Upcoming
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(All events on Oahu, unless noted)
2007
10/6/07
Punishment In Paradise
18
(MMA &
Kickboxing)
(Dole Cannery)
7/13/07
Punishment In Paradise
17
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Dole Cannery)
4/27/07
Punishment In Paradise
16
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Dole Cannery)
3/24/07
Garden Island Cage Match
5
(MMA)
(Kauai)
2/9/07
Punishment In Paradise
15
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Dole Cannery)
1/14/07
NAGA Hawaii
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Location: TBD)
2006
12/9/06
Grapplers Quest West X
(All Sport Arena, Las Vegas, NV)
12/1/06
Icon Sport
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
11/25/06
Kickin' It
(Kickboxing)
(Dole Cannery Ballroom)
11/24/06
Punishment In Paradise 14
(MMA &
Kickboxing)
(Dole Cannery)
11/19/06
The Quest for Champions
(Sport Jujitsu, Submission Grappling)
(St. Louis High School Gym)
11/12/06
Aloha State Championship
of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
11/4/06
Suma
Up Martial Arts (SUMA)
(Kickboxing)
(Blaisdell Arena)
November TBA
RWE
Qualfiers
(MMA)
(Maui)
10/21/06
Pride Fighting Championships:
The Real Deal
(PPV)
(Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV)
RWE Qualfiers
(MMA)
(Hilo)
10/14-15/06
Pacific
Island Showdown
International Invitational Ultimate Full-Contact Stickfighting
Championship
(Stickfighting)
(Filipino Community Center Ballroom, Waipahu)
HLTC Olympic
Sport Taekwondo Seminar
(Taekwondo)
(Kihei Public Charter School Auditorium – 300 Ohukai Road
#209- Kihei, Maui)
10/13/06
RWE Qualfiers
(MMA)
(Katchafire Concert,
Guam)
10/7/06
Hawaii Fighting Championships: “Stand Your Ground I”
(Kickboxing/Jiu Jitsu/MMA)
(Dole Cannery Ballroom)
10/6/06
X-1 Battlegrounds
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
Got Skills 5
(Kickboxing/Boxing & Wrestling/Sub Grappling)
September
ROTR Qualifers
(MMA)
(Maui)
9/23/06
UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn 2
Arrowhead Pond,
Anaheim, California
9/16/06
Kickin' It
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
9/9/06
Punishment In Paradise 13
Unfinished Business
(Kickboxing, MMA)
(Dole Cannery Square Ballroom)
9/2/06
Icon Sport 47
(MMA, Kickboxing)
(Blaisdell Arena)
8/26-27/06
International
Masters & Seniors Championships
(BJJ)
(Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
8/26/06
Got Skills 3
(Kickboxing/Boxing & Takedowns/Submission Grappling)
(Ilima Intermediate, Ewa Beach)
Palolo Gym Smoker
(Boxing)
(Palolo Gym)
UFC 62
(MMA)
(PPV)
8/21/06
UFC 62 Countdown: Liddell vs. Sobral
(Spike)
UFC: All Access Renato "Babalu" Sobral
(Spike)
8/18/06
Kickin' It
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
8/17/06
Ultimate
Fight Night 4
(MMA)
(Las Vegas, NV)
The Ultimate Fighter 4:
The Comeback Premiers
(Spike)
8/12/06
Hawaiian Open of
BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
8/5/06
Rumble On The Rock
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
Garden Island Cage Match 4
(MMA)
(Kauai)
Island
Warriors Fighting Championship
(MMA)
(War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
7/28/06
RWE & PXC
(MMA)
(University of Guam Fieldhouse, Mangilao, Guam)
7/22/06
RWE Qualifiers
(MMA)
(Hilo Civic Center, Hilo)
7/22-30/06
CBJF World
Championships
(BJJ)
(Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
7/21/06
Punishment In Paradise 12
(MMA, Kickboxing)
(Dole Cannery Ballroom)
7/20-24/06
CBJJO World Championships
(BJJ)
(Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
7/?/06
RAZE MMA Fight Night 2
(MMA)
(San Diego, CA)
7/8/06
Ring of Honor
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Waianae H.S. Gym)
7/7/06
Kickin' It
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
UFC 61
(MMA)
(Las Vegas, NV)
7/3/06
Got Skills 2
(Kickboxing/Boxing & Wrestling/Sub Grappling)
(Pagoda Hotel Ballroom)
s 2006 Tournament
(Sport-Jujitsu, Sport Pankration, Sub Grappling, Extreme Sparring)
(St. Louis H.S. Gym)
7/1/06
Pride
(MMA)
(Saitama Super Arena)
6/24/06
The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale
(MMA)
(The Joint, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV)
6/17/06
RWE Qualifiers
(MMA)
(Afook
Chinen Civic Auditorium, Hilo)
USA-Boxing Hawaii
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park)
6/10/06
X-1 Battlegrounds 4
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
6/4/06
PRIDE Bushido 11: 'Bushido
Survival '06'
(PPV)
6/3/06
X-2 Extreme Wars:
Bay Area Brawl
(MMA)
(Oakland Alameda Coliseum, Oakland, CA)
2006 Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Associations Gi Tournament
(BJJ)
(Gracie Main Academy)
5/27/06
UFC 60:
Royce Gracie vs. Matt Hughes
(PPV)
5/26/06
Icon Sport 45
(MMA)
(Blaisdell 6Arena)
5/20/06
3rd Maui Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku)
5/13/06
Got Skills Fighter Event
(MMA)
(Pagoda Hotel)
4/29/06
RAZE MMA Fight Night
(MMA)
(ipayOne center , former San Diego Sports Arena
San Diego, CA)
4/21/06
Rumble on the Rock
11: Grand Prix
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
4/15/06
UFC 59: Reality Check
(MMA)
(Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, CA)
4/7-9/06
2006
Pan-American Jiu-Jitsu Tournament
(BJJ)
(California State University Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA)
4/6/06
Ultimate Fight Night on Spike TV
(MMA)
(Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV)
4/1/06
Punishment in Paradise
(Kickboxing)
(Sea Life Park)
3/26/06
3rd Maui Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku)
3/25/06
Garden Island Cage
Match #3
(MMA)
(Kapaa H.S. Gym, Kapaa, Kauai)
3/11/06
Hawaiian Championship
of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(St. Louis H.S. Gym)
Full Contact Showdown
(MMA)
(Kahuna's Sports Bar & Grill, Kaneohe Marine Corps Base)
3/4/06
Kickin It 2006
(Kickboxing)
(Venue TBA)
2/26/06
NAGA Hawaii State Championship
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Honolulu)
*Cancelled
until Summer*
2/25/06
Icon Sport 44
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
2/4/06
Kick it Up
(Kickboxing)
(Pagoda Hotel Ballroom, Honolulu)
UFC 57:
Liddell vs. Couture 3
Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, NV
(PPV)
1/27/06
So You Think You Tough
(MMA, Kickboxing)
(Kona Gym, Kona)
January
Grappler's Quest Hawaii
(Submission Grappling)
(TBA)
***Cancelled*** |
|
September 2006 News
Part 2
Wednesday
night and Sunday classes (w/ a kids' class) now offered!
 
For the special Onzuka.com
price, click on one of these banners above! |
 |
Fighters' Club TV
The Toughest Show On
Teleivision
Tuesdays at 7:00PM
***NEW TIME***
Olelo Channel 52 on Oahu
Akaku on Maui
Check
out the FCTV website! |
Fight
To Defend Mixed Martial Arts In Hawaii!
The Hawaii Government
is trying to ban or restrict MMA in Hawaii. Please contact your local representative and
let them know that you support MMA in Hawaii. Click the link
below to look up your Representative and his contact info!
HB3223 has been
passed with Amendments. Basically the bill has been rewritten
to create a MMA Commission to regulate MMA in Hawaii and passed
on to the Consumer Protection & Commerce Committee and the
Judiciary Committee for further hearings.
Get
all the details concerning the two MMA Bills by clicking here
|
Got a question for us? Email info@onzuka.com
or click here to send us
an email
Quote
of the Day
"A
good conscience is a continual Christmas."
Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American Scientist/Publisher/Diplomat
|
Many
Thanks!
Thanks
to everyone that called us yesterday to give us contact names
and numbers or offered their services. We really appreciate it!
Onzuka
Brothers
|
Minotouro
talks about Pride GP OW
TATAME.com
crew went to the Brazilian Top Team filial in Rio de Janeiro,
and met Rodrigo Minotauro's brother, the BJJ black belt Rogério
Minotouro, who returned to Brazil on Tuesday with the BTT team,
which was in Japan for the Pride GP Open Weight finals. Minotouro
gave us an exclusive interview and he analyzed his brother defeat
for the American Josh Barnett, talked about the performance of
Wanderlei Silva and Mirko Cro Cop and also about his expectation
about a possible dispute of the Pride medium belt. "I already
proved my potential and I am qualified to dispute this belt.
I am just waiting the Pride put this fight for I can go there
and get this belt from Wanderlei", he said.
Source: Tatame
|
Is
PRIDE doing a reality TV show?
By Zach Arnold
Japanese
blogger Gryphon has picked up on a lead that Ed Fishman, the
rumored Las Vegas backer for PRIDE, is going to try to pitch
a new PRIDE reality show for TV in America.
If
this is true, it makes PRIDE look like a copycat to UFC as far
as what PRIDE’s American mindset is. UFC was on Fox Sports
Net several years ago, then PRIDE goes on board to FSN. UFC has
a couple of years of success with their reality show, now PRIDE
apparently wants to get into reality TV. Will it work as well
for PRIDE as it has for UFC?
Meanwhile,
Daily Sports indicates that DSE is trying to get Mike Tyson to
fight for them on New Year’s Eve — but the fight won’t
happen in Japan, and instead will have to occur in another country
(not Japan).
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Tyson
analyses Wilson Gouveia at UFC
The
former Boxing world champion Mike Tyson is each day more involved
at the MMA world. After talk about Leo Chocolate performance
at Cage Fighting Championship, in March, he got impressed with
the game of the Brazilian fighter Wilson Gouveia, who submitted
Wes Combs with a rear naked choke at 3min23s of the first round,
at UFC 62, on August 26th. "Tyson liked Wilson Gouveia's
Boxing during the event", said the physical trainer of ATT
André Vinícius Aurnheimer, the Benkei, talking
about the possibility of the American goes to his team. "He
thinks that in the future he could fight MMA. And knows also
ATT has a most aggressive style than the other teams with their
origin on the ground. But this is nothing about ATT.", said
him.
Source: Tatame
|
Quote
of the Day
"Laughter
is the sun that drives winter from the human face."
Victor Hugo, 1802-1885, French Poet/Dramatist/Novelist
|
Plumbers
Needed
We are
in the need of a plumbing estimate to add a bathroom and possibly
a shower to an existing commercial building. We would need a
licensed plumber that has the qualifications to apply for a building
permit or at least be able to sign on as a plumbing contractor
on a building permit.
If
you know of someone, please have them shoot us an email or give us a call
(381-9530 Mike and 381-5959 Chris) ASAP!
We
are not against union workers, but if you also know of non-union
inexpensive plumbing companies or businesses, please forward
their information as well.
Every
time we have made a request on our page, our readers never have
let us down.
Thanks in advance! |
Icon
Sport Signs Frank Trigg vs. Mayhem Miller
September 18, 2006 Honolulu, HI. Frank “Twinkle Toes”
Trigg, the former number one U.F.C. welterweight contender, is
back. And he’s hoping to stop the “Mayhem.”
On Friday, December 1st Trigg will square off with Jason “Mayhem”
Miller for the Icon Sport World Middleweight Title. This will
be Mayhem’s first title defense in the middleweight division.
Like Mayhem and Robbie Lawler before him, Trigg is moving up
from welterweight (170lbs) to middleweight (185lbs) in Icon Spot.
Trigg recently considered retiring from MMA, but his non-stop
training regimen indicates that he is anything but retired. In
the last few months Trigg has intensified his workouts under
legendary grappler and trainer Rico Chiapparelli. He has also
focused on strength training, and is rumored to be both fit and
agile at 200-plus pounds.
When not training, Trigg serves as the color commentator for
Pride Fighting Championships broadcasts on Fox Sports Net.
Icon Sport Founder/President T. Jay Thompson commented on Trigg
vs. Mayhem:
“Trigg has all the tools to become the next Icon Sport Middleweight
Champion. He excels at doing damage from the top position. And
we saw what happened when Lawler got on top of Mayhem in that
now-infamous second round of their bout…Lawler nearly finished
the fight right there. Mayhem will be in real trouble if he finds
himself under someone who has the wrestling and ground-and-pound
skills of Trigg. Trigg vs. Mayhem will be an absolute war.”
The December 1st Icon Sport event, which will be named “Unstoppable,”
will be one of the biggest MMA events of the year.
- Robbie Lawler returns looking for a victory so that he may
fight the winner of Trigg vs. Mayhem and regain his former Icon
champion status.
- Former Icon champion Falaniko Vitale comes home to the organization’s
light heavy weight division (205lbs), a class better suited for
his large stature.
- The Icon Sport North American Welterweight Title fight between
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt Jay Jack and local Brown Belt
Sidney Silva promises to be a dazzling showcase of adept ground
fighting and submissions.
- In what is already one of the most-talked-about local match-ups
in years, Mark Oshiro takes on undefeated up-and-comer Tyson
Nam for the Icon Sport State Bantamweight (135lbs) Title. Icon
Sport may move this bout to co-main event, based upon the local
interest.
- Twelve bouts are scheduled for Icon Sport: Unstoppable on December
1st.
WHO: Frank “Twinkle Toes” Trigg vs. Jason “Mayhem”
Miller
WHAT: Icon Sport: Unstoppable
WHEN: 7:30pm, Friday, December 1st
WHERE: Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu
TICKETS: On sale September 30th at Ticketmaster and outlets.
|
Rudimar:
Soon u will see Silva again
Chute
Boxe's leader Rudimar Fedrigo just came back from Japan, where
we went to watch the final of the Pride GP Open Weight and he
wanted to talk about the gossips about Wanderlei's injuries after
his fight against Mirko Cro Cop and that Wand would be possible
one year out of the event. "Wanderlei didn't have a serious
injury and he is already asking for the next bouts", said
the leader of the Curitiba team.
Even
felling very sad with the defeat of the biggest star of the team,
Rudimar said he is proud about how his athlete fought. "Lost
and win is part of the fighter career who doesn't choose his
opponents, like Wanderlei does. The biggest prove of this fact
is that the audience and the Japanese press said several times
that Wanderlei is really brave of getting in this match with
heavier athletes. Unfortunately was Cro Cop's night", analyzed
Fedrigo taking the fans calm. "You will see Silva back in
the rings really soon".
Source: Tatame
|
ERIN
TOUGHILL WINS IN HER U.S. MMA DEBUT
You know it’s a great night when not a single fight goes
the distance or, for that matter, even making it to the third
round. Such was the case Friday night when Valor Fighting presented
“Showdown at Cache Creek II” in Brooks, CA. With nine
MMA fights and less than half of those seeing a second round,
you would think the energy in the room would have the entire
crowd cheering at the top of their lungs, and for the most part
that held true although there were some exceptions. On more than
one occasion that evening the crowd turned from cheers to jeers
at what I can only assume they thought were early stoppages by
the referee. I can’t say that in any of the instances where
the crowd went sour that I was an agreement with them. Being
a referee is a thankless job and you have to make decisions in
fractions of a second and from my ringside seat, both referees
did a great job. A referee’s job is to insure the safety
of the fighters, not play marionette to the crowd’s whim.
Even though the refs may be the true targets for the smattering
of boos, it’s always disheartening to watch a crowd deflate
a great win for a fighter. Frank Mir winning the UFC heavyweight
title is a great example of this, as was Erin Toughill’s
U.S. MMA debut this Friday night.
The
co-main event for the evening, and the reason I traveled 450+
miles, was a women’s bout between Erin Toughill and undefeated
Jen Case. Although Toughill may already have 9 pro MMA fights
under her belt this was the first time she’d be competing
in an MMA event on U.S. soil. I made the trek expecting a very
competitive and exciting fight and I was not let down one bit.
From the opening bell both women put it on the line, Toughill
being the more experienced striker (with 12 pro boxing matches)
it was no surprise that she was more than comfortable in keeping
the fight on their feet but Case was no one to be bullied, landing
two great high kicks of her own. From the clinch neither women
appeared to have the clear cut advantage both landing knee strikes
but it was from this position that the fight was able to transition
to the ground. Don’t let the boxing credentials fool you,
Toughill has some great grappling skills and she displayed them
by going for the only solid submission attempts of the fight.
Case defended well and was able to escape all 3 submission attempts
including an armbar that would have made Tim Sylvia tap.
The
last two minutes of the fight was a great back and forth battle
with each opponent mounting the other and going for the finish,
the crowd loved every minute of it and had no problem verbalizing
it. At 2:22 of the second round, referee George Adkins jumped
in between Toughill and a mounted Jen Case when Case apparently
verbally submitted from a barrage of punches, the crowd was not
happy. Visions of a distraught Frank Mir entered my head as Erin
Toughill stood in the center of the ring with her arm raised,
winning her U.S. debut amidst a chorus of boos. Upon speaking
to Toughill at the end of the night it was apparent that the
crowd’s reaction had certainly gotten to her and she was
visibly disappointed. Having endured the passing of a family
member while training for this fight, she showed true heart and
it’s unfortunate that her coming out party wasn’t able
to sit better with her at the end of the night.
In
the main event of the evening Ruben “Warpath” Villareal
took on, Season 2 Ultimate Fighter, Mike Whitehead. Villareal
threw some heavy punches right out of the gate but Whitehead
was having no part of it and shot in on Warpath’s legs quickly.
Whitehead had a little bit of trouble in taking him down so instead
he opted to take him up, lifting him high for a huge slam ala
Matt Hughes. Landing in side control Whitehead left Villareal
no room to escape and immediately started working for the keylock.
After a couple unsuccessful attempts at bumping Whitehead off,
Villareal had no choice but to tap at just over the minute mark
of the first round.
After
suffering the first loss of his career last year it has been
an up and down road for James Irvin winning only 3 of his last
7 fights. His last fight with Bobby Southworth was ruled a No
Contest after falling through an unlocked cage door at the Strikeforce
event in June and a good hometown win this weekend will do him
some good. His opponent Gary LaFranchi was obviously outmatched
but that didn’t stop him from being the aggressor in the
opening seconds of the bout. Despite his penchant for knockouts,
Irvin took LaFranchi down and took the mount position where he
carefully picked his punches before settling on an armbar at
only 1:47 of the first round.
FULL
RESULTS
Mike Whitehead def. Ruben Villareal - Keylock - Rd. 1 - 1:02
Erin Toughill def. Jen Case - TKO - Rd. 2 - 2:22
James Irvin def. Gary LaFranchi - Armbar - Rd. 1 - 1:47
Clint Blake def. John Martinez - Triangle Choke - Rd. 1 - 2:03
Travis LeBurn def. Troy Acker - KO - Rd. 2 - 1:20
Marcus Gaines def. John Pop - KO - Rd. 2 - 1:45
Rick Cayo def. Louie Moreno - TKO - Rd. 2 - 3:13
Rick Randolph def. Richard Blake - Rear Naked Choke - Rd. 1 -
1:37
Clark Bevans def. Larry Rodriguez - TKO - Rd. 1 - 2:55
Source: MMA Weekly
|
K-1
EVENT TO PREMIERE IN U.S. WITH 1-MONTH DELAY
The opening round of this year's K-1 World Grand Prix will be
available on American pay-per-view outlets, but not until four
weeks after the event takes place in Japan.
The
field of sixteen remaining fighters from across the world will
be narrowed down to eight on September 30th at the "Final
Elimination" event in Osaka, Japan, and the event will debut
on United States pay-per-view outlets on Friday, October 27th.
Like previous K-1 PPVs, this event will be three hours long and
will carry a suggested retail price of $29.95.
In
addition, Doug Jacobs of Integrated Sports, the company that
distributes K-1's PPV events in the United States, tells MMAWeekly
that the company will be distributing the October 9th K-1 Hero's
event on American PPV, although a premiere date has not been
set. The Hero's MMA event in question is not on the schedule
for October, so the earliest that it could possibly premiere
on American PPV is November 1st.
Jacobs
also said that Integrated Sports plans to distribute the K-1
World Grand Prix Finals on American PPV. The event takes place
on November 25th in Tokyo, Japan, and a PPV premiere date for
the United States has not yet been set. On this event every year,
the field is narrowed from eight quarter-finalists to one World
Grand Prix Champion, and it was MMA veteran Semmy Schilt who
won the crown last year.
The
annual K-1 Dynamite show, which takes place every year on December
31st, will also be distributed on American PPV at some point,
but once again a premiere date has not been set.
While
the next two major K-1 events (Final Elimination Hero's) will
have significant tape delays in the United States, Jacobs said
that Integrated Sports plans to air K-1's events on American
PPV with shorter tape delays in the future. Jacobs said, "We
will certainly try to do future US-based shows live. As far as
Japan shows, we are exploring same-day delay and quick turnaround
delay."
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
"The
best way to predict the future is to create it."
Peter F. Drucker, American Management Consultant and Author
|
Cro
Cop: A Class Act and a Resilient Challenger
“Right leg, hospital. Left leg, cemetery.”
Those
are the now infamous words that Mirko Filipovic better known
as “Cro Cop” uttered so stone faced a short while ago.
This statement isn’t too far from the truth. Just ask Wanderlei
Silva whom he faced on the recent Open Weight Grand Prix card
in the Pride FC organization. Mirko made Wanderlei look much
like Babalu did against Chuck Liddell. After a bruised and battered
Silva had blocked several hard body shots, Cro Cop launched his
ballistic, trademark left high kick and knocked him senseless.
It’s not like Silva isn’t a world class fighter. He
is the Pride middleweight champion after all. It’s just
that on this night, Cro Cop was so much faster and for lack of
a better term, better.
After
aggressively dispatching Silva, he dominated world-class fighter
Josh Barnett making this the third time in his career Mirko defeated
him. Barnett had beaten one of the greatest heavyweights of all
time, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, in a split decision earlier that
night to make it to the finals along with Filipovic. After beating
Josh, Cro Cop established himself as the number two heavyweight
in the world by all accounts and now he has his sights set on
number one. Fedor Emilianenko.
Fedor
and Cro Cop met on August 28, 2005 at Pride’s Final Conflict
show. The fight was an epic battle that saw both men win some
exchanges and gain better positions. Fedor Emilianenko is not
considered the best fighter on the planet (universe if you visit
MMA forums) by mistake and he proved it in this fight. The closer
it got to the final bell, the stronger Emilianenko got. It was
like a building wave of energy and dominance that hit a crescendo
when Fedor once again raised his hands in victory and Mirko’s
aspirations at becoming the world champion were crushed.
Rebounding,
Filipovic would win against Barnett for the second time in his
career at Pride 30: Fully Loaded by unanimous decision. It seemed
like his career was on the right track and aimed at a rematch
with Fedor down the road, but those thoughts were put on hold.
In his next fight, he would lose a split decision to granite
chinned power puncher Mark Hunt, which could have been called
either way in my opinion. Hunt deserved the win I am not disputing
that. I am saying it was a close fight and I wouldn’t have
been upset if they gave the nod to Mirko. It was a disappointing
setback for him, but again he would show his resiliency.
After
the Hunt loss, Cro Cop would defeat Ikuhisa Minowa and Hidehiko
Yoshida in May and July of this year respectively. It was a boost
he badly needed because shortly before these fights, the rumors
were that he made some comments regarding a possible retirement.
Thankfully, they were just rumors.
Cro
Cop had plenty of momentum going in to this weekend’s finals
of the OWGP and he made the most of it. With his confidence back
he fought like a man possessed and on his 32nd birthday he became
the OWGP champion. In a post fight interview he said he was disappointed
that Fedor Emilianenko was not in the tournament, but acknowledged
Emilianenko’s injured status. He said that no one could
stop him on this night, “no one”. “Not even Fedor.”
I agreed after seeing his incredible performance.
It
looks as if there will be a Cro Cop vs. Fedor rematch very soon.
Emilianenko has a fight against Mark Coleman coming up on Pride’s
first American show this October so Filipovic will have to wait
for his rematch. When it happens, many believe the unbeatable
cyborg named Fedor may finally be disassembled by Mirko “Cro
Cop” Filipovic. I cannot wait to see these two polished
professionals go at it one more time.
When
asked what it meant when he was crying at the final ceremony
Mirko simply stated, “It means nothing. It means that I
am just a human being”. To some he is more, to some he is
an inspiration, to fighters he is a role model, and to fans,
he is worth the price of admission. Call him what you want, but
Mirko Filipovic is definitely a class act.
Source: Maxfighting
|
THE
WORLD FIGHTER GOING BIG, FAST
Like most new fighting promotions, the rumors started to slowly
trickle in about The World Fighter Championships. But with Cesar
Gracie in charge of matchmaking duties and the signing of Frank
Shamrock to a multi-million dollar deal, the pace picked up quickly.
The World Fighter is here and aiming straight for the top spot
in mixed martial arts.
Gracie
announced his position with the company and the signing of Frank
Shamrock on his website, GracieFighter.com, and days later, Sherdog.com
published the confirmation from Shamrock that his deal with The
World Fighter was a one-year, multi-million dollar proposition.
The rumors then started to peak.
As
a guest on MMAWeekly.com’s SoundOff Radio with Damon Martin
and Jeff Cain, Gracie put the rumors to rest and discussed the
new promotion, their plans, and some of the fighters that they
have already signed and who they are going after.
Obviously,
with the signing of Shamrock, The World Fighter is not looking
at taking things slow. “They’ve got some pretty lofty
ideas,” said Gracie.
The
premise is to have a 16-man tournament in each weight class to
determine a champion. Each show will consist of tournament fights,
plus a super-fight, thus, the signing of Shamrock.
“The
Shamrock name has been here for a long time… a lot of people
remember him from the old UFC days. He’s a very exciting
fighter… Ken was another one, they sell shows when he fights,”
said Gracie in reference to the need to have a big name draw
right away because The World Fighter intends to be on pay-per-view
from the start. “We’re doing a pay-per-view deal. There
are two different networks with offers on the table.”
Gracie
and The World Fighter president Jason Aiello are fully aware
that to make a splash on the MMA scene in the United States,
they have to go after top-tier talent. In addition to signing
Shamrock, Gracie has gone after many other name fighters, not
all of which he would reveal.
“There
are a couple of bigger names that I’m not really allowed
to announce right now. There are contracts sitting on some people's
tables right now. I just got off the phone with Matt Lindland's
manager not too long ago. I'd love to have that happen. I think
he's a really good fighter,” said Gracie, naming some of
the fighters they are going after. “Joey Villasenor has
shown a lot of interest. We sent him out a contract. We're trying
to get the better fighters.”
He
also knows that getting the top guys in the world isn’t
going to be easy, “Obviously, the best of the best, a lot
of the known names... we're not going to get Chuck Liddell right
now, or whoever, because they're signed on to the UFC. If this
thing grows like I think it's going to, when their contracts
are ending, I think they're going to be jumping over.”
Gracie
has already signed quite a few highly regarded fighters though.
“[Former StrikeForce champion] Clay Guida is doing it,”
he said, as well as confirming the signing of many of his own
fighters including MMAWeekly.com’s seventh-ranked welterweight
Jake Shields and tenth-ranked Nick Diaz along with Nick’s
brother Nathan Diaz.
The
thing that, if they are able to sustain it, could really bring
the fighters flocking to The World Fighter is money. Shamrock
is a good example of the kind of money that they are willing
to put forth, but Gracie said that the fighters that compete
for them will be compensated at a level that he feels they deserve.
“The
winner of the tournament… you make over 2 million dollars
on a weight class. That kind of money is huge. A lot of people
kind of scoffed at that, but if you look at how much the top
pro boxers make, they make $20 million a fight,” commented
Gracie. “This thing is really going mainstream. As the money
comes in, the sponsors coming in, it becomes more and more popular
in the United States; there's no reason the fighters shouldn't
make what they're worth.”
Of
course, a lot of this type of sentiment has been expressed before.
Is The World Fighter really going to have the funding to pull
this off or are they relying on future monies coming in from
sponsors yet to be secured?
Gracie
sounded assured that the money is there now. “With my talks
with Mr. Aiello, I believe they’ve already got the money
together for the first two or three shows already in the coffers.
He’s a financier, so he’s been getting more and more
people committed to it. So, the money for the first couple of
shows is already in there.”
With
such big money being thrown around, it’s likely that most
fans and industry insiders will remain a bit skeptical until
The World Fighter actually starts putting on shows and proving
its worth. But we shouldn’t have long to wait as they plan
on their first event, featuring Frank Shamrock in a soon to be
announced headline bout, to take place in Las Vegas and on pay-per-view
early in 2007.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
ALEX
REID TALKS ABOUT FRYKLUND, NINJA, AND WEIR
Alex Reid is a fighter predominantly known in the UK circles,
but the charismatic Brit is starting to attract marquee fights
in the Cage Rage promotion, and his performances are attracting
the attention of international promotions.
Reid
is currently scheduled to fight Miletich team member Tony Fryklund
at the Cage Rage show on September 30th. I managed to catch up
with Reid following a grueling training session at the London
Shootfighters stable...
MMAWeekly:
You were originally scheduled to fight Mark Weir for the third
time. How did the [Tony] Fryklund fight come about?
Alex
Reid: Get this, I was originally offered Ninja [Murilo Rua],
but since Weir is back fighting here, he refused the third fight
with me and ended up with the Ninja fight. I would have liked
to have fought Weir again, but he doesn't want to fight me. They
then offered me Fryklund, who is a tough guy. He has fought some
really tough guys and hasn't really had the best of luck, but
he is coming of the back of a couple of wins. I am looking forward
to it.
MMAWeekly:
Do you think you will ever get the third match with Weir?
Alex
Reid: Pfff, Weir doesn't want the fight. I like Weir and I support
him when he fights but fighting is a business and I want that
title. There has been a lot of shit on the internet forums about
comments Weir has made about London Shootfighters and that he
thinks his camp [Range Fighting] is a better one – if you
don’t like someone then fine but don’t slag a whole
camp. And on top of that you have Matt Ewin out there talking
shit trying to get another fight with me as well, and he's one
of Weir's guys. With Weir I lost the first fight then they stopped
the second on a cut. I will get that fight and I want that title
[Cage Rage British Middleweight Title].
MMAWeekly:
Do you think that if you beat Fryklund and he gets past Ninja,
the title fight will happen?
Alex
Reid: When I beat Fryklund and if he beats Ninja, then yes, it
has to happen. I want that title...
MMAWeekly:
Realistically, with Weir getting ever closer to 40, how much
longer do you think he has left in him?
Alex
Reid: You know, that's a really interesting question. Maybe a
couple of years, if that. Like I said, I like watching Weir fight,
but I recently saw the [Denis] Kang fight and it really opened
my eyes. Kang really showed [Weir's] vulnerabilities. Then I
heard Weir at Contenders and it just makes me think about how
much he wants this anymore.
MMAWeekly:
So looking at it, with Matt Ewin talking smack, what incentive
is there for you to fight him when you're being offered guys
like Fryklund, Daijiro Matsui, Dave Menne, and Ninja?
Alex
Reid: Exactly! There isn't, and it makes me annoyed... that guy
is a plonker. He goes around saying all this shit, yet I beat
him once already. He wants another match, but the same thing
will happen. Weir is the fight I want, not Ewin. The funny think
is when I was in Thailand I saw [Ewin's] last fight on TV along
with the rest of the world seeing him get his ass beaten up!
I love that fact, that everyone in the world saw it.
MMAWeekly:
So what were you doing in Thailand?
Alex
Reid: I teach MMA over there in the Tiger MMA academy, so I kinda
took a bit of a holiday and trained the MMA class out there.
I was there for three months.
MMAWeekly:
Moving on to the Fryklund fight, do you think he will try and
follow the pattern of your last fights?
Alex
Reid: Well, Fryklund is predominantly a brawler, a tenacious
scrapper. I know he's tough and I know he trains out of the Miletich
camp. He knows submissions, but I see him coming in for a scrap
and I see me landing vicious leg kicks all the way.
MMAWeekly:
Do you think reach will be an advantage?
Alex
Reid: I have a better reach, but he is a real brawler. I don't
wanna get into a brawl with him. I have prepared for every eventuality,
but I want to pick him apart with superior technique and overwhelm
him completely.
MMAWeekly:
You don't think he will come in and just try to put you on your
back?
Alex
Reid: Well, the Menne fight highlighted that I needed to modify
my training. I mean, I landed way more damage on him. He was
f---ed at the end of the fight! The thing being that fights are
scored more on position, and that's how Menne was fighting, looking
for the takedown and scoring points. I was landing way more shots
and at three separate occasions in the fight, I threw my hands
to the side to try and get the ref to stand us back up. He wasn't
doing much. I was trying to rope-a-dope... Right at the end of
the fight, I landed three solid shots, a knee and two punches.
The bell went, and I was like, "Mother f---er, if I would
have had maybe 10, 15, 30 seconds more I could've finished that
fight, but it just wasn't my day!
MMAWeekly:
I know you had interest for TUF 3 but were fighting that same
weekend (Daijiro Matsui). Have you had any further UFC dealings
since they announced European expansion plans?
Alex
Reid: Not with the UFC, but I have been in contact with K-1 Heros.
I was offered a choice of two fights with them by Paul Hommesey.
Basically, he called me up and asked if I could fly to Tokyo
to square off with either Carlos Newton or Melvin Manhoef. The
notice was too short to make $10K revenue worthwhile. I mean,
I thought, "F--k it, I am interested, I'll get in there
and fight anyone." I am sure that every fighter says this,
but when I feel on top of my game, I really feel I can beat anyone.
But in the end I didn't want to ruin my chances of putting on
a great fight because of the short notice to get prepared. The
funny thing is this isn't the first time with K-1 anyway, as
I was there for the Vegas tryouts at the Mirage Casino Hotel.
MMAWeekly:
Finally, looking at the life of an MMA fighter in the UK, is
it financially viable?
Alex
Reid: The money could definitely be better. I mean, it's not
cheap to train. The guys at Shoot are great, but I live 40 miles
away from them... petrol, food, all that stuff comes into it,
but I run my own business anyway and that’s how we do it.
I train MMA and personal training at Reidinator Vale Tudo [laughs]...
kind of like Ruas Vale Tudo, but with the Reidinator...
MMAWeekly:
Alex, great speaking to you. Best of luck against Fryklund.
Alex
Reid: Cheers, man.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
"Never
a lip is curved with pain that can't be kissed into smiles again."
Bret Harte, 1839-1902, American Author and Poet
|
HLTC
Olympic Sport Taekwondo Seminar - Maui
Date:
October 14th, 2006
Time:
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Location:
Kihei Public Charter School Auditorium – 300 Ohukai Road
#209- Kihei, Maui
Presenter:
High Level Training Center – Herb Perez, 1992 Olympic Gold
Medalist
Cost:
$50 per participant, pre-registration is required and space is
limited.
Sponsors:
South Maui Learning Ohana and Hawaii Optimum Sport Training
Host:
Maui Taekwondo and Hapkido Center
Contact:
Betty Silvira-Donald, 875-7499 or bsd@mauitaekwondo.com
Info:
www.mauitaekwond.com/events
General
Information:
Maui
Taekwondo was recently named the official High Level Training
Center provider for the Hawaiian region. High Level Training
Centers are focused on delivering cutting edge training methods
to Olympic sport taekwondo athletes nation wide. Seminars and
camps centered on raising the level of expertise among local
athletes will elevate skill levels at the grass roots level.
Hawaii’s taekwondo athletes struggle to gain valuable experience
because travel is so expensive. This program will bring exclusive
training camps and seminars to Maui, making it much easier for
our Hawaii competitors to gain important experience. For more
information about sport taekwondo training camps and seminars
please call Betty Silvira-Donald at 875-7499.
Mahalo,
BSD
Source:
Betty Silvira-Donald
|
MMA
TELEVISION GUIDE LAUNCHES ON MMAWEEKLY
MMAWeekly is pleased to announce the launch of MMA Television
Guide, a free service provided by MMAWeekly.com.
This
new section of MMAWeekly features the most detailed listings
in existence of MMA-related television programming in the United
States.
Among
the events included in this section are full listings for every
premiere and replay airing of pay-per-view events produced by
the UFC, Pride, WFA, K-1, and King of the Cage; along with full
listings for all premiere and replay airings of TV shows produced
by the UFC, IFL, and Pride. When new groups emerge in the future
to produce events that are available on national television and/or
pay-per-view, they will be also covered extensively in this section.
Do
you want to know when the most recent episode of The Ultimate
Fighter is replaying next on Spike TV? Do you want to know when
the Pride Grand Prix Finals event is replaying on pay-per-view?
Do you want to know when the IFL's next TV show airs on your
particular Fox Sports Net affiliate? These are just a few of
the numerous things that you'll be able to find in our MMA Television
Guide.
With
so much MMA-related programming on both pay-per-view and cable
television, there is hardly a day that goes by in which there
isn't at least one MMA event airing on at least one nationally
available outlet. MMA Television Guide will be your complete
guide to all of these events.
The
interface of MMA Television Guide provides a calendar overview
of any given month, and you can always click on any of the event
titles for more listing information on any specific event, including
the length of the broadcast, as well as the price for PPV events.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Anatomy
of a Championship: Franklin vs. Silva
By Sean McClure
Rich Franklin is one of the biggest names in mixed martial arts
right now. The current UFC middleweight champion sports one loss
to Ryoto Machida, but that was before beginning his training
with UFC lightweight contender Jorge Gurgel. Rich once told me
that he was almost to the point of quitting at one point because
doors just weren’t opening for him. Fate stepped in thankfully,
and we have a charismatic, hard working, and down to earth champion.
I
will be the first to admit that his list of title defenses is
pretty weak compared to the other title holders in the UFC. That’s
not Rich’s fault, not at all. Nate Quarry, was rushed in
to a title shot and then number one contender, David Loiseau.
Loiseau was given a good chance of beating Franklin before the
fight, but was quickly squashed by the well-rounded champion.
Rich broke his hand in this fight and severely injured his foot
as well. Despite this Rich dominated all five rounds and proved
to everyone that he was deserving of the accolades he was receiving.
This wasn’t the first time Rich Franklin has controlled
a fight. Franklin dominated Evan Tanner so fiercely that it ended
up forcing the doctors to stop the fight. Franklin thrashed Edwin
Dewees, decimated Ken Shamrock, and submitted Jorge Rivera. Jorge
had only been submitted once in his career before this fight
and that came at the hands of the very talented Lee Murray. It
has not been an easy road for Rich and he has earned his way
to the number one spot on most all middleweight top 10 lists.
He wins by whatever way presents itself. His latest challenge
may be the defining moment in his championship career. The UFC
wasted no time in placing top competition in front of him. Coming
off his injuries At UFC 64 on October 14th, Rich Franklin will
face a very dangerous Anderson “The Spider” Silva.
Anderson
Silva is an extremely talented striker. He has faced some of
the best that the world has to offer and has come out on top
most all of the time. Silva has beaten names like Jeremy Horn,
Lee Murray, Tony Fryklund, Carlos Newton, and Hayato Sakurai.
A list of names that many fighters have fallen to over the past
couple of years. He wins by consistent pressure and by pushing
the pace of the fight to match his aggressive style. There is
no down time for Silva. He will keep coming until the fight is
over win or lose.
Franklin’s
keys to winning this fight are simple. Don’t get caught
with your hands down and take this fight to the ground. I am
not saying that Rich’s hands aren’t just as good as
Silva’s or better. I believe they are better, by the way.
I think that he is much more talented than Anderson on the ground.
Rich controlled the fight on the canvas with Dewees, Loiseau,
and just about everyone else he has faced. This isn’t by
accident. Rich trains with Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt Jorge
Gurgel and is currently a brown belt under the talented Brazilian.
Jorge’s school sees professional fighters visit all of the
time. Joe Riggs, Tim Sylvia, Marcus Davis, Mike Patt, and many
other fighters have been on the mat with Franklin. They know
he has the skills to win this fight handily if it makes it to
the mat. The key word is “if”. I guarantee you that
Anderson Silva has other plans.
Silva
has the nickname “The Spider” for a reason. He is lanky
and what I would call “slippery”. If you were to search
for one of his videos on a popular video upload site you would
see why. He is a bit like UFC light heavyweight Chuck Liddell
in that he always seems to get back to his feet. He slipped inside
of Chris Leben’s hooking punches and picked him apart in
less than a minute at Ultimate Fight Night 5. He is not to be
taken lightly. Ask the 9 TKO’s in his list of wins, the
2 submission victories, and the 5 decision nods he has gotten
in his career. Silva has heavy hands and they are accurate to
boot. His strength is not reflected enough by his size. Silva
is deceptively strong despite his thin appearance. You don’t
dispatch a granite chinned Chris Leben in such a brutal fashion
without strength behind your punches. In this fight though, size
will matter.
Rich
has a lot going for him. The biggest thing being that he is huge
for a middleweight. Rich consistently drops from 215+ to 185
pounds. Rich comes in to his fights weighing significantly more
than his opponents on a regular basis. The same can be said though
of fighters like Joe Riggs, Matt Lindland, Chuck Liddell, Tito
Ortiz, and many others. Size is a factor, but Rich’s true
strength is well…his strength. By now you have probably
seen the UFC all access that featured Franklin. You know the
one that showed his grueling workout routines? It opened a lot
of eyes to his dedication and skill level. If Rich can take advantage
of these size and strength advantages, he will emerge the victor
and remain the UFC middleweight champion.
When
October 14th arrives the questions will be answered. Does Anderson
Silva have enough power and strength to knockout Rich Franklin?
Will Franklin stand and trade with him or will he try and win
this fight on the ground? Is Rich’s hand one hundred percent?
Whose hand will be raised at the end of the night? Right now
it’s anyone’s guess.
Source: Maxfighting
|
Louisiana
politician tries to ban MMA
After last year’s debacles in Boston and Taunton, MA. to
try to ban MMA (along with the troubles in the Dakotas), this
year provides us with larger areas trying to ban the industry.
First, it was Eugene (Oregon). Second, it was Kentucky. Now,
it’s Louisiana, a state that once featured a UFC event in
Lake Charles.
The
Daily Advertiser reports that Louisiana State Rep. Emile “Peppi”
Bruneau (spelled Bruno in the article) called the state attorney
general to get MMA banned in the state. The boxing commission,
which oversees MMA regulation in the state, is completely against
Bruneau’s attempts to ban the sport. Here is the home
page for Mr. Bruneau.
Source: Fight Opinion
Bruno makes
push to erase mixed martial arts
State representative trying to ban events with MMA.
Brady Aymond
baymond@theadvertiser.com
This
weekend's "September to Remember" boxing/MMA card will
certainly be one for the history books.
But it may also be the last of its kind - if State Representative
Peppi Bruno has his way.
Saturday's card at Blackham Coliseum, presented by Dana Pitcher
Productions, will be the first of its kind, having both boxing
and mixed martial arts featured.
But
Bruno wants MMA banned in Louisiana, meaning cards like this
could be merely a memory.
"Basically what you have is a representative calling the
attorney general (Charles C. Foti, Jr.) concerned about mixed
technique fighting," Louisiana State Boxing Commission Chairman
Buddy Embanato said. "I think what he thought was this was
'Toughman Competitions.'
"These
fights are all sanctioned by the boxing commission. The rules
are all in place for the safety of the fighters.
Alvin
Topham, who served on the boxing commission for 18 years, said
Bruno's argument is really about semantics.
"There
is no law that says you cannot have a mixed martial arts contest,"
Topham said. "So, if it's legal, which it currently is,
someone has to govern it, and that body is the boxing commission.
There is no mixed martial arts commission, it falls under the
umbrella of the boxing commission.
"The
right thing is to let the boxing commission handle these affairs.
That's why you have a boxing commission. I'm not really worried
about it. We have enough smart people that will figure out that
it needs to be regulated."
Topham
says in other states which allow MMA fights, the boxing commissions
handle those events.
"In
Nevada, New Jersey, California, name a state that has mixed martial
arts, you'll find that the governing body is the boxing commission,"
Topham said. "Even in states that don't have a boxing commission,
the group that oversees boxing also oversees the MMA competitions."
Saturday's
card features six scheduled boxing bouts and six scheduled MMA
bouts, the first of its kind in Louisiana.
"We
think it's a great opportunity for fans of both to experience
both," Embanato said. "And it's an opportunity for
boxing fans to see what MMA is about and vice versa."
And
Topham says, despite the concern from Bruno, MMA will continue
to grow in Louisiana, prompting more cards like Saturday's.
"It's
evolved so much since its early days," Topham said. "It's
no longer the bare-knuckled, legal street fight. The fighters
wear gloves, there are rules in place to protect the fighters.
These guys are not going out and fighting for $1000 anymore,
they're fighting for $500,000 purses.
"I
think a lot of the concern is because people hear MMA and think
about those early days. The sport has changed, the athletes have
changed. It's a fascinating sport and I think the people that
come out Saturday will see that."
Source:
The Daily Advertiser (Louisiana)
|
Mental
Evaluation Urged for Passenger
Man Subdued on Flight Is Incoherent
By Candace Rondeaux
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 15, 2006; Page B03
This guy is a nutcase. See below
A
professional jujitsu fighter charged with trying to open a cabin
door of a Dulles-bound airliner as it cruised at 30,000 feet
gave nonsensical answers during a court hearing in Loudoun County
yesterday, and his lawyer requested a mental evaluation before
he is arraigned.
Carlos
Alberto de Oliveira, 43, a native of Brazil, was charged with
interfering with the operation of an aircraft after United Airlines
Flight 890 landed safely at Dulles International Airport in Loudoun
Tuesday night.
During his brief court appearance yesterday through a video link,
Loudoun General District Court Judge Dean S. Worcester asked
de Oliveira through a Portuguese-language interpreter whether
he understood the charge against him. "Let's go then,"
de Oliveira said. "Sept. 12. The money is there."
When
the judge asked de Oliveira whether he would like the court to
appoint a lawyer in his case, de Oliveira swayed back and forth,
closed his eyes and leaned close to the camera, replying, "In
relation to paying the ransom? I want people to be alive. It
doesn't help to be dead with money."
Loudoun
Public Defender Lorie E. O' Donnell, who was appointed to defend
de Oliveira, asked the judge to postpone de Oliveira's arraignment
until it can be determined whether he is mentally fit to understand
the legal proceedings. The judge is expected to rule on O' Donnell's
request today.
O'Donnell,
who for the first time briefly spoke with de Oliveira through
an interpreter after the hearing, said her client appeared to
be very confused, disoriented and in need of psychological counseling.
O'Donnell said she expects the court to commit de Oliveira to
Central State Hospital in Petersburg, where he would undergo
a psychological examination and could receive treatment.
"He
needs some help. From what very little I've seen, I don't think
the man understands anything going on," O'Donnell said.
Federal
air marshals on the flight took de Oliveira into custody after
passengers wrestled him to the floor Tuesday night during the
flight from Los Angeles, just one day after the fifth anniversary
of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The plane was carrying 138 passengers
and six crew members and landed at Dulles at 8:30 p.m.
About
3 1/2 hours into the United flight, passengers said a man yanked
the handle of a cabin door, which could not be opened because
the cabin was pressurized. Law-enforcement officials said de
Oliveira at one point walked toward a beverage cart, which was
blocking the cockpit door when it was briefly opened. A flight
attendant told him to return to his seat, and he did, law enforcement
officials said.
A
passenger on the flight said he saw the man acting oddly midway
through the flight. Dressed in a camouflage jacket, fatigues
and wraparound glasses, the man paced the aisle restlessly and
mouthed obscenities before he made his way toward the rear galley
and lunged for the exit door, according to passenger Ken Wolfenbarger,
44, of Whittier, Ca.
De
Oliveira's court hearing yesterday attracted a swarm of reporters,
including several from Brazil. Before his arrest, de Oliveira
had achieved prominence in the world of Brazilian jujitsu, a
vigorous martial art that is known for its unique wrestling techniques.
A professional fighter with the rank of black belt, de Oliveira
has competed in several national and international jujitsu competitions,
according to Fernando Yamasaki, a Rockville jujitsu instructor
who has seen De Oliveira fight at several competitions in the
United States.
Source: Fight Opinion/Washington Post
|
Quote
of the Day
"I
am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn
how to do it."
Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973, Spanish Artist
|
Kickin
It Tonight!
Waipahu Filcom Center,
Waipahu, Hawaii
September 16, 2006
CHAVIS VICTORIA K.O.T.G TONY BILLIANOR
ANIMAL
HOUSE MAUI
CHAVIS
WILL TEST HIS SKILLS ON SEP 16 WHEN HE MEETS TONY. TONY IS THE
CURRENT KING OF THE GIANTS CHAMPION. BUT ALL OF THAT CAN CHANGE
WITH ONE KICK FOR TONY HAS KICKING AND PUNCHING POWER BUT CHAVIS
HAS BEEN PUTTING DOWN FIGHTERS WITH HIS WICKED ROUNDHOUSE KICKS.
SO ONE OF THESE FIGHTERS WILL WALK OUT AS THE GIANT KILLA AND
THE OTHER WILL PROBABLY LEAVE AS THE SLEEPING GIANT.
NUI
WHEELER 140 DEVIN DAMO
TEAM
SOLJAH ANIMAL HOUSE
BRYANT
ANTONIO 135 DWAYNE HANEY
HSD
BULLPEN
BEN
SANTIAGO 160 SHAISON LAUPOLA
BANGAHSVILLE
TEAM RUTHLESS
SANTIAGO
WILL BE FACING THE 2005 SUPER WELTERWEIGHT JR KICKIN IT CHAMPION.
LAUPOLA HAS NEVER LOST A KICKBOXING MATCH AND PLANS TO KEEP IT
THAT WAY ON SEP 16TH. LAUPOLA WILL ALSO BE PUTTING UP HIS BELT
EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOT REQUIRED WHEN YOU HOLD AN AMATEUR TITLE.
RICKY
MURILLO 150 PENI
TEAM
DEVASTATION EAST SIDAZ
WAYNE
PURVEY 175 KALANI AQUIN
TEAM
ISLAND THUNDER BIG TYME FIGHT
PETERSON
ARDY 155 HIAPO KOLO
TEAM
RUTHLESS PAPAKOLEA FIGHT CLUB
JULIO
MORENO 130 SAM FERRERA
BULLSPEN
TEAM RUTHLESS
THESE
TWO GUYS HAVE MET IN THE RING BEFORE BUT NOT IN A STAND UP MATCH.
MORENO HAS ALREADY BEATEN FERRERA IN THEIR FIRST GOT SKILLS MATCH.
FERRERA FEELS THAT IF IT WAS ONLY STAND UP HE WOULD HAVE WALKED
AWAY WITH THE TROPHY. WE'LL SEE.
TODD
YOUNG 170 MARK CREDO
VEGAS
FIGHT CLUB BULLSPEN
ARNOLD
BERDON 125 SAM QUEL
TEAM
DEVASTATION TEAM RUTHLESS
EVAN
QUIZON 125 BILLY TAKIUCHI
TEAM
DEVASTATION BULLSPEN
THESE
TWO 125 POUNDERS WILL DEFINITELY BE A FIGHT TO SEE. EVAN WHO
HAS THAT QUICK HALF STEP COUNTERS AND BILLY WHO HAD HIS KICKBOXING
DEBUT LAST MONTH WHICH WAS VERY IMPRESSIVE. BILLY HAS A WHOLE
ARSENAL OF WEAPONS AND KNOWS HOW TO USE IT WELL. THIS WILL BE
EVANS FOURTH FIGHT ON KICKIN IT. WILL EXPERIENCE BE A FACTOR
AGAINST RAW TALENT?
MANA
WOOLSEY 115 PAUL VARQUEZ
HSD
ANIMAL HOUSE
RICHARD
BERNARD 145 AJ BROWN
HSD
BIG TYME FIGHT
KIMO
KEKAHUNA 200 CLIFF NAMOC
TEAM
DEVASTATION ANIMAL HOUSE
SHAWNDELYN
110 KAITLYN CURRAN
HSD
ANIMAL HOUSE
DAVIN
KIM 125 BRANDON AMANONCE
EWA
BEACH FIGHT CLUB TEAM DEVASTATION
TAZ
135 KAT VINCENT
BULLSPEN
ANIMAL HOUSE
KONA
KE 170 EVAN LOWTHER
TEAM
DEVASTATION JESUS IS LORD
MATCHES
AND PARTICIPANTS MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Source: Event promoter
|
Shaolin
awared of Gesias vs. Rani
One of the semifinals of the Hero's GP, which will be held on
October 9th at Yokohama Arena, in Kanagawa city, in Japan, will
be between the Brazilians Gesias Cavalcanti and Rani Yahia. The
confrontation will define a finalist of the category until 70kg,
the same one as Vitor Shaolin, who was out because of his hand
injury. Even out of the GP, Shaolin is awared of the Brazilian
dispute in Japan and doesn't point a favorite one.
-
If we talk physically, we can think about Gesias, because he
is stronger. If the fight goes to the ground, everything might
change. Rani fought more competitions with no gi and he has good
positions on the ground. In the standed up fight Gesias improved
a lot and can do a better game. That will be a great fight -
said the BJJ black belt from Nova União, who wants to
be fighting in Japan soon.
Source: Tatame
|
A
Black Eye on the Face of MMA
By Sean McClure
The announcement came out this week that two fighters had been
suspended until further investigation. There were allegations
that the pair conspired to fix the fight so that the outcome
was predetermined beforehand. This is not a new idea. Professional
wrestling…enough said. This is MMA, right? This type of
thing doesn’t happen. Well, it probably just did, but not
for the first time. It just happened to be the first time since
the MMA popularity explosion that it was identified publicly.
It is a huge black mark on the face of mixed martial arts and
makes everyone involved with the sport look very bad.
Shannon
Ritch (38-61-0) and Brian Ebersole (27-10-0) engaged each other
in their bout briefly standing and then took the fight to the
ground where some conversation reportedly was heard between the
two. Shortly after, Brian Ebersole was declared the winner when
Shannon Ritch tapped out. It wasn’t long after that, this
fight was ruled a no contest and both fighters were suspended
indefinitely until further investigation. The California State
Athletic Commission had overturned the initial results because
of their strong suspicions of a work. A No contest is the kind
of result an accidental cut, an inadvertent low blow, or a freak
accident occurring like the referee having a heart attack during
the fight. Not the kind of result you would expect from a pro
like Ebersole, but one that would be more believable coming from
Ritch. Shannon has one of the worst records in MMA. 38 wins,
61 losses, and 0 draws. Not exactly a stellar achievement in
the sport.
Ritch
had lost 10 in a row before beating Vincent Perez, who was 1-1
at the time, in back to back fights. It is not surprising that
he would possibly be involved in something like this. I said
possibly because nothing has been proven yet. But, Ebersole?
Why would he feel the need to fix a fight with Shannon? He was
27-10-0 with wins over Nick Thompson and Matt Horwich. He already
held a TKO win over Ritch back in October of 2002. Why would
he need to fix this fight?
I
am struggling for a reason that this happened and having a hard
time coming up one good enough to justify why they might have
been so stupid.
My
first guess is that maybe he was injured? Brian was injured and
was going to have to pull out of the fight? If that happened,
I am guessing that there would have been no pay for either fighter.
Sounds good to me so far… I could be wrong on that, but
that might explain why Ritch might have approached him or vice-versa.
They needed the money and that was the only way to get it. What’s
another loss to a guy who has 61 already? You never know, Ritch
may have himself been injured, but this all just speculation
by me. That sounds like a good excuse, but I cannot fathom why
someone would risk the growing, but thin integrity of the sport
with this type of action.
This
isn’t the first time MMA fighters have been accused of “working”
a fight, though. Some were believed to be happening on the biggest
stages in mixed martial arts.
Perhaps
this is one of the most famous examples and it happened in the
Pride Organization.
Mark
Coleman vs. Nobuhiko Takada at Pride 5
This
is one of the most widely known worked fights in MMA history.
Former UFC Champion, Mark Coleman versus former Pro wrestling
champion, Nobuhiko Takada. Coleman gets a takedown and “unloads”
with some aggressive ground and pound, but strangely fails to
land any strikes to the head. Suddenly, there is a dramatic scramble
and Takada furiously attempts a heel hook, I believe it was.
The two of them start rolling frantically until finally Coleman,
who is wincing in pain and struggling to hang on for just one
more moment, finally taps out. Takada pulls himself up off the
ground, but very nearly collapses as if he is completely exhausted.
He addresses the crowd, saying that Coleman was by far his biggest
challenge and his toughest opponent to date. This, despite the
fact that jiu jitsu legend Rickson Gracie had already arm barred
him twice before this. Note: It was somewhere around here that
I was sure the guy who puts the cape on James Brown after his
shows was on his way out to do the same to Takada.
So,
once again the valiant hero wins in very dramatic fashion, in
a come-from-behind victory that leaves everyone cheering and
smiling. He gives credit to his worthy adversary saving Coleman’s
reputation so that he has some value for future fights. The fans
were taking it in and eating it up like it was candy.
Does
this still happen on a regular basis? I can’t say for sure,
but I would guess that it does not in mainstream MMA. For every
two fighters that engage in these activities there are a thousand
that do not. For non-fans to judge MMA by this one misrepresentation
of the sport would be a mistake. Some of the most honorable people
I have met are fighters and some of my best friends are in the
UFC. I can only hope that this is genuine misunderstanding and
that things are set right. It will take a while to buff this
blemish out of MMA’s armor.
Source: Maxfighting
|
Eugene
moves forward for MMA ban
By Zach Arnold
Last
Saturday night, the IFL drew over 5,300 paid at The Rose Quarter
in Portland, Oregon. Oregon maintains a very good record nationally
for their grass-roots support and training of MMA fighters, specifically
with Team Quest. However, a major city in Oregon has been debating
for the last few months about banning MMA. That city is Eugene,
Oregon. In an article in The Register-Guard on Tuesday, writer
Edward Russo filed a report from a city council meeting that
will put a measure up for voting as to whether or not to ban
MMA from the city.
As
I’ve encouraged in past posts on this subject, it’s
definitely time for people knowledgeable on MMA to talk to the
locally elected officials in the area to persuade them not to
integrate this ban. One of the politicians listed in the article
is George Poling. You can contact him via e-mail at george.a.poling@ci.eugene.or.us
to intelligently state a pro-MMA position (do not write hate
mail to the man). Please spread the word about this upcoming
ban in Eugene on all the major MMA forums - MMA Fighting, Sherdog,
and other boards.
Source: Fight Opinion
Council
hears testimony on extreme cage fighting
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard
Published: Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Extreme
cage fighting, where contestants punch, kick and wrestle each
other with few rules, may be banned in Eugene in the coming months.
The
City Council on Monday indicated that it may consider imposing
rules on promoters of cage fights, at least until the state begins
regulating the matches.
Councilors
took no action, but said they would discuss the matter again
before deciding how to proceed.
The
council asked residents if they think the city should ban or
regulate the violent sport of cage fighting. Matches have taken
place at the Lane Events Center in the past year.
The
next contest, promoted by Pacific Coast Cage Fights on its Web
site as having "12 full-contact fights," is scheduled
for Saturday night at the Eugene Armory.
Pacific
Coast Cage Fights uses amateur fighters, who employ boxing, wrestling,
kickboxing and martial arts techniques to pummel each other inside
a cage.
Three
people, including Jason Georgianna of Pacific Coast Cage Fights
and another fight promoter, spoke against a cage fighting ban.
Unlike
some promoters of amateur cage fights, Georgianna said he takes
steps to protect fighters, such as having an ambulance nearby
and making sure contestants are matched according to ability.
If
a fighter has been knocked out, he or she can fight again only
after at least two months has passed, he said.
Football,
which "this town really loves," causes more injuries
than mixed martial arts, as the sport is also sometimes called,
Georgianna said.
He
said he could accept local regulations until the state Legislature
passes a law allowing the Oregon Boxing and Wrestling Commission
to regulate amateur cage fighting.
The
commission presently regulates professional, but not amateur,
cage fights.
Resident
Beth Ayledott urged the council to ban all cage fights.
She
said that all councilors must be "personally disgusted"
by the fights where the crowd is "yelling for blood."
"What
I'm scared to death is that some of you will allow it to continue
here," Ayledott said.
Councilor
George Poling said city attorneys should find out what rules
may be imposed by the state if it decides in the next legislative
session to regulate amateur cage fighting.
"And
maybe in the interim, we can establish our own rules," he
said.
In
another matter, the council reversed an August land use decision
for a 15-block area of the Jefferson Westside neighborhood, south
of downtown.
In
a 6-2 vote, councilors decided to change the land use designation
for the area around Washington Street and West 15th Avenue back
to low density development from medium density.
The
Jefferson Westside Neighbors had been asking the council to overturn
the change, fearful that it would allow the construction of duplexes,
tri-plexes and other multi-unit buildings in what has been an
area of single-family homes.
Councilor
Gary Pap<142> made the successful motion to reconsider
the Aug. 16 vote.
Pleased
by the reversal, residents pledged to work with city planners
and planning commissioners for ideas to meet the city's goal
of increasing housing density while maintaining the neighborhood's
liveability.
"I
think we are in a great position now," said Paul Conte of
the neighborhood association.
City ban
on cage fighting considered
By Edward Russo
Published: Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Despicable.
Brutal. Repugnant. Barbaric.
That's
what the Eugene City Council on Monday had to say about the violent
sport of cage fighting. Now, councilors want to know whether
residents think the city should ban or regulate the virtually
no-holds-barred contests that have taken place at the Lane Events
Center. The council agreed to advance a proposed ban on cage
fighting to a public hearing at a yet-to-be determined date.
Councilor
David Kelly, who brought the subject to the council's attention,
said that one day he happened by cage fighting matches at the
Lane Events Center. Kelly said he found it to be "the most
brutal and dehumanizing" event he had ever witnessed.
In
the contests, promoted by Eugene resident Jason Georgianna, fighters
use boxing, wrestling, kickboxing and martial arts techniques
during battles inside a cage.
"We
should ban it completely," Councilor Betty Taylor said.
Others
thought regulations would reduce the risk of fighters getting
seriously injured.
Councilor
Jennifer Solomon said she couldn't support a ban because the
promoters would move matches to nearby communities.
"You
can't regulate stupidity," she said, adding that she used
to watch "extreme fighting" on television before her
children were born.
The
fighters are young men "with too much testosterone and not
enough to do," Solomon said.
Georgianna,
the Eugene promoter, said his fights are less dangerous than
extreme fighting, which has no rules.
His
mixed martial arts fighters are prohibited from striking their
opponents' groins, throats and spines, he wrote to councilors.
Nor can they bite, gouge eyes, pull hair or use head butts, he
said.
Georgianna,
who spoke to the council after they voted for a public hearing
on a ban, said he was glad that some councilors want to learn
about cage fighting because "it's a very misunderstood sport."
Georgianna
said he wouldn't necessarily oppose regulations because some
unscrupulous promoters are giving the matches a bad name. "I
would like to move toward regulating the sport on a state level,"
he said.
But
Georgianna said he disagreed with councilors who seemed to think
that cage fighting is "devoid of any social value."
In
other action, councilors agreed to offer the job of the city's
first police auditor to Cristina Beamud, legal adviser to the
Cambridge, Mass., Police Department, while also resolving a controversy
over the auditor's authority.
The
council voted 8-0 to offer the job to Beamud after a background
check that included a visit to Cambridge by Councilor Bonny Bettman
and a city-hired private investigator. Beamud's salary and benefits
have yet to be negotiated.
Then
councilors approved a resolution that clarifies that Beamud will
have the complete authority to hire, fire and supervise her two-
or three-person staff.
City
Manager Dennis Taylor had agreed in May to delegate that authority
to the auditor, while reserving the right to become involved
if the auditor's decisions violated city policies.
But
some councilors disliked that proposal, believing that the auditor's
office needed to be completely free of the city manager in order
to be independent.
Mayor
Kitty Piercy had said she was going to recommend that the council
on Monday ask voters to clarify the auditor's power with a City
Charter amendment in November.
But
she said this resolution does the same thing. Even councilors
who favored the city manager's approach voted in favor of it
because "everyone around this table wants the police auditor
to get off to the good start," Piercy said.
Councilor
Gary Pap<142> cast the lone "no" vote.
On
another subject, the council refused to endorse Region 2050,
a countywide planning effort to guide population growth in much
of the southern Willamette Valley during the next 50 years.
Most
councilors said they had concerns about signing onto the 58-page
planning document, especially since Springfield and Cottage Grove
have dropped out of the effort.
Source: The Register-Guard (Oregon)
|
Quote
of the Day
"When
music fails to agree to the ear, to soothe the ear and the heart
and the senses,
then it had missed the point."
Maria Callas, 1923-1977, American Opera Singer
|
Kickin
It Tomorrow!
Waipahu Filcom Center,
Waipahu, Hawaii
September 16, 2006
Weigh-ins are at
Results Fitness Center, Ewa Beach Today
At 6:30PM
CHAVIS VICTORIA K.O.T.G TONY BILLIANOR
ANIMAL
HOUSE MAUI
CHAVIS
WILL TEST HIS SKILLS ON SEP 16 WHEN HE MEETS TONY. TONY IS THE
CURRENT KING OF THE GIANTS CHAMPION. BUT ALL OF THAT CAN CHANGE
WITH ONE KICK FOR TONY HAS KICKING AND PUNCHING POWER BUT CHAVIS
HAS BEEN PUTTING DOWN FIGHTERS WITH HIS WICKED ROUNDHOUSE KICKS.
SO ONE OF THESE FIGHTERS WILL WALK OUT AS THE GIANT KILLA AND
THE OTHER WILL PROBABLY LEAVE AS THE SLEEPING GIANT.
NUI
WHEELER 140 DEVIN DAMO
TEAM
SOLJAH ANIMAL HOUSE
BRYANT
ANTONIO 135 DWAYNE HANEY
HSD
BULLPEN
BEN
SANTIAGO 160 SHAISON LAUPOLA
BANGAHSVILLE
TEAM RUTHLESS
SANTIAGO
WILL BE FACING THE 2005 SUPER WELTERWEIGHT JR KICKIN IT CHAMPION.
LAUPOLA HAS NEVER LOST A KICKBOXING MATCH AND PLANS TO KEEP IT
THAT WAY ON SEP 16TH. LAUPOLA WILL ALSO BE PUTTING UP HIS BELT
EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOT REQUIRED WHEN YOU HOLD AN AMATEUR TITLE.
RICKY
MURILLO 150 PENI
TEAM
DEVASTATION EAST SIDAZ
WAYNE
PURVEY 175 KALANI AQUIN
TEAM
ISLAND THUNDER BIG TYME FIGHT
PETERSON
ARDY 155 HIAPO KOLO
TEAM
RUTHLESS PAPAKOLEA FIGHT CLUB
JULIO
MORENO 130 SAM FERRERA
BULLSPEN
TEAM RUTHLESS
THESE
TWO GUYS HAVE MET IN THE RING BEFORE BUT NOT IN A STAND UP MATCH.
MORENO HAS ALREADY BEATEN FERRERA IN THEIR FIRST GOT SKILLS MATCH.
FERRERA FEELS THAT IF IT WAS ONLY STAND UP HE WOULD HAVE WALKED
AWAY WITH THE TROPHY. WE'LL SEE.
TODD
YOUNG 170 MARK CREDO
VEGAS
FIGHT CLUB BULLSPEN
ARNOLD
BERDON 125 SAM QUEL
TEAM
DEVASTATION TEAM RUTHLESS
EVAN
QUIZON 125 BILLY TAKIUCHI
TEAM
DEVASTATION BULLSPEN
THESE
TWO 125 POUNDERS WILL DEFINITELY BE A FIGHT TO SEE. EVAN WHO
HAS THAT QUICK HALF STEP COUNTERS AND BILLY WHO HAD HIS KICKBOXING
DEBUT LAST MONTH WHICH WAS VERY IMPRESSIVE. BILLY HAS A WHOLE
ARSENAL OF WEAPONS AND KNOWS HOW TO USE IT WELL. THIS WILL BE
EVANS FOURTH FIGHT ON KICKIN IT. WILL EXPERIENCE BE A FACTOR
AGAINST RAW TALENT?
MANA
WOOLSEY 115 PAUL VARQUEZ
HSD
ANIMAL HOUSE
RICHARD
BERNARD 145 AJ BROWN
HSD
BIG TYME FIGHT
KIMO
KEKAHUNA 200 CLIFF NAMOC
TEAM
DEVASTATION ANIMAL HOUSE
SHAWNDELYN
110 KAITLYN CURRAN
HSD
ANIMAL HOUSE
DAVIN
KIM 125 BRANDON AMANONCE
EWA
BEACH FIGHT CLUB TEAM DEVASTATION
TAZ
135 KAT VINCENT
BULLSPEN
ANIMAL HOUSE
KONA
KE 170 EVAN LOWTHER
TEAM
DEVASTATION JESUS IS LORD
MATCHES
AND PARTICIPANTS MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Source: Event promoter
|
Fedor,
Cro Cop still uncertain
GP finalists must be out of Pride USA
Pride's president said today that a fight between Mirko Filipovic
and Fedor Emelianenko is still uncertain. Nobuyuki Sakakibara
stated that he will not take care of that issue before Pride
USA, scheduled October 21st, in Las vegas. A possible date for
the fight would be New Years Eve.
Sakakibara
said to be very pleased with the OW GP finals, held last Sunday
in Saitama. About the event in the USA, DSE chairman commented
he still does not know if Filipovic and Barnett will be able
to take part. According to Sakakibara, both fighters are pretty
bad injured from their fights in Japan and so they will have
complete liberty to decide whether they would like to fight or
not.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
First
Look Keeps UFC Distribution Deal
UFC owner Zuffa moves forward on Ventura suit
By
Susanne Ault 9/7/2006
SEPT.
7 | First Look Home Entertainment last week won the right to
continue distributing Zuffa’s UFC Fighting Championship
DVDs for the next 3½ years, while Zuffa won the right
to audit First Look’s books.
First
Look Studios acquired the assets of Ventura Distribution earlier
this year. Zuffa had been distributed by Ventura and began investigating
the company for alleged accounting violations. Zuffa believes
Ventura charged unauthorized distribution fees and hid rebates,
among other issues.
Retired
Federal District Judge Gary Taylor, who is overseeing arbitration
between the two companies, granted six more months on the original
3-year distribution deal Tuesday, while also allowing an audit,
First Look Studios CEO Henry Winterstern said.
Winterstern
said he is pleased Zuffa is continuing with its audit, as First
Look will be releasing UFC DVDs for some time.
“If
there’s anything owed to UFC through the audit, First Look
will be very happy and in a very timely fashion to [accept responsibility
in resolving the complaints],” Winterstern said. “First
Look is proactive in wanting to accelerate the audit.”
The
result was satisfactory to Zuffa too.
“We
are pleased with Judge Taylor’s decision to enforce our
rights to an unobstructed and complete audit,” Zuffa chief
operating officer Kirk Hendrick said. “This decision now
allows us to uncover evidence of Ventura’s underpayments
and accounting improprieties.”
Hendrick
said Zuffa intends to abide by the current distribution agreement,
allowing that there is no wrongdoing found in the audit.
“We
are willing to uphold our end of the agreement if [First Look]
is will willing to uphold their end as well,” he said. “We
expect the audit will reveal what the rightful payments should
be to our company.”
Separately,
Zuffa said its Ultimate Fighting Productions subsidiary filed
a copyright infringement and fraud suit Aug. 9 against all parties
relating to Ventura, including First Look. The case is pending
in the U.S. District Court, District of Nevada Las Vegas.
Winterstern
believes this matter also will be resolved, because First Look
has admitted to incorrectly shipping to retail 1,100 UFC DVD
units, which it shouldn’t have distributed at all. Most
have since been recalled from shelves.
“We
want to be transparent,” Winterstern stressed. “This
was a small, inadvertent mistake.”
Source: Maxfighting
|
Fábio
Gurgel: Analysing the BJJ evolution
By Marcelo Alonso
Three
times BJJ world champion of the black belt category, the leader
of the Alliance team Fábio Gurgel got more one title in
his career. The black belt, who already won last year the category
master weight and absolute, won the heavy category of his first
year fighting Senior at the International Championship of Master
and Senior of BJJ. In exclusive interview to site TATAME, Gurgel
talks about his training, the sport development, the bouts of
the International Championship of Master and Senior and about
the TT Jiu-Jitsu team. Check it out.
What
brings you to be always competing?
I
am always fighting and evaluating. I always want to watch and
to be part of the sport evolution.
What
did most change in the sport in the last 10 years?
The
organization, the professionalism. We evaluated a lot. I miss
a lot my training time in the adult category and this is my way
to be still here and this is my way to don't miss the sport too
much. I am still living of BJJ and this is an example for my
pupils and I think this is important.
Have
you been training?
Yes.
I trained a lot for this championship. I came from a good rhythm
from the World BJJ Championships, because I had to train with
people from the academy. Of course I didn't train as Marcelinho
Garcia have been training, but I got back with my trainings and
I am also with a good physical form.
How
many fights did you do in the absolute category?
The
first prevision was five bouts, but I did three, because I won
by WO. Today, there are 30 categories by category and we don't
have any easy time, there are always tough bouts. I did the final
against Peposo, he is a great athlete and heavier than me. The
judge and the whole Gymnasium saw that the referee made a mistake.
He took me off two points of punishment and I can't accept that.
That was a huge mistake, that did piss me off. I know that the
referees can make a mistake but there must be judge the reasons
and the punishments. I sent a relatory for they can pay attention
about that, I think that a judge like that one has no conditions
to be a referee of the black belt final. There were many mistakes
in the keys, they forgot one athlete, they had referee mistake.
That was a big missing!
How
was the fact of the athletes that left the TT and going back
to Alliance?
Rubens
Cobrinha and Alan asked me to be part of this movement, they
wanted a professor, a team. The team is alike Alliance team,
where Fernando Tererê was graduated, and we have our doors
open, even because Tererê is not very fone right now. There
are two important things when we put together two teams. The
Alliance never tried to do that, they never opened the doors,
they never asked for someone else. We created a lot of champions,
but he have this style. They have this same idea, they also have
a good head, the same job philosophy. I think this is good, now
we will see what will happen.
Which
is your opinion about the athletes from Jiu-Jitsu going to Vale-Tudo,
as Marcelinho did?
This
question was already discussed before a lot of times. I talked
to him already about it. He wants it, but we stopped to think
more about his category, his weight, and he gains more money
fighting BJJ and giving some seminars. This is not the moment
of Marcelinho in the Vale-Tudo yet, but he his strong and getting
preparated. This is the same case of Cobrinha, everybody wants
to put him fighting. This is not like that. Doing career in Vale-Tudo
needs some care and strategy or you will be a Vale-Tudo employer.
I think you need to wait the right time, the right moment for
everything goes fine. The question is wait to do the things well.
Source: Tatame
|
Quote
of the Day
"Nevër
a lip is curved with pain that can't be kissed into smiles again."
Bret Harte, 1839-1902, American Author and Poet
|
Boxer
Penovaroff Goes to the Cheese Capitol of the World to Represent
Hawaii!
Local Boxer
Van Oscar Penovaroff who is currently 1-0 as a pro, will compete
in Green Bay, Wisconsin at the Mohegan NorthStar Casino on September
30th against Mike Krull (0-3). He will be accompanied by his
trainer Bruce Kawano. Penovaroff had a amateur record of 89 and
31 and was a resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic Education Center
in Marquette, Michigan.
Source:
Bruce Kawano |
PENN
SEEKS REMATCHES & DISCUSSES TITLE SHOT
Originally scheduled to face UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes
in a rematch at UFC 63, rising star Georges St. Pierre suffered
an injury during training and was forced to withdraw from the
fight.
News
of St. Pierre’s absence was disappointing to fans until
the UFC announced his replacement, as former UFC Welterweight
Champion BJ Penn agreed to take the Canadian’s place and
arguably make for a more intriguing match-up. Penn is currently
the #3 welterweight fighter in the MMAWeekly Rankings.
Fans
will recall that “The Prodigy” was the last man to
defeat Matt Hughes in the Octagon, as he beat Hughes by submission
in 2004 before leaving the UFC. On September 23rd at UFC 63,
Penn will have the opportunity to regain the UFC Welterweight
Title in a highly anticipated rematch.
BJ
Penn appeared on MMAWeekly SoundOff Radio last week, where he
talked about his upcoming rematch and as well as other topics.
“I’m
in good shape. I’m at 169 pounds right now,” said Penn
regarding his conditioning.
When
asked how the match came about, Penn said, “I heard that
St. Pierre might be hurt. We told Joe Silva to let us know if
St. Pierre is hurt just in case you need a replacement. He [Silva]
called a couple days later and said it’s on.”
With
the unexpected injury, St. Pierre’s loss became BJ’s
gain. “George is a great guy, no disrespect to him,”
said Penn. “He’s such a tough guy. He worked his way
back to the title fight. It is sad that he didn’t get the
title fight... I think he made the right choice. It’s good
to be at your best to come in for a fight of that caliber.”
When
asked about possibly dropping down in weight to face Jens Pulver
in a rematch (Pulver beat Penn in 2002) , BJ responded, “Of
course. In a second... I’d do it in a second. I’ll
do it anytime. Let’s do it. I’m ready to go.”
“I
want to be known as a champion,” added Penn. “I don’t
want to be known as a great fighter. I want to be known as the
best.”
Penn
was asked whether he would give Georges St. Pierre a rematch
if he is able to win the title from Hughes at UFC 63. “Immediate
rematch,” responded Penn enthusiastically. “Let’s
go now! Right now!”
The
MMA community lost a great person with the tragic passing of
Ryan Bennett. Penn commented, "He has respect from me and
I got respect from him... Ryan was a stand-up guy, and we got
along great. Rest in peace, Ryan.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
TOP
LIGHTWEIGHT JOACHIM HANSEN WANTS GOMI
It’s hard to believe that it has been five months since
highly regarded lightweight fighter Joachim Hansen has stepped
into an MMA ring.
Though
he is currently the #4 lightweight in the MMAWeekly Rankings,
Hansen has not seen action since Pride Bushido 10 this past April
when he knocked out Luiz Azeredo in one of the most entertaining
fights of the year.
“Why
isn’t he fighting?” you may be asking yourself. Well,
the answer is both simple and complicated at the same time. Recently,
MMAWeekly spoke with Hansen to ask the Norwegian why he’s
been out of action and when we might see him again doing what
he does best.
MMAWeekly:
First off, Joachim, it’s been nearly half a year since we
last saw you fight. When will you be returning to action and
why have you been absent from recent PRIDE events?
Joachim
Hansen: Hopefully I’ll fight on New Year’s Eve for
PRIDE. The problem is I only have one fight left on my contract
with PRIDE and I believe they want to give me that fight at Shockwave,
and that’s a problem because I haven’t had a fight
since April.
It’s
a long time to go without a fight, so I have to take a couple
of amateur boxing matches here in Norway in autumn. I really
hope that if they give me the last fight on the contract on NYE
I hope it will be against the Champion, Takanori Gomi.
MMAWeekly:
Is there any chance they will let you have a fight somewhere
else before then?
Joachim
Hansen: That’s also a little problem because we have to
get permission from PRIDE also – even if it’s going
to do amateur fights like boxing – so my manager is going
to be in contact with PRIDE and hope they give me permission
to do that [amateur boxing]. I need stay in shape, mentally and
physically before a fight on NYE, so I hope they will let me
fight in amateur boxing.
MMAWeekly:
What about Shooto? You’ve fought there before for special
occasions.
Joachim
Hansen: Before when I fought in Shooto when I was still under
contract with PRIDE was no problem because they have cooperation.
The problem with Shooto is that the pay isn’t as well and
also the risk is very high of getting injury to go to Shooto
before PRIDE.
MMAWeekly:
But amateur boxing doesn’t pay any money at all.
Joachim
Hansen: No, it doesn’t pay anything but you can get hurt
more seriously in Shooto than you can in amateur boxing. With
the helmet, big gloves and the amateur boxing rules here in Norway,
if you get rocked hard it can get stopped, so that’s a difference.
MMAWeekly:
Do you think you can get the kind of competition you are used
to in MMA when fighting amateur boxing?
Joachim
Hansen: I think I can get matched pretty hard in boxing because
people into fighting here in Norway know my name. I don’t
want a victory in an easy fight; it doesn’t feel as good
as when you win a hard fight.
MMAWeekly:
A lot of MMA fighters such as Chris Lytle and Jeff Monson have
said boxing helps their MMA fighting, do you feel the same?
Joachim
Hansen: Yeah, it’s very good for the MMA. I box two times
a week and when I box with pure boxers I learn pure boxing and
I mix it into my MMA style. It’s very good for judgment
in a fight, it helps me a lot.
MMAWeekly:
Do you ever get the urge to shoot in for a takedown when you’re
boxing?
Joachim
Hansen: [Laughs] Yeah, all the time, every time I get hit hard
in boxing. In a fight I want to clinch, but you can’t do
that in boxing, so I have to think a lot in boxing because it’s
so different.
MMAWeekly:
Earlier you mentioned that you’d want your next PRIDE fight
to be against Gomi. Recently at the last Bushido he reportedly
said he wanted to fight Gilbert Melendez next. Would you be willing
to fight someone else other than Takanori if need be?
Joachim
Hansen: Of course if I don’t get Gomi, there are a lot of
other great fighters. Gilbert, [Mitsuhiro] Ishida, Kawajiri,
Sakurai, a lot of good fighters, but I hope to fight Gomi.
MMAWeekly:
Okay let’s talk hypothetically for a moment. When your contract
is up do you want to resign with PRIDE or would you want to go
out and test the free agent market?
Joachim
Hansen: I really want to stay in PRIDE. I know the rules; I like
the atmosphere, so I really want to stay in PRIDE after the last
fight in my contract. I really want to stay in PRIDE, I do.
MMAWeekly:
As you said earlier, that’s for your manager and PRIDE to
work out, you just want to fight, right?
Joachim
Hansen: I want to fight, and when the time comes for me to stop
fighting I want to stay in the sport. I’m starting my own
gym now [Woden Gym] and I want to do this kind of stuff as long
as I can. Even if I’m through with the fighting I don’t
want to go back to driving a car delivering toilet paper. I want
to do what I like and put food on the table.
MMAWeekly:
Food on the table and women in the bed right? [This question
refers to a comment Hansen had made in an earlier MMAWeekly interview
where he said, “I spend more time between the legs of men
[in training] than I do women.”]
Joachim
Hansen: [Laughs] That’s right.
MMAWeekly:
I know you’re a big music fan, so maybe when you’re
done fighting you can grow your hair out long and become a musician?
Joachim
Hansen: [Laughs] It takes a long time, [I had long hair] from
when I was 12 until I was 17 and I remember it takes a long time
to grow long hair. You need short hair for training, but sometimes
I miss my long hair, it makes you kind of feel like you are a
warrior from the olden age. So it’s long hair or no hair
for me [laughs].
MMAWeekly:
Good stuff Joachim, is there anything you want to say to the
fans as we head out?
Joachim
Hansen: I heard that PRIDE is coming to the States and that’s
cool that PRIDE is spreading around the world. I hope the American
people are going to enjoy it. I hope to be in the ring very soon,
it’s always great to fight in PRIDE and I hope everything
is going to work out for me and everybody else.
MMAWeekly:
Who knows, maybe PRIDE will send you over to the US to make an
appearance at October’s show?
Joachim
Hansen: [Laughs] Yeah, that would be really cool if they did
that.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
IFL
REUNITES RUTTEN & QUADROS
“The Fight Professor” and “El Guapo” return
to the air for the “IFL World Team Championship” quarterfinals
from Moline, Illinois September 23
NEW
YORK, September 12, 2006 – The International Fight League
(IFL) today announced that the broadcast team of Stephen Quadros
and Bas Rutten, considered the best and most entertaining commentating
tandem in mixed martial arts history, will be reunited as part
of the “IFL World Team Championship” quarterfinal event
at The Mark in Moline, Illinois on Saturday September 23. Quadros
and Rutten will call the matches between the IFL’s Silverbacks
and Dragons teams as well as the Pitbulls and Razorclaws and
the Superfight between legends Pat Miletich and Renzo Gracie.
The events that night will air nationally on Fox Sports Net on
Sunday, October 8, and Sunday, November 12, both at 6:00 p.m.
local time.
“There
is no doubt that Stephen Quadros is the most knowledgeable commentator
on mixed martial arts today, and reuniting him with Bas Rutten,
one of the sports’ legendary champions, outstanding coaches
and most charismatic personalities, will be a treat for all fans
of mixed martial arts,” said IFL president Gareb Shamus.
“We are very proud not only to be able to bring this pair
back together, but to also expose them to a larger sports audience
on basic cable for the first time.”
Known
as “The Fight Professor,” Quadros has been a martial
arts practitioner, teacher and trainer for over 20 years. He
has called matches for over 70 events since 1998, and is one
of the world's leading martial arts and combat sports journalists,
in addition to being an accomplished actor and musician. Rutten,
the current coach of the IFL’s Anacondas team, competed
professionally for over 20 years in various MMA disciplines,
and was a three-time champion in Pancrase (the Japanese precursor
to what is now MMA) as well as holding the Ultimate Fighting
Championship (UFC) heavyweight division title.
The
pair will be together again for the first time since 2003, when
they completed three years of broadcasting with PRIDE on Direct
TV and pay-per view. They also are the co-authors of “Bas
Rutten’s Big Book of Combat.”
About
IFL
Founded in 2006 by Kurt Otto, a highly successful real estate
investor and a life-long martial arts participant and Gareb Shamus,
chairman of the comics empire Wizard Entertainment Group, the
International Fight League™ (IFL) and Pure Sport™ were
created to establish a centralized and structured organization
that brings the power and influence of the mixed martial arts
industry together. The first full season of IFL action will begin
in the first quarter of 2007. For more information and action,
go to www.IFL.tv.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
"A
good tale is none the worse for being twice told."
French Proverb
|
Random
PRIDE thoughts
By Zach Arnold
Thoughts
after watching the Saitama event…
1.
There are no Japanese Middleweight or Heavyweight “aces”
left in this company. The promotion has done an enormous job
of staying afloat with all gaijin talent. This is the exception,
not the rule. However, eventually it’s going to catch up
with this promotion in a big way. PRIDE was hoping that Nakao
would fill-in and be a star because of his stunt with Heath Herring,
but that hasn’t worked out. Kazuhiro Nakamura has now become
the second version of Yoshihisa Yamamoto in terms of the diehard
fight fans just booing him unmercilessly throughout his fights.
Outside of Hidehiko Yoshida, this company has no one - repeat
- no one with Japanese blood who will ever likely become an ace
in their top two marquee divisions. Pancrase only lasted a few
years doing this, and they did it on a much smaller scale than
PRIDE is trying to stay at.
2. As Fight Report noted, PRIDE has major problems after New
Year’s Eve. I predicted the Saitama show would do fine,
and it did just fine. Even with their supposed mega backer in
Las Vegas, I don’t see that show doing very well at all.
First off, they are running at a 20,000-seat building (Thomas
& Mack Center). Second, it’s not attached to a casino
meaning PRIDE is paying for the costs up front (as opposed to
the casinos paying UFC a “site fee” for each show).
Third, I was talking with someone who is in the Las Vegas area
and he stated that the whole town is UFC mania. You walk off
the plane at the airport, there’s ads for UFC. You go around
town, it’s UFC. Boxing isn’t drawing a lot of attention
there (apparently) and nobody is talking about PRIDE at all.
I don’t know how PRIDE will fare going into UFC’s home
turf and trying to draw from a large population. I don’t
think it will do well at all. You can get away with charging
$700 for front-row tickets in Japan (because of who specifically
buys them - make your own guess there), but that won’t fly
in Las Vegas. More importantly, what plan does PRIDE have after
New Year’s Eve? It looks that they are going throw everything
but the kitchen sink against the wall for New Year’s Eve
to try to stay relevant as a major player in the fight business.
You’ll have Fedor vs. Cro Cop II, you’ll likely have
Barnett vs. Nogueira II, and then Yoshida vs. whatever big-name
gaijin they can muster. What’s the future for matchmaking
after these dream matches happen? You can only book so many dream
matches before people start to get tired of them, no matter how
great they are. The fight quality in PRIDE is not diminishing,
so let’s not argue against that statement. However, where
are the new stars? The new cast of characters? MMA does share
one similarity to pro-wrestling in that you have to be able to
make new stars and be able to refresh the talent base every few
years. I don’t see that happening at all with PRIDE. They’ll
likely lose big in Vegas, do OK on New Year’s Eve (but be
completely overshadowed by K-1 and perhaps Koki Kameda on New
Year’s Eve), and then have to figure out what they are going
to possibly be doing in 2007.
3. What PRIDE is doing right now is really racing against the
clock. They are rushing to try to get a broadcast TV as soon
as possible before the bottom falls out of the promotion. Most
people now know about the rumors of TV-Asahi showing some interest,
with an idea being floated around that PRIDE would change its
code name to “Condor.” However, there’s one big
problem for PRIDE for getting back on TV - Japanese stars. Takanori
Gomi isn’t going to be a super-ratings grabber for them.
Hidehiko Yoshida is the single man they have that could pull
a good TV rating. Gaijin vs. gaijin matches long-term don’t
draw high TV ratings. It goes back to problem #1 for them. PRIDE
does need a broadcast television deal, even if it is with TV-Asahi
(a network not viewed as strong as Nippon TV or Fuji TV or even
Tokyo Broadcasting System in some respects). Any sort of deal
with Fox Sports Net is not going to make up for what they were
earning with Fuji TV. Fuji TV was pouring in millions of USD
and making sure to put enough money into the PRIDE project that
it was a big-deal investment. Will they get that same kind of
deal with another TV network? Highly unlikely.
4. When PRIDE lost their Fuji TV deal, Luke Nicholson asked me
how long I think it would take before PRIDE started falling off
the radar. I told Luke that like most things in Japan, it will
take a while before anything even dies. It is not a process in
which a company vanishes overnight, but rathers dies a longingly
painstaking death. This company desparately needs TV in Japan
in a hurry to maintain what they have going. Now, if they get
back on broadcast television, suddenly everything changes back
in their favor. They can quickly erase whatever erosion has happened
behind the scenes with one TV contract. The big question to ask
right now is if you are a potential financial backer or a potential
sponsor, do you want to put money into PRIDE? Do you believe
that PRIDE is a viable operation that will give you enough exposure
and enough return on your investment? Without TV, it’s a
hard argument to make. Outside of Don Quijote, what are the major
sponsors of PRIDE right now? Compare PRIDE last year to this
year in terms of visible corporate sponsorship. In Japan, it’s
hard enough to get blue-chip companies to become sponsors of
any fight organization because of the yakuza stigmatism. Without
TV exposure and the stigmatism? Very difficult. This is why I
believe that PRIDE is desparately trying to make it in the United
States, because they want to present a strong enough image while
they can still do it to find an American (or foreign) money mark
(a sugardaddy if you want to use that term) in Vegas to keep
propping them up. Short-term, it sounds like a great idea. Long-term,
even money marks don’t like losing big amounts of cash.
Bryan
Alvarez has compared PRIDE’s situation in relation to UFC
similar to what TNA is facing with WWE in the American marketplace.
Each company has their own set of fans, but the dynamics of the
fan base are not going to change. Nothing is going to increase
for TNA or PRIDE in terms of their viewership and support outside
of the hardcore fans. Let’s look at the TNA comparison for
a second. TNA is a company that has lost an estimated $30-35
million USD (according to various wrestling writers), but is
a company that will continue to operate for a while to come because
the financial backers have invested so much money into it that
they believe eventually they will win the race against time and
start increasing their market share. In the case of PRIDE, their
overhead (fighter salaries, production costs) is significantly
higher than anything TNA is facing. TNA is paying top workers
maybe $1,000 per TV taping, whereas you have fighters in PRIDE
making $300,000 USD or more a fight. The margin for error with
PRIDE is significantly smaller.
A
more apt comparison, in my opinion, would be to compare PRIDE’s
situation to New Japan. In the mid-1990s, New Japan was making
up to $60 million USD in their peak years. A few years after
a decline, they were still making $30 million USD a year. Then
things got real bad after their wrestlers lost in shoot fights,
and the New Japan company had plenty of supporters going online
saying that everything is fine, there’s nothing to worry
about. When New Japan was undergoing it’s precipitous fall,
I clearly felt that this company was in major danger unless something
drastic happened. They were losing millions of USD and you can
only go so far, even in the yakuza-infested waters of the fight
industry, before you have to pay the ultimate price. If it wasn’t
for Yukes taking over New Japan in 2005-2006, that company would
likely be dead by now. Here was a company in New Japan that went
from making $60 million USD in 1995 to being nearly dead 10 years
later. In early 2006, Yukes came out and admitted what non-partisan
observers already knew - New Japan was in bad shape. Yukes announced
that when they bought New Japan (an estimated $2-3 million USD),
the sinkhole of a company they bought was at least $12 million
USD in debt (with unaccounted margins on merchandising, sales,
and other corporate aspects).
We
have seen many pro-wrestling companies go into massive debt before
the ‘black society’ calls to collect on the debt. The
All Japan Women’s group was estimated to be $30 million
USD in debt before they finally closed down (and one Matsunaga
brother committed suicide by leaping off a building). FMW was
at least $3 million USD before Shoichi Arai took out a life insurance
policy and killed himself so that his family wouldn’t have
to endure aggrevation from debt collectors. So there is plenty
of evidence to suggest that Japanese companies, because of the
business climate in the fight industry, can and will lose significant
amounts of cash before having to wave the white flag. This is
exactly how I see PRIDE heading in terms of future direction
unless a TV network signs a deal with them, allowing PRIDE to
be restructured as an organization. Otherwise, PRIDE will run
(on the surface) as business-as-usual but be in a situation where
the debts start to mount.
5. I think PRIDE will run at least two more “big scale”
shows (with some Bushido and Hustle shows integrated into the
schedule) before reality starts setting in (in regards to what
the company can or cannot do). What makes this an interesting
story is that K-1 itself is not a very interesting product. They
have managed to differentiate with other brands (World MAX series
and HEROs) in order to try to diversify their organization. Without
the acquisition of Sakuraba and TV, K-1 wouldn’t be a serious
player. Their corporate model is based entirely on their television
deals, whereas PRIDE was always based on live show gates. This
is why PRIDE has not folded up shop yet, whereas K-1 would have
likely folded quicker without TV.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Shields
Wins, Team Graciefighter goes 2-0
Jake Shields has won his fight over UFC veteran, Steve Berger,
by TKO early in the second round of their fight. The Team Graciefighter
representative secured a takedown in the beginning of the first
round and quickly passed Bergers guard. From there he punished
Berger with hard punches and vicious elbow strikes. Berger fought
valiantly but had no answer to Shields' superior grappling. Berger
somehow survived the first round only to have the unenviable
task of again facing Shields. In the 2nd round Berger lost the
standup flurries and was again taken down from where Shields
punished him from the mount position until the referee mercifully
called an end to the fight.
After the fight Shields stated, "I owe this to my team,
I coudn't win without them and wouldn't be where I am today without
what Cesar and these guys have done for me."
Moses
Baca outfought his opponent to earn a decision over the Frank
Shamrock representative. Moses has been getting better with each
fight and this fight showed that he is ready for the next step
up.
In
other action, Urijah Faber won his fight by TKO (cut) and 2 of
Ralph Gracie's fighters defeated their entry level competition.
In what had to be the biggest disappointment of the evening,
Shannon Ritch, tapped out again to what seemed like nothing and
astounded us as why any promoter would pay him money to lay down
for a quick buck. It was nothing short of disgraceful to the
sport.
Source: Gracie Fighter
|
Quote
of the Day
"We
must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles."
Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States
|
"The
Quest for Champions"
November
19, 2006
St. Louis High School Gym
The date is November 19th, 2006..."The Quest for Champions"
featuring Sport-pankration, Sport-jujitsu, Continuous Sparring,
and Submission grappling. Location will be Saint Louis High School
Gym. |
JON
FITCH TO FACE KUNIYOSHI HIRONAKA IN UFC
American Kickboxing Academy fighter Jon Fitch, who is 3-0 in
the UFC and is the #8 welterweight in the MMAWeekly Rankings,
has signed on to face Shooto veteran Kuniyoshi Hironaka. The
fight is set to take place at UFC 64 on October 14th.
Fitch
last saw action at Ultimate Fight Night 5 in June, where he dominated
Thiago Alves before finishing Alves with strikes in the second
round.
Hironaka
is coming off an impressive win over UFC veteran Renato “Charuto”
Verissimo by TKO in the second round at Rumble on the Rock 9
in April.
When
asked for his thoughts on fighting Hironaka, Fitch said, "It's
a tough fight. They aren't giving me any easy passes in the UFC...
I think it's going to be an exciting fight."
Regarding
the match-up of his fighting style with Hironaka's, Fitch said,
"I think we're both well rounded, but I think the only advantage
I have on him
is a little size."
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Anderson
Silva focused in the title
One
fight and one victory in 49 seconds. This was the result of Anderson
Silva at the Ultimate Fight Night, event promoted by UFC/Spike
TV. After this excellent victory, the Muay Thai star was congregated
as one of the great names of the category and as his victory,
he was called to dispute the belt against Rich Franklin really
late.
-
I worked hard on it. This is because I deserve that. I have a
MMA history. I always proved that I could dispute the belt. I
think that everything I did in my MMA career allowed me to dispute
this UFC bet - said Anderson, who will face Franklin at UFC 64
on October 14th.
The
fighter from Curitiba doesn't know Franklin's game, but he believes
in his own style to bring this belt to Brazil. "I know he
is the champion and we must respect that. I don't know his historic,
so I must be calm and do my job. I never study my adversaries
games, my trainers do that, but I think he fights better on the
feet. If the fights goes to the ground I will be ready to prove
I'm a black belt. But I think this bout won't go to the ground",
told Anderson.
Source: Tatame
|
AFP
TOP TEN FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST
This
will most likely change drastically as Pride Absolute has completed.
I do not know how you cannot rank Rich Franklin in the top 3.
HEAVYWEIGHT
1.)
Fedor Emelianenko Russia
2.) Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira Brazil
3.) Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic Croatia
4.) Josh Barnett USA
5.) Mark Hunt New Zealand
6.) Sergei Kharitonov Russia
7.) Fabricio Werdum Brazil
8.) Alexander Emelianenko Russia
9.) Tim Sylvia USA
10.) Vanderlei Silva Brazil
LIGHT
HEAVYWEIGHT
1.)
Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua Brazil
2.) Vanderlei Silva Brazil
3.) Ricardo Arona Brazil
4.) Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira Brazil
5.) Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson USA
6.) Chuck Liddell USA
7.) Alistair Overeem Holland
8.) Renato 'Babalu' Sobral Brazil
9.) Randy Couture USA
10.) Vitor Belfort Brazil
MIDDLEWEIGHT
1.)
Paulo Filho Brazil
2.) Kazushi Sakuraba Japan
3.) Kazuo Misaki Japan
4.) Dan Henderson USA
5.) Denis Kang Canada
6.) Murilo Bustamante Brazil
7.) Rich Franklin USA
8.) Matt Lindland USA
9.) Anderson Silva Brazil
10.) Amar Suloev Russia
WELTERWEIGHT
1.)
Georges St-Pierre Canada
2.) B.J.
Penn USA
3.) Matt Hughes USA
4.) Diego Sanchez USA
5.) Karo Parisyan USA
6.) Daniel Acacio Brazil
7.) Sean Sherk USA
8.) Jake Shields USA
9.) Carlos Condit USA
10.) Shinya Aoki Japan
LIGHTWEIGHT
1.)
Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro Brazil
2.) Mitsuhiro Ishida Japan
3.) Marcus Aurelio Brazil
4.) Takanori Gomi Japan
5.) Hayato Sakurai Japan
6.) Joachim Hansen Norway
7.) Tatsuya Kawajiri Japan
8.) Kaoru Uno Japan
9.) Genki Sudo Japan
10.) Koutetsu Boku Japan
FEATHERWEIGHT
1.)
Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto Japan
2.) Gilbert Melendez USA
3.) Jens Pulver USA
4.) Ivan Menjivar El Salvador
5.) Hideo Tokoro Japan
6.) Alexandre 'Pequeno' Nogueira Brazil
7.) Hatsu Hioki Japan
8.) Jeff Curran USA
9.) Mark Hominick Canada
10.) Tyson Griffin USA
Source: Fight Sport |
Quote
of the Day
"I
still have my feet on the ground; I just wear better shoes."
Oprah Winfrey, American Television Talk Show Host/Actress/Entrepreneur
|
Anniversary
of 9/11
Make sure
that you tell all the police officers, firemen and firewomen,
and military that you bump in to thanks for protecting our freedom
and keeping us and our loved ones safe.
|
PRIDE
GP FINALS REVIEW: CRO COP DOMINATES
Open
Weight Grand Prix Finals: Mirko Cro Cop Dominates, “Shogun”
Rebounds from Injury
Anticipation
for PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute was very high. After two exciting
events, this year’s Absolute Grand Prix has produced two
stellar final four match-ups. Dream Stage Entertainment, the
parent company of PRIDE Fighting Championships, put on another
great show with the quality production value that PRIDE is known
for. A new Grand Prix champion was crowned and fans were treated
to many exciting fights.
In
the opening fight of the evening, former pro boxer Yousuke Nishijima
faced off against Chute Boxe’s Evangelista “Cyborg”
Santos. The Brazilian fighter had Nishijima stunned early, throwing
hooks and knees from the clinch. Santos took the Japanese fighter
down and soon transitioned into a full mount. Nishijima showed
his inexperience on the ground and was submitted by a rear naked
choke shortly after.
PRIDE
middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva and former contender Mirko
“Cro Cop” Filipovic finally had the opportunity to
settle some unfinished business in a highly anticipated rematch.
The two fighters originally met at PRIDE 20 where the fight was
ruled as a draw due to special rules. Silva started the fight
aggressively, charging forward and throwing hooks as Mirko evaded.
“Cro Cop” looked very sharp, countering punches and
even dropping Silva with a straight left. Throughout the fight,
Mirko connected with hard left kicks to Silva’s side. His
strategy paid off when the Croatian landed one of his patented
left high kicks to the Brazilian’s head as Silva was trying
to protect his side. Wanderlei crumbled to the mat and the ref
ended the fight immediately. The loss signified Silva’s
most devastating defeat since being stopped by Vitor Belfort
early in his career.
In
one of the best fights of the evening, Josh Barnett and Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira exceeded fans’ expectations with an exciting
ground battle. Nogueira established his boxing skills early,
landing a couple straight rights. The two engaged in a few clinches
but the fight remained standing early on. A left hook dropped
Nogueira about three minutes into the round and would signify
the start of many ground transitions. Near the end of round one,
Nogueira attempted an armbar but was unable to extend Barnett’s
arm. Josh did a great job of locking his arms together. The second
round saw much of the same action with both fighters gaining
the advantage on top. The end of the fight saw Barnett almost
securing a knee bar on the Brazilian Top Team fighter. After
two exciting rounds, Josh Barnett earned a split decision in
a very close match and moved onto a third showdown with Mirko
Filipovic.
Top
Russian heavyweights Sergei Kharitonov and Aleksander Emelianenko
faced off in the evening’s tournament reserve match. Sergei
pushed the pace by walking forward while Aleksander was content
to circle around and fight from the outside. Both fighters landed
jabs early on. About three minutes into the first round, Emelianenko
was dropped by a straight right. Kharitonov consequently gained
a full mount while Aleksander held on. After a few minutes of
inactivity, Emelianenko was issued a yellow card and the fight
was stood back up. The fighters would continue to circle each
other while exchanging jabs until Aleksander landed two clean
right hands. Kharitonov stumbled to the mat and Emelianenko proceeded
to throw 20+ unanswered punches and a few knees. Though the fight
was halted shortly after, the ref should have stopped the fight
sooner.
Korean
Ssireum champion Lee Tae-Hyun made his PRIDE debut against Ricardo
“The Mutant” Morais. I felt like the two fighters conspired
to waste almost 9 minutes of my life in what was one of sloppiest
and uninspired fights I have ever seen. Morais threw looping
telegraphed punches while the Korean blocked with his face. The
fight was stopped due to Hyun’s exhaustion and a swollen
eye.
Kazuhiro
Nakamura earned a unanimous decision over Yoshihiro “Kiss”
Nakao in a rather insipid fight. Nakamura was the busier fighter
and landed the cleaner punches as well as some flying knees.
Nakao wasn’t able to offer much of an offense and take advantage
of his strong wrestling background. Neither fighter wanted to
over-commit throughout the fight which resulted in a double yellow
card issued in the final round by the ref. On a positive note,
no fighters were kissed during this fight.
Mauricio
“Shogun” Rua returned to his winning ways with a TKO
stoppage of Cyrille “The Snake” Diabate in the first
round. Rua seemed to have a difficult time landing clean shots
early due to Diabate’s height advantage. Mauricio took the
fight to the ground multiple times and was able to stomp and
soccer kick his way to victory.
Ricardo
Arona rebounded from two straight losses after forcing Alistair
Overeem to tap out from unanswered punches. It appeared that
Overeem may have forfeited due to an injury, possibly a broken
eye socket. The fight started with Alistair closing in while
the Brazilian Top Team fighter tried to create space a few kicks.
A strong low kick from Ricardo caused Overeem to lose his balance
and allowed Arona to control the remainder of the fight on the
ground.
In
the final fight of the night, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic
and Josh Barnett met for the third time in their careers. Barnett
was no match for Mirko’s superior striking and powerful
side kicks. Filipovic used his great takedown defense to keep
the fight standing. The Croatian dropped Barnett with a shot
to the body and proceeded to punish Josh with barrage of hammer
fists and straight punches. After a straight left hand, fans
saw Barnett wincing in pain as he tapped out do to an apparent
eye injury. Mirko walked back to his corner and sat down in tears.
After
his emotional victory, Mirko proclaimed, “This is the happiest
day of my life.” Winning the Absolute Grand Prix almost
guarantees “Cro Cop” a rematch with current PRIDE heavyweight
champion Fedor Emelianenko. In one of the most dominant performances
of the year, Mirko utilized his superior striking and excellent
takedown defense to dismantle two top ranked fighters. As the
icing on the cake, Mirko won the coveted crown on his birthday.
Happy birthday Mirko, you earned it.
Final
Conflict Absolute 2006 was a great show and resulted in many
exciting matches. Lee Tae-Hyun’s PRIDE debut was painful
to watch and his fight with Ricardo Morais served as the only
blemish on a star-studded fight card. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
and Josh Barnett produced a competitively close yet memorable
fight with many ground transitions. With another successful show
behind them, PRIDE looks forward to their highly anticipated
US debut.
Check out pictures and videos at MMAWeekly.com
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Anacondas
& Wolfpack Advance at IFL's Team Championship in Portland
PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 9, 2006 – The Anacondas, based in
Los Angeles, and Wolfpack, based in Portland, claimed victories
in the 2006 International Fight League World Championship quarterfinals
in front of 5,349 at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Ore.,
tonight. Local hero and Olympic Silver Medalist Matt Lindland
(Eagle Creek, Ore.) scored a second-round TKO over Jeremy Horn
(Salt Lake City, Utah) in the highly-anticipated Superfight which
followed the team competition. The Anacondas earned a 5-0 sweep
over the Sabres, who train in Tokyo, while the host Wolfpack
took out the Seattle-based Tiger Sharks, 3-2.
In
the first matchup, the Anacondas, coached by Bas Rutten, swept
past the Sabres, 5-0. Chris Horodecki (London, Ontario) battled
past Ed West (Tucson, Ariz.) to get the Anacondas off to a good
start, taking a unanimous decision at the lightweight spot. Jay
Hieron (Las Vegas) wasted no time in winning his welterweight
battle, delivering a crippling knockdown in the opening seconds
and executing a guillotine choke which caused Amos Sotelo (Tucson,
Ariz.) to submit at 0:26. Mike Pyle (Dresden, Tenn.) made even
faster work of John Cole (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), taking just
0:17 to earn the submission by guillotine choke and secure the
victory for the Anacondas. Not to be outdone, Alex Schoenauer
(Las Vegas) also registered a tap-out over Kazuhiro Hamanaka
(Tokyo) just over a minute into the first round. In an exciting
finish to the match, Krzysztof Soszynski (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
battled back after sustaining a cut above his right eye, catching
Tom Howard (Tucson, Ariz.) with an uppercut that led to a stop
by the referee late in Round 1.
“Everybody’s
learning from each other,” said Rutten in assessing his
team's progress. “That’s what you get when you train
as a team.”
Bragging
rights for the Pacific Northwest were at stake in the second
match, and the homestanding Wolfpack came out on top. Ryan Schultz
(Gresham, Ore.) and Cam Ward (Beaverton, Ore.) battled in another
much-anticipated matchup to open the Wolfpack – Tiger Sharks
clash. They didn’t disappoint, engaging in a spirited battle
which ended when Schultz delivered a flurry of punches which
stunned Ward, who could not recover before the referee called
the fight. Brad Blackburn (Olympia, Wash.) and Chris Wilson (Portland,
Ore.) continued the trend with a highly entertaining welterweight
bout, with Blackburn earning a unanimous decision to pull the
Tiger Sharks even. Middleweight Matt Horwich (Gresham, Ore.)
gained a unanimous decision over Bristol Marunde (Sequim, Wash.)
to put the Wolfpack back ahead, 2-1, before Aaron Stark (Portland,
Ore.) secured the third point with a third-round TKO over Reese
Andy (Billings, Mont.). Heavyweight Allan Goes (Rio de Janeiro)
submitted Devin Cole (Medford, Ore.) to pull the Tiger Sharks
within the final 3-2 margin.
In
the Superfight, Lindland opened the second round by landing a
left which dropped Horn to the ground. Lindland then landed several
unanswered punches before the referee stepped in and stopped
the bout.
“I
like being the main event,” said Lindland. “I love
being part of the IFL. “Team fighting – the IFL –
is the best thing going right now. These guys did a great job
tonight.”
The
Anacondas and Wolfpack now advance to the semifinal round of
the IFL World Team Championship; the date and location of the
event will be announced later this month.
In
the preliminary bouts between the teams’ alternates, Shane
Johnson of the Sabres defeated Bobby Johnson of the Anacondas
with a third-round TKO, and the Wolfpack’s Brian Foster
stopped Dustin Denes of the Tiger Sharks by TKO in the second
round.
About
the International Fight League™
Founded in 2006 by Kurt Otto, a highly successful real estate
investor and a life-long martial arts participant and Gareb Shamus,
chairman of the comics empire Wizard Entertainment Group, the
International Fight League™ (IFL) and Pure Sport™ were
created to establish a centralized and structured organization
that brings the power and influence of the mixed martial arts
industry together. For more information and action, go to www.IFL.tv.
Event
Results
Alternate Bouts:
Shane Johnson (SA) def. Bobby Johnson (AN) by TKO, 2:37 in Round
3 (ref stoppage).
Brian Foster (WP) def. Dustin Denes (TS) by TKO, 3:30 in Round
2 (ref stoppage).
Anacondas
(Los Angeles) def. Sabres (Tokyo), 5-0
LW/155: Chris Horodecki (AN) def. Ed West (SA) by unanimous decision
after 3 rounds
WW/170: Jay Hieron (AN) def. Amos Sotelo (SA) by submission (guillotine
choke), 0:26 in Round 1
MW/185: Mike Pyle (AN) def. John Cole (SA) by submission (guillotine
choke), 0:17 in Round 1
LH/205: Alex Schoenauer (AN) def. Kazuhiro Hamanaka (SA) by submission
(guillotine choke), 1:04 in Round 1
HW/265: Krzysztof Soszynski (AN) def. Tom Howard (SA) by TKO,
3:47 in Round 1 (ref stoppage)
Wolfpack
(Portland) vs. Tiger Sharks (Seattle), 3-2
LW/155: Ryan Schultz (WP) def. Cam Ward (TS) by TKO, 2:38 in
Round 2 (ref stoppage)
WW/170: Brad Blackburn (TS) def. Chris Wilson (WP) by unanimous
decision after 3 rounds
MW/185: Matt Horwich (WP) def. Bristol Marunde (TS) by unanimous
decision after 3 rounds
LH/205: Aaron Stark (WP) def. Reese Andy (TS) by TKO, 2:00 in
Round 3 (ref stoppage)
HW/265: Allan Goes (TS) def. Devin Cole (WP) by submission, 3:
in Round 1 (guillotine choke)
Superfight
MW/185: Matt Lindland def. Jeremy Horn by TKO, 0:21 in Round
2 (ref stoppage)
Bonus
Awards for the Night
1st Bracket: Anacondas vs. Sabres
Submission of the night (1): Mike Pyle, Anacondas
Submission of the night (2): Jay Hieron, Anacondas
Most exciting fight: Chris Horodecki, Anacondas, vs. Ed West,
Sabres
2nd
Bracket: Tiger Sharks vs. Wolfpack
“Heart of the Lion” award: Matt Horwich, Wolfpack
Submission of the night: Allan Goes, Tiger Sharks
Most exciting fight: Brad Blackburn vs. Chris Wilson
Source: Maxfighting
|
Imperia
Entertainment to Partner With TapouT Magazine
Imperia
Entertainment (Pink Sheets:IPRE) President James Hergott announces
today that an agreement has been finalized for a strategic partnership
between Imperia Entertainment and TapouT Magazine (http://tapoutmagazine.com/) for the MMA feature
film Never Submit (neversubmit.com).
The
agreement provides TapouT Magazine with an invested ownership
stake of Never Submit and various marketing opportunities. Imperia
Entertainment will benefit from the aggressive marketing campaign
TapouT Magazine will undertake to promote Never Submit by featuring
the movie prominently in the magazine as well as a multitude
of external endeavors.
TapouT
Magazine will provide extensive coverage of the movie beginning
with the audition process all the way through its debut in theaters.
Additionally TapouT Magazine and Imperia Entertainment will collaborate
on a cross-country bus tour promoting TapouT Magazine and Never
Submit. Stops will include a variety of well-known MMA dojos
secured as audition sites for the movie as well as visits to
a multitude of live fight shows and other special events.
According
to Robert Pittman, President and Publisher of TapouT Magazine,
“We’re very excited and proud to be a part of this
cross-country bus tour with Imperia Entertainment to promote
our magazine as well as their movie. Both companies are committed
to creating awareness about MMA and portray the sport as well
as the athletes representing it in a positive light. TapouT Magazine
accomplishes this via the pages of our full color bi-weekly publication
and Imperia Entertainment will make their mark via the silver
screen when Never Submit makes its theatrical debut.”
“Joining
forces with Robert Pittman to promote TapouT Magazine and Never
Submit for this cross-country bus tour was an easy decision to
make,” explains James Hergott, President of Imperia Entertainment
as well as writer and director of Never Submit. “We are
excited to get started with auditions as we make our rounds to
some of the top MMA facilities across North America.”
Hergott
continues, “The responses to the first seven or eight locations
secured for casting calls was so overwhelming that Imperia Entertainment
is in the midst of adding another seven or eight sites. Exact
locations, dates, times and criteria for each role we are casting
for should be available over the next ten to fourteen days. Our
expanded search for potential talent will include casting opportunities
for actors, fighters and a variety of additional forms of talent
typically associated with making movies. The tour will conclude
with the announcement of the principal cast for Never Submit.”
During
the tour several top name fighters will travel on the bus for
certain portions of the trip, holding seminars and training demonstrations
for fans at select dojos and MMA gyms. Top talent may also accompany
the tour and assist with the selection process during some of
the auditions.
The
promotional tour will be filmed and documented on TapouT Magazine’s
website and may be packaged for distribution at some point. Imperia
Entertainment will provide details of the auditions and tour
updates on the Never Submit official website recently launched
at www.neversubmit.com .
Mr.
Hergott comments; “TapouT Magazine is s top-notch publication
for the way it looks as well as for its content. The articles
are always interesting and the training tips from industry experts
are very informative. These guys don’t take short cuts when
it comes to what they provide their subscribers as well as newsstand
customers and I appreciate that kind of commitment to this industry
because it mirrors the same ethic and philosophy we have at Imperia
Entertainment.”
Hergott
continues, “This partnership is truly a strategic alignment
and we believe this venture will be very rewarding and mutually
beneficial for Imperia Entertainment and TapouT Magazine. The
tour will provide extensive publicity for the dojos and gyms
where audition and seminars will be held and our presence at
the live events to promote TapouT Magazine and Never Submit will
increase awareness for the movie and the magazine, and we cannot
wait to begin.”
ABOUT
TAPOUT MAGAZINE
TapouT
is one of the most popular brand names in MMA and is often featured
at major events and on the clothing worn by a multitude top MMA
fighters. TapouT Magazine is the only bi-weekly full color, glossy,
MMA and grappling tutorial available in the US. It includes training
columns by some of the worlds top MMA writers, fighters and coaches,
including Bas Rutten, Mike Swain, Randy Couture, Frank Trigg,
Erik Paulson and Eddie Bravo. It is also the number one and fastest
growing exclusive MMA magazine in North America.
Based
out of Cypress, California, TapouT Magazine has a paid circulation
base of 32,000 and growing at an amazing rate of an average of
500 additional subscribers and 1,500 additional newsstands each
issue. Subscriptions for the magazine are in over 15 countries
and growing. They are in all Barnes and Noble, Borders Books,
B. Dalton, Books a Million, Walden books nationwide along with
over 600 independent bookstores. TapouT Magazine is now in thousands
of locations in all 50 states including Martial Arts Studios,
Affiliates, PMG Military Sales, MMA Product Stores and Newsstands.
They have a phenomenal 82% sell through rate. As part of TapouT
Magazines new campaign they have started building one of the
worlds largest MMA stores, forums and news sections on their
website and expect millions of hits per month.
ABOUT
NEVER SUBMIT
Never
Submit is a movie which portrays the thrill of victory and agony
of defeat within the sport of mixed martial arts. It takes place
in a tournament setting similar to the movie Bloodsport but rather
than exploiting MMA as an underground no-holds-barred fighting
spectacle, Never Submit seeks to portray this sport in a realistic
and positive light. The movie will be an inspirational tale similar
to Rocky, but the lead character is an educated/intelligent young
man, rather than a beaten-down punch-drunk fighter.
Hergott
comments, "MMA is a very intellectual sport; a physical
chess match. I want to portray the sport and its fighters as
intelligent rather than dumb brawlers, as is often done in other
movies."
All
audition and sponsorship inquiries should be directed to Cindy
Ortiz via e-mail at: cindy@imperiaentertainment.com.
ABOUT
IMPERIA ENTERTAINMENT
Imperia
Entertainment, Inc. (www.imperiaentertainment.com) is a company
that has emerged as a player in the area of independent film
production and distribution, once monopolized by the major film
studios. In conjunction with its distribution subsidiary, Imperia
International Distribution, the company engages in investing
in and producing and distributing full-length feature films.
Along with its equity interest in "All That I Need"
(www.allthatineed.net), released in theaters last December, Imperia's
film properties include its feature film in post production,
"Say it In Russian," starring Faye Dunaway and Agata
Gotova, "Brothers," by Tarquin Gotch ("Home Alone"),
"Never Submit," a feature film on the subject of mixed
martial arts, "Whiskers," a family film, made by Imperia's
subsidiary, Muller Media, Inc. (Pink Sheets:MUME) and the award-winning
"Autograph" television series (www.autograph.tv), which
airs on the OlympuSAT system.
This
press release contains statements, which may constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Securities Act of
1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Those statements
include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations
of Imperia entertainment, Inc., and members of its management
as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based.
Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve
risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially
from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Important
factors currently known to management that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those in forward-statements
include fluctuation of operating results, the ability to compete
successfully and the ability to complete before-mentioned transactions.
The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking
statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of
unanticipated events or changes to future operating results.
All financial projections have been prepared by management, and
are based on assumptions as to future events and conditions which
may or may not occur. Most of these assumptions are beyond the
company's control and merely represent management's forecasts.
To the extent actual experience varies from any one or more of
the assumptions, actual financial results will differ. While
the company makes these projections in good faith, investors
are cautioned that they are based on the company's limited experience,
represent goals and objectives, and are unreliable and of questionable
value when making an investment decision.
Source: Maxfighting
|
The
BTT Tiger is Back:
Interview with Ricardo Arona
Far
from the ring since his split decision defeat to Wanderlei Silva
at PRIDE Shockwave 2005, Ricardo Arona is returning to the ring
at finals of the Open-Weigh GP on September 10th. Arona will
face Dutchman Alistair Overeem in one of the superfights, and
his motivation is high again after two consecutive upsets in
2005.
MaxFighting:
We haven't heard much from Ricardo Arona recently, where have
you been?
Ricardo Arona: I was healing injuries and resting from a busy
2005, where I fought 5 times. I had a lot of problems to resolve
this year and I used this time off to analyze how my career would
go in 2006. This was an important time for me to stay out of
the rings.
MaxFighting:
Some people thought this lay-off was your way of protesting to
Pride the fight against Wanderlei Silva?
Ricardo Arona: I was disappointed because they didn't let me
fight how I fight. I've said many times, ground is an importand
part of a fight and fighters need time to work. Pride isn't giving
this time. I took Silva down and they didn't give more than 1
minute to work my BJJ. It is absolutely impossible to submit
a top fighter in within 30 seconds. I gave my best in 2005 and
I wasn't rewarded, so my lay-off wasn't a protest, but I need
this free-time to think how I'd fight in 2006.
MaxFighting:
Did you train the same way for the 2 fights against Silva?
Ricardo Arona: I trained a lot of submission for the first fight
and for the second one I trained to not jeopardize myself on
the feet, because I thought he expected me to fight more standing.
So for the second fight, I focused on takedowns and submissions,
but my strategy turned out wrong.
MaxFighting:
You didn't have many chances for a submission?
Ricardo Arona: Like I mentioned, Silva is a top fighter, so I
needed to bring him to my field and hit him, exploring his weakness
to reach a submission.Pride didn't give me enough time to work
my plan. The fight was restarted on the feet a lot and it benefits
Silva's game. I don't have a problem fighting on the feet if
the referee lets the fight go on the ground for a reasonable
time. I know this is MMA and not Muay Thai or BJJ, but we need
to have a proper balance.
MaxFighting:
Did you follow the last few Pride events?
Ricardo Arona: Yes, and I think the factor that Fedor Emelianenko
isn't competing in the Open-Weigh tourney has opened room for
other fighters reach the finals. But I think whoever makes the
finals, deserves it. I don't see favorites; I think MMA isn't
a place for favorites. The champion will be that one that fights
better on that night.
MaxFighting:
Was this superfight at the Open-Weight Grand Prix the first fight
Pride asked you about?
Ricardo Arona: This was first real contact. They contacted me
to compete in the first stage of the GP, but I was healing injuries
and needed to rest. So with 100% of my faculties, this was the
first fight I'm going to do in 2006.
MaxFighting:
The fight against Alistair Overeem is in the 09/10 GP finals.
You two were supposed to fight in 2004, why didn't that fight
happen?
Ricardo Arona: He stated that I didn't want to fight him, but
I got sick and couldn't fight anyone, not specifically him.
MaxFighting:
He has been fighting often and developed well his game well.
How do you see him nowadays?
Ricardo Arona: He developed a good guillotine choke, and he's
more comfortable inside the ring. But I still think he's the
same fighter with a few good points; lets see how he'll face
the pressure.
MaxFighting:
Do you think his guillotine choke can be used in your favor?
In that he may take the fight to the ground?
Ricardo Arona: Well it is an option. He likes to play BJJ and
the fact is that he accepts the ground game, he doesn't avoid
it at all, so this is good because I can develop my game on the
ground. To tell you the truth, I'm not worried with anything
he can try to use against me. I'm ready and this is what matters.
I've stayed on the feet against other guys with striking abilities,
so I'm ready for everything.
MaxFighting:
Is this fight against Overeem the first step to become a middleweight
contender again?
Ricardo Arona: While I've gpt blood in my veins, the belt will
be my target. But after my last fight against Silva, I lost the
motivation because I think they favored him a lot. Silva's myth
has dropped. He's not that feared fighter that everybody likes
to talk about. In my head, I beat him twice and if the belt is
with him, of course we'll fight for the third time. Nowadays,
I want to fight against the belt holder and not only if this
is Silva. I already showed for the world Silva isn't unbeatable.
MaxFighting:
Do you believe you'll fight him again in 2007?
Ricardo Arona: If he keeps the belt and I win my fights, we'll
meet. No doubts. But Silva is part of my past, like I told you,
he doesn't scare me. I grabbed him twice and he turned from me.
MaxFighting:
Talking about your training. Somepeople mention you don't train
hard? But you've got a very particular training system; how is
it?
Ricardo Arona: I'm an introspective guy. I keep myself thinking
about my fights and my training all the time. I'm always elaborating
strategies with training such as I did with Filho, Ricardo Tatto,
Alessandro Guimaraes and others at the beginning, and then during
the final stage of the trainings, I come here to BTT. During
the whole year I keep my healthy because I practice sports when
I'm not training for a fight. Because of it, I never have problems
with stamina.People can bad mouth my formula, and it works I
feel good about it.
MaxFighting:
Is there any extra responsibility to return with a victory against
Overeem?
Ricardo Arona: I need a victory, and I'm going to try to finish
this fight. But it doesn't mean that I'll go in without a strategy.
I'll use my intelligence, and if it proposes a quick submission
I'll take it; if not I'll try to beat him by decision. But the
victory is the goal.
MaxFighting:
Last Words?
Ricardo Arona: I'll leave a message to my fans: thank you very
much for the good energy. I'll need it because Overeem is a tough
opponent, but I'll look to rock him and lets see if his spirit
is tough enough.
Source: Maxfighting
|
KICKIN
IT 2006 PART V TENTATIVE FIGHT CARD
WHAT - KICKIN IT 2006 PART V
WHEN - SEP. 16, 2006 / DOORS OPEN AT 7PM
WHERE - WAIPAHU FILCOM CENTER
MAIN EVENT
CHAVIS VICTORIA K.O.T.G TONY BILIANORA
ANIMAL HOUSE MAUI
CHAD PAVAO 145 JUSTIN WONG
HSD HMC
PAVAO WHO IS PROBABLY THE ONLY PERSON TO HAVE BEATEN TYSON NAM
IN A KICKBOXING MATCH WILL FACE ONE OF HMC'S TOP FIGHTERS. PAVAO
WHO HAS AN UNDEFEATED KICKBOXING RECORD WILL TRY AND KEEP THE
L COLUMN BLANK.JUSTIN HAS BEATEN PAVAO ON THE FIRST GOT SKILLS
EVENT BY SUBMISSION. NOW HE WILL TRY AND BEAT PAVAO AT HIS GAME.
NUI WHEELER 140 DEVIN DAMO
TEAM SOLJAH ANIMAL HOUSE
BRYANT ANTONIO 135 DWAYNE HANEY
HSD BULLPEN
BEN SANTIAGO 160 SHAISON LAUPOLA
BANGAHSVILLE TEAM RUTHLESS
RICKY MURILLO 150 PENI
TEAM DEVASTATION EAST SIDAZ
ROYCE 175 KALANI AQUIN
HSD BIG TYME FIGHT
PETERSON ANDY 155 HIAPO KOLO
TEAM RUTHLESS PAPAKOLEA FIGHT CLUB
JULIO MORENO 130 SAM FERRERA
BULLSPEN TEAM RUTHLESS
WILL HAVEN 175 WAYNE PURVEY
BIG TYME FIGHT TEAM ISLAND THUNDER
TODD YOUNG 170 MARK CREDO
VEGAS FIGHT CLUB BULLSPEN
ARNOLD BERDON 125 SAM QUEL
TEAM DEVASTATION TEAM RUTHLESS
EVAN QUIZON 125 BILLY TAKIUCHI
TEAM DEVASTATION BULLSPEN
MANA WOOLSEY 115 PAUL VARQUEZ
HSD ANIMAL HOUSE
RICHARD BERNARD 140 JORDAN FATTORA
HSD ANIMAL HOUSE
AJ BROWN 145 ERIC CHEESE
BIG TYME FIGHT HSD
KIMO KEKAHUNA 200 CLIFF NAMOC
TEAM DEVASTATION ANIMAL HOUSE
SHAWNDELYN 115 T.B.A.
HSD ANIMAL HOUSE
MATCHES AND PARTICIPANTS MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
DUE TO AN OVERAGE OF FIGHTERS WE WILL BE HAVING ANOTHER KICKIN
IT EVENT IN OCTOBER.FOR ALL OF THE PARTICIPANTS THAT WE COULDN'T
FIT ON THIS CARD.
VENUE TO BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY.
Source: Event Promoter
|
X-1
World Events
Presents
XTREME FIGHTING
Friday, October 6, 2006
Neal Blaisdell Arena
Honolulu, Hawaii
Confirmed Matches
Kimo
Leopoldo - UFC/Pride Veteran (235lbs)
VS
Wes "The Project" Sims - UFC Veteran (255lbs)
Falaniko
Vitale - UFC Veteran (Debut in the LightHeavy Weight Division
@ 205lbs)
VS
Jimmy Dexter
Mark
Moreno - X-1 Welter Weight Champion (170lbs)
VS
Thomas "Wildman" Denny - (170lbs)
Miles
Tynanas
VS
Eric "Big E" Pele - King of the Cage SuperHeavy Weight
Champion (340lbs)
Scott
Junk - (265lbs)
VS
Corey Salter - (259lbs)
Augie
"The Hawaiian Warrior" Padeken
VS
Alex Stiebling - UFC/Pride Veteran (195lbs)
Brennan
Kamaka
VS
Steve Byrnes - (185lbs)
Leticia
Pestova - (120lbs)
VS
Sally Krumdiak - (120lbs)
NOT
Confirmed Matches
Chris
West - (205lbs)
VS
Justin McCully - (211lbs)
|
|