ammer" may have been the ruin of Cassius Clay and
the world would have been denied the "Greatest of all time!"
Fate’s
hand bore Tyson through his own early crises and allowed us the
privilege of watching his incredible wrath as a fighter.
Of
course, Tyson was not without gain himself because of fate’s
intervention. How many can truly claim to have experienced the
same fabulous wealth and decadent lifestyle as he did at the
peak of his prowess? But now that these distractions have all
but vanished, where will fate lead him now? At various points
I would argue that we have probably all felt outraged by his
behavior, but condemnation without an attempt at understanding
is equally as irrational.
The
indelible impression I now hold of Mike Tyson is that of a severely
damaged individual; the peril of a similar depth is one that
may befall any of us. Mike Tyson is a man who needs help to understand
and reconcile his past so that each day does not appear to be
a daunting task without the suppression offered by anti-depressants.
Mike Tyson fights to remedy his mounting financial predicament,
but I sense that boxing is the last thing he truly needs in his
life.
Perhaps
the routine of training offers temporary goals, but time and
trial have already conspired to rob him of almost all of his
physical weapons. To the uneducated eye, fighters are not recognized
as the expertly technical beings they truly are. The success
of a fighter relies on not only his physical gifts but also his
ability to master the art of negotiating the combative minefield
in milliseconds, with no margin allowed for error. For a fighter
to no longer be able to maintain this diligence is for the game
to be all but up.
The
worst of Tyson’s notorious acts in recent years earned him
exile from America. Of course, several European ports of call
were starving for his presence and he duly nourished them with
his signature brand of badness, in and out of the ring. His current
attraction is increasingly based on his mood shifts, which have
been known to change at a kaleidoscopic rate. From surly un-cooperation
to wrenching depression to his scathingly animated rants, all
are unpredictable, all are craved by the public and all are pushing
his ring performances further into insignificance.
His
supporters might point to the destructiveness he has shown against
all of his opposition except Lewis in the last few years. I would
remind them and all of you that such destruction manifested only
because each of his opponents was hand picked for their predictability
to fall at his feet. The proof of what would happen to Tyson
upon meeting a real fighter was realized when he fought Lewis;
a fight which happened merely because of Lewis’s stubborn
persistence and Tyson’s great need for money.
The
merry-go-round is about to start again though folks. The opportunist
in Tyson is setting his stall out wherever he can make the most
money. Certainly no sponsor would entertain the thought of using
his likeness or endorsement. So it’s the boxing ring or
K-1 mixed martial arts? Perhaps we may even see him in one of
the horrendous reality television shows which were being conceptualized
not so long ago. Avid historian of the game and legendary iconic
figure he may be, but one thing I am certain of and that is that
if Mike Tyson can earn more money without being punched in the
head, he’ll do it regardless of the weight of anyone’s
expectations.
Source: Doghouse Boxing |
***For
Immediate Release***
For More Information, Contact:
Brian Crenshaw, WKA USA Representative, (800) 542-5269 or WKAUSArep@aol.com.
Pre-Registration
Strong For WKA USA Nationals
Eighty-eight
competitors hailing from fifteen different states have pre-registered
for the 2004 World Kickboxing Association (WKA) USA “National
Kickboxing Championships” amateur tournament event that
will be staged on Friday, June 18th and Saturday June 19th at
Virginia Wesleyan College in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The
number of fighters who have enlisted during the event’s
annual pre-registration period, which officially ends today,
is similar to that of last year. This year’s pre-registered
athletes will make their way to the site of the tournament from
Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Ohio,
West Virginia, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina,
Rhode Island, Michigan, Utah, and Alabama.
During
the event, amateur kickboxers throughout The United States will
compete in single-elimination formatted tournament with three
different rules divisions: Full-Contact, Kickboxing, and Muay
Thai. Competition is separated into 11 different weight classes
amongst male fighters and 7 different weight classes amongst
female fighters within each rules division.
In
addition to being awarded an official championship belt and certificate,
the winner in each weight class of each rules division will be
named to the 2004 WKA USA national team, which will travel to
Switzerland in September to compete in the annual WKA “World
Championships” tournament event.
Fighters
interested in competing in one of the June tournaments are invited
to register accordingly by completing the form on the WKA USA
website’s tournament registration page located at http://www.wkausa.com/nationals/2004/registration.htm.
While the regular registration fee is $40, the WKA USA is offering
a pre-registration discount rate of $30 to entrants who enroll
in one of the event’s tournaments by today (June 10th).
Prior
to the tournament, the WKA USA will co-host a four day Muay Thai
training camp at Virginia Wesleyan College. The camp, which will
feature instruction for students of all levels from June 15th
through June 18th, will be led by renowned Muay Thai trainer,
Kru Vut Kamnark. Decorated world champions, Bunkerd Fairtex,
Matee Jedeepitak, and Pongsan Ek-Yotin of Thailand, will assist
Kamnark in his coaching efforts during the camp. Those interested
in registering for the camp may do so by completing the form
that is accessible on the same web page as the WKA USA tournament
registration form.
Established
in 1970, the World Kickboxing Association (WKA), which boasts
representatives in more than 90 different countries, is one of
the most well known governing bodies in the sport of amateur
and professional kickboxing. Recently, the WKA made unprecedented
efforts to promote unity and order within its sport by agreeing
to co-sanction its “World Championships” tournament
event with another prominent sanctioning body, the International
Amateur Kickboxing Sport Association (IAKSA). Formed in the late
1970’s to regulate kickboxing events throughout The United
States, the WKA USA has helped its parent organization sustain
significant growth worldwide. The United States organization
has over 30 events scheduled for 2004.
Source: Mike Afromowitz |
Quote
of the Day
"Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock
and it shall be opened unto you."
the Bible
|
Onzuka.com
Salutes Possibly the
Greatest President of our time
The 40th President, Ronald Reagan was one of the US's best fighters.
He led the charge and KO'd communism and the most powerful country
in the world...other than the US, of course. A national day of
mourning was declared today and many state and federal workers
have been given the day off in honor of former President Reagan.
Rest in peace President Reagan.
God Bless the United States of America.
|
Carlson
says: 'GRACIES ARE LOSING EVERYTHING, I´LL HELP THEM'
by Marcelo Alonso
Carlson Gracie has just arrived in Rio de Janeiro. Besides working
on some visa problems, Carlson wants to set last details for
his new Vale-Tudo training center, as well as to follow the participation
of two members of his Team in Rio. As usual, Gracie went straight
from the airport to meet his best friend, the video maker Oswaldo
Paquetá, at his house. During the meeting we had the oportunity
to do the following interview with the, always contoversial Carlson
Gracie:
Tell
me about your new training center ... Now besides my Academy
in Copacabana, where we teach Jiu-Jitsu, I´m opening Carlson
Gracie Fight only for Vale-Tudo fighters. To train in there all
the fighters has to sign a contract. Today I don´t teach
not even my mother after what those traitors did to me. The contract
is wonderfull for the fighters. The new training center will
be located in Clube Carioca, Botafogo.
Who
will represent Carlson Team in this Meca ? Jacão who weight
75kg and Batman who weights 80kg. I have at least 10 fighters
in the US who will be top in less than a year.
Is
it true you will prepare a young Gracie to Vale-Tudo? This is
a surprise for now. The guy is only 15 years old and 1,92m tall,
I´ve alreday talked to him and soon He will be training
with me.
I´ve
heard He is son of Robson Gracie (father of Ryan and Renzo).
Is it true? It should be secret. That´s true, Robsinho
(his nickname is small Robson) came to me asking to train him.
I think He is a very nice guy, very polite and I´ll help
him out.
Lately
you are famous for always being the opposite side of your family.
Why you decided to help Gracies now ? That´s not true I´ve
always suported my family in Vale-Tudo. Actually no other Gracie
has done so much for our family than I. During 20 years I always
undefeated defendeding Gracie. Weighting only 73 kg I faced anyon | |