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(All events on Oahu, unless noted)
2005
11/14/05
3rd American National BJJ Championships
(Torrance Unified School District, Torrance, CA )
10/29-30/05
Brazilian Team Titles
(Equipes)
(Brazil)
8/27-28/05
International
Masters & Seniors BJJ Tournament
(Tijuca Tenis Clube, Tijuca, Brazil)
7/23-31/05
World BJJ
Championships (Mundial)
(Tijuca Tenis Clube, Tijuca, Brazil)
7/21-23/05
World Cup of BJJ
(BJJ)
(São Paulo, Brazil)
5/7-8 & 14-15 & 21-22/05
Brazilian National BJJ Tournament
(Youth, Adult, Master & Senior)
(Tijuca Tenis Clube, Tijuca, Brazil?)
4/1-3/05
Pan American
& Team Title USA vs Brazil BJJ Tournament
(BJJ)
(California State University Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA)
3/05
SUMA
(Kickboxing)
(Hyatt Waikiki)
3/12/05
The Second Annual Maui
Jiu-Jitsu Open
BJJ tournament
(BJJ)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Hawaii)
3/6-7/05
Hawaii State High School Wrestling Championships
(Blaisdell Arena)
3/5/04
So You Think You Tough 7
(Boxing, MMA)
(Kauai)
2/27/05
2005 Hawaiian Championship
of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
(BJJ & Submission Grappling)
(Saint Louis H.S. Gym)
2/5/05
UFC 51: Super Saturday
(MMA)
(Las Vegas, NV)
1/29/05
Kid's BJJ Tournament
(BJJ)
(Relson Gracie Main Academy, Honolulu)
1/22/05
Punishment In
Paradise 9:
Hawaii vs. Mainland
(MMA, Kickboxing)
(Kapolei H.S. Gym)
|
|
January 2005 News
Part 1
Wednesday night and Sunday
classes (w/ a kids' class) now offered!
 
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price, click on one of these banners above! |
Tuesdays at 8:30PM on
Olelo Channel 52
New Time! |
Quote
of the Day
"So much of what is best in us is bound up in our love of
family, that it remains the measure of our stability because
it measures our sense of loyalty. All other pacts of love or
fear derive from it and are modeled upon it."
Haniel Long, 1888-1956, American Author/Poet/Journalist
|
Jeremy
Wall's Smart and Stupid Letters Mailbag
RANDY COUTURE
Keith
Shillan writes:
After
UFC 49 Couture called out Silva ! (I know that it is not realistic
that they would or could unify the belts) In your opinion who
wins? I must be honest, I love Randy! He has dominated everybody
he has faced at 205lbs. Not to mention he hasn't fought any scrubs.
Silva has been great but he has been hurt at times. Randy hasn't
been at 205. I pick Randy. Also why wasn't the Edwards/Thompson
fight at UFC 49 for the lightweight title. Is UFC going to crown
a champ at middleweight or lightweight.
JW:
Under UFC rules, I think Couture is the easy favourite, since
Silva loses a lot of his weapons in terms of striking a downed
opponent, plus it would be hard for Silva to get Couture down
anyway. Couture's clinch is also the black hole where strikers
go to die, and would nullify Silva's stand-up attack, plus Couture
has the fence to help with the takedown and the ground-and-pound.
Under Pride rules, Silva has a better chance since he can knee
and kick to the head on the ground, but if Couture isn't going
to be in the position for him to do that, it would seem to be
unlikely. Couture also would not be able to use the fence to
take Silva down and push him up against to pound him because
the fence wouldn't exist in Pride. It would probably be a more
exciting fight in Pride because of that. UFC has scrapped the
idea of having a lightweight champion, but will continue with
the lightweight division. They plan on crowning a middleweight
champion soon, maybe as early as UFC 51.
Ismael
Ford writes:
How
about getting together with your fellow MMA journalist and giving
a Sportsman of the Year award (call it the Couture) and abest
pound for pound award (complete with shinny belt, ala Ring Magazine).
After all, the best fighter in MMA isn’t always going to
be the a Sportsman.
The
voting for best pound for pound fighter could be decided in equal
parts by fans, fighters and MMA journalist.
Just
my thoughts. In boxing the only belt that matters now is the
Ring Magazine belt.
JW:
I don't think I can afford to be handing out shiny belts.
NOBUHIKO
TAKADA
Darrick
W. Mowrey writes:
Hey,
I am just writing to say good work on your story for max fighting
titled, "The Myth of Nobuhiko Takada". It was very
well written and it is easy to tell the amount of research that
went into it.
I must say the only real problem with it was that i wanted to
know more. I want to know why some japanese don't understand
what is a work and what not. I thought most japanese were very
educated when it came to fighting.
Your
description of Takada was great and helped me answer the questions
i have had about him. Yet, i am left wondering how can enough
japanese fans keep thinking this way. Do they really want fixed
fights and constant controversy?
In
closing any other feature pieces about japan fight culture would
be wonderful. This is one area that could really help all fight
fans in the US. It is one aspect of the sport that we all sit
back and wonder about.
Thanks
again. Keep up the good work.
JW:
The Japanese fans don't know these fights were fixed, so there's
no controversy at all.
John
Gerrardi writes:
MMA
needs more honest journalist like you.
Yan
Ten writes:
Thanks
for clearing up Takada's career. I saw him in 4 matches. Two
to Rickson, one to Coleman, and one to some freaky guy with tattoos.
I thought that those non Rickson matches were fake. Seemed simple
to me, but don't the japanese fans see it too?
JW:
The guy with tattoos was Kyle Sturgeon. The Japanese fans are
used to seeing a less realistic looking style in shoot-style
pro wrestling that they believe is real, and most of the worked
fights were kept short.
MYTH
OF THE INTERNET FANBASE
Paul
Noble writes:
Dear
Mr Wall,
1.
Sean Gannon DOES have MMA experience. 3 or 4 fights if I remember
correctly. If you are basing his skill level purely on viewing
that video with Kimbo, it's because he just wasn't allowed to
use any ground work in that fight, based on the rules agreed.
2.
You are severely underestimating the P.R. power of the internet
when it comes to promoting fighters.
JW:
How many other fighters with Gannon's skill level have been considered
for a major fight in the UFC? Not too many. The PR power of the
internet doesn't exist unless you're specifically trying to promote
to internet fans.
Simon
Scowl writes:
Jeremy,
You
made some outstanding points in your article - they needed to
be said. But your arrogant overestimation of MMAChronicle's popularity
is disturbing. If that tiny site maxed out at 1,100 visitors,
that means it wasn't very popular. Your own new site has to attract
a minimum of 5,000 unique visitors per day (even though it is
struggling to come back from the dead) because the big MMA sites
pull 15,000-20,000 unique visitors or more per day.
To
grossly underestimate Sherdog.com like that, especially when
you can get their traffic stats very easily by emailing them,
shows a level of irresponsible journalism that I would not expect
from you. I thought you held yourself out to be a unique business
expert in the field of MMA? If so, you should at least check
with your own editor, Thomas Gerbasi, about MaxFighting's stats
before embarrassing the site by telling the world that it is
WAY LESS popular than it really is.
MaxFighting's
advertising revenue depends on its traffic. Putting out such
an inaccurate article jeopardizes those dollars and embarrasses
the site.
I
hope you print a correction piece soon.
JW:
I'm probably wrong on the original numbers I printed in the piece.
Let's use your numbers instead. Let's say Sherdog does 20,000
visitors a day. The average UFC pay per view is 75,000 homes.
Not many people sit and watch these pay per views all by their
lonesome, so, let's say since the average household is four people,
that there's 300,000 people watching the average UFC pay per
view. That amounts to less than 7% of the total viewing audience.
Sherdog would have to hit 100,000 unique visitors a day just
to cover a third of the AVERAGE UFC pay per view. The highest
UFC pay per view buyrate is figured at about 150,000 buys; that's
a total of 600,000 people watching. If Sherdog draws 20,000 uniques
per day, that's less than 3.5% of the audience. Read a Grade
2 math textbook and you'll figure it out.
Simon
Scowl again writes:
...I
figured you out.
You
are a Dave Meltzer lacky. You mimick his every move - from your
defunct newsletter, upon which I pissed away money, to your attack
of MMA's Internet fanbase.
Get
a clue. Your a bored little Canadian with a whiny voice, geek
looks and nothing better to do than sit behind your super duper
home computer set-up and think you're big time because a bunch
of non entities like Internet fans write to you or comment on
your lackluster musings.
Buffer
isn't even paying you and you're busting your ass to bring down
his website with your grade school observations. LOL@U
Didn't
I hear you admit you'd never been to a UFC on some Internet "radio
show?"
Exactly.
JW:
Next time try breaking the pills in half.
THE
ULTIMATE FIGHTER
Luke
Nicholson writes:
According
to MMAWeekly.com, UFC will have two live shows in April, one
will be a two hour special to conclude the reality show on Spike
TV and then the live PPV a couple of weeks later. Is this the
plan, as of now? Also, the piece of news that really caught my
eye (for negative reasons unfortunately) is that they want to
do Matt Hughes vs Frank Trigg for the Welterweight title as the
Main Event on the two hour special on Spike TV.
Maybe
I'm being overly pessimistic or cynical, or both, but if you
have the chance to expose your product on free tv like that,
and you're going to give them a live fight, why not one that
has a good chance of being exciting? I think the chances of Hughes/Trigg
being exciting are about the same chances as Triple H divorcing
Stephanie McMahon. If they give them Hughes/Trigg, and its a
boring fight, couldn't that potentially kill any momentum they
develop from the show?
I
just think that this rumour, if it comes true, just re-emphasizes
how much UFC really doesn't get it. Why not give the millions...and
millions of people watching in tv land a fight between two exciting,
charismatic fighters that people might get behind, and pay to
see on PPV down the road?
JW:
Yes, the plan is for a live show in April, followed by a pay
per view a few weeks later. Trigg vs. Hughes is being considered,
but it's not set in stone. They feel that since the two had an
exciting match at UFC 45, it would probably be an exciting fight
again, although that's not set in stone. I think there are better
options than this fight, which is something I explored in my
article on The Ultimate Fighter which will be elsewhere on the
site.
Source:
Maxfighting
|
UFC
president challenges Stallone
Take a look at this interesting report published by our friends
from MMAWeekly.com:
"The
following article appeared in yesterday's New York Post
January
6, 2005 -- The rabble-rousing president of the Ultimate Fighting
Championship is slapping boxing aficionado Sylvester Stallone
across the face with a $5 million challenge.
Dana
White, who oversees the mixed martial arts fighting league and
its new Spike TV reality show, "The Ultimate Fighter,"
wants the winner of his series to fight the winner of Stallone's
boxing show, "The Contender."
"Boxing
is in shambles," White told The Post yesterday. "Back
in the day, whoever the heavyweight champ was, was considered
the baddest man on the planet, and that's just not the case anymore
- not by a long shot - and we're willing to put our money where
our mouth is."
The
proposed match would be televised on cable or pay-per-view or
held privately. "However they want it," White said.
NBC
officials, Stallone and "Contender" creator Mark Burnett
declined to comment yesterday.
On
"Ultimate Fighter," debuting Jan. 17, 16 contestants
will be split into teams. They will live and train together,
and ultimately fight in a Las Vegas bout live on Spike.
Fighters
will be ejected until only two fighters in separate weight classes
remain - and they'll be offered six-figure contracts with the
UFC.
On
"The Contender" - a new NBC series from reality show
guru Burnett, "Rocky" star Stallone, Jeffrey Katzenberg
and boxer Sugar Ray Leonard - 16 boxers square off each week
in the ring. Losers face elimination.
The
two finalists square off in the finale for a $1 million prize.
The
show is slated to debut Feb. 21."
Source: Tatame/MMA Weekly |
Wagnney
Fabiano
Playing the rules
Living
in Canada for seven years, BJJ black belt from Nova União
Wagnney Fabiano was one of the starts to shine at last December
4 and 5, in São Paulo. After winning the -66 division,
Wagnney proved that living far away from his brother Leonardo
Santos, he might have a hard time to Leonardo Vieira, Baret Yoshida
and Royler Gracie in May. During an exclusive to TATAME.com,
Wagnney talked about the Abu-Dhabi rules and the tournament,
besides what is going on in Canadá.
What
do you think about ADCC rules?
People
have been slowing down the fight. The rules are good to whom
enjoys being on the guard and wait for five minutes in there.
Then he search for points. To who has an open game, it's not
good at all.
Lot
of people complained about it. Did you use the rules to win?
I
don't even care. I fight under any rule system. I fight a lot
in tournaments as Naga and Grapplers Quest in the States and
they have similar rules as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It's not a big
deal for me.
But
it's not better to submit in the very first minutes?
I
am a tactic guy. I play the rules and I always search the victory.
If I have a chance to submit I will! If I have to do a tied game,
I also do not problems with it. You cannot complain about the
rules. Sheik is the boss (laughs). I had a great support from
one of the ADCC referees. We went to my academy and explained
me the rules.
Tell
me about your main opponents during the final phase.
The
division under 66kg is good. Leonardo Vieira, Royler Gracie,
Baret Yoshida, Ed Bravo are there. It's gonna be a grappling
show.
How
do you do to keep a good train level in Canada?
I
have few great athletes as Mark Bolcheck, who is a BJJ world
champion in purple belt and now he was graduated black belt.
There is Rob, Joe and some other good pupils. Even though, I
will spend a month in Brazil before the competition.
How
is everything in Canada?
I
have been there for seven years and I have 60 pupils. But we
have few competitions in Canada because we do not have a federation.
I fight a lot in United States, but in Canada a do my physical
preparation and lots of Boxing, Wrestling and Muay Thai. I also
own the TKO belt in Canada.
Source: Tatame |
Quote
of the Day
"An idea is salvation by imagination."
Frank Lloyd Wright, 1869-1959, United States Architect
|
2005
Hawaiian Championship of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Saint Louis Schools Gymnasium
February 27, 2005
Gi
& No-Gi
Contact:
James Tanaka (223-9363) or Romolo (392-8330)
Email:
info@brazilian-freestyle.com
Source: Event Promoter
|
Kids'
Jiu-Jitsu Tournament
Possibly Being Postponed
Currently the event organizer, Ronn Shiraki, just told me
tonight that the kid's tournament may be postponed. If you are
interested in entering some kids, please email Ronn to make sure
that he has your contact information and you can let him know
your thoughts on the tournament schedule.
Here are the specifics so far (subject to change):
Date:
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Time:
Weigh-ins: 8-9 am
Tournament Starts at 10:00 am
Cost: $20
This will be a gi only tournament so that we emphasize the technical
aspect of Jiu-Jitsu and help revive the sport.
It will also be a double elimination tournament, 3 rings, and
there will be two 3rd places. There will be no team trophies.
However, there may be some trophies for "most technical,
fastest submission, and best sportsmanship" along with some
prizes (depending on the generosity of sponsors).
Match
duration will be 3 minutes for kids age 6, 4 minutes for kids
ages 7-14, and 5 minutes for kids ages 15-17.
Any
questions? Please shoot us an email and we will forward it on!
|
PRIDE
AND FILA SIGN DEAL
The Japanese media reports that DSE/PRIDE and FILA, the world
governing body for amateur wrestling, have signed a licensing
agreement in which amateur wrestlers can do professional MMA
fights in DSE/PRIDE without risking their eligibility for amateur
wrestling world championships and the Olympics.
Furthermore,
if an amateur wrestler works for any other group outside of DSE/PRIDE,
such as K-1 for example, then the wrestler would lose his FILA
eligibility.
However,
law experts are pointing out that such a condition will not hold
up in any court of law. It also remains to be seen now whether
Olympic gold medalist Karam Ibrahim will now lose his eligibility
for the next Olympics, since he worked in the K-1 show on December
31st.
Source: Fight Sport
|
Minotauro
open his heart to TATAME
Enjoying vacations in Santa Catarina after Pride Shockwave, Brazilian
Rodrigo minotauro talked with Team TATAME and opened his heart
about the loss to Russian Fedor Emelianenko, on last December
31.
-
Fedor throws his leg behind and assumes some defensive strategy.
He feints and than applies some right punches. I admit I got
a hard time with it. However, I guess a fair decision would be
2x1 to Fedor. He stepped inside the ring feeling confident and
imposed his game. But it's a normal situation for me. I take
a while until I find my game. I use to submit my opponents in
beginning of the second round, as Heath Herring... - Rodrigo
said.
Now,
he only wants to rest for two weeks. "I only think about
my vacations now. I am tired... I have been training everyday
from January to January. I will spend two weeks in Santa Catarina
and then return to Rio de Janeiro to help my brother Rogério
to get ready for Middleweight GP, which happens in April. I also
believe I must be fighting in April," he concluded.
Source: Tatame
|
Quote
of the Day
"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something
you want done because he wants to do it."
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1890-1969, 34th President of the United
Statests
|
MORE
HEAT BETWEEN BJ
PENN AND
TRIGG
 
Now that 2005 has crept up on us, this year promises to bring
the MMA world some highly anticipated and long overdue match-ups.
Tito Ortiz vs. Vitor Belfort comes to mind and is just around
the corner at UFC 51. It also looks like the paths of Fedor Emelianenko
and Mirko Filipovic “Cro Cop” will finally collide,
but what about those match-ups that haven't happened and don't
look like they are going to, like Frank Trigg vs. BJ Penn?
Last
week BJ Penn was a guest on MMAWeekly SoundOff Radio where UFC
welterweight number one contender Frank Trigg is co-host. Trigg
has been very vocal ever since Penn defeated Matt Hughes at UFC
46 that he wants to fight BJ. During the radio segment, the two
exchanged verbal jabs, but this fight is still nowhere close
to happening. The following is the exchange itself. To hear the
entire show, click on the radio archive.
It
all started when BJ Penn commented, "I mean, even if Frank
(Trigg) goes and wins the belt, then Frank would know that I'm
really the world champion, he's not....."
Ryan
Bennett: Let me ask you a loaded question. What about fighting
Frank Trigg in 2005?
Penn:
Anything is possible, you know what I mean. Anything is possible.
I'm sure that fight is going to happen one day, you know. I'm
sure it's going to happen. We'll just have to wait and see what
happens. I'm sure me and Frank are going to end up fighting before
our careers are done.
Bennett:
Trigg, how about that?
Frank
Trigg: I don't know why it didn't happen last year, but whatever.
Bennett:
Trigg, I sense a little anger Trigg.
Trigg:
No, not anger. I mean, it's just one of those fights that should
have happened a while ago. Especially after, you know, BJ beat
Matt. Of course, just being who I am, I automatically figured
that or anticipated that he and I should fight relatively soon
and it didn't happen in 2004. So, it's going to have to be 2005,
but it's one of those deals where I thought it should have been,
that he and I should have fought. BJ and I should have fought
relatively quickly but then, things happen with the UFC, the
breakup between Penn's camp and the UFC camp. He went a different
way. I stayed with the UFC and that's just the way it works so
hopefully in '05 it will come together where we end up banging
heads a little bit.
Penn:
As soon as that fight happens, Frank's career is done. You know
what I mean? You might want to push it back to 2006, you know
what I mean, so just think about it for a little bit.
Trigg:
There's nothing for me to think about. I'll be happy to hand
you out an ass kicking and buy you a drink after.
The
conversation turned to BJ's contract with K-1 and Trigg's contract
with the UFC. Trigg is currently in negotiations to resign with
the UFC and Penn has one more fight under his K-1 contract but
isn't contractually prohibited from fighting in the UFC or his
own promotion of Rumble on the Rock. As the interview neared
it's end, Trigg shifted the focus back to a fight between the
two of them.
Trigg:
Quit ducking me. You are the only guy in the industry who has
his own promotion that can afford to get any fighter they want.
Yet, we still haven't fought.
Penn:
Man.
Trigg:
Quit ducking me.
Penn:
It will happen Frank, don't worry.
Trigg:
I'm not worried. A little nervous but not worried.
Penn:
You're a little nervous and not worried?
Trigg:
Of course. You've got to be a little nervous before a fight.
Otherwise, you get hurt, real bad.
Penn:
Be very afraid Frank.
Trigg:
I'm not scared of anybody but my daddy....Our fight will probably
be the fight of the year; whenever it is, whether it's next year
or he keeps running until '06. Either way, it will probably be
the fight of that year for sure.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Rickson
reproves Pernambuco skills
Spending few days in Brazil, Lúcio Pernambuco - who illustrated
TATAME#96 - came from United States and ended visiting TATAME'S
office bringing a bronze medal in his backpack. After spending
a two months season into Rickson Gracie's house, in Los Angeles
and three other months training with Raw Team (Rico Chiparelli),
Pernambuco reveals that his dream to fight at Pride had to be
postponed due to his bad ground skill.
-
When I went to live with Rickson, the idea was fighting at Pride
as soon as possible. However Rickson though I had a great BJJ
level. He said: 'I will not fool around with you. You still have
a lot to learn about Jiu-Jitsu and your hip is not flexible.
But if you do learn 20% of my Jiu-Jitsu, considering your fight
experience in life, you have everything to be a real champion."
I've learned a lot with him. After I left his place I won at
Grapplers Quest and rolled with BJJ black belts in Recife and
São Paulo. Nobody submitted! - Pernambuco celebrated.
Now he departs to US next January 24.
-
I'm going to train with Ricardo Santos (Carlson Gracie's black
belt) and I will spend around two weeks in San Francisco. After
that I will spend one month training with Carlson in Chicago.
Carlson is such a Jiu-Jitsu wizard for me. I believe he will
give the last push to step inside Pride or Ultimate - BJJ purple
belt declared.
Source:
Tatame
|
MONTE
TALKS PULVER, CLOSE DECISIONS, YELLOW CARDS, AND MORE....
MMAWeekly
spoke with manager/promoter Monte Cox recently about Jens Pulver's
loss to Takanori Gomi at Pride Shockwave on New Year's Eve. Cox
also commented on the controversial decision in the Wanderlei
Silva and Mark Hunt fight, and gave a rather candid opinion on
the frequent hand out of yellow cards during the event.
Monte
accompanied Jens to Japan and about the fight, Monte said, "In
meeting with Pride and stuff, Pride has a whole different philosophy
than the UFC and they point that out over and over again. They
kept telling Jens and Gomi, they just said we want an exciting
fight. We want you guys to go at it. We don't want you to, you
know, we don't want any stalling and they were going to put them
9th on the card. You know, 9th out of 11. This is their biggest
show of the year and here are two lightweights fighting 9th.
It's a heck of a sendoff for that new division. By the time Jens
and Gomi got on, the K-1 show was already over so everybody was
watching Pride so they got seen by millions and millions of people.
The Pride people were tickled to death. I would have liked to
have seen the result go the other way, but I'm not at all upset
with the intensity that they fought with. Pretty much everyone
thought it was one of the best fights of the night."
Going
more in detail about the bout, Cox commented, "Gomi, that
was just an amazing performance. I didn't think Jens fought that
poorly. I thought he showed a nice jab. He landed his left two
or three times but, he didn't chase him around the ring trying
to land the left. He just said it's the first time that someone
has stood and punched with him that actually hurt him. The right
hands and the jabs actually hurt Jens, and Jens doesn't get hurt
much. He's one of those guys who can take everything and give
it back."
"We
figured Gomi would come out and try to take him down which he
did. We also figured that he wouldn't be able to take him down
which he couldn't. And, at that point, he'd have to stand with
him. Basically after two takedown attempts, Gomi gave up. He
wasn't going to get Jens off his feet. Jens is an awful good
wrestler and really good at scrambles and such. It's just going
to be really hard for Gomi to take him down. What we didn't expect
was Gomi would stand so successfully. Really, the whole fight
went exactly like we would have diagrammed it with the exception
of Gomi landing a lot of more punches on Jens and Jens' punches
not having the effect we thought they would," said Monte.
Pulver
has been competing at 143 lately and had to make the jump to
fighting at 160 in Pride. Gomi had a considerable weight advantage
come fight time and Cox felt like it was a big factor in the
fight. Monte stated, "People say, oh I don't want to hear
about the weight difference. Well, there was a legitimate weight
difference. Jens moved up a division and a half. You know, he
goes from 143 and now he's fighting at 160.6. It's a heck of
a jump. It's not like we planned this for a year so we could
get ready. We found out about two month ahead of time and Jens
put on as much real weight as he could. He got up to 158 and
that's what he weighed for the fight, you know, was 158. Gomi,
by his own admittance, he told us he was 180 and had to cut.
By fight night, he was at least 175. He's a big guy and it definitely
made a difference."
Cox
was in no way making an excuse for Pulver's loss. He was simply
stating the weight difference played a factor. He went on to
say, "There is nothing we can do about that because that
is the weight class that Jens is going to be fighting in. He
just needs to keep working on gaining weight. Hopefully by the
tournament in March, he'll become, you know, by fight night he'll
165 or 167 and he'll start growing into the division."
The
two decisions of the night that have been debated ever since
are the Dan Henderson vs. Yuki Kondo and Wanderlei Silva vs.
Mark Hunt decisions. Monte gave his opinion on both of them.
First he addressed the Silva/ Hunt fight. Monte said, in his
opinion, "I think Hunt won." Cox explained, "I
just thought he did that major damage. He was the one that did
all the damage. I think Silva did a lot of positioning. He got
takedowns. He got the mount, but he didn't do much with it. I
just think Hunt had Silva falling all over the place." Cox
added, "I just thought that Hunt did the damage. I mean
he had Silva hurt several times. I mean, that's what it's about
is damage. And, you know, I thought Wanderlei, the guy can take
a shot and keep going but, I don't think he can get credit for
almost getting knocked out but staying in the game."
About
how the fight was scored, Monte said, "I talked to Matt
Hume afterward and I said, on this judging, what does the weight
difference mean and he said, there was nothing on the card to
give any weight toward the different weight.....It did say in
the rules that, that was one of the criteria, but Matt Hume said
it wasn't on the card so it wasn't considered."
Monte
went on to say that since the Ricco Rodriguez and Nogueira bout,
Pride has taken the weight difference away from being a big deal
and made it just a small mention on their rules. Matt Hume told
Monte, "The only thing you get now, out of being a smaller
guy, is you can decide whether or not to allow knees to the head
on the ground. That's your choice. If you're the smaller guy,
you can say no to that."
Since
the Pride show, the biggest controversy has been the many yellow
cards handed out by the Pride referees. Monte didn't hold anything
back in voicing his opinion on the issue. Monte said, "Those
things are crazy...Their rule right now is, there is absolutely
no stand-ups. OK, there are none. The only way you can get a
stand-up is to give a yellow card. So, if two guys are busting
their ass and they get into a stalemate, they'll give them both
a yellow card and stand them up."
Monte
added, "It's complete bullshit. I mean it sucks. How do
you take, Henderson, it's been documented how sick he was and
I can vouch for that. I'm not on his team but he was sick as
a dog. He's out there fighting for his life and fighting well
and they take like a 30 second break and they throw a yellow
card on him. I'm like, that's just retarded. You just can't throw
them around like that. It's a lot of money. They probably saved
200,000 dollars that way."
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Western
Canada "News and Notes"
by Kelsey Mowatt
This
is the first in a series of regular columns where Western Canada's
mixed martial arts scene will receive in-depth coverage. The
column will report on the region's upcoming events and card results,
and will contain pre- and post-fight interviews from Western
Canada's fighters, promoters, and trainers. We hope to bring
Sherdog readers all the news from one of North America's fastest
growing mixed martial arts communities. This inaugural edition
highlights the busy upcoming spring fight card schedule and features
big news from top-10 world ranked middleweight, Denis Kang.
Denis
Kang to Join American Top Team
Epic
MMA fighter Denis Kang announced he will be moving to Florida
this month to join the American Top Team. Kang, whose MMA record
now stands at 18-7-1, is undefeated in 12 consecutive fights,
including numerous victories in South Korea's Spirit MC event
and, most recently, a win over Alexei Veselovzorov at Russia's
M-1 card in December. Kang is looking forward to the move and
feels the change will be a positive one.
"I
think this will definitely help bring me to another level,"
Kang told Sherdog.com. "This year will a big year, I expect
to be fighting in some big shows soon."
Kang,
a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, will also continue to represent
his instructor, Professor Marcus Soares.
Source:
Sherdog
|
Press:
Mirko compliments Werdum
A Brazilian had full reason to celebrate the December 31's nightmare
in Japan. Training Jiu-Jitsu with Croatian Mirko Cro Cop, BJJ
world champion Fabrício Werdum saw his pupil submitting
Kevin Randleman and also received the credits for the victory.
-
I have been training BJJ with one of the better BJJ fighters
nowadays: Fabrício Werdum. Now I feel I have chances on
the ground and every time I feel comfortable with it I will look
for a submission. - guaranteed during a press conference after
the bout.
Source:
Tatame
|
New
black belt over Brazilian MMA
Since December, Chute Boxe hás a new Muay Thai black belt.
It's Maurício Shogun, Murilo Ninja's Young brother and
Pride veteran. Getting ready to start a seminar tour in United
States, Shogun was graduated by Master Rafael Cordeiro. The ceremony
was held at Chute-Boxe academy, during the Storm Muay Thai trial
for February. The competition featured two fight zones and almost
40 athletes.
Source: Tatame
|
Quote
of the Day
"It's not what you take but what you leave behind that defines
greatness."
Edward Gardner, American Businessman and Founder of Soft Sheen
Products
|
BLOODLINE
Presents
PUNISHMENT
IN PARADISE
"GAME TO THE END"
Saturday, January 22, 2005 Kapolei High Gym
BJ PENN's
MMA Team Debuts!
Sugar Shane Nelson (BJ Penn MMA, Hilo)
Vs.
Kaleo Kwon (Eastsidaz, Waimanalo)
SUMA Tournament Champion & P.I.P. Kickboxing Champion Kwon
who holds a 1-0 record will make his way back to MMA in a SHOOTO
sanctioned Bout versus "SUGAR Nelson". Nelson is a
member of BJ Penn's team who has a record of 2-0 and has a reputation
of BANGING with his opponents. Even though both fighters ha striking
abilities don't under estimate their ground skills.
Mike Justo (BJ Penn MMA, Hilo)
Vs.
Marcus Moreno (Bulls Pen, Kalihi)
Moreno a P.I.P. Kickboxing Champion that holds a 2-1 reocrd in
MMA will be taking on Mike Justo of BJ Penns Team. Justo is 1-0
and but will give it his all as he takes on Moreno.
Ticket Outlets
Ticket Prices $25.00 (Fan Appreciation Sale Til Jan 21, 2005)
Event day $35.00
Revolution Motor Sports (Honolulu, 539-9955)
En Fuego's Grill & Poke (Kapolei, 674-8805)
Matchmaker (Waianae, 620-5638)
John Kukahiko (Kailua, 351-4898)
Bulls Pen (Kalihi, 330-7108)
808 Fight Factory (Waipahu, 671-4140)
Animal House (Ewa Beach, 779-3237)
Source: Event Promoter
|
BLOODLINE
Presents
PUNISHMENT
IN PARADISE
"GAME TO THE END"
Sat, Jan 22, 2005 Kapolei High Gym
BJ PENN's
MMA Team Debuts!
Sugar Shane Nelson (BJ Penn MMA, Hilo)
Vs.
Kaleo Kwon (Eastsidaz, Waimanalo)
SUMA Tournament Champion & P.I.P Kickboxing Chmapion Kwon
who holds a 1-0 record will make his way back to MMA in a SHOOTO
sanctioned Bout versus "SUGAR Nelson". Nelson is a
member of BJ Penns team who has a record of 2-0 and has a reputation
of BANGING with his opponents. Even though both fighters has
striking abilitys don't underestimate their ground skills.
Mike Justo (BJ Penn MMA, Hilo)
Vs.
Marcus Moreno (Bulls Pen, Kalihi)
Moreno a P.I.P Kickboxing Champion that holds a 2-1 reocrd in
MMA will be taken on Mike Justo of BJ Penns Team. Justo is 1-0
and but will give it his all as he takes on Moreno
Ticket Outlets
Ticket Prices $25.00 (Fan Apperciation Sale Til Jan 21,05) Event
day $35.00
Revolution Motor Sports (Honolulu, 539-9955)
En Fuego's Grill & Poke (Kapolei, 674-8805)
Matchmaker (Waianae, 620-5638)
John Kukahiko (Kailua, 351-4898)
Bulls Pen (Kalihi, 330-7108)
808 Fight Factory (Waipahu, 671-4140)
Animal House (Ewa Beach, 779-3237)
Source: Event Promoter
|
VANDERLEI:
'MY FUTURE WITH PRIDE WILL BE REVIEWED'
Vanderlei Silva made an appearance at yesterday's All Japan kickboxing
event in Tokyo, Japan.
When
asked by the Japanese media about his contract negotiations with
DSE/PRIDE, Silva commented that his future participation in PRIDE
will be reviewed.
Since
Silva is now a free agent, many insiders are saying that Chute
Boxe and Silva are positioning themselves to get a big money
contract from either DSE/PRIDE or K-1.
Inside
sources are saying that they expect Silva to re-sign with DSE/PRIDE
for a similar contract to the one Rulon Gardner and Hidehiko
Yoshida received, which is in the area of just over USD$350,000
per fight.
When
asked about Mark Hunt, Silva had only positive things to say,
adding that Hunt's punches were very strong.
Source:
Fight Sport
|
THREE
GRAND PRIX's
Most people have heard about about plans for the 160 pound Pride
Grand Prix. You can hear Jens Pulver refered to at the Pride
Post-Fight Press Conference. But MMAWeekly.com has learned that
not only is the 160 pound Grand Prix in the works, but there
is also a 185 lbs. Grand Prix being
talked about along with a 205 lbs. Grand Prix scheduled for 2005.
In
the 160 pound tournament you've probably heard some of the names
like Marcus Aurelio,Tetsuya Kawajiri, Jens Pulver, Buscape, Takanori
Gomi, Dokonjonosuke Mishima....
MMAWeekly.com
has heard that the 185 pound Grand Prix might include Ryo Chonan,
Murilo Bustamante, Jeremy Horn, Anderson Silva, Kikuta, Sakuraba,
and others.
The
205 pound Grand Prix is rumored to feature of course the heart
of the divison like Wanderlei Silva, Ricardo Arona, Quinton "Rampage"
Jackson, Dan Henderson, Yuki Kondo, and possibly Vitor Belfort,
whose contract is up with the UFC after his fight with Tito Ortiz.
Speaking
of Wanderlei Silva, of course Pride will be working hard to re-sign
him for future fights especially for the Grand Prix, but as we
mentioned K-1 would also like to have a guy like Silva as well.
What about the UFC you ask?
MMAWeekly.com contacted UFC President Dana White yesterday and
this is a brief statement told to MMAWeekly. "We are interested
in Wanderlei Silva and Minotauro Nogueira".
It's
not known what the asking price would be to try to get Silva
and Noguiera to the UFC, but in a bidding war between the three
biggest companies in MMA, you know it wouldn't be cheap.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
José
Mário Sperry
By Eduardo Ferreira and Alexandre Lobo
Brazilian Top Team leader José Mário Sperry was
by Rodrigo Minotauro's corner last December 31, when Brazilian
got defeated by Russian Emelianenko Fedor at Pride Shockwave.
Now in Brazil, Zé Mário explains what did happen
inside the four ropes. Now Zé Mário reveals the
mistake of Minotauro's strategy and about other issues as dealing
with Pride and what does represent Minotauro's loss to BTT. Check
out the full interview bellow:
Tell
me about the tactic you guys set up to Minotauro before the bout.
Minotauro's
tactic was using his Boxing a lot. When the first round was over,
he was really disappointed. He didn't like at the entire first
round, but then he started to use his Boxing. During the third
round Fedor got tired and Minotauro got an advantage. If Minotauro
used the right strategy since the very first beginning, the result
would be different
What
went wrong?
Congratulations
to Fedor, who also presented a different strategy and surprised
us. At this time he avoided being into Minotauro's guard. He
punched, took down and returned on the feet.
There
was something wrong in his training?
We
cannot blame on anybody. Fedor did a great job. But I do think
we may improve his Wrestling. We had Darrel Gohlar as trainer,
and today we have Jefferson Teixeira. We need to work on it.
Minotauro
must be pissed of with Fedor. Does he want to face him one more
time?
Of
course Rodrigo wants to fight Fedor. He is the man everybody
wants.
How
is dealing with Pride?
I
don't have information about the dealing, but I think Minotauro
might stay with Pride.
And
now... tell me about Brazilian Top Team plans after this loss.
Team
work remains the same and does not change a thing. We are well
sponsored and titles will come out. Now we are focused on Vítor
Belfort. He will face Tito Ortiz at UFC and we are also taking
good care of some athletes that will join Pride GP's card under
93kg.
Source:
Tatame
|
David
Terrell to Meet Evan Tanner for UFC World Middleweight Title,
Feb. 5
Tickets Now On Sale for UFC 51: Super Saturday
Sylvia To Meet Arlovski For 'Interim' Heavyweight Title; Ortiz
to Battle Belfort inUltimate Fighting Championship Main Event
at Mandalay Bay
LAS
VEGAS – Middleweight David Terrell returns to the Octagon
Feb. 5 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Events Center
to fight veteran Evan Tanner for the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
World Middleweight title at UFC® 51: Super Saturday.
Tickets for the all-star, nine-fight card, $350, $250, $150,
$75 and $35, are now on sale at the Mandalay Bay Box Office (877-632-7400)
in Las Vegas, at all Ticketmaster locations, and on the internet
at www.ticketmaster.com and www.mandalaybay.com. To order tickets
by telephone call 877-880-0880 or 702-891-7777. Ticket purchases
are subject to transaction fees.
UFC® 51: Super Saturday will be available LIVE on pay-per-view
at 10 p.m. EST on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network, TVN, Bell
ExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada. The suggested retail price
is $29.95.
Terrell, called by many the greatest American submission grappler,
was impressive his last time in the Octagon Aug. 21 – perhaps
too impressive. The Santa Rosa, Ca. fighter (5-1-0 in mixed martial
arts) worked so fast in UFC 49: Payback!, he knocked out veteran
Matt Lindland in 25 seconds of the first round. Some critics
still believe he was more lucky than good. Terrell is out to
prove to those remaining critics that he is the best by winning
the UFC World Middleweight Championship.
But Tanner, from Gresham, Ore., will have plenty to say about
who wins the title. He is a veteran of 11 UFC fights, 36 MMA
matches and owns an impressive 32-4 record. Tanner is on a winning
streak. He defeated rising UFC star Robbie Lawler at UFC 50:
War of 04! in Atlantic City, NJ, with a triangle choke tap out
at 2:10 of the second round and won a unanimous decision over
always tough Phil Baroni at UFC 48: Payback in Las Vegas.
Six under card fights for UFC 51: Super Saturday also were announced
today:
Lawler (8-3-0) from Davenport, Iowa, will take on Long Island,
NY, native Baroni (5-4-0), who now lives in Las Vegas, Nev.,
in a middleweight bout.
David "The Crow" Loiseau (11-4-0) from Montreal, Canada,
and Joe Riggs (25-4-0) from Phoenix, AZ, will meet in another
middleweight bout. It will be Loiseau's third UFC fight, while
Riggs will step into the Octagon for the second time.
In heavyweight action, James Irvin (7-0-0) from Sacramento, CA,
will make his UFC debut against Mike Kyle (10-3-0) from San Jose,
CA, while Justin Eilers (9-2-1) from Davenport, Iowa, who stunned
UFC fans in his debut at UFC 49: Unfinished Business with a TKO
of Kyle, returns to the Octagon with a plan to do the same to
Paul Buentello (16-7-0) from Amarillo, Tx.
Nick Diaz (9-3-0) from Stockton, CA, and Drew Fickett (24-2-0)
from Tuscon, AZ, will meet in a preliminary welterweight bout.
It marks Diaz's fourth UFC fight. Despite his impressive won-loss
MMA record, this will be Fickett's UFC debut.
Karo Parisyan (20-3-0) from North Hollywood, Ca., and Chris Lytle
(30-10-4) from Indianapolis, Ind., will meet in a preliminary
welterweight bout.
The main event will be a fight that UFC fans have been waiting
more than three years to see. Tito "The Huntington Beach
Bad Boy" Ortiz will square off with Brazilian star Vitor
"The Phenom" Belfort. Also on the card is the "Interim"
Heavyweight Championship bout between Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski.
Ortiz (12-4-0) from Huntington Beach, Ca., will meet Belfort
(12-4-0) from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in a bout that should have
taken place on Sept. 28, 2001 as the main event of UFC 33: Victory
in Vegas. But that fight had to be canceled when Belfort sustained
a serious right elbow injury while training. Vladimir Matyushenko,
a tough competitor, stepped in on short notice to replace Belfort,
but Ortiz was too strong and retained the UFC World Light Heavyweight
Championship by unanimous decision.
Sylvia (19-1-0) from Davenport, Iowa is determined to defeat
Arlovski (8-3-0) from Minsk, Belarus, to recapture the championship
he lost to Frank Mir his last time in the Octagon at UFC 48:
Payback! The fight ended 50 seconds into the first round when
Mir broke Sylvia's forearm. Being the warrior he is, Sylvia demanded
the fight continue. But TV replays left no doubt that Mir deserved
the title.
Mir subsequently suffered a broken leg in a motorcycle accident
in September 2004 and will not be able to defend his title for
several more months. Mir says he is recovering well and believes
his doctors will allow him to start training again soon.
Meanwhile, Sylvia and Arlovski are ready to fight for the "interim"
title, with the winner eager for an opportunity to face a healthy
Mir.
The Ultimate
FighterTM airs on Spike TV in
January
On TV this Jan. 17 watch for the premiere of UFC's reality show
The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV. The 13-episode series, which
airs Monday nights at 11 p.m., is hosted by top recording artist
Willa Ford. The show will follow 16 athletes as they train, workout
and live together. The final four fighters will meet in championship
matches in a middleweight division and a light-heavyweight division
to determine who will win UFC contracts – LIVE on Spike
TV.
Source: Zuffa/UFC
|
BARONI
CHALLENGES BODYBUILDER
Phil Baroni issued out a challenge match to bodybuilder Craig
Titus in the latest issue of the bodybuilding magazine called
'Flex'.
Both
Baroni and Titus now live in Las Vegas, and have supposedly crossed
paths before.
Source:
Fight Sport
|
Chute-Boxe
team suffers another chop
Five days after seeing his major star being defeated at Pride,
Chute-Boxe suffers a new chop. One of the most import names of
the team, Sérgio Cunha leaves the Vale-Tudo team searching
for new goals. 17 years in Chute-Boxe, Cunha received his black
belt on the same time as Chute-Boxe's director Rafael Cordeiro
and he was the man behind the Japanese filial.
-
I'm 32 years old and I want to train top athletes. I'm leaving
Chute-Boxe and I still do not have defined plans. I want to do
things on my way now. I know I am capable of it and I am open
to new deals - Cunha explains. Besides being a Chute-Boxe trainer,
he was leading Shooto in Curitiba. "Nothing changes between
Shooto and I. I remain Toniko Jr's partner and we gonna keep
all of our plans. We have in mind to feature five shows per year
and Chute-Boxers are more than welcomed," said.
Team
leader, Rudimar Fedrigo lamented Sérgio Cunha's leaving
and wished good luck to former athlete. "I was surprised
by the notice. He is one of my oldest students. But each one
of them is free to choose their way," Rudimar said.
Source: Tatame
|
GROSSMAN
INSIDER:
COUTURE TO RETIRE NEXT YEAR
Randy Couture has signed a new 3-fight contract with the UFC.
Sources
close to Couture are saying that he will retire at the end of
this new contract, which will most likely be completed by next
year.
Source:
Fight Sport
|
MARTIAL
ARTS SHOW PICKS FIGHT WITH 'CONTENDER'
By DON KAPLAN
January 6, 2005 -- THE rabble-rousing pres ident of the Ultimate
Fighting Championship is slapping boxing aficionado Sylvester
Stallone across the face with a $5 million challenge.
Dana
White, who oversees the mixed martial arts fighting league and
its new Spike TV reality show, "The Ultimate Fighter,"
wants the winner of his series to fight the winner of Stallone's
boxing show, "The Contender."
"Boxing
is in shambles," White told The Post yesterday. "Back
in the day, whoever the heavyweight champ was, was considered
the baddest man on the planet, and that's just not the case anymore
- not by a long shot - and we're willing to put our money where
our mouth is."
The
proposed match would be televised on cable or pay-per-view or
held privately. "However they want it," White said.
NBC
officials, Stallone and "Contender" creator Mark Burnett
declined to comment yesterday.
On
"Ultimate Fighter," debuting Jan. 17, 16 contestants
will be split into teams. They will live and train together,
and ultimately fight in a Las Vegas bout live on Spike.
Fighters
will be ejected until only two fighters in separate weight classes
remain - and they'll be offered six-figure contracts with the
UFC.
On
"The Contender" - a new NBC series from reality show
guru Burnett, "Rocky" star Stallone, Jeffrey Katzenberg
and boxer Sugar Ray Leonard - 16 boxers square off each week
in the ring. Losers face elimination.
The
two finalists square off in the finale for a $1 million prize.
The
show is slated to debut Feb. 21.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
After
Pride, Anderson wants Grand Prix
Besides Rogério Minotouro, Ricardo Arona and Murilo Ninja,
who has an eye at Pride GP middleweight is Anderson Silva. Even
after being defeated by Japanese Ryo Chonan at Pride Shockwave
last December 31, Anderson guarantees Japanese audience really
liked his fight and his return is just a matter of time.
-
I believe I have great chances to fight Pride GP. Besides my
loss, I was winning the combat so far he caught my foot - Anderson
said. He also pointed a training fault. 'I was well trained on
the feet and on the ground. I've trained in Rio de Janeiro with
Minotauro, Murilo Bustamante and Zé Mário Sperry.
Here in Curitiba I also had amazing trains. I was in great shape.
However I paid my sins exchanging punches. I was supposed to
KO," stated.
Source: Tatame
|
MMA
Weekly's Interview with Rulon Gardner
In an MMAWeekly exclusive, Rulon Gardner answered questions for
the first time since returning from Japan victorious over Yoshida
in his Mixed Martial Arts debut. Ryan Bennett and Frank Trigg
ask the questions and Rulon answers everything from his thoughts
going to the ring to his frustration with receiving a yellow
card.
Ryan
Bennett: Rulon, thanks for joining us. I appreciate it.
Rulon
Gardner: My pleasure. Thanks for allowing me to come on and talk
about the fight.
Bennett:
Your first time in MMA. Rulon, before we get into the fight,
what is it like to stand in front of basically 50,000 people...At
least in wrestling, you know what you're doing. This fight, you
really don't know what's going to happen. What's going through
your mind right before the fight?
Gardner:
Well, watching the tape of him and Mark Hunt and, you know, Wanderlei,
all the way to Mr. Royce Gracie. I watched all those tapes where
he was very successful, had a very good strategy. I had a lot
of pressure on me and I just felt that, here was a chance to
go out and learn something about myself. Right before the bell
rang, I really questioned myself, why are you doing this? You
know, was this what you really want to do? I asked myself and
it was, you know, something that I really wanted to learn about
through my whole life and my whole experience of developing as
an athlete, as a wrestler, as a person. It was a challenge I
took upon myself. And, you know, I questioned myself and I said,
you know, you stepped up and it's time to take the challenge,
go out and do your best and that's what we did.
Bennett:
Rulon, the thing that blew me away was you looked pretty comfortable.
I mean, it was your first MMA match and I was surprised at how
effective you were with Yoshida because Yoshida had been in there
with Wanderlei Silva. You know, he's been in there with some
of the better fighters. You fired that left handed jab that connected
at the beginning fight and that kind of set the tone. You seemed
like you wanted to stand up and strike with Yoshida, was that
the game plan?
Gardner:
That was. You know, Yoshida, what his strengths were is his grappling,
his submissions. You know, finding the wrist lock, the arm lock,
the key lock, all those submissions were his strengths and the
last thing I want to do is fight somebody and go right to their
strengths who have a lot more knowledge than me. We talked about,
you know, my striking ability and it would probably be a wise
decision to keep him on the feet and don't allow ourselves to
get into a situation where he could arm lock me and that's why
you heard the commentators talk about it last night. That is
exactly what I was prepared for and exactly the positions I was
trying to stay out of was getting into a dangerous position and
getting scored on and getting submitted. For me, I felt that
we followed the game plan right to a "T" and we ended
up winning the match.
Bennett:
(Frank) Trigg, let me ask you. When you see Rulon Gardner fight
and you hear him, that was the game plan, and for him to execute
it in his first fight. We've seen a lot of guys who can't execute
a game plan because they are so nervous and everything. That's
got to impress you Frank, as a fighter.
Frank
Trigg: Hell yeah. I'm one of those guys who can't execute my
game plan. I mean, I do it all the time. I go into it with an
idea and I've had tons of fights. Rulon's had one fight and he
shows up and sticks to his game plan the entire time. It was
incredibly impressive and it just goes to tell you, if anyone
really knows Rulon's life story, this is typical of what he does
on a day by day basis. For him, this is what he does. He goes
out there and says what he is going to do and does it, everyday.
Bennett:
Rulon, you go through this fight, you land some stiff shots.
Yoshida tried to work some things in this match. Did you feel
in danger at all at any point in this fight?
Gardner:
Well, after the first combination where I hit him with that first
jab and I put him on his back, I waited for basically a good
three or four minutes trying to loosen him up and find weaknesses.
At that point, I was just afraid of the one big shot because
I've never been truly hit by anybody and he caught me with two
pretty good shots. One overhand right and one right hook and
those landed. I questioned myself and, I said, you're fine. Keep
going and keep the pressure on him. No mistakes. Go out there,
trade just like you have prepared. Go out, execute the things
that you trained and you'll be successful. We didn't want to
lose focus of that because you can go through life fearing something
or you can go through life prepared for it, take it on and defeat
it. I think that's the same way with wrestling as in Mixed Martial
Arts.
Bennett:
Rulon, let me ask you. Your family has always supported you but,
let me ask you about this. What did they think when you told
them you were going to fight MMA?
Gardner:
My family kinda looked at me like, are you crazy? You know, you've
done all this wrestling. You've done grappling. You've been through
all these years of experiences. You retired from the sport. Why
do you want to do this? I think a lot of my family didn't understand
what I was trying to do as a person. I took it as a personal
challenge for by myself to go out there and learn something that
I had never known before and that's what I did. I think my family,
they respected me for it but, they also questioned me for why
I was doing it. I don't think any of them truly understand what
I was trying to prove to myself, not a monetary value, not going
out there for awards or accolades. I was going out there for
myself, to go out there and execute a game plan and learn about
myself. When I had to come down to it, if I'm ever in a fight,
could I trust myself and I got the answer. The answer was yes
and I'm that much more confident about who I am as an individual
now because of, I think, this weekend.
Bennett:
Rulon, did you parents change their mind once they saw you fight?
Gardner:
I think, my dad, I don't think he actually seen my fight last
fight. He's down in Reno. My mom, I know she didn't get to see
it so, I'm going to go and show it to them today but, I think
they're going to be a little shocked. I think they're going to
be a little apprehensive when they see, you know, me bleeding
out of the mouth. People have to understand that this is something
that I chose to do. I think that's the thing about it is, it's
just two individuals who took it as a sports challenge to go
out there and be the best fighter Mixed Martial Arts athlete
out there and that's exactly what we did. We went out there and
we prepared like it was the last match, the only match of my
career That's the way I looked at it was, it's a chance for me
to go out there and execute a game plan and we did.
Trigg:
Rulon, I know you life story because, as you came up through
wrestling, you were always ahead of me in age, kind of in rank.
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