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(All events on Oahu, unless noted)
2007
11/10/07
Aloha State
Championship of BJJ
(BJJ/Sub Grappling)
(Klum Gym UH Manoa)
10/6/07
Punishment
In Paradise 18
(MMA &
Kickboxing)
(Dole Cannery)
7/28/07
Maui Jiu-Jitsu Tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Maui War Memorial Gymnasium, Wailuku, Maui)
7/13/07
Punishment
In Paradise 17
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Dole Cannery)
6/23/06
Ultimate Fight Night
(BJ Penn vs Jens Pulver)
(Spike TV)
6/22/07
Got
Skills
(Kickboxing/MMA)
(Waipahu Filcom)
6/16/07
Hawaiian Open of BJJ
(BJJ/Sub Grappling)
(Klum Gym UH Manoa)
5/20/07
Pride
Fighting Championships:
(PPV)
(Lightweight Grand Prix)
5/19/07
Kickin it
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
4/28/07
Pride
Fighting Championships:
(PPV)
(Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV)
Maui MMA Event
(MMA)
(Maui)
4/27/07
Punishment
In Paradise 16
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Dole Cannery)
4/24/07
Professional Boxing
(Boxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
4/9/07
UFC
GSP vs Hughes 3
(PPV)
4/7/07
Got Skills
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
4/6/07
Hawaii Fighting Championships: Stand Your Ground 3
(MMA)
(Dole Cannery Ballroom)
4/5/07
Ultimate
Fight Night
(Spike TV)
3/25/07
Kickboxing Benefit Event for Mrs. Faagai
(Kickboxing)
(Waianae H.S. Gym)
3/24/07
Garden Island Cage Match
5
(MMA)
(Kauai)
3/17/07
X-1
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
Island Warriors
(MMA)
(Maui War Memorial)
3/13/07
Ultimate
Fight Night
(Spike TV)
3/10/07
Hawaiian Championship of BJJ
(BJJ/Sub Grappling)
(Klum Gym UH Manoa)
3/3/07
UFC 68
(PPV)
(Columbus, Ohio)
Kickin It
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom)
2/24/07
Pride Fighting Championships:
(PPV)
(Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV)
2/17/06
Got
Skills
(Kickboxing/MMA)
(Waipahu Filcom)
2/16-17/07
USA-Boxing Hawaii State & Regional Championships
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
2/16/07
Punishment
In Paradise 15
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Hawaiian Waters)
2/9/07
Icon Sports
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Blaisdell Arena)
2/3/07
UFC
67
(Serra vs GSP, Lutter vs Silva)
(PPV)
2/2/06
Got
Skills & Kickin' It
(Kickboxing/MMA)
(Waipahu Filcom)
1/23/07
Ultimate
Fight Night
(Spike TV)
1/20/07
IFL
(MMA)
1/14/07
NAGA Hawaii
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(St. Louis H.S. Gym)
1/13/07
USA Boxing Amateur Boxing
(Boxing)
(Palolo Gym)
1/12/07
K-1 Dynamite
(MMA)
(PPV, 5:00 PM Ch: 701)
|
|
February 2007 News
Part 3
|
Casca Grossa Jiu-Jitsu
is now the O2 Martial Arts Academy with 6 days a week training!
We are also offering Escrima (stick fighting) on Monday nights
and Kickboxing Tuesday and Thursday!
Click
here for info!
Take classes from the Onzuka brothers in a family-like enviornment! |
 
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! |
Got a question for us? Email info@onzuka.com
or click here to send us
an email.
Fighters'
Club TV LOGO ANIMATION CONTEST
Everyone
knows that Onzuka.com's loyal readers are the most talented in
the state, if not the world! (can you already see where our fluff
complement is going already?) FCTV is looking for a talented
computer graphics whiz to animate our logo for the show. Winner
receives the snazzy RAZE Fightwear shirt and whatever else we
can dig up!
Here
is our logo:
If you have seen the show, you have seen how our old logo has
been animated. We are basically looking to create a cool animation
for our new logo.
We need a long version (10 Seconds) and a short version (3 Seconds)
if possible. Also, any ideas you may have as to what to do with
it would be appreciated too.
Email
entries to: fctv@onzuka.com
Mahalo,
Mark
|
Quote
of the Day
“Today
we have done what we had to do. If necessary, we shall do it
again.”
Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004, 40th President of the United States
|
Maui
Jiu-Jitsu Tournament On July 28th!
Mark it on your calendar and start planning now! Maui's largest
BJJ tournament is set for July 28th at the War Memorial Gymnasium
in Wailuku. More information will follow as we are currently
putting together promotional material.
While there, please feel free to check out the new location of
Luis "Limao" Heredia's Maui Jiu-Jitsu Academy in the
Haiku Cannery, Unit 230, 810 Haiku Road, 96708.
|
Chuck
Liddell is insane
Today on “Bubba the Love Sponge” — a Sirius radio
program — UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell mapped
out perhaps the most ambitious fight schedule in the history
of the sport.
“The
Iceman” has dominated the UFC 205-pound division for nearly
three years. He’s also nearing the end of his career. And
if he plans on going out with a bang, consider it an all-out
nuclear detonation.
Chuck
Liddel Wants to fight…
In case you’re hearing impaired, Liddell wants Quinton “Rampage”
Jackson, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Wanderlei Silva
and Fedor Emelianenko before he calls it quits.
Source: UFC Mania/Fight Opinion
|
FISHMAN
THROWS DOWN AS UFC COUNTERS PRIDE
by Ken Pishna
 
As the turbulent world of mixed martial arts continues to swirl,
the soap opera surrounding Pride, the Ultimate Fighting Championship,
and Ed Fishman is hitting a fever pitch. Pride is readying their
second foray into the U.S. market, the UFC announced their move
into the European market, and Fishman has shown his hand ready
to buy Pride and challenge the UFC.
While
Pride is busy ramping up events surrounding tomorrow night’s
Pride 33, UFC president Dana White was busy countering by announcing
the company’s return to the UK. At a press conference in
England, White announced the signing of Mirko “Cro Cop”
Filipovic training partner Fabricio Werdum to face Andre Arlovski
at UFC 70 in Manchester on April 21 saying that he isn’t
yet done raiding Pride’s roster.
Also
announced for the UFC’s return to England were Cro Cop vs.
Gabriel Gonzaga as the main event, Brit Michael Bisping vs. Elvis
Sinosic, and Forrest Griffin vs. Ryoto Machida.
At
the same time, Ed Fishman, a recent contender to purchase Pride
if the company does in fact decide to sell, was making his own
moves to counter the UFC’s announced return to England.
As President of Pride USA, Fishman made a public challenge to
the UFC to pit each organization’s #1 and #2 fighters in
each of four weight classes against each other in a “Winner
Take All” format with both companies putting up $20 million.
The first organization to win 5 of the 8 bouts would take home
the $40 million.
“I’ve
always known that Pride has superior fighters over the UFC and
the fans unanimously agree that Pride puts on a more exciting
event. Once I fully acquire Pride FC, I intend to prove we have
the best fighters, in what is sure to be the biggest prize, not
just in mixed martial arts, but in sports history,” said
Fishman.
Adding
fuel to the fire are the constant rumors that Zuffa, the UFC’s
parent company, has also been making a bid to purchase Pride
FC while Pride president Nobuyuki Sakikabara has consistently
stated that Pride is not for sale.
Although
no resolution in clearly in site, it’s sure to be an entertaining,
if not turbulent, time for mixed martial arts.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
WEC
ANNOUNCES MARCH 24TH FIGHT CARD
by Ricardo Mendoza
The WEC will run its 2nd show under Zuffa on March 24 as they
return to The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. Three title
fights highlight the card.
In
the main event UFC veteran Jon "The Natural" Alessio
takes on F.I.T. fighter Carlos Condit for the vacant WEC Welterweight
Championship. Both fighters are coming off wins at WEC 25, Alessio
submitting Brian Gassaway with a rear naked choke and Carlos
Condit doing the same to Kyle Jensen.
In
the co-main event, WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber puts
his title on the line against Dominik Cruz. Faber is coming off
a successful defense of his title at WEC 25, where he demolished
Pride veteran Joe Pearson with elbows. Cruz is coming off a decision
victory over Shad Smith at Total Combat 18.
In
the final title fight of the night, WEC Bantamweight Champion
Eddie Wineland makes his return to the WEC to defend his title
against Chase Beebe. Wineland is coming off a decision victory
over Dan Swift at Total Fight Challenge 7. Beebe is coming off
a submission victory over Sam Jackson at XFO 14.
Several
UFC veterans are on the card as well, Joe Riggs will make his
return to the WEC as he takes on longtime Pancrase veteran Hiromitsu
Miura in a middleweight bout. Riggs is coming off a knockout
loss to Diego Sanchez at Ultimate Fight Night 8. Miura is coming
off a TKO win over Ryo Kakigawa at HEROS 7.
In
a welterweight bout, UFC veteran Brock Larson takes on famed
KOTC announcer and fighter Erik Apple. Larson is coming off a
close decision victory over Keita "K-Taro" Nakamura
at Ultimate Fight Night 8. Apple is coming off a TKO win over
Ray Elbe at Total Combat 16.
In
a welterweight bout, UFC veteran Tiki Ghosn takes on up and coming
fighter Dave Terrel. Ghosn is coming off an injury loss to Pat
Healy at WEC 19. Terrel is coming off a decision loss to Aaron
Wetherspoon at KOTC: Destroyer.
WEC
26
The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel
March 24, 2007
WEC
Welterweight Championship: John Alessio vs. Carlos Condit
WEC Featherweight Championship: Urijah Faber (c) vs. Dominik
Cruz
WEC Bantamweight Championship: Eddie Wineland (c) vs. Chase Beebe
Middleweight Bout: Joe Riggs vs. Hiromitsu Miura
Welterweight Bout: Brock Larson vs. Erik Apple
Welterweight Bout: Tiki Ghosn vs. Dave Terrel
Featherweight Bout: Cub Swanson vs. Tommy Lee
Welterweight Bout: Alex Serduykov vs. Scott Norton
Featherweight Bout: Micah Miller vs. Jesse Moreng
Light Heavyweight Bout: Brian Stann vs. Steve Cantwell
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
“Comedy
is acting out optimism.”
Robin Williams, American Actor and Comedian
|
FCTV
Episode 47 is Tonight!
Fighters'
Club TV Episode 47 is cut and submitted to Olelo programming.
It will air our normal timeslot of 7pm every Tuesday night on Olelo
Oahu Channel 52.
It will show on Jan. 23, 30, Feb 6 and 11.
Episode
47 features:
-Highlights
from the 2007 January NAGA Absolute No-GI Division,
featuring Bruno Ewald, Dave Chew, Rylan Lizares, and a few more
of
Hawaii's top grapplers.
-interviews
with NAGA promoter Kipp Kollar and MMA.TV owner, Kirik
Jenness.
-Icon
Sport highlights of Jeremy Williams (Pro Boxer) vs Ron Fields
(MMA veteran)
-Technique
of the week, Mike and Mark demonstrate the kimura keylock
-FCTVemail,
Mike and Mark go over a bunch of viewers questions so don't
miss this as it might be yours!
Please
send your Suggestions, Comments, or Questions to:
fctv@onzuka.com
aloha,
fctv808
|
Enson
Inoue Seminar In Hawaii Tonight!
Grappling
Unlimited is also selling some items to make their move a bit
easier. They are selling their boxing ring for $6,500 or best
offer, 6' punching bags for $200 each, and 80 lb punching bag
for $150. Here is a picture of their ring. I have felt the ring
and it is a fast ring and the ropes are nice and tight.
Source: Egan Inoue
|
Kickin
It 2007 Part 2
WHAT -
KICKIN IT 2007 PART 2
WHEN - MARCH 3, 2007 SATURDAY
WHERE - WAIPAHU FILCOM CENTER
IF YOU THINK OUR FIRST KICKIN IT 2007 WAS A GOOD CARD. CHECK
OUT THIS LINE UP. SOME OF THE MOST TALENTED AMATEUR KICKBOXERS
WILL BE FOUND HERE ON KICKIN IT MARCH 3RD. OTHER PROMOTERS WILL
BE LOOKING TO USE THESE GUYS TO HIGHLIGHT THERE SHOWS IN THE
FUTURE. A LOT OF THE BEST FIGHTERS COME THRU THE KICKIN IT CIRCUIT
FIRST. THIS IS WHERE THEY START A FOUNDATION. (NO FOUNDATION
- NO BUILDING).
SUNSEA FERGUSON 165 BRADLEY ARAKAKI
TEAM DEVASTATION PAPAKOLEA FIGHT CLUB
BENJI "ENDLESS" RODRIGUES 172 TODD YOUNG
HSD (6 - 1) VEGAS FIGHT CLUB (5 - 1)
JOSH BAKER 170 JON MCDONALD
EWA FREESTYLE GRAPPLING TEAM ISLAND THUNDER
RICHARDSON SUNGA 145 JERELL MUNOZ
VEGAS FIGHT CLUB HSD
TONY BELEN 160 HARRISON KOLO
INNER CIRCLE PAPAKOLEA FIGHT CLUB
JASON LOPES 185 KAWIKA PAIA
JESUS IS LORD PAPAKOLEA FIGHT CLUB
KOLOA KAHALEWAI 225 KINGSTON PATCHO
TEAM ANILAND TEAM DEVASTATION
KANA LOA 110 RIN DAO
BANGAHZVILLE BULLSPEN
PIN DAO 100 JERMICHAEL
BULLSPEN NAKOA FIGHT TEAM
RICKY MURILLO 155 CLINT KEALOHA
BANGAHZ VILLE WESSIDE CONNECTION
DIDO RODRIGUES 95 WESLEY DENIGO
WAIANAE KICKBOXING BULLSPEN
JAMES OWANA 300 OTO KAHALEWAI
WESSIDE CONNECTION TEAM ANILAND
MANA WOOLSEY 130 ISIAH MANALO
4TH ROAD KICKBOXING EAST OAHU FIGHT CLUB
KOICHI TANJI 135 TBA
HMC
TONY PERERA 140 PULL OUT DUE TO INJURY
WAIANAE KICKBOXING
DAVIN KIM 125 JULIO MORENO
FIVE - 0 BOXING CLUB BULLSPEN
JUDE 230 RANCE BROWN
TEAM DEVASTATION PAPAKOLEA FIGHT CLUB
EZEKIEL LOPES 195 BRANDON MARTIN
NAKOA FIGHT CLUB 4TH ROAD KICKBOXING
NUI WHEELER 140 RYAN LEE
TEAM SOLJAH BULLSPEN
KEITH CRESPO 125 BRANDON AMANONCE
PAPAKOLEA FIGHT CLUB TEAM DEVASTATION
MAIKA TALEIAI 150 RICHARD BERNARD
EWA FREESTYLE GRAPPLING HSD
DAVID LUI 135 SHONE KIM
HMC PAPAKOLEA FIGHT CLUB
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT ALL PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS OR CALL 699-5290.
PARTICIPANTS AND MATCHES MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
Source: Promoter
|
FRANK
TRIGG AND JAMES LEE POST-FIGHT
Since his return from a self-imposed retirement, Frank Trigg
has taken both of his fights at middleweight. In December, he
took Jason Miller’s ICON middleweight title and last night in Las Vegas, Trigg
put on a dominating performance against top ten fighter Kazuo
Misaki.
Despite
his impressive performances at middleweight, Trigg still hasn’t
made a decision to continue his career in the ring. Faced with
other career avenues, such as his position as a Pride broadcaster
and owner of his own clothing line, he is in a new position where
he doesn’t have to fight to make a living.
Last-minute
replacement James Lee made an impressive debut in Pride. Travis
Wiuff was initially slated to face Kazuhiro Nakamura, but Nakamura
had to withdraw due to a knee injury. Despite his last minute
status and some major weight cutting to make the fight, Lee was
able to take care of Wiuff in just 39 seconds.
Source: MMA Weekly |
HENDERSON
AND DIAZ STUN OPPONENTS, CROWD
LAS VEGAS, NEV. – Before an announced crowd of 13,180 at
the Thomas & Mack Center and thousands more on pay-per-view,
Dan Henderson stunned the crowd with a left hook that laid out
defending middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva, flat on his
back in the center of the ring.
The
main event played out exactly as Henderson had predicted, “I
go out there and try to knock people out, [but] both of us have
shown that we don’t get knocked out easy. It’s going
to be an exciting fight.”
Notoriously
a slow starter, Henderson shifted gears for this bout, pushing
the pace from the onset. Although Silva landed several hard shots
throughout, it was the Team Quest fighter that grew stronger
as the minutes wore on and became more effective with his striking.
Henderson sent Silva stumbling backwards after landing a spinning
backfist in the third round, then dispatched the Chute Boxe fighter
following up with the fight-ending left hook.
With
the win over Silva, Henderson becomes the first Pride fighter
to hold two championship belts concurrently in two different
weight classes.
In
a non-title bout, Pride lightweight belt-holder Takanori Gomi
and Gracie Fighter Nick Diaz put on a stunning display that had
the crowd on its feet roaring. In a slugfest, Gomi had the edge
early, but the much larger Diaz started utilizing his jab and
following up with combinations that left Gomi visibly exhausted
by the end of the first round.
In
the second stanza, Diaz was obviously the stronger of the two
in their exchanges, pushing to finish the fight. Desperate, Gomi
took Diaz to the mat, but Diaz, a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu brown belt,
a la Shinya Aoki, finished Gomi with a Gogoplata, a modified
version of the more common triangle choke.
Following
the bout, Diaz stated, “I love fighting for Pride Fighting
Championships.” With a win over their current lightweight
champ, he’s sure to see more action for the venerable Japanese
promotion seeing as how they start a 16-man Lightweight Grand
Prix tournament on May 20.
In
another light heavyweight bout, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua,
the MMAWeekly.com #2 ranked fighter in the division, withstood
the early aggression of top ten fighter Alistair Overeem to come
back and knock him out as the first round neared an end.
Overeem
was the more aggressive of the two early on, landing crisp punching
combinations and taking Rua down twice. But it would be Rua securing
a takedown of his own then diving in from Overeem’s guard
to land a right hand on the chin followed by a left to the jaw
that put Overeem out of commission.
Following
several failed attempts, American Mike Russow finally secured
a takedown of Russian fighter Sergei Kharitonov about three minutes
into their heavyweight contest. Trying to work his ground and
pound attack, Russow got caught in an armbar that, despite his
post-fight protests, had him tapping out at the 3:46 mark of
the first round.
Unranked
fighter Mac Danzig stepped into a difficult task as he faced
the MMAWeekly.com #2 ranked lightweight fighter in Hayato “Mach”
Sakurai. Though Danzig appeared to be bursting with energy and
continually moved forward attacking the veteran Japanese fighter,
Sakurai started to establish his dominance towards the end of
the first round, picking Danzig apart with sharp striking and
a couple of well-executed hip tosses.
In
the second round, Sakurai appeared to feel no threat from Danzig
as he took his time working various hand combinations and chopping
the younger fighter down with brutal leg kicks. With one minute
left in the round, Danzig again moved in to attack, only to feel
the concussive power of Sakurai’s overhand right, which
knocked him out.
In
near record time, just 23 seconds into the first round, South
African Judo champion Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou stepped up and
knocked the heavily favored Antonio Rogerio Nogueira out cold
with a left hook that laid the Brazilian out on the canvas for
several minutes.
Last
minute replacement James Lee came out firing, immediately dropping
Travis Wiuff with a straight right. Once they hit the mat, he
kept up the pace, quickly securing a guillotine choke to submit
Wiuff just 39 seconds into the first round.
Lee
later stated that he took this bout on just “48 hours notice
and had to cut nearly 20 pounds in about 13 to 14 hours to make
weight.”
Fighting
broadcaster Frank Trigg, who flirted with retirement in 2006,
fought in his second bout since making his return this past December.
No small task before him – MMAWeekly.com #4 ranked middleweight
Kazuo Misaki – Trigg dominated this three-round bout en
route to a unanimous decision victory with all three judges scoring
the bout 30-27.
Following
the bout, Trigg said, “I got hit hard in the first, and
then again in the second, and the third. But he wasn’t able
to hurt me. I just took him down and worked my game on him.”
Appearing
very strong at 185 pounds, he used to fight at 170 before retiring,
Trigg was unsure about his future in the sport. “I used
to have to fight because it was how I made my living. Now, I
fight because I want to, not because I have to. It’s not
my only source of income any more,” he mused. “We’ll
see what the future has in store.”
Highly
ranked Scandinavian fighter Joachim Hansen faced a tough battle
in the form of rising talent Jason Ireland. Although Hansen was
in control of the action for the better part of the fight, Ireland
continued to threaten with a solid striking game and some decent
takedowns, but Hansen established his dominance in a brief exchange
in the second round when he established a Thai neck clinch and
hammered Ireland with knees and nearly secured an armbar as the
round closed.
Hansen
started in with the knees again at the beginning of round three.
Ireland took him down in an attempt to defend, but Hansen locked
on a triangle choke, landed a few hard punches to Ireland’s
face and then transitioned into an armbar that he had extended
for some time, but Ireland would not tap. Though he never submitted,
the pain and forthcoming damage was evident as referee Steve
Mazzagatti stopped the bout halfway into the third round.
PRIDE
33 FULL RESULTS
Dan Henderson def. Wanderlei Silva by KO at 2:08, Round 3
Nick Diaz def. Takanori Gomi by Gogoplata at 1:46, Round 2
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua def. Alistair Overeem by TKO
at 3:37, Round 1
Sergei Kharitonov def. Mike Russow by Armbar at 3:46, Round 1
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai def. Mac Danzig by TKO at 4:01,
Round 2
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou def. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira by TKO
at 0:23, Round 1
James Lee def. Travis Wiuff by Guillotine Choke at 0:39, Round
1
Frank Trigg def. Kazuo Misaki by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27,
30-27)
Joachim Hansen def. Jason Ireland by Armbar at 2:33, Round 3
•
Pride returns to the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev.
on April 28. Their next show, however, is scheduled to air on
American pay-per-view, for the first time broadcast live from
Japan, on April 7 in the U.S.
•
Pride’s Lightweight Grand Prix tournament, featuring fighters
up to 160 pounds, was confirmed by president Nobuyuki Sakikabara
to begin on May 20 in Japan. The tournament will feature 16 fighters.
Current champion Takanori Gomi will likely participate said Sakikabara,
but may be exempt from the first round of competition.
•
Despite rumors to the contrary, an emotional Sakikabara would
not confirm that Pride is for sale. Speculation has risen lately
that both Zuffa LLC (the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s
parent company) and Pride USA President Ed Fishman are each in
separate negotiations to attempt a purchase of the financially
troubled promotion.
Source: MMA Weekly |
LAWLER,
WOLFPACK, PITBULLS WIN IN ATLANTA
DULUTH, GEORGIA – After a successful showing earlier this
year, the International Fight League traveled down to The Arena
at Gwinnett Center for another team match up event. 5,057 fans
came out on this Friday evening in Duluth to show their support
for the IFL and they were treated to a number of interesting
fights.
ROBBIE
LAWLER vs. EDUARDO PAMPLONA
This fight began with a Lawler high kick from which he slips
and falls to his back. Pamplona then attempts to secure a front
choke but Lawler escape and throws a flying knee to Pamplona’s
head. The two men remained deadlocked on the feet for the remainder
of round 1.
Round
two opens with both men exchanging punches in a neutral corner.
Almost two minutes into the round, Pamplona secured a takedown
and rained down a few decent punches before Lawler reversed him
and regained his feet. The men exchanged blows for the remainder
of the round, but Lawler had the clear upper hand near the end
of this round.
Round
three began with Lawler and Pamplona throwing simultaneous leg
kicks, neither of which landed. Shortly thereafter, Lawler caught
Pamplona with a very nice combination that clearly rocked Pamplona.
Lawler jumped in to finish the fight and threw a few more blows
before the referee jumped in to stop the fight. There was some
controversy on the stoppage, but cooler heads prevailed in the
end. Lawler wins this fight by TKO.
TORONTO
DRAGONS vs. PORTLAND WOLFPACK
In the opener, the Dragon’s Waggney Fabiano caught IFL first-timer
Ian Loveland in an arm triangle from which Loveland submitted
at 59 seconds into the first round. No doubt a disappointing
start for the Wolfpack. (DRAGONS 1, WOLFPACK 0)
The
second fight of the night was between Wojtek Kaszowski John Krohn.
Much of this round was spent in a clinch on the feet, but as
the round progressed, Krohn’s wrestling superiority seemed
to take over and he got a couple of nice takedowns before the
round ended.
Shortly
into the second round, Wojtek caught Krohn with an inadvertent
knee to the groin and the action was temporarily halted. When
the action resumed, Kaszowski landed a couple of good strikes,
but soon the fight was back on the ground. Krohn controlled the
ground game and even took Kaszowski’s back at one point,
but the round ended with both men fighting for a dominant position.
The
third round began with both men exchanging strikes on the feet.
The majority of the second and third minutes were fought on the
feet with both men searching for an opening. Krohn finally brought
the fight to the ground with a foot sweep and the fight remained
there until the final bell. Krohn by Unanimous Decision (30-27)
(DRAGONS 1, WOLFPACK 1)
The
third fight of the night was between Wolfpack fighter Matt ‘Suave’
Horwich and Dragon fighter Brent Beauparlant. This fight began
with a great standup exchange before going to the ground a couple
minutes into the first round. Horwich clearly controlled the
action throughout the entire first round and was definitely up
(10-9) on the judges’ scorecards.
The
second round began with a quick exchange and then a quick takedown
for Horwich from which he landed in full guard. Horwich immediately
went for a Kimura and secured it to get the tap at the 28-second
mark of round 2. (DRAGONS 1, WOLFPACK 2)
The
next fight of the night was between Wolfpack welterweight Mike
Dolce and Dragon fighter Jim Abrille. Dolce and Abrille circled
for about 10 seconds before Dolce landed a huge right hand that
floored his opponent. Dolce dove in for the kill to finish his
opponent at 19 seconds of the first round. (DRAGONS 1, WOLFPACK
3)
The
final fight of this team competition is between the Wolfpack’s
Devin Cole and the Dragon’s Rafael Feijao.
The
first round began with two huge men throwing heavy leather. Cole
shot in for a couple takedowns, but most of the round was spent
on the feet with the slight edge so far going to Feijao.
Round
2 began with a flurry of punches thrown by Feijao before one
of them caught Cole’s nose and noticeably dislocated it.
The referee jumped in to stop the fight but Cole continued fighting
and didn’t appear seriously injured. The fight was stopped
very prematurely because of an apparent dislocated nose. I wasn’t
aware that a dislocated nose was grounds for stopping the fight,
but that is how this one ended. Cole was still fighting for the
takedown when the fight was stopped. Referee stoppage at 0:26
of Round 2.
Team
final: (WOLFPACK 3, DRAGONS 2)
FIGHT
OF THE NIGHT ($1,000 each) – Matt Horwich/Brent Beauparlant
SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT AND FASTEST FINISH OF THE NIGHT ($1,000
& XBOX 360) – Mike Dolce
SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT ($1,000) – Wagnney Fabiano
CHICAGO
RED BEARS vs. NEW YORK PITBULLS
The first fight of this team match up was between Erik Owings
of the Pitbulls and Peter Kaljevic of the Red Bears.
This
fight started out full speed ahead right out of the gate, with
the Pitbull’s Erik Owings securing a takedown and then a
nice straight armbar. The armbar looked deep, but Peter didn’t
tap to the amazement of the 5,000-plus whom where in attendance.
Peter escaped from the armbar, but was clearly dominated throughout
the first round. Easily a (10-9) round for Owings.
The
second round started with a little hesitation by both men to
commit, before Owings scored a big slam and he landed in side
control. Erik then moved into full mount where he threw a few
hammer fists. Owings then opened up with a barrage of punches
and Peter gave his back. Erik continued to throw punches from
Kaljevic’s back, but Peter is a tough character. Owings
returned to full mount and rained close to 30 punches down on
his opponent before Kaljevic rolled over and gave Owings his
back. Owings took this opportunity and secured the rear naked
choke for the tapout. Owings wins the fight at the 3:03 mark
of round 2. (PITBULLS 1, RED BEARS 0)
The
second fight of this team competition was between the Pitbulls’
Delson Heleno and the Red Bears’ Mark Miller.
In
the opening seconds, Miller attempted a standing guillotine,
but was taken down by the very athletic Delson Heleno. The fight
now hits a bit of a stalemate from the ground, though Heleno
does succeed in landing a couple of nice right hands from the
top. Heleno passes to side control and then passed into full
mount where he rained down many nice strikes. Heleno threw the
first superman punch from the mount that I’ve ever seen
and it landed pretty squarely. Heleno definitely scores a 10-9
round, possibly a 10-8.
Round
two begins with a tie up on the feet and an eventual takedown
by Heleno. Heleno quickly passed to side control and then soon
got full mount. Heleno stood up in the mount and rained down
a few big blows before falling back into Miller’s guard.
Heleno regained mount and rained down a plethora of punches.
Miller showed incredible resilience and eventually regained his
feet, only to be taken down again and thoroughly brutalized by
Heleno.
Round
three begins with a nice flurry of punches by Miller while Delson
fought for a takedown. Delson finally got a good position and
secured a perfect slam on Miller. Miller remains dominant in
full mount and continually rains down punches but the fight is
briefly paused because of an apparent illegal elbow. Renzo is
shouting instructions at Deleno in Portuguese now. The fight
has been slow in action ever since the brief recess. Heleno resumed
scoring from the mount until the final bell rang. Miller showed
incredible toughness in this fight, but the incredibly talented
athlete Delson Heleno simply out classed him. After the final
bell rang, Heleno back flipped across the entire ring in jubilant
celebration. (Unanimous decision 30-27 for Heleno)
(PITBULLS 2, RED BEARS 0)
The
third fight was between middleweights Dante Rivera and Chris
Albandia.
Both
men felt each other out until Leopoldo took the fight to the
ground. Shortly after the fight hit the ground, Fabio secured
a front choke and Albandia tapped the mat in defeat.
Fabio Leopold secured the third win for the Pitbulls and the
score is now
(PITBULLS 3, RED BEARS 0)
The
light heavyweights are the next to fight and Rivera and Kennedy
look ready to bang. The first round starts off with the men trading
punches until Kennedy secured the takedown and gained side control.
Kennedy secured the mount where he threw some punches and remained
in control throughout the remainder of the round. (10-9) Round
for Kennedy.
Round
two begins with a quick exchange followed by a huge trip slam
for Kennedy. Kennedy postured up and took full mount but went
between full mount and knee on belly position for the remainder
of the fight throwing heavy leather in both positions, until
Rivera eventually tapped out due to strikes at 2:29 of Round
2.
(PITBULLS 3, RED BEARS 1)
In
the final fight of this team match up, Chicago Red Bears’
Mo Fowzi takes on Bryan Vetell of the Pitbulls.
This
fight began with Fowzi sprinting across the ring and refusing
to touch gloves with Vetell. Fowzi instead shook his head and
attempted a kick to the face of Vetell. This did little more
than anger Vetell and he slammed Fowzi to the ground, which prompted
the beginning of the end for Mo. As soon as Vetell hit the ground
he secured a picture perfect key lock on Fowzi at 45 seconds
of the first round. Vetell jumped up after his victory and started
screaming profanity in the direction of Fowzi, which prompted
a few tense moments with both teams in the ring before cooler
heads finally prevailed. In the post fight press conference,
Vetell apologized for overreacting at the end of his fight. He
was just angry that he stuck his hand out to touch gloves with
his opponent, but Fozi tried to kick him in the head for it.
(PITBULLS 4, RED BEARS 1)
FIGHT
OF THE NIGHT ($1,000 each) – Delson Heleno/Mark Miller
FASTEST FINISH OF THE NIGHT (XBOX 360) – Bryan Vetell
SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT ($1,000) – Erik Owings
Source: MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"I
never stop to plan. I take things step by step."
Mary McLeod Bethune, 1875-1955, American Educator
|
Island
Warriors
Saturday,
March 17, 2007
Maui War Memorial Gym
Fights start at 6 pm
Source: Promoter |
Werdum
debuts in UFC
The Brazilian to face Belarusian in London
The Brazilian Fabrício Werdum is yet another Pride fighter
to jump ship to the UFC. According to the news site Fight Network,
the Brazilian will face the Belarusian Andrei Arlovski, on April
21, in Manchester, England. Another Brazilian on the program
will be the karateca Lyoto Machida, who debuted in the cage with
a win at UFC 67. Brazil’s participation will be complete
with Gabriel Napão Gonzaga, who will face the Croatian
Mirko Cro Cop.
Regarding
Werdum’s arrival in the UFC, the president Dana White was
cruel: Pride has some very serious problems. We have already
taken half their fighters and we will take more.”
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
FIGHTER
follows Couture to Columbus
MMACLASSICS.COM invites fans of all ages to join us along with
invited guests on Friday, March 3 @ 7 PM in Columbus, OH at the
Drexel Gateway Theater for the Ohio premiere of 'FIGHTER, a documentary'
featuring Randy 'The Natural' Couture.
Join
the UFC Hall of Famer along with a plethora of Mixed Martial
Arts (MMA) fighters & celebrities as they gather on the eve
of his UFC title fight to screen this award winning film.
'FIGHTER,
a documentary', looks back to capture a slice of sports history
as Randy "The Natural" Couture chases his first Ultimate
Fighting World Championship™ Belt. The film documents the
early stages of mma in the U.S. with some scenes dating as far
back as the early 90's and "takes you deep into the world
of Couture... a man who is now considered the personification
of everything good about this sport"
Winner
of the "Best Documentary" at the FAIF Film Festival
in Hollywood, CA and the "Best Biography" at the NYFVI
Film festival in New York, NY, 'FIGHTER' provides a riveting
myriad of perspectives while taking an irreverent yet brutally
honest look inside the minds of MMA fighters.
'FIGHTER'
will be screening all weekend at the Drexel Gateway. For screening
times and tickets please got to www.gatewaytheater.com or by
calling 614.545.2255 Ext. 5
VIP
tickets (including meet and greet after the screening) are available
by email inquiry at: info@mmaclassics.com.
For
more info on 'FIGHTER, a documentary' please visit www.mmaclassics.com
Source: Pro Sub League
|
KURT
ANGLES AN MMA DEBUT AGAIN
By John Pollock
A figure that permeates throughout both professional and amateur
wrestling, Kurt Angle’s has re-emerged in mixed martial
arts circles recently.
Angle,
who earned a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Olympic
Games in Atlanta and parlayed this accomplishment into a lucrative
career in the World Wrestling Entertainment franchise, has flirted
with the idea of taking his talents out of the pre-determined
realm before.
With
a lighter schedule working with rival promotion Total Non-Stop
Action (TNA) and a recovery from numerous health issues, 38-year-old
Angle says he’s poised to enter the MMA world in 2007 with
a number of suitors courting the former Olympian. At the top
of the list, says Angle, is the newly formed Elite XC, which
enjoyed a strong debut this past Saturday on the premium channel
SHOWTIME.
“It
looks like I’m going to sign with them (Elite XC) but then
all of a sudden Dana White comes along last week and calls Dixie
Carter (President of TNA) and says ‘Why is Kurt going to
Showtime? I want to talk to him; he should be fighting for Spike,
for UFC.”
Pro
Elite’s Gary Shaw issued a “no comment” this morning
regarding any contact they’ve had with Angle. Dixie Carter,
President of TNA, who would not comment on Angle’s negotiations
with any company but did confirm that the wrestler’s TNA
contract allows him to do MMA, but only if TNA agrees it is best
for him. Inquiries to the UFC were unanswered; while Angle says
he’d need at least six to eight months of solid training
before entering the cage or ring for a mixed martial arts debut.
“I
can’t go in there with just my amateur wrestling skills,”
said Angle. “I need to learn every facet of fighting, I
need to learn how to protect myself with striking, submission
holds, some jiu-jitsu and how to strike a bit better.”
Angle
signed with Vince McMahon’s WWE in the summer of 1998, perfecting
the persona of a “cocky and brash Olympic Gold Medalist”
who was quick to point out his superiority over his fellow WWE
competitors. The transition from amateur to pro wrestling was
made almost seamlessly by Angle despite the drastically different
demands. Angle was no longer trying to defeat opponents, but
rather learn the art of “working with” athletic opponents
to create a realistic presentation to audiences ranging from
3,000 to 65,000.
Angle
brought his amateur acumen into professional wrestling and helped
raise the in-ring product of the WWE into a style that was both
applauded and respected by both peers and critics of professional
wrestling.
With
tension growing between Angle and the WWE last August, a rapidly
detiorating Angle asked to be let of his five-year contract citing
an inability to continue with the drastic schedule of close to
250 dates a year.
McMahon,
believing that Angle would be taking a rumored deal with the
PRIDE Fighting Championships, let Angle out of his deal and spun
a story that Angle was fired rather than released. Angle shocked
the entire wrestling world on September 24 when he announced
he was signing with the Nashville, Tennessee-based TNA Wrestling
venture, a distant rival to the WWE powerhouse.
Angle
is 11 years removed from active competition and with five neck
surgeries under his belt, coupled with the wear and tear on his
body from seven years of professional wrestling, the risks of
joining the MMA ranks is palpable. Angle seems undeterred, at
least in mind and spirit.
“I
know these fights could make or break me,” said Angle. “If
I have a tremendous fight, it could make me shine even more and
make me a bigger star, if I don’t, than it could have the
opposite effect.”
Angle’s
background in amateur wrestling might be his strongest asset
for the move into combat sport’s next booming industry,
with a particular role model fueling his interest.
“I’m
looking towards Randy Couture, a good friend of mine and a wrestler,”
Angle said. “He knows how to study opponents. Both him and
I are not in our prime years, but can we win? Yes, we’re
still able to go up against the best.”
Source: The Fight Network
|
Imes
to face Herring at UFC 69
Event is schedueld to April 7th, in Houston
The Hillbilly Heartthrob’ is back. After a layoff of a year
and a day come fight night, ‘Ultimate Fighter 2’ finalist
Brad Imes makes his return to the Octagon on April 7th when he
faces perennial heavyweight contender Heath Herring at UFC 69
in Houston, Texas.
The
6 foot 7 Imes, owner of a 2-2 UFC record (5-2 overall), is coming
off two losses that were anything but defeats in the eyes of
MMA fans, as he left it all in the Octagon in his entertaining
wars with Rashad Evans and Dan Christison.
Sidelined
by injury, Imes hasn’t seen any action since the April 2006
loss to Christison, but now back at 100%, the Missouri native
is ready to reintroduce himself to the MMA world with his bout
against Herring.
UFC
Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre defends his crown for
the first time against TUF4 winner Matt Serra in the main event
of UFC 69: Shootout, and the card also features a welterweight
showdown between two of the division’s brightest young stars,
Diego Sanchez and Josh Koscheck.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Thomas
Denny speaks on the postponed Gracie FC
By Bernie Calderon
Needless to say, Thomas "Wildman" Denny is unhappy.
He
was scheduled to fight Nick Diaz earlier this year for Gracie
Fighting Championships in Miami, but the event was postponed.
Months of preparation went towards an event cancelled less than
a week before fight night.
He
was then rumored to fight on March 10th against Erik Apple for
King of the Cage in Laughlin. That fight also did not come to
fruition. His opponent for that card will be brawler Richard
Solis, whom Denny has already beaten.
He
was gracious enough to take a quick time out to talk to MMAFighting.com
about his relationship with Gracie FC, his thoughts on Solis,
and his future with King of the Cage.
Q:
What have you been up to in the MMA world since your fight with
Nick Diaz was canceled?
A:
Man, eating a lot of junk food and staying as far away from a
gym as possible. My couch when I get up has an impression of
my body still, crumbs everywhere...
Q:
I for one was really looking forward to seeing you lock it up
against Diaz. What was your immediate reaction after you were
told the fight had been cancelled?
A:
Emotional wreck! I trained so hard for this fight. It was a great
opportunity. I trained through Christmas, New Year's, some other
things. I had no life for 8 weeks. I ate, slept, and trained
Nick Diaz.
Q:
Take us through your training regiment in preparing for a fighter
like Diaz? Did you do anything special in your preparations?
A:
Like I said I ate, slept, and trained Nick Diaz. I brought in
southpaws and had them mimic every aspect of Nick’s game.
Q:
What is in your Gracie Fighting Championship future?
A:
A lawsuit.
Q:
Have other fight organizations contacted you to fight for them?
A:
Right after the cancellation, I was contacted by a few but none
of the offers were what I was training for. Nick is such a different
fighter. I was prepared for him so I held off and didn't rush
into anything.
Q:
I read rumors on various forums that you were supposed to fight
Erik Apple. What happened?
A:
I think he signed a UFC contract.
Q:
According to KOTC, you are now set to fight Richard Solis again.
Why did you agree to fight someone you already beat pretty handily
the first time?
A:
I am upset about it but I don't pick my opponents. I just train
and when I get the call, I let the beatings begin.
Q:
What do you want to say to the readers that were ready to see
you fight Nick Diaz and or Erik Apple?
A:
I am sorry. I wanted those fights more than anyone so I am just
as disappointed as you guys are.
Q:
What is in your KOTC future?
A:
After everything that has happened the last couple months, I
am going back to taking each day as they come.
Q:
Is there anyone in particular you would like to compete against?
A:
Nick Diaz, Gomi, Hansen, anyone in that weight class.
Q:
What has been your most memorable fight?
A:
I get punched in the head for a living so I think I have lost
my long-term memory. So I will say "The Freak" [Tony]
Fryklund. I thought it was going to be a 3 round war. Instead
it went like 1:31 in the first round. So that is a good memory
I guess.
Q:
Are you associated with any fight camps other than your own?
A:
I have been training with a few for the last few months: Team
Quest Temecula, ATT Coconut Creek, FFA in Miami, and all the
guys at UTF. All these guys I would recommend for a great camp.
Q:
Speaking of good fighters & camps. With you being from the
High Desert in southern California, what are your thoughts on
the stable of talent that is coming from your neck of the woods?
Guys like Umar Love, Joe Stevenson, Phillip Miller, Kyle York,
Ernie Perea, Dale Breese, etc.
A:
Man there are so many guys coming from up here. MMA is such a
positive sport for people who haven't been given a lot of opportunities
in life. I have been trying to show these troubled kids a different
life, to stay out of trouble, and away from drugs and alcohol.
I teach them about self worth and having a positive outlook on
life even when the chips are down. You will walk into my school
and see all walks of life.
Q:
How did you get involved with MMA??
A:
I started with boxing as a kid, moved into kickboxing then started
watching IVC fights from Brazil and was like this is the sport
for me. No regrets...
Q:
What are your immediate and long-term goals in MMA?
A:
Competing and opening doors for my guys. I have kids that are
14 and 15 that I have been training for 4 years that will be
champs someday. Just evolving with the sport and having fun and
knocking some people out a long the way.
Q:
Explain the hair and cool outfits for your fights.
A:
Just bringing a little flair and reminding people to have fun
at what they do... Life is short...
Q:
Thank you for your time on behalf of MMAFighting.com. Anything
you would like to add in closing?
A:
Thanks to all my fans and the fans of the sport it is growing
so much bigger than I ever expected. Thanks to all the people
that keep me going, my family, my Team, and all my sponsors.
Check out www.thomasdenny.com for any additional information.
Thanks to MMAFighting.com for your interest in me.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Quote
of the Day
"Beauty
is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not
something physical."
Sophia Loren, Italian-born Film Actress
|
PRIDE
33: Second Coming Results!
A Night Of Upsets!
Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV
February 23, 2007
PRIDE
33: The Second Coming
Saturday, February 24th, 2007
Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV
Bout
#1 - Joachim Hansen (161) def. Jason Ireland (161) via armbar
- R3 2:33
Bout
#2 - Frank Trigg (183) def. Kazuo Misaki (181) via unanimous
decision - 3 rounds
Bout
#3 - James Lee (210.5) def. Travis Wiuff (205) via guillotine
choke - R1 0:39
Bout
#4 - Rameau Thierry SOKOUDJOU (205) def. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
(205) via KO - R1 0:23
Bout
#5 - Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (164) def. Mac Danzig (160)
via KO - R2 4:01
Bout
#6 - Sergei Kharitonov (242) vs. Mike Russow (255) via armbar
- R1 3:46
Bout
#7 - Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (205) def. Alistair Overeem
(205) via KO - 3:37
Bout
#8 - Nick Diaz (161) def. Takanori Gomi (161) via gogoplata -
R2 1:46
Bout
#9 - Dan Henderson (200) def. Wanderlei Silva (205) via KO -
R3 2:08
Source: MMA Fighting
|
808
Fight Factory Has A Busy March!
808 Fight Factory will be busy in March!
On March 10, in Las Vegas, Bryson Kamaka will be replacing Thomas
Denny in a World Title fight he will facing Aaon Witherspoon
current KOTC Champion. Ed Newalu will also be on the same card
fighting for the 135 World Title vs. Ryan Diaz.
On March 11, in Porterville, Fresno, Jody Mesiona, BJ Villamero
and Duke Saragosa will be fighting in Gladiator Challenge.
On March 17, in Sacramento, Paul Savea will be fighting for the
205lbs Gladiator Challenge world title and Duke Saragosa will
also be fighting a back to back fight.
Niko Vitale, Harris Sarmiento and Bronson Mohika will be fighting
on X-1 here on March 17.
808 will also be at Randy Couture's gym on the 12th and 13th
and than going over to the Xyience Center to train with Forrest
Griffin and others on the 14th and 15th before heading back to
Sacramento to fight on March 17th.
We would like to thank all our sponsors with these guys we would
not be able to get it done.
Xyience,Sprawl,Knoxx MMA,Pamalu Bed Liners,Da Hui and Swain Mats.
Aloha,
Kai
Source: Kai Kamaka
|
Fight
Opinion Weekly: Japan’s second-class fight scene
By Zach Arnold
It seems like a distant memory. In December of 2005, PRIDE announced
the most-expensive fight in the history of MMA with Hidehiko
Yoshida vs. Naoya Ogawa. At a price tag of nearly $5 million
USD, it blew away anything else happening at the time in the
industry’s landscape. It was such a hot rumor that when
Yomiuri Hochi first reported the rumor before PRIDE ever made
an official announcement, it led to DSE punishing Yomiuri in
terms of media access.
Today,
you’re very unlikely to see a fight in Japan with $5 million
USD on the line. What seemed to be attainable 15 months ago is
no longer a realistic proposition in Japan, a country that is
now relegated to second-tier status globally for major-league
MMA activity.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Shaolin
anxious for Heros debut
The BJJ black belt, Vitor Shaolin trains hard everyday while
he is waiting the date of his debut at the K-1 Heros. “I
am still waiting a hot news. The event didn’t confirm my
debut yet so I am still training hard and waiting their news.
I am pretty anxious for that. That is a new event I will participate,
so this is normal to be anxious like that”, told Shaolin,
who will spend the Carnival time training waiting his next bout
in Heros.
Source: Tatame
|
K-1
eyes US MMA market
The organization plans to hold Heroes in the land of Uncle Sam
Pride is not the only organization with its eye on taking a fat
slice of the American MMA market, now dominated by the UFC. Pride’s
rival in Japan, K-1 plans to cross the pacific and organize MMA
events on American soil. The date has yet to be defined, but
sources indicate that the Heroes (K-1’s MMA branch) debut
show should take place in May and have Brock Lesnar, well-known
wrestler, and Royce Gracie as their principle spokesmen.
“At
this time, we are fighting the UFC with a bamboo switch, but
in the future we will put our knowledge to practice and the bamboo
will turn into a samurai sword. The goal is to carry out four
pay-per-view events per year and put an end to the UFC's moment
of glory," said Tanigawa, K-1 strongman.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Interview:
MacDonald training in Albuquerque for Franklin
By Ray Hui
After just five months and two fights in the UFC, Jason "The
Athlete" MacDonald has landed himself his first marquee
fight: a bout with former UFC champion Rich Franklin.
MacDonald,
understandably, has increased his training regimen significantly.
In addition to his standard work at Mark Pavelich’s Pro
Camp and Gracie Barra Calgary, MacDonald has begun training with
one of the best teams in MMA: Greg Jackson’s Fight Team,
the home of Joey Villasenor, Nathan Marquardt, Diego Sanchez,
and Keith Jardine.
TRAINING
WITH GREG JACKSON
During
MacDonald’s previous fights with the UFC, he had the opportunity
to meet Jackson and was already beginning to consider training
with him. Once he was notified that the fight with Franklin would
take place, MacDonald knew that training with Jackson was the
next step in his career.
“Unfortunately,
living where we do, in Alberta, we don’t have the quality
and the number of training partners as I have down here at Greg
Jackson’s. So I came down here to Greg Jackson’s, to
broaden my horizons, learn some new skills, and train with some
great athletes.”
MacDonald
jumped back and forth between training with Jackson in Albuquerque,
New Mexico, and training in his home state Alberta with Pro Camp
and Gracie Barra. At the time of the interview, he was back down
for a second stint with Jackson, to spend his last ten days training
in high elevation.
NOT
A STEPPING STONE
The
bout with Franklin is, arguably, MacDonald’s first evidence
that the UFC is taking notice in him. Originally, it might have
been thought that he was brought in to showcase two popular former
Ultimate Fighter contestants: Ed Herman and Chris Leben. However,
if that was the case, neither fight turned out as expected.
Herman
lasted only 2 minutes and 43 seconds with MacDonald before succumbing
to a triangle choke, and Leben was left unconscious on the mat
in a fight that left MacDonald being called the “TUF Killer.”
MacDonald
knows that the UFC will no longer view him as enhancement for
anyone else.
“I’d
like to think that stereotype has already been broken down. After
two wins over UFC veterans that the UFC sees Rich Franklin as
a step up for me and a good match up,” said MacDonald.
FIGHTING
THE FORMER CHAMPION
Franklin
is making his return to the octagon after a brutal loss to Anderson
Silva at UFC 64 last October. Franklin suffered a broken nose
in that fight which required surgery to straighten out his septum.
Fully recovered from the operation, Franklin is looking to get
back on the winning track with this fight in his home state against
MacDonald.
“A
lot of people don’t expect me to win this fight, but I have
intentions of doing the same thing I have done in the last two,”
said MacDonald. “It’s no big secret what the game plans
are going into the fight. Rich is going to want to try to keep
it standing and knock me out, and my intentions are to, hopefully,
submit him. But it’s just who has the ability to put their
game plan in place on the night is going to come away with the
victory.”
His
submission wins over Herman and Leben put his career on the ascent.
At UFC 68, MacDonald can very well position himself as the number
one contender for the middleweight title with a victory over
Rich Franklin. Is he next in line for Anderson Silva’s middleweight
title? MacDonald said there are no talks and that is not something
on his mind. For now, he’ll leave it up to the UFC to decide
who is next for him.
"My
sole focus right now is March 3rd and getting in there and putting
on an exciting fight for the fans, and come away with another
victory. I haven’t look past what a victory over Rich Franklin
will hold for me."
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Quote
of the Day
"What
separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts
to each new twist of fate."
Donald Trump, American Business Executive/Real Estate Magnate/Television
Star
|
PRIDE
33: Second Coming Today!
Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV
February 24, 2007
Pride USA The Second
Coming
4:00 PM
Hawaii Time
Oceanic Digital Cable 701
Wanderlei
Silva vs. Dan Henderson
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Alistair Overeem
Takanori Gomi vs. Nick Diaz
Frank Trigg vs. Kazuo Misaki
Travis Wiuff vs. TBA
Mac Danzig vs. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai
Joachim Hansen vs. Jason Ireland
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. SOKOUDJOU
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Mike Russow
Source: MMA Fighting
|
O2
Martial Arts Academy's In-School Tournament Results!
O2 MAA
held its first in-school tournament and invited the other Relson
Gracie associations to help spark the competitive spirit to ramp
up for the Hawaiian Championships of BJJ on March 10 and also
for the students of the different academies to get to know each
other and help each other get better. It was good to see, as
expected, students from each academy placing.
It was a lot of fun and we want to send a big thanks to everyone
that pitched in their time and effort (often volunteering) to
help run a smooth and quick tournament.
Below are the results:
Kids White Under 115
1st Place: Devin Lee - O2MAA
2nd Place: John Hommel - Main Academy
Kids
Yellow Belt
1st Place: Brandon Saiki - O2MAA
2nd Place: Teshya Alo - Kaneohe
3rd Place: Christian Agmata - O2MAA
Women
White Belt
1st Place: Nancy Kapiko - PFC
2nd Place: Heather Eischens - Main Academy
Adult
White
Under 150
None
151-175
lbs
1st Place: Kevin Brown - PFC
2nd Place: Ryan Matsuyama - O2MAA
176-200
lbs
1st Place: Tyson Seto-Mook - O2MAA
2nd Place: Lars Chase - O2MAA
201
and over
1st Place: Donavan Kapiko - PFC
2nd Place: Robert Fisher - Kaneohe
Adult
Blue
Under 150
1st Place: James In - Main Academy
2nd Place: Matt Higa - O2MAA
151-175
lbs
1st Place: Michael Bright - Kaneohe
2nd Place: Travis Kashiwa - O2MAA
176-200
lbs
1st Place: Blaine Dorton - O2MAA
2nd Place: Guillermo Villa - Main Academy
201
and over
None
|
Enson
Inoue Seminar In Hawaii
Source: Egan Inoue
|
International
Fight League
The Arena at Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Ga.,
February 23, 2007
Wolfpack (Portland),
def. Dragons (Toronto), 3-2
155 lb: Wagnney Fabiano, Dragons, def. Ian Loveland, Wolfpack,
via submission (side choke), 0:50, 1st
205 lb: John Krohn, Wolfpack, def. Wojtek Kaszowski, Dragons,
via decision (unanimous), after 3 rounds
185 lb: Matt Horwich, Wolfpack, def. Brent Beauparlant, Dragons,
via submission (kimura), 0:28, 2nd
170 lb: Mike Dolce, Wolfpack def. Jim Abrille, Dragons, via knockout,
0:19, 1st
265 lb: Rafael Feijao, Dragons, def. Devin Cole, Wolfpack, via
TKO (strike), 0:26, 2nd
Pitbulls (New
York) def. Red Bears (Chicago), 4-1
155 lb: Erik Owings, Pitbulls, def. Peter Kaljevic, Red Bears,
via submission (rear naked choke), 3:03, 2nd
170 lb: Delson Heleno, Pitbulls def. Mark Miller, Red Bears,
via decision (unanimous), after 3 rounds
185 lb: Fabio Leopoldo, Pitbulls, def. Chris Albandia, Red Bears,
via submission (guillotine choke), 1:48, 1st
205 lb: Tim Kennedy, Red Bears, def. Dante Rivera, Pitbulls,
via submission (strikes), 2:20, 2nd
265 lb: Bryan Vetell, Pitbulls, def. Mo Fowzi, Red Bears, via
submission (keylock), 0:45, 1st
Superfight
185: Robbie Lawler def. Eduardo Pamplona via TKO (strikes), 1:36,
2nd
IFL
Standings Through Feb. 23
Team Overall Match
Pitbulls 1-0 4-1
Anacondas 1-0 3-2
Condors 1-0 3-2
Lions 1-0 3-2
Sabres 1-0 3-2
Wolfpack 1-0 3-2
Dragons 0-1 2-3
Razorclaws 0-1 2-3
Scorpions 0-1 2-3
Silverbacks 0-1 2-3
Tiger Sharks 0-1 2-3
Red Bears 0-1 1-4
Source: Press Release
|
PRIDE
33: “Second Coming” Undercard Preview
by James Hirth
PRIDE Fighting Championships makes its second stop at the Thomas
& Mack Center in Las Vegas this Saturday. Many of the Japanese
organization’s top fighters will appear on the pay-per-view
card.
Gomi,
Misaki and Sakurai represent a virtual Japanese armada against
a trio of tough Americans — Diaz, Trigg and Danzig —
intent on making the most of their opportunity.
“Shogun”
Rua fights an unnecessary rematch with Alistair Overeem (Pictures).
“Minotoro” faces Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (Pictures)
in one that has me scratching my head. And Joachim Hansen (Pictures)
takes on Jason Ireland in the opening affair.
The
card lost what promised to be a “loser drinks soup for a
week” bout between Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures) and Gilbert
Yvel (Pictures) because the Dutch heavyweight slapped around
a ref in 2004 and the upstanding state of Nevada denied him a
license to fight. Instead, Kharitonov will meet undefeated Midwest
grappler Michael Russow.
Kazuhiro
Nakamura (Pictures) injured his left knee and will likely be
replaced by James Lee, which should work nicely for Travis Wiuff
(Pictures).
We
haven’t even touched on the headliner yet. Wanderlei “The
Axe Murderer” Silva meets Dan Henderson (Pictures) in a
rematch of their thriller from PRIDE 12 in 2000.
Get
ready for a card so strong it’ll make PRIDE’s last
trip to Vegas look like a dress rehearsal.
Joachim
Hansen (Pictures) vs. Jason Ireland
If
you haven’t had the pleasure of witnessing Hansen in action,
he’s pure entertainment. Joachim looks like the consummate
bad guy in every prison film you’ve ever seen. The Oslo,
Norway native tore through the Scandinavian BJJ scene and did
some damage in the Finnfight promotion before fighting under
the Shooto banner. In just his seventh fight he took out Rumina
Sato (Pictures) with 36 unanswered punches to the head (and then,
in celebration, whipped his mouthpiece into the third row and
accidentally nailed Caol Uno (Pictures)’s mom in the forehead).
Hansen
scored a majority decision win over Takanori Gomi (Pictures)
five months later, The Fireball Kid’s first loss in MMA.
The former Shooto welterweight champion welcomes the opportunity
to trade and though he’s just 1-3 in his last four bouts,
you’ll never see a boring fight out of the Norwegian.
Though
he has been fighting professionally since 1999, most hadn’t
seen much of the “Hell Boy” prior to 2005. Fights to
seek out include his back-to-back knockouts via knee strikes
over Caol Uno (Pictures) in K-1 HEROS and Masakazu Imanari (Pictures)
in his PRIDE. Hansen (14-5-1) lost a decision to Sakurai in the
PRIDE lightweight Grand Prix, but he showed impressive skills
standing and he returned eight months later to knockout deadly
Brazilian wildman Luiz Azeredo (Pictures) in a wonderful display
of pinpoint striking.
Jason
Ireland (16-6-1) has fought professionally for seven years. He’s
a member of Team Tap Or Snap and hails from Detroit, Mich.
Fighting
predominantly in the Midwest, Ireland has faced CJ Fernandes,
Saulo Ribeiro (Pictures), Jorge Gurgel (Pictures), Dustin Hazelett
(Pictures) and Mac Danzig (Pictures), losing to all but Danzig
by submission or TKO. The Gurgel fight was seen by many on a
KOTC pay-per-view, bringing Ireland some much deserved praise.
He
went the distance with Danzig about a year ago and though he
rocked Mac with a right hand in the first round, he was dominated
for the next two rounds (especially on the mat) and could not
finish the KOTC lightweight champ in a bout for the title.
Joachim’s
intensity on the feet may be too much for Jason. The American
fights fairly well from the clinch, even employing the under-utilized
foot stomp from time to time, but his conditioning and takedown
defense are suspect and he has given up his back rather easily
in the fights I’ve seen.
All
of that will play into the hands of Hansen. “Hell Boy”
has a good ground game and runs over less confident grapplers
on the mat, but he will likely aim to keep this one standing
and pick apart his opponent on the feet. Hansen by TKO.
Antonio
Rogerio Nogueira (Pictures) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (Pictures)
Rogerio’s
play date with “The Axe Murderer” fell off the calendar
when PRIDE decided it wanted an American to challenge for the
205-pound belt. But few would’ve scoffed had Nogueira and
Silva taken to the ring.
“Minotoro”
has suffered just one defeat in the past five years and even
that bout, a decision loss to “Shogun” Rua, was voted
fight of the year in 2005. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt’s
ground skills were never questioned and his run of submission
victories early in his career showed Rogerio was indeed the brother
of “Minotauro.”
Uncertainty
surrounded the quality of his stand-up arsenal, and that weakness
was exposed during a bout against Vladimir “The Janitor”
Matyushenko in 2002. Vladdy picked “Minotoro” apart
with strikes and took the victory.
Decision
win after decision win over a three-year span gave some the impression
Nogueira would never acquire the killer instinct needed to finish
opponents with his hands. Well, Nogueira showed us, even in defeat,
that he can bang with the best light heavyweights and sports
a balanced attack in the ring. His only run at a title, a PRIDE
GP quarterfinal bout with “Shogun” Rua, could’ve
gone either way and his recent stoppage of Dutch striker Alistair
Overeem (Pictures) was the end of any doubts centering on what
he can do at this level of competition.
With
a Brazilian boxing title under his belt and a win in the South
American Games (a.k.a. ODESUR Games), Nogueira’s training
for the Pan American games continues in hopes of a shot at the
Olympics.
Rameau
Thierry Sokoudjou (Pictures) makes his PRIDE debut as a large
underdog. The 2001 U.S. Open judo champion (open-division) was
an Olympic hopeful in 2003 after knocking off Olympic silver
medalist and two-time judo world champion Shinichi Shinohara
(Thierry took the bronze). But he had visa issues and was unable
to compete.
He
comes to PRIDE with a 2-1-0 mixed martial arts record and trains
with reigning PRIDE welterweight champion Dan Henderson (Pictures)
at the Team Quest Fitness Center in Temecula, Calif.
The
ground is where Sokoudjou thrives, but his stand-up appears to
be improving. With a pair of wins over then-undefeated opponents
Sokoudjou had a solid 2006. His sole loss came at the hands of
Brazilian Glover Teixeira (Pictures) early in the first round
of their scrap in World Extreme Cagefighting.
Given
that the Brazilian’s fight game is peaking right now, I
find it difficult to envision a scenario where the newcomer can
steal a win here. Rogerio’s patient stand-up style, coupled
with an active guard, makes him difficult to control.
“Shogun”
did much of his damage by flying into Nogueira’s guard with
punches and stomps. A potent overhand right and accurate knees
from the clinch give “Minotoro” some dangerous weapons
to employ on the feet, and I don’t like Sokoudjou’s
chances in any realm of this match-up. Nogueira by submission.
Kazuo
Misaki (Pictures) vs. Frank Trigg (Pictures)
Reigning
PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix champion Kazuo Misaki (Pictures)
was out of commission for two months after winning the title
with broken ribs and an elbow tendon separation (broken ribs
are normal, I’ve had those but ugh, “elbow tendon separation”
that just screams painful even on paper).
Misaki,
a 1994 high school judo champion and the 2000 All-Japan Mixed
Martial Arts Championship winner, won three fights (two by submission)
in one night to be crowned the 2001 Pancrase Neo Blood champion.
“The
GRABAKA Hitman” has a reputation as a brawler in Japan despite
half his wins coming by way of submission. That said, he prefers
to bang and has a serious chin, which was prominently on display
in his bouts with Henderson, Acacio and in his PRIDE Bushido
debut against Jorge “Macaco” Patino.
An
accurate straight right hand and left hook coupled with excellent
head movement and reflexes make Misaki a true challenge on the
feet (Kazuo holds an eight-second KO in Pancrase). His takedown
defense is adequate and on the mat he looks to strike with some
choke variation in mind as a failsafe technique.
With
close to 30 pro bouts under his belt, including wins over Henderson,
Phil Baroni (Pictures) and Denis Kang (Pictures), Misaki returns
to the ring after a four-month absence hoping for success in
his U.S. debut.
Speaking
of absences, Misaki’s opponent Frank Trigg (Pictures) has
been away from the PRIDE ring for seven years. He even retired
and came back to fighting in that period. The American freestyle
wrestler is a four-time USA Wrestling All-American, and a 2000
Olympic Trials finalist.
In
Trigg’s lone PRIDE appearance he abused the diminutive Fabiano
Iha (Pictures) and sent him packing at the five-minute mark.
The USWF 7 tournament champion fought sporadically from 1998
to 2003, but was part of several memorable battles in Shooto
against Marcelo Aguiar (the slammin’ armbar escape), Jean
Jacques Machado (Pictures) (the blood-spurting knee to the head)
and Hayato Sakurai (Pictures).
The
battle with Sakurai, though a loss, was one of Trigg’s best.
In the first round Trigg pounded “Mach” bloody. The
American started the second strong, using his wrestling and punching
from the open guard (again forcing Sakurai under the ropes) but
an arm-locking stand-up move from Sakurai put the pair back on
their feet, where Hayato connected with a short left. They resumed
with Sakurai landing a knee from a Thai clinch before finishing
Trigg with a second knee to the face. It truly goes down as one
historic MMA bout.
Trigg
would go 3-0 in the World Fighting Alliance, winning the WFA
welterweight title in a controversial bout with Dennis Hallman
(Pictures) before making his UFC debut against Matt Hughes (Pictures)
in 2003. He is 2-3 since 2005 and returns to PRIDE after an impressive
stoppage of Jason Miller in ICON Sport this past December.
The
highly decorated wrestler has an aggressive, fast-paced style
and is always in condition. He will push his opponent while working
toward a takedown. Unfortunately Trigg has been susceptible to
submission in recent competition, with four of his five losses
coming via choke or armbar in the last four years.
He’s
become a more unpredictable fighter; he can lose by choke to
a wrestler in one event and then out-grapple a jiu-jitsu stylist
and a submission fighter in the following bouts to finish them
with strikes. You just don’t know which “Twinkle Toes”
is going to show up. One thing is for sure, Frank will always
be aggressive and he will always look to pound his way to freedom
when threatened with a submission.
Upset?
Maybe.
Trigg
is at home and Misaki is coming off an injury. Now is the time
for Trigg to make some ground. Misaki likes to use his distance
and movement whereas Trigg likes to work from the clinch and
crowd you. On the mat, Trigg’s use of elbows from side-mount
can end things quickly, but he won’t have that tool on Saturday
due to PRIDE rules. Both fighters are more effective from top
position on the ground but I feel Trigg has the home field advantage
and more to gain from this contest. Trigg by TKO.
Sergei
Kharitonov (Pictures) vs. Michael Russow
Russian
Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures) returns to the PRIDE stage on a
two-fight slide after first-round losses to Alistair Overeem
(Pictures) and Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures). The Russian
Sambo champion won an eight-man tournament in the Ukraine in
2000 and a four-man tourney in ’03, the same year he made
his PRIDE debut.
Kharitonov
was 4-0 in PRIDE, having stopped “Ninja” Rua and Semmy
“High Tower” Schilt with strikes on the road to the
PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix. Though he generally keeps his hands
low, the Russian’s left hook and repeated body punches are
his weapons of choice. Sergei has also exhibited excellent throwing
skills and puts his body into his punches for maximum striking
effectiveness.
After
losing a decision to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures), Sergei
went on to take four in a row, including a win over Brazilian
Fabricio Werdum (Pictures). With 10 fights under the PRIDE banner,
Kharitonov has been put in positions to exhibit his full arsenal.
We
know his ground skills, especially from the mount, are cause
for concern to any opponent (ask Schilt about that). After going
the distance with Werdum, Sergei’s conditioning seemed sub-par
and was certainly a factor in his back-to-back stoppages from
strikes.
The
Overeem fight was downright shocking in my opinion. Against Emelianenko,
Sergei dropped his fellow Russian with a right and dominated
the action from the mount until being stood up. Once on the feet
Kharitonov got tagged with a right hand and asked for more. He
got it. Aleksander finished his former training partner face
down on the canvas with a barrage of strikes that would put most
men to sleep. Even the Werdum fight was slower paced than we’re
used to seeing from Kharitonov, so what is he going to do in
the ring on Saturday?
Michael
Russow (3-0-1) has fought in Illinois-based promotions. The D-1
wrestler out of Eastern Illinois also has six amateur bouts and
made his pro debut last February in Master Bob Schirmer’s
Combat-do Fighting Challenge.
I
spoke with Master Bob while in he was in New York and though
Russow has left his camp, he had some positive things to say.
“Mike’s strength is his wrestling,” Schirmer said.
“His takedowns are sharp.”
When
asked about Russow’s stand-up, Schirmer replied: “His
hands have come along. He has a great left straight and jab and
his right’s not bad either.”
Russow
now fights for Team No Ego with coaches Armando Sanders, Dennis
Hughes, Kane Henneke and UFC veteran Terry Martin (Pictures).
The Flo MMA gym in Palatine, Ill. is home to the team.
“Mike
is six-foot-two, 250-pounds and we know Sergei won’t know
much about him,” said Russow’s coach Dennis Hughes.
“Mike just fought in January so conditioning is not a factor
and he’s been sparring with former UFC heavyweight champ
Andrei Arlovski (Pictures) in preparation for Kharitonov.”
The
Russian badly needs a win and was getting ready for Yvel so he
has to be hungry to go. Russow comes in on less than a week’s
notice and has never fought outside the local circuit. His wrestling
won’t be enough. Heck, excellent takedowns won’t get
you a win over a sambo fighter without some solid striking skills.
Sergei has his way here and drops a crowd-pleasing bomb on Russow.
Kharitonov by KO.
Source: Sherdog
|
Marcelo
Garcia at full force
Two-time ADCC champion shows what is in store for his adversaries
By Luca Atalla, from New Jersey
Into
the rubbish bin of history goes the story of Marcelo Garcia being
out of shape. That is the conclusion the current ADCC under 76kg
two-time champion delivered to critics this Saturday, when he
disputed a special four man tournament, in the Wayne, New Jersey
edition of Grapplers Quest.
Moving
as nimbly a cat, the Alliance instructor now living in New York
quickly disposed of Marcos Avellan with - guess what - a choke
from the back, and in the final defeated Gregor Gracie, after
opening a 22-point lead and, a few seconds from the end, obliging
his opponent to give up, as he fell victim to a choke from the
north-south position.
Still
eight kilos over the weight he will need to reach to defend his
title at ADCC, in May, and focusing (for six months, since last
Thursday) on the classes he teaches at the gym in New York, Marcelinho
barely beat Rominho Barral, at the Lutacasada event, on the 27th
of January.
"Rominho
has long legs, he closed his guard and made it hard for Marcelinho
to move," justified the fighter's wife, Tatiana Tognini.
"But they thought he was out of shape and we confirmed that.
Let them think that," joked Tati, who was relieved with
the end of Saturday's event. "Gregor is very good,"
she attested. Marcelinho agreed with a nod, and he analysed:
"He is exactly what they say he is, dangerous."
Gregor,who
would feel the pressure minutes before the takedowns, passes
of the guard, mounts, was in agreement with his brothers: "The
guy really is tough, he moves impressively," That opinion,
not without foundation, was no different from that of everyone
else in the recreational center of William Patterson University.
Or from anyone else that has ever seen the Alliance star fight.
As
an extra observation, Marcelinho 2007 comes with an accessory:
a well refined standing game. This novelty will complicate the
life of adversaries hoping to interrupt the phenomenon's trajectory
to the threpeat of the under 76kg ADCC title.
To
reach the final, Gregor earned advantages to get past the veteran
Leonardo Dalla, who, despite his rib popping out, at the final
celebrated the fact that he had lost nearly 35lbs to fight: "I
needed an objective to get into shape... I just didn't manage
to complete my plan, which was to at least win the first fight
and put on a good fight against Marcelinho. And then, who knows,
maybe be invited to ADCC. Now all that is left, if I can recover
from this injury, is to dispute the European qualifiers,"
thought the instructor living in Virginia out loud, referring
to the fact that he has Italian citizenship.
However,
he should have combined this with Gregor, who, moving beautifully
in the beginning of the fight, took his back standing, and went
for his neck. Léo needed his technique and lots of patience
to escape. But, after that playing from the bottom, he was not
able to use the rest of the fight to reverse the setback advantage.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Quote
of the Day
"Back
of every noble life there are principles that have fashioned
it."
George Horace Lorimer, 1867-1937, American Editor and Writer
|
TRIGG
LOOKS TO GO THRU MISAKI TO TOP 10
by Mitch Gobetz
Frank Trigg’s career as a mixed martial artist has had its
peaks and valleys like many other fighters. In his first fight
in the UFC, he gets thrown in against Matt Hughes for a title
shot. While he lost that fight, he came back to knock off the
guy who handed Matt Hughes two of his losses in Dennis Hallman
and then knocked off the always tough Renato “Charuto” Verissimo. At UFC 52, he rematched
Matt Hughes again. The fight was his and he had Matt Hughes almost
out, until miraculously Hughes came back to win by rear naked
choke. After a loss to now UFC welterweight champion Georges
St. Pierre, the UFC dropped him.
Trigg
picked up a win in Hawaii against the very tough
Ron Jhun, but lost to Carlos
Condit by triangle armbar three months later. Trigg then announced
his retirement and became a full time broadcaster for Pride Fighting
Championships.
Many
people felt that Trigg had plenty left in the tank and just needed
to reevaluate his game. After almost eight months, Trigg returned
to the ring, but not as a 170 pound fighter. Trigg bulked up
to 185 pounds to fight the very dangerous Jason “Mayhem” Miller. Trigg was a pretty
decent sized underdog against “Mayhem”, but he proved
everyone wrong. He beat Miller with effective striking and punished
him badly during the fight. He did something that not even Georges
St. Pierre could do and that was to stop Jason Miller.
Trigg
opened everyone’s eyes after that victory. Now for a bigger
test, he is going to take on Kazuo Misaki, the #4 middleweight
in the MMAWeekly Rankings. Misaki had an impressive 2006 with
wins over Akira Shoji, Phil Baroni, Dan Henderson and Denis Kang.
This will be Trigg’s biggest test at middleweight thus far
and it has the makings of an exciting fight.
Frank
recently joined Damon and Jeff on the Sound Off radio show to
talk about his training and preparation for the Misaki fight.
The new hot spot for training seems to be the new Randy Couture
“Xtreme Couture” gym, which is where Trigg is training.
“Just got done training at Randy Couture’s gym. He
just opened up a new gym in Vegas. There must eighteen, nineteen
or twenty high level professionals like Mac Danzig, Jay Hieron,
Mike Pyle, Randy Couture, Forrest Griffin, Eric Pele and Dan
Christison and Frank Mir,” Trigg said.
With
talent like that pushing you, you can expect that Trigg will
be ready to go. Most fighters want to go home after the fight,
but not Trigg. He just wants to go back to work. Trigg will be
broadcasting the rest of the telecast right after his fight is
done. “We’re breaking sports broadcast history,”
he explains. “It’s never been done before. Never has
a competitor commentate on the same event. It’s never been
done, ever.”
Why
would a guy who just fought on a card want to go right to work?
”When I signed with Pride, my job is a broadcaster. I didn’t
want to fight for Pride. I just wanted to be a broadcaster. They
put a good sales pitch on me, but I said I wanted to broadcast
the same night.”
Trigg
goes on to explain why he wants to commentate. “When I lost
to Hughes the second time, I felt like shit. I didn’t want
to do anything. Nici told me that I had a job to do and I had
to get my ass on the radio show on Monday morning with Ryan Bennett.
It really set me up for this.”
Misaki
is a fighter who presents problems for many competitors. Frank
broke down Misaki’s style and how he plans to beat him.
“He’s very mobile. He’s very tricky. He moves
his hips a lot. He doesn’t just come out like a Muay Thai
guy. I’ve got to take him down and pound him out. When he
gets up, take him down and pound him out some more. I believe
my hand game has come around big time. You have to stalk him.
I have to be really smart. You got to pressure him.”
This
will be Pride’s second U.S. show and also its second time
in Las Vegas where Trigg resides. MMAWeekly Radio asked Trigg
how he felt about fighting at home. “It’s so nerve
racking and so cool at the same time. I have so many friends
coming to watch me.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
The
value of records
By Tomer Chen
The
name of Rocky Marciano invariably brings up his record: 49-0
with 43 KOs. After all, Rocky is the only World Champion in Boxing
history to ever retire with such a high record without any losses
or draws to ‘mar’ it. True, there have been numerous
champions who won more bouts than Marciano (such as Willie Pep
and Julio Cesar Chavez), but ultimately they lost and their aura
of invincibility disintegrated. There are also fighters such
as Jimmy Barry and Ricardo Lopez who retired undefeated with
more wins than Marciano, but had draws on their records, which
have reduced the impact of their wins superceding Marciano’s.
And, of course, there are a number of other greats who had overall
more impressive resumes than Marciano while losing (such as ‘Sugar’
Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong & Muhammad Ali). So, the question
invariably becomes: Why does everyone dream of being the next
Marciano? What is the value of a great record?
Source: Fight Opinion
|
How
EliteXC plans on competing
By Robert Rousseau
Elite XC President of Live Events, Gary Shaw, knows the business
end of fighting. He is a former inspector for the New Jersey
State Athletic Control Commission and a well-known boxing promoter
that saw both the draw to mixed martial arts when he signed on
with Elite XC and the nature of the competition. With all of
his experience in fight promoting to fall back on, Shaw certainly
acknowledges with a quick, “yes,” that one of EliteXC’s
main competitors is literally gobbling up the competition.
How
could he not?
First
the UFC nabbed Anderson Silva. Before venturing into The Octagon,
“The Spider” hadn’t competed in front of a national
audience since December 31, 2004, when he lost by flying scissor
heel hook to Ryo Chonan in PRIDE: Shockwave 2004. Perhaps because
of this, many wondered how he’d do in his inaugural UFC
fight against Chris “The Crippler” Leben.
Nobody’s
wondering anymore. He’s now the UFC Middleweight Champion.
Then
the UFC purchased the World Extreme Cage Fighting (WEC) and World
Fighting Alliance (WFA) organizations in late 2006. With these
transactions, three fighters of significant note were acquired.
Probably the competitor that received the most press during the
changeover was Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, the last
person to defeat UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell.
However, Heath “The Texas Crazy Horse” Herring also
came with the deal, as did middleweight fighter, Ryoto Machida
(who has beaten Rich Franklin and B.J. Penn).
Both
Jackson and Machida won their UFC debuts, while Herring looked
off in a decision loss.
Then
came the UFC’s biggest signing perhaps ever: Mirko “Cro
Cop” Filipovic. Filipovic did what everyone knew he would
to then-undefeated fighter Eddie Sanchez in his UFC debut.
He
stopped him.
When
asked about any advantages Elite XC might have over the UFC,
Shaw started with the following.
“I
don’t think we have any advantages. It’s different
styles. It’s like Burger King and McDonalds; they’re
both good competitors who have good products. . . It’s what
your taste is.”
However,
when you dig a little deeper, Elite XC certainly is trying to
gain a leg up on the competition, and that starts with getting
the best fighters to compete on their venue (something the UFC
has been doing a great job of recently). Here are three ways
they seem to be trying to accomplish this.
1.
The Showtime contract- Shaw indicates that the idea for Elite
XC itself came before there was an agreement with Showtime. That
said, the Showtime contract reportedly calls for multiple cable
and pay per view shows over the course of three years.
In
other words, it doesn’t get much better for an MMA organization
than having their events aired on such a well-known national
network.
There
is no doubt that EliteXC’s first event ended in terrible
fashion when Renzo Gracie won via disqualification. Still, any
organization would’ve loved to sign that fight beforehand.
So how did they pull it off?
“I
spoke with the fighters myself,” Shaw said. “They knew
my reputation; they knew I was honest. I said, look, I’ll
put you on Showtime and we’ll blow this thing up.”
Clearly,
Shamrock and Gracie bought into the Showtime draw. More fighters
will in the future.
2.
The way Shaw and Elite XC plan on treating fighters- “I’m
a very fighter friendly person,” Shaw says. “Dana White
can speak for himself; or the fighters can speak about Dana White.
But I know that I’m very fighter friendly; I’m fighter
oriented and our organization is not only about Elite XC; it’s
about the fighters.”
A
lot of people in MMA would likely say the same about themselves,
and some would be correct. It’s hard to argue with Shaw.
He must’ve done something right with fighters in promoting
huge events like Mike Tyson vs. Lennox Lewis in the past. Further,
the fact that he’s been a part of New Jersey’s Athletic
Control Commission and a boxing promoter would seem to reinforce
the notion that he understands fighters on more than one level,
allowing him to be “fighter friendly.”
Besides,
the proof is in the pudding. “We’re allowing our fighters
to fight for other organizations,” Shaw said.
Now
that if that isn’t fighter friendly, what is? If everyone
took that kind of attitude, match ups like Chuck Liddell vs.
Wanderlei Silva and Anderson Silva vs. Paulo Filho would’ve
already happened.
3.
The females, headlined by Gina Carano- EliteXC’s inaugural
event showcased Charles Bennett’s KO victory over K.J. Noons,
as well as Antonio Silva’s TKO win over Wesley “Cabbage”
Correira. Both were exciting contests. Still, none of the fights
on their February 10th card held a candlestick to the Gina Carano
vs. Julie Kedzie encounter. It wasn’t always pretty; but
perhaps that was the draw to it.
It
was the kind of match that proves women can do this because both
fighters did some scrapping. Fact is, a lot of fans that didn’t
think they could stomach two females beating each other up have
come around just because of seeing that one fight. And Elite
XC, right now at least, seems to have a corner on the female
fighting market because of that fight.
After
all, if you were a female MMA fighter, where would you think
to fight first right now?
In
sum, the UFC is the current North American King of Mixed Martial
Arts. Further, they really have no competition in North America
just yet (though their most formidable international rival, PRIDE,
is trying to get in on the North American market).
Still,
Elite XC may be a force to be reckoned with in the future. Their
policies and connections are bound to bring good fighters into
their fold. Can they take on the UFC? Not right now, possibly
never. But if they continue with their sound business practices,
they just may stay on the radar for a while. And remember: when
you leave the underdog in the game they sometimes actually begin
to believe that they can win.
Besides,
Shaw has his sights set on something pretty big; an idea that
almost every fight fan would want to see. “We want to do
a real world championship,” he says. In accomplishing this,
he hopes to draw on fighters everywhere, not just within one
organization.
Saying
things like that makes him more than fighter friendly; it makes
him fan friendly.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
The
Early ‘07 Report Cards
by Jake Rossen
Everyone
gets evaluated. Your boss? Evaluated. The guy that sold you your
new Maytag washer last week? Evaluated. (And reprimanded, if
you didn’t buy his crummy extended warranty.) Only two people
have no one to answer to: God, and Jeff Sherwood.
Mixed
martial arts Fans may not issue formal observations*, but they
do pass judgment with their spending habits, and promotions will
find out quickly enough if their product passes inspection.
But
this shouldn’t stop anyone — like, say, a desperate,
deadline-sweating columnist — to inflict the horrors of
academia upon the industry. Unfair generalizations appear below.
*No,
forum member throwdown59, your assertion that “GSP rulz
lol” is not a viable critique.
Ultimate
Fighting Championship
Description:
North American leader in mixed martial arts and Xyience consumption.
Demographic: Raucous young males with attention deficit disorder
and the IQ of the recently concussed.
Combatants: Cards are usually top-heavy with three to four recognized,
established performers and 13-14 mid-ranked unknowns with all
the fan appeal of Frank Stallone.
Organization: Title bouts are normally based more on availability
and box office potential than any legitimate rankings system;
despite deep talent pool to draw from, perennial under-achievers
like Patrick Cote (Pictures) (1-4 in the promotion) and Elvis
Sinosic (Pictures) (1-5) are granted repeat engagements.
Demerits: Allowing top middleweight contender Matt Lindland (Pictures)
to drift away on a technicality; spending six-figure sums for
vaunted heavyweight Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) to face the likes
of Eddie Sanchez and Gabriel Gonzaga (Pictures); using veterans
Royce Gracie (Pictures), Ken Shamrock (Pictures), and Randy Couture
(Pictures) as chum for their next-generation talent.
Production Values: Smooth transitions from broadcast booth to
ring and back again. Impressive pre-fight promotional material,
including well-produced barker shows before major events, are
often successful in getting fans to choose between buying the
card and procuring imported beer.
Consumer Relations: Between the live broadcast and the DVD release,
events can cost fans upwards of $70 each, virtually a week’s
salary at Hot Topic.
Overall
Grade: B
International
Fight League
Description:
The world’s first team combat league … which does not
mean champions have to fight multiple opponents at once, as some
had previously hoped.
Demographic: The media-crazy pop culture sponges who debate the
finer points of Superman’s reproductive system.
Combatants: Talented up-and-comers (Ben Rothwell (Pictures),
Rory Markham (Pictures)); aging athletes (Mo Smith, Marco Ruas
(Pictures)) whose best days are so far behind them that their
highlight reels are in black and white.
Organization: Stringent, with team meetings based almost exclusively
on a structured season schedule.
Demerits: Lack of live television hurts any sport; team concept
tends to dull once the winners are up 3-0 in a best-of-five series.
Production Values: Solid, though the aforementioned tape delay
prompts in-fight editing and fractured televised cards.
Consumer Relations: Product relies on sponsorships to offer content
at the low, low price of free; attractive Web site made all the
better by the inclusion of “Ask Don,” a dating and
relationship column by grizzled old boot Don Frye (Pictures).
Overall
Grade: B-
PRIDE
Fighting Championships
Description:
Wildly inconsistent Japanese promotion that mixes epic bouts
like Fedor vs. Cro Cop with sideshow acts like Giant Silva vs.
Minowa and Butterbean vs. high blood pressure.
Demographic: Anime fans; future epileptics who enjoy the pretty
lights.
Combatants: A disparate army featuring the best of the best …
and Zulu, Jr.
Organization: Total chaos. Non-title fights are the norm; genetic
misfortunates are slotted in marquee bouts; matches sometimes
decided only days before an event. The car wash at your local
middle school is more carefully planned.
Demerits: Holding bouts under different rules depending on the
country hosting the event; giving pro athletes little notice;
Takada’s diapered buttocks.
Production Values: Sensational. Athletes are presented as larger-than-life
icons; staging, with its elaborate decor, is missing only a John
Williams score.
Consumer Relations: Talent-heavy Bushido events are a steal at
$8-$10 per DVD, though plans to air overseas events “live”
in the U.S. would presumably appeal only to insomniacs and serial
killers.
Overall
Grade: B
K-1
HERO’S
Description:
Oddly punctuated spectacle from Japan.
Demographic: Tape hoarders and Bob Sapp (Pictures) devotees;
pay-per-view customers who missed the first half-hour of “Girls
Gone Wild” and feel they’d be lost in the narrative.
Combatants: Japanese superstars “Kid” Yamamoto and
Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures); acromegaly sufferers.
Organization: An even bigger mess than PRIDE, if that’s
possible. Matches are arranged regardless of weight, skill level,
experience, or medical history.
Demerits: Willfully subjecting the battered Sakuraba to further
punishment, virtually guaranteeing his future need for assisted
living.
Production Values: Events tend to be in color and in focus.
Consumer Relations: Poor. Events land on U.S. outlets weeks or
months after the fact. DVDs are non-existent, forcing fans to
visit Japanese video stores and wade through shelves of tentacle
fetish videos to find wares.
Overall
Grade: C
BodogFIGHT
Description:
Self-indulgent ego stroke of billionaire online gaming mogul
Calvin Ayre, who resides on a Costa Rican compound guarded by
former Gulf War snipers. (Any similarities to “Enter the
Dragon” are purely coincidental.)
Demographic: Religious zealots who have mistaken upstart network
Ion for their beloved PAX programming.
Combatants: A mix of familiar faces (Yves Edwards (Pictures),
Chael Sonnen (Pictures)) with stern-looking refugees from Russia.
And bizarrely, Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures), a conceit akin to
shoving Tom Cruise into a movie starring Clint Howard.
Organization: Bouts are based on the moldy concept of the Cold
War, with American freedom fighters opposing the Russian automatons.
Demerits: Childish regard for opposing promoters — subtitles
once had PRIDE brass talking about their “shameful behavior”
in Costa Rica; throwing piles of money at Matt Lindland (Pictures)
to risk his neck against Emelianenko, a fight I will watch in
spite of myself.
Production Values: Surprisingly effective commentary is diluted
with cornball vignettes featuring “player” Ayre romancing
bored-looking women he picked up from central casting.
Consumer Relations: Bulk of their product is on free television,
with the odd pay-per-view thrown in when Ayre feels like hemorrhaging
cash. Makes no mention of its airdate or timeslot during commercial
or print advertising, effectively making it the “Where’s
Waldo?” of MMA programming.
Overall
Grade: C-
EliteXC
Description:
First premium-cable MMA offering from Showtime, the minds behind
the Seymour Butts reality show and the lean years of Mike Tyson.
You pick which is more embarrassing.
Demographic: Cable subscribers who don’t feel their bill
is quite large enough every month; those who absolutely need
“2 Fast 2 Furious” playing every four hours.
Combatants: Marquee names (Shamrock, Gracie) intertwined with
mid-card talent and a future star in Gina Carano (Pictures).
Organization: No titles under contention at the present time;
presence of Frank Shamrock (Pictures) virtually guarantees parade
of “He’s fighting who? I thought that guy was retired/injured/dead”
reactions.
Demerits: Kitschy fire-breathing dragon serves to introduce fighters;
lame ticking clock on the ground further promotes the Chuck Norris-ization
of the sport.
Production Values: Crisp HD presentation; inaugural event had
awkward pauses with Mauro Ranallo staring wistfully into the
camera.
Consumer Relations: Live undercard was free to visitors of the
Web site.
Overall
Grade: B-
Source: Sherdog |
Quote
of the Day
“The
greatest conflicts are not between two people but between one
person and himself.”
Garth Brooks, American Country Music Singer and Songwriter |
GOMI
READY FOR DIAZ & LAS VEGAS DEBUT
Pride Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi will make his long awaited
Pride U.S. debut on Saturday night when he takes on UFC veteran
Nick Diaz, who moves down to lightweight in the biggest fight
of his career.
Although
Gomi went 3-1 in 2006, it wasn’t the greatest year for the
first Pride Lightweight Champion. Regarded as the best lightweight
in the world, Gomi now makes his way to Las Vegas in order to
prove to the American audience that he indeed can back up his
status as the best lightweight in the world. Gomi had a horrible
start to 2006 after having a banner year culminating at Pride
Shockwave 2005 where he won the Pride Lightweight Grand Prix
by knocking out fellow card mate Hayato “Mach” Sakurai.
Now Gomi looks to put 2006 behind him and start 2007 out with
a bang by notching a victory over an established UFC veteran
Nick Diaz.
Takanori
Gomi has a 27-3 record in MMA and trains out of Team RASCAL with
Nobuhiro Obiya.
Gomi
is the #1 lightweight in the MMAWeekly Rankings. He is coming
off a devastating knockout of Mitsuhiro Ishida at Pride Shockwave
2006. Ishida looked to stand with Gomi and that was the beginning
of his downfall. Gomi landed a huge punch that dropped Ishida,
Ishida scrambled hard to get a takedown and recover but Gomi
was relentless, finishing him off with strikes a little over
a minute in the first round of their non-title bout.
Gomi
was coming off a lackluster defense of his Pride Lightweight
Championship at Pride Bushido 13 against the man who defeated
him to begin 2006, Marcus Aurelio. In what was easily Gomi’s
worst performance from an entertainment aspect in Pride, he barley
outworked Aurelio to take home a split decision in a boring fight.
At
Pride Bushido 12, Gomi submitted largely unknown French lightweight
David Baron. Gomi outworked Baron on the feet with crisper punches
and nice body shots. Once the fight hit the ground Gomi was able
to secure a rear naked choke to get a much-needed win after losing
for the first time in Pride.
Marcus
Aurelio upset Gomi at Pride Bushido 10 in his first fight as
Pride Lightweight Champion. A non-title fight, Gomi looked to
be unprepared and not in his best fighting shape. Aurelio got
the fight on the ground and was able to finish Gomi with a side
choke in the first round.
Gomi
is an incredible 13-1 in Pride, but after becoming the Pride
Lightweight Champion it seemed that he had lost some of the motivation
that helped him get there. He now has a new challenge ahead of
him, which is to conquer the hearts and imagination of American
fight fans.
Gomi
doesn’t see Nick Diaz as a UFC fighter, but sees him as
a jiu-jitsu fighter and a Shooto fighter even though Diaz fought
only once in Shooto, losing a decision to Kuniyoshi Hironaka
back in 2002. After the fight was announced Gomi made several
statements on his future and preparation for the fight. “The
past is the past. I’m already thinking about the future”.
He
resumed training on Jan. 9, which includes training with the
Kokushikan University wrestling club, which also helped him to
prepare for his last fight. “I’m making my body stronger,
so I will be able to fight even stronger foreigners”. Diaz
certainly fits the description, seeing as he will likely be the
bigger fighter Saturday night having fought at welterweight for
his entire career.
Diaz
hopes that a move down to lightweight will propel him to the
next big step in his career and a win over Gomi will no doubt
do that for him. Gomi has stated that he would like to fight
overseas for the first half of the year and lead the charge into
America for Pride. On Saturday night, American fans will be treated
to a show as they get the pleasure to see Takanori Gomi up close
and personal against a fighter that will no doubt bring the best
out in Gomi, in what should be an exciting fight.
Source: MMA Weekly |
JOACHIM
HANSEN SET FOR HIS U.S. RETURN
It's safe to say that 2006 was probably a year that Pride lightweight
standout Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen would like to forget.
After
starting out the year no contesting Tatsuya Kawajiri in Shooto
due to an accidental groin kick, things started to look up as
Hansen had an impressive win over Chute Boxe fighter Luiz Azeredo
in his first PRIDE fight of the year, but then things went awry.
After
spending much of the remainder of the year on the shelf due to
a contractual issue, Hansen then returned at Shockwave 2006 to
face not the man he had wanted to fight, PRIDE Lightweight Champion
Takanori Gomi, but instead the less heralded Shinya Aoki, and
lost via a rare submission just two minutes into the bout.
Needless
to say that when the clock struck midnight later in the evening,
ushering in a new year, Joachim was ready for a change, and now
at PRIDE: The Second Coming on February 24th in Las Vegas, he
will have his opportunity for rebirth and redemption.
“I’ve
been training hard,” said Hansen of what he’s been
up to since his upset loss to Aoki. “I’ve been focusing
on what I did wrong last time. I feel in good shape [and have
been] staying healthy.”
The
#7 Lightweight in the MMAWeekly Rankings further commented with
a chuckle, “I hope I don’t get caught in a gogoplata
ever again. So I’ve been working on my ground game.”
While
he is able to make light of what happened to him at Shockwave
2006, Hansen is focused on returning to the top of the lightweight
division, starting with his match on Saturday against American
Jason Ireland.
“I
don’t know what to expect from my opponent, because I don’t
know anything about him,” admitted Joachim of Ireland. “All
I have is rumors I’ve heard; like that he’s a very
tough guy. I’ll take it from there, even if I don’t
get any more information; I expect it to be a tough fight.”
“I’m
ready for whatever. I have to control the fight and find out
about him in the fight. I’m not stressed about anything;
I’ll try to read him during the fight,” continued Hansen.
After
being one of the most buzzed about fighters for years and having
initial success in PRIDE, Joachim’s disappointing 2006 led
to the question of whether or not he feels pressure to regain
what he had lost after such a rough campaign last year.
“Nah,
I don’t feel any pressure,” replied Hansen calmly.
“Of course, I hope to have a good fight for myself, the
audience and PRIDE. I’ll do the best that I can to make
sure that’s going to happen.”
Joachim’s
fight in Las Vegas marks the first time the Scandinavian has
stepped onto American soil for a fight since late 2004 for the
MFC promotion, his only other appearance in the US. Returning
to the States to fight is something that Hansen has been anticipating
for some time.
“I
think it’s going to be totally different from Japan,”
Joachim. “I’ve never been to Las Vegas, but I like
to go to new places and meet new people, so I’m looking
forward to it.”
Hansen
added, “I hope to put on a good fight in front of all the
American fans. I really don’t know what to expect from a
big American crowd, but I hope everything goes well and that
I, and they, enjoy the fight.”
One
thing’s for sure however, the warm, sunny climate of Las
Vegas will be a much welcomed change from inclement weather of
Joachim’s native Norway.
“It’s
always business, it’s not a vacation,” commented Hansen.
“I’m going over there to do a job. It never feels like
a vacation when I go to a fight, but I need it [a change of scenery]
now. It’s cold and dark here, so it will be nice.”
“I’m
not going to gamble though. I’m maybe going to walk around
a little and go to the pool and look at the girls,” continued
Joachim with a laugh.
Should
all go well against Jason Ireland this Saturday, Hansen appears
to be headed towards this year’s Lightweight Grand Prix,
and possibly then a match-up with the fighter he’s been
after for the last two years.
“The
main goal is to win this fight I’m going to now and of course
get into the Grand Prix, that’s important,” exclaimed
Hansen. “Of course you never know what’s going to happen,
so I’m focused on this fight now.”
Joachim
added, “I want to fight Gomi and I think the Japanese audience
wants to see that happen. All I can do is, do my best to beat
my opponents and get to Gomi. I really want to fight him and
the best thing that can happen is if I meet him in the Finals
of the Grand Prix.”
With
last year behind him and his focus affixed firmly on his task
at hand, Hansen, currently ranked #7 in the MMAWeekly.com top
ten, hopes to make 2007 the year he once again stands atop the
lightweight division and he urges everyone to check out PRIDE:
The Second Coming in Las Vegas or on PPV on Saturday, February
24th.
“I’m
hoping to have a good fight and I want to put on a good show
for the American audience,” concluded Joachim. “I’d
like to thank my sparring partners, trainers and the Ølmuf
Boxing Academy; they’re the oldest boxing gym in Norway
and have been helping me out, so I want to thank everyone there.
I want to also thank my brother for helping me out and my friends.”
Source: MMA Weekly |
EXCLUSIVE:
UK'S PAUL DALEY PASSES ON UFC
It’s all change in the life of rising British superstar
Paul “Semtex” Daley, current FX3 and Cage Rage British
Welterweight Champion. With much speculation about his future
in the sport and his move to the international stage, MMAWeekly
can exclusively confirm that Semtex has inked a contract with
Elite XC fighting.
Semtex
defines the Elite XC deal as an obvious choice for himself, with
clear benefits for him going forward, “The contract is a
one-year deal for 3 fights, the first of which is in negotiations
for May or July, most likely to be July because of the state
commission over there and the fact that I will be defending my
Cage Rage British Welterweight title on the 21st of April.”
Sounds
interesting, but has the UK lost one of its most exciting fighters
to the US? Not necessarily, one of the main reasons for inking
with Elite XC is the flexibility involved, here’s the Semtex
view, “The contract also allows me to fight for other organizations,
which means I can be much more active as a fighter. I can still
defend my FX3 title, my Cage Rage belt and possibly make a return
to Pancrase. There is also the possibility of fighting on more
US promotions. Elite will give me a lot of exposure in the US.
Once the fans see me smash someone up, I'm sure to be in high
demand!”
So
why sign with Elite XC over the tabled offer from the UFC? “The
deal gives me the flexibility to grow even further. Elite has
the intention of continuing to helping me develop as a fighter,
in skill and character. I will be the Elite XC champion. I am
training hard for this”
So,
with the UFC over in the UK going head to head with Cage Rage
on contract signings, it appears that Elite XC have stolen a
march by securing the cream of the British scene. How did the
deal come about? “A Friend/Coach of mine Chris Reilly at
the Bomb Squad Gym, now Legends MMA, put me in contact with the
WFA. That offer fell through. When we heard the some of the staff
had gone to Elite XC, we got in contact with those that we knew
and they hooked us up”
In
closing, Semtex is very excited about securing his future but
for the moment it’s a case of heads down and focus on the
first hurdle. With this news breaking, Semtex is aware that he
will be viewed as a big target until his debut. First in line
for his will be Daniel Weichel, European Vale Tudo and King of
the Cage Veteran at FX3 on the 10th of March in Reading and after
that Wolfslair Ground and Pound machine Paul Kelly at Cage Rage
on the 21st of April.
With
Semtex moving from Nottingham down to Kent and upcoming fights
and contract negotiations, you have to wonder how training is
going. “I am still part of the Team Rough House, and will
always be, this is my family.” He continued, “I want
to be that Jeremy Horn type character, one that travels and trains,
and seeks out the best for the development of fighting skill
in this arena; a true traveling warrior. There's much more to
MMA than the fighting and the fame, etc. I am still a martial
artist at heart and follow that old image.”
“I
am training with New Thai Coach Maz Panzino. He is awesome, trained
in Thailand, by true Thai champions and has fought at Lumpinni
many times. My conditioning is done by my trusty coach, Sunny
Dhoalki. For BJJ/Wrestling I am still making the three-hour trip
to Nottingham to train with Rough House and BJJ/Wrestling Coach
Lee Livingstone.”
“As
for Holland/Mike's Gym and ATT, they are really awesome places
to train, and I will continue, when time and money permits to
train there when possible. I have had great experience and learned
so much from these camps.”
Paul's
management is current looking for major US sponsorship deals.
For more information/contacts please go to www.blackstar-ent.com.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Where
are they now? Oleg Taktarov
I
can vividly remember back to the first UFC's. I was about 20
(yes I am old) and watched with awe at the ferocity and aggression
that the fighters took with them in to the cage. I wasn't a really
big Royce Gracie fan and would rather have seen Tank Abbott brawl
any day than some little guy "hugging" on people. Come
on, I wasn't the only one at the time. There were a few guys
I can say I am still fans of to this day and Royce is one of
them so don't flame me. Guys like Dan Severn, Tank, Marco Ruas,
and a Russian fighter named Oleg Taktarov. He was called the
"Russian Bear" for good reason with his repertoire
of Sambo and Judo at his disposal.
At
UFC 5, Oleg would choke out Ernie Verdicia getting for the submission
victory in what was the Russian's first UFC fight. He would go
on to lose to Dan Severn the same night by referee stoppage due
to a cut. In my opinion, Oleg was going to win that fight. He
had Dan in a bad position and looked to be ready to secure an
armlock, but the referee did his job and my hopes for Oleg to
win a UFC tournament were trampled.
At
UFC 6, I got all of the Taktarov that I wanted. He defeated Dave
Beneteau by front choke submission in just :57 of the first round.
Anthony Macias lasted just :09 in his effort that saw the Russian
win by guillotine choke.
His last fight was one of the best of the early UFC's and probably
the best of his opponent's career. Oleg squared off against a
KO specialist and solid wrestler (at the time), David "Tank"
Abbott.
Their
fight at UFC went 17:45 and I was sure that Oleg was going to
lose this one because of the solid offense from Abbott. It was
a back and forth war that eventually saw "The Russian Bear"
win by rear naked choke at 17:45 of the first round. Oleg would
get his championship and I was jumping and screaming in your
face at my friends who were looking at me with confusion and
a bit of envy. Taktarov could not even stand after that and neither
could Tank. The pair were both suffering from oxygen depravation
due to the pace and duration of the bout.
After
the historic fight and victory for Oleg, a match-up with UFC
legend Ken Shamrock would appear on the horizon. This was an
odd sort of fight for Taktarov. The "Super Fight" was
booked between two training partners who had been training seven
days a week with each other making it a near impossible fight
to win. They battled for the full thirty minutes and the three
minute overtime to a draw. Some have speculated that neither
fighter wanted to hurt the other, but most who have watched it
agree that the submission fighting display they put on was an
excellent example of two fighters on top of their games.
Oleg
would continue his winning ways by defeating Dave Beneteau once
again at the Ultimate Ultimate '95 tournament. He would win the
fight with Beneteau by an ankle lock in 1:15 of the first round.
His next tournament win made a statement to the world that he
was for real in case there was any doubt.
Taktarov beat a very tough Marco Ruas by decision after eighteen
minutes of fighting setting him up for a rematch with Dan Severn.
The
rematch with Dan Severn was a thirty minute war that saw Dan's
hand being raised once again and Oleg on the losing end to Severn
for the second time.
This was sadly to be his last UFC event, but it was a memorable
one, nonetheless.
Oleg's
next four fights were a loss to Ryushi Yamagisawa by decision,
a win over Joe Charles by submission, a draw with Marco Ruas,
and a KO loss to Renzo Gracie. It was appearing that the progression
of the sport was putting him in its rear view mirror. Thankfully,
this was not the case. Taktarov would defeat Chuck Kim by submission
and Oleg KO'd Sean Alvarez in his next two fights. The Taktarov
train was rolling again.
He
would get a huge opportunity at the PRIDE organization's first
event in 1997. He fought another great fighter (and future subject
for one of these
articles) that was considered one of the best at the time. It
was not to be for the Russian as Gary Goodridge knocked out Oleg
in 4:57 of the first round. Once again it looked as if Oleg was
finished in the sport and it was yet another time when he would
prove how resilient he is.
The
last two fights of his mixed martial arts career came at an event
in 1998. Oleg would win both of them at the National Freesparring
tournament by kneebar. It would appear that he was back and ready
to take on the UFC again. Alas, this was not the case. Taktarov
retired from mixed martial arts with an impressive record of
11-5-2.
Life
after mixed martial arts has been good to Oleg. He has appeared
in the films 15 minutes, Bad Boys II, and the updated version
of Rollerball. He has also put out some great instructional video
tapes and occasionally makes public appearances. He will be remembered
as a calm, but exciting fighter who deserves to be called "legend".
Source: Maxfighting |
Quote
of the Day
“I
put a piece of paper under my pillow, and when I could not sleep,
I wrote in the dark.”
Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862, American Essayist/Poet/Naturalist |
Burial
for Johnathan Vance Today
Johnathan
Vance's burial will be held at Valley of the Temple at 2 PM on Wednesday, February
21.
Johnathan
L. Vance was born on June 12, 1958 and died February 10, 2007.
I
was told this information verbally so if anything is incorrect,
please email us by clicking here and we will correct it as soon as
we can.
|
Kickin
It 2007 Part 2
WHAT -
KICKIN IT 2007 PART 2
WHEN - MARCH 3, 2007 SATURDAY
WHERE - WAIPAHU FILCOM CENTER
COST - PRESALE $20, $25 AT THE DOOR
DOORS OPEN AT 6:30 PM
KICKIN IT WANTED TO KEEP ITS CARDS DOWN TO ONLY 15 BOUTS EACH
EVENT THIS YEAR BUT DUE TO A DEMAND FROM SOME OF THE COACHES.
KICKIN IT HAD TO EXPAND THIS FIGHT CARD. IT IS NOW SET FOR 22
BOUTS. WELL, ITS BETTER TO HAVE MORE THAN NOT ENOUGH UNLESS YOURE
TALKING ABOUT CRACKS AND USUALLY PULL OUTS OCCUR BEFORE FIGHT
DAY BUT VERY RARELY ON KICKIN IT. KICKIN IT WILL TRY TO UPDATE
THE CARD EVERY WEEK BUT CHECK OUT THIS LINE UP.
SUNSEA FERGUSON 165 BRADLEY ARAKAKI
TEAM DEVASTATION PAPAKOLEA FIGHT CLUB
SUNSEA WILL BE PUTTING UP HIS BELT AGAINST NEWCOMER BRADLEY.
IF YOU REMEMBER LAST YEAR, SUNSEA PULLED OUT A WIN AGAINST KAMAKANA
CHOYFOO WHEN HIS TANK WAS ON E. WESSIDE PRIDE IS WHAT EARNED
SUNSEA THAT WIN. BUT THIS TIME, SUNSEA WILL BE FACING AN OPPONENT
WHO ALSO TAKES PRIDE IN WHERE HE'S FROM (PAPAKOLEA). BRADLEY
WILL DEFINITELY BE LOOKING TO WHERE SOME BLING BLING AROUND HIS
WAIST ON FIGHT DAY. WAIANAE AND PAPAKOLEA, THEY DONT RAISE WHIMPS
IN THESE PARTS OF THE ISLAND.
BENJI "ENDLESS" RODRIGUES 172 TODD YOUNG
HSD (6 - 1) VEGAS FIGHT CLUB (5 - 1)
BENJI WILL BE TRYING TO MAKE A COMEBACK AFTER 1 1/2 YEARS AGAINST
TODD. BENJI'S LAST KICKBOXING MATCH WAS BACK IN 2005. BENJI IS
THE 2005 CHAMP AND TODD IS THE 2006 CHAMP FOR BOTH THE SAME WEIGHT
DIVISION. THEY BOTH WILL BE MEETING AT A HIGHER WEIGHT. TODD
AND BENJI ARE RELENTLESS WHEN THEY'RE ON THE ATTACK. TODD HAD
AN IMPRESSIVE WIN AGAINST BEN SANTIAGO IN THE BLAISEDELL. WILL
TODD DEFEAT ANOTHER BEN ON MARCH 3RD. EXPECT A BIG BLOOD DONATION
IN THIS MATCH.
CHAD VALENTINE 170 JON MCDONALD
HMC TEAM ISLAND THUNDER
RICHARDSON SUNGA 145 JERELL MUNOZ
VEGAS FIGHT CLUB HSD
TONY BELEN 160 PHILIP BENJAMIN
INNER CIRCLE WESSIDE CONNECTION
JASON LOPES 185 KAWIKA PAIA
JESUS IS LORD PAPAKOLEA FIGHT CLUB
KAWIKA SASIKA 300+ CHAVIS VICTORIA
PAPAKOLEA FIGHT CLUB ANIMAL HOUSE
JOHANNAH SMITH 135 ALEX
WAIANAE KICKBOXING ANIMAL HOUSE
JOHANNAH IS ANOTHER FIGHTER WHO IS TRYING TO MAKE A COMEBACK
IN KICKBOXING. SHE WILL BE FACING 2006 KICKIN IT CHAMPION ALEX,
WHO HAD A SURPRISING WIN AGAINST TAZ WETLING. THOUGH THESE GIRLS
ARE HOT ENOUGH TO BE TROPHY GIRLS. THEY WOULD RATHER GET THE
TROPHY INSTEAD OF GIVING IT OUT. SOME GIRLS LIKE TO GIVE TROPHIES,
THESE GIRLS LIKE TO GIVE BRUISES. GO FIGURE.
KOLOA KAHALEWAI 225 KINGSTON PATCHO
TEAM ANILAND TEAM DEVASTATION
KANA LOA 110 RIN DAO
BANGAHZVILLE BULLSPEN
PIN DAO 100 KAWIKA
BULLSPEN NAKOA FIGHT TEAM
RICKY MURILLO 155 CLINT KEALOHA
BANGAHZ VILLE WESSIDE CONNECTION
DIDO RODRIGUES 95 WESLEY DENIGO
WAIANAE KICKBOXING BULLSPEN
THESE TWO KICKIN IT CHAMPIONS OF DIFFERENT YEARS WILL MAKE MARCH
3RD LOOK LIKE JANUARY 1ST. BOTH ARE UNDEFEATED, LIGHTNING FAST
AND THROW NO LESS THAN 3 PUNCH COMBINATIONS WHEN THEY HEAR THE
BELL RING. WESLEY MAY BE THE OLDER FIGHTER BUT DONT COUNT OUT
DIDO WHO LIKES TO MAKE HIS OPPONENTS MISS. DO NOT BLINK WHEN
THESE FIGHTERS WALK INTO THE RING.
JAMES OWANA 300 OTO KAHALEWAI
WESSIDE CONNECTION TEAM ANILAND
KOICHI TANJI 130 ISIAH MANALO
HMC EAST OAHU FIGHT CLUB
TONY PERERA 140 GARY REBALIZA
WAIANAE KICKBOXING INNER CIRCLE
DAVIN KIM 125 JULIO MORENO
FIVE - 0 BOXING CLUB BULLSPEN
THIS FIGHT WAS SUPPOSE TO GO DOWN AT THE LAST KICKIN IT. BUT
ITS SET FOR MARCH 3RD NOW. JULIO, LIKE THE OTHER FIGHTING MORENOS,
IS ALWAYS EAGER TO FIGHT. THIS FIGHT WILL BE A TECHNICAL FIGHT
TO NOT MISS.
JUDE 230 RANCE BROWN
TEAM DEVASTATION PAPAKOLEA FIGHT CLUB
EZEKIEL LOPES 195 BRANDON MARTIN
NAKOA FIGHT CLUB 4TH ROAD KICKBOXING
NUI WHEELER 140 RYAN LEE
TEAM SOLJAH BULLSPEN
KICKIN IT 2005 LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION NUI AGAINST LONG TIME MMA
VETERAN RYAN LEE. RYAN HAS GONE UP AGAINST SOME OF THE BEST KICKBOXERS
IN THE STATE IN HIS WEIGHT DIVISION. HE PREFERS MMA BUT WILL
BANG WITH ANYONE IF HE'S OFF OF THE MMA CIRCUIT TO LONG. NUI
IS ONE OF THOSE FIGHTERS WHO CARRIES A CHIP ON HIS SHOULDER.
BUT ON MARCH 3RD RYAN WILL NOT BE TRYING TO KNOCK OFF THE CHIP
ON NUIS SHOULDER, HE WILL BE TRYING TO KNOCK OFF HIS HEAD INSTEAD.
CHECK IT OUT WHEN WAIANAE MEETS KALIHI.
KEITH CRESPO 130 JUMAR ESCOSIO
PAPAKOLEA FIGHT CLUB EWA FREESTYLE GRAPPLING
MAIKA TALEIAI 150 RICHARD BERNARD
EWA FREESTYLE GRAPPLING HSD
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT ALL PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS OR CALL 699-5290.
PARTICIPANTS AND MATCHES MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
Source: Promoter |
Dedé
has a tactic for Thales’s bout
Leader
of Nova União team, André Pederneiras is already
planning the tactic of is pupil Thales Leites for the bout against
Pete Sell at UFC 69, that will be held on April 7th in Texas,
United States. Dedé, who wasn’t able to be at Thales
corner at his debut on UFC, when he was defeated by Martin Kampmann
by unanimous decision, will be at his corner at this time. “At
this time I will be on his corner. He knows he needs to win.
The guy is Matt Serra’s pupil and knows fighing on the ground
and standed up. The tactic is the big secret, but we change it
so much. It is taking him down and try to submit”, told
Dedé, who have been watching the bouts of Thales adversary.
In the May bout of UFC 69, the middleweight champion Georges
St. Pierre will put his belt in game against Matt Serra.
COMPLETE
CARD (subject to change):
UFC
69
Texas, United States
Saturday, April 7th, 2007
Middleweight
Title:
- Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra;
Other
Bouts:
- Roger Huerta vs.TBA;
- Diego Sanchez vs. Josh Koscheck;
- Mike Swick vs. TBA;
- Alan Belcher vs. Kendall
Grove;
- Thales Leite vs. Pete Sell;
- Marcus Davis vs. Pete Spratt.
Source: Tatame |
TATAME
celebrates Wand 10 years
This
month edition of TATAME magazine celebrates 10 years of the career
of the Middleweight champion of the Pride Wanderlei Silva. There
are twelve pages of pictures, uncreditables histories, which
show you the trajectory of the Brazilian fighter who becomes
one of the biggest MMA idols of the planet ever. Wanderlei remembers
the best and worst moments of his career, talks about his new
confrontation against Dan Henderson and opens his home to show
his personal gym, where he trains his physical condition for
the combat against the American fighter. The TATAME#132, also
brings you:
-
LutaCasada.com. Everything about the BJJ show that was held at
Rio de Janeiro , at Ribalta Room on January 27th. That was the
first event of this sport history that the fans did chosse the
card through the internet.
-
Selective ADCC 2007. That was held on February 2nd and 3rd at
Botafogo Gymnasium, in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian national
selective had great confrontations and was dominated bythe fighters
from São Paulo who got four vacants into an amazing event.
-
UFC 67. With new contractations, as the Pride GP champion Mirko
Cro Cop, the American event is fighting again with the Pride
organization for the audience. Check out the debut and victories
of Cro Cop, the Brazilian Lyoto Machida and Quinton Rampage Jackson.
Beyond some debuts, the UFC 67 also had an amazinh performance
of the Brazilian Anderson Silva.
The
historical edition also has the section “Great Classics”,
which remembers the amazing confrontation between Chuck Liddell
and José Pelé Landi, also the IFL, the Predador
FC Kamae, the BJJ European Championship, the UFC Fight Night
8...Check out now the preview of TATAME#132 maganize here at
site TATAME and don’t miss the best MMA news article.
Source: Tatame |
Kickboxing
Benefit Event for Mrs. Faagai
March 25, 2007
This kickboxing event was put together to help raise funds to
help Mrs. Faagai who is fighting off cancer. Please come out
and support this event to help the Faagai family. Her son, Jacob
Faagai will be returning to the ring to headline the event.
Here are the event details (more to follow as it becomes available)
Kickboxing Benefit Event
Waianae H.S. Gym, Waianae, Hawaii
March 25, 2007
Source: Brennan Kamaka
|
Xande
Riberio DVD Out Soon & Filmed in Hawaii!
The documentary
about current Absolute Black Belt World Champion Xande Riberio
is being pre-sold at http://www.bjjmart.com. Check out the training
background of Xande under the guidance of multiple time Black
Belt World Champion brother Saulo Riberio as Xande prepared for
the Mundials and how Xande finally claimed the championship and
the title of best Jiu-Jitsu practioner on the planet!
Here
is the summary on www.bjjmart.com:
Xande
Ribeiro Road to a Championship DVD
"The Road To A Championship"
The
road to the top is built on sacrifice, dedication and a lot of
heart
Everybody
wants to be a champion but very few people have what it takes.
This is the history about one person’s dream to be the best
and the road he took to get there. Xande Ribeiro went to Oahu,
Hawaii in June 2006 for the last stages of preparation for the
biggest challenge of his life: Win the Absolute in the World
BJJ Tournament.
In
the "The Road To A Championship" you will be able to
follow Xande’s training including some special water exercises.
You will hear directly from him, the mental approach and fight
strategies that led to his success. Additionally Xande showcases
some of his favorite techniques that he has used successfully
in competition including the 2006 World Championships
Pre-Order
only expected ship date March 14th
DVD
50 minutes
Source: JD |
FCTV
Episode 47 is Tonight!
Fighters'
Club TV Episode 47 is cut and submitted to Olelo programming.
It will air our normal timeslot of 7pm every Tuesday night on Olelo
Oahu Channel 52.
It will show on Jan. 23, 30, Feb 6 and 11.
Episode
47 features:
-Highlights
from the 2007 January NAGA Absolute No-GI Division,
featuring Bruno Ewald, Dave Chew, Rylan Lizares, and a few more
of
Hawaii's top grapplers.
-interviews
with NAGA promoter Kipp Kollar and MMA.TV owner, Kirik
Jenness.
-Icon
Sport highlights of Jeremy Williams (Pro Boxer) vs Ron Fields
(MMA veteran)
-Technique
of the week, Mike and Mark demonstrate the kimura keylock
-FCTVemail,
Mike and Mark go over a bunch of viewers questions so don't
miss this as it might be yours!
Please
send your Suggestions, Comments, or Questions to:
fctv@onzuka.com
aloha,
fctv808
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