Upcoming
Events
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(All events on Oahu, unless noted)
2008
1/26/08
NAGA Hawaii
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Location TBA)
Tentative
2007
11/23/07
Kickin It / Hawaii's Most Wanted
(Kickboxing, Various)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
11/18/07
The Quest for Champions 2007 II
(Sport-Pankration, Submission-Grappling, Continuous Sparring)
(St. Louis High School Gym)
11/17/07
Kickin It / Hawaii's Most Wanted
(Kickboxing, Various)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
11/11/07
Aloha
State Championship of BJJ
(BJJ/Sub Grappling)
(Klum Gym UH Manoa)
10/27/07
Freedom Fighting
"Battle on the Base"
(MMA)
(Kahunas Ballroom, MCBH, Kaneohe)
10/26/07
Kickin It / Hawaii's Most Wanted
(Kickboxing, Various)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
X-1 Presents
Fight Club Meets The Night Club
(MMA)
(O Lounge Night Club, Honolulu)
10/19/07
Hawaii Fight League
(MMA)
(Dole Cannery)
10/6/07
Gracie Proving Ground
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
9/28/07
Kickin It / Hawaii's Most Wanted
(Kickboxing, Various)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
9/15/07
Elite XC
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
September
Gracie Fighting Championships
(MMA)
9/8/07
UFC
75
(02 Arena in London, England)
(PPV)
Hawaii Fighting Championships 4
(Kickboxing & MMA)
(Dole Cannery Ballroom)
8/31/07
Fighters Journey
Pro-Am MMA Event
(MMA)
(tba)
X-1 Presents
Fight Club Meets The Night Club
(MMA)
(O Lounge, Honolulu)
8/25/07
UFC
74: Respect
(Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada )
(PPV)
8/23-25/07
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championshihps
(BJJ)
(The Pyramid, Long Beach, CA)
8/12/07
Punishment
In Paradise 17
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Hawaiian Waters, Kapolei)
***Postponed***
8/10/07
Hawaii's Most Wanted
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
8/4/07
X-1
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
Island Warriors Fighting Championship
(MMA)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
7/28/07
Maui
Jiu-Jitsu Tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Maui War Memorial Gymnasium, Wailuku, Maui)
7/21/07
Garden Island Cage Match 6: Caged Fury
(Kickboxing, MMA)
(Hanapepe Stadium, Kauai)
Palolo Boxing Club & Kawano Boxing Club
presents amateur boxing
(Boxing)
(Palolo Gym)
7/14/07
Patriot Fighting Championships
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Kaneohe Marine Corps Base)
***Postponed***
7/13/07
Hawaii Fighting Championships: Stand Your Ground 3
(Kickboxing & MMA)
(Dole Cannery Ballroom)
7/8/07
Dan Henderson Seminar
(MMA)
(O2
Martial Arts Academy, Aiea)
7/7/07
UFC
73: Stacked
(PPV)
7/1/07
Mike Swain Seminar
(Judo)
(O2
Martial Arts Academy, Aiea)
6/30/07
Icon Sport: Fearless
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
***Postponed
to 9/15***
6/29/07
MMA Contendors: Conflict - The Beginning
(MMA)
(Farrington H.S. Gym)
X-1 Presents
Fight Club Meets The Night Club
(MMA)
(O Lounge Night Club, Honolulu)
6/23/06
Ultimate Fight Night
(BJ Penn vs Jens Pulver)
(Spike TV)
6/23/07
Hawaiian
Open of BJJ
(BJJ/Sub Grappling)
(Klum Gym UH Manoa)
6/22/07
Got
Skills
(Kickboxing/MMA)
(Waipahu Filcom)
6/16/07
UFC 72: Victory
(PPV)
6/12/07
UFC
Fight Night
(MMA)
(Spike Oceanic 559)
6/3/07
The Quest for Champions 2007
(Sport-Pankration, Submission-Grappling, Continuous Sparring
and Sport-Jujitsu)
(Saint Louis High School Gym)
5/27/07
Benefit Concert for the 2007 Hawaii Junior Olympic Boxing Team
(Ewa Ranch, Ewa Beach)
5/26/07
UFC
71 Liddell vs Rampage
(MMA)
(PPV Oceanic 701)
Memorial Day Mayhem
(Kickboxing)
(Kalaheo High School Gym)
5/19/07
Kickin it
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
5/12/07
Punishment In Paradise: Untouchables
(Kickboxing)
(Hawaiian Waters, Kapolei)
USA-Boxing Hawaii Fundraising Event
(Boxing)
(Palolo Gym)
5/5/07
ROTR Qualifer: Beat Down 3
(MMA)
(Hilo Civic Center, Hilo)
4/28/07
Pride
Fighting Championships:
(PPV)
(Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV)
Maui MMA Event
(MMA)
(Maui)
K-1 World GP
(Kickboxing)
(Honolulu)
4/27/07
XMA
(MMA, Kickboxing)
**Cancelled**
4/24/07
Professional Boxing
(Boxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
4/20/07
Kickin It 2007 Part 3
(Kickboxing)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
4/7/07
Got Skills
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
Papakolea Jiu-Jitsu Club Tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(King Intermediate, Kaneohe)
4/6/07
Hawaii Fighting Championships: Stand Your Ground 3
(MMA)
(Dole Cannery Ballroom)
4/5/07
Ultimate
Fight Night
(Spike TV)
3/31/07
Icon Sport
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
3/25/07
Kickboxing Benefit Event for Mrs. Faagai
(Kickboxing)
(Waianae H.S. Gym)
3/24/07
Garden Island Cage Match
5
(MMA)
(Kauai)
The 2007
Hawaii State/Regional Junior Olympic Championships (Boxing)
(Palolo District Park)
UFC:
Tito Ortiz vs. Dana White boxing match
(Nevada)
*Cancelled*
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
(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)
|
|
September 2007 News
Part 2
|
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 environment! |
 
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.
Quote
of the Day
"If
you want to gather honey, don't kick over the beehive."
Dale
Carnegie, 1888-1955, American Author and Achievement Expert
|
|
REVIEW:
JZ REPEATS AS CHAMPION AT K-1 HERO'S
In
one of the most anticipated fights of the year, defending 154-pound
Grand Prix Champion Gesias Calvancante faced off against #6-ranked
lightweight Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro in the first semi-final
of the tournament. It took just 35 seconds for “JZ”
to stop the highly regarded Ribeiro and move on to the finals
in impressive fashion.
Calvancante
missed with a right hook early on and the two Brazilians clinched
against the ropes. Gesias threw his opponent to the mat and followed
up with strong ground and pound. Ribeiro was stunned by a right
hand, unable to fully recover from the many subsequent strikes.
Calvancante threw over twenty unanswered punches before the referee
stopped the fight.
Chute
Boxe’s Andre Amade took on UFC and Hero’s veteran Caol
Uno in the other semi-final of the evening. “Dida”
hurt Uno with a right hook early and followed up with a flying
knee that dropped his Japanese opponent. Caol got back to his
feet as Amade began to unleash punishing strikes, forcing Uno
to make many failed takedown attempts. In a questionable move
by the referee, the fight was temporarily stopped to allow a
doctor to check on the blood from Uno’s mouth although it
was apparent he was still a bit stunned from the recent exchange.
After a brief rest, the remainder of the round saw Uno being
the aggressor and backing up Amade to the ropes.
Round
two started a bit more tentative early on with both fighters
content on circling the ring. Uno was able to gain the advantage
halfway through the round, engaging in top position after a scramble.
Amade managed to get back to his feet with under a minute remaining.
Dida finished the fight strong, landing harder and more effective
strikes.
After
two rounds, the judges awarded the Chute Boxe fighter with a
unanimous decision and the tournament conclusion was set.
In
the tournament finals, the two Brazilians shared an intense and
close stare-down, leaving Calvancante with a grin on his face
as he walked back to his corner. Both fighters circled early
and traded punches. A right hook by Dida stunned Calvancante
for a brief moment, bringing the defending champion to his knee.
After a few more exchanges, Gesias secured a double leg takedown
just over a minute into the round.
The
Chute Boxe fighter did well from his guard and avoided taking
a lot of damage as JZ postured up for punches and threw the occasional
shoulder strike. With less than a minute left in the first round,
Calvancante attained full mount and transitioned into an armbar,
forcing his opponent to tap.
Gesias
Calvancante is now the two-time K-1 Hero’s 154-pound Grand
Prix Champion and his stock will certainly soar.
Norifumi
“Kid” Yamamoto made his awaited return to Hero’s,
this time at his natural weight class of 145 pounds. Yamamoto’s
opponent, Bibiano Fernandes, turned out to be a tougher challenge
than most expected and was aggressive from his guard with multiple
submission attempts. Unfortunately for Fernandes, he was unable
to effectively stand and trade with his opponent and settled
on pulling guard during many of the exchanges.
Kid
earned a unanimous decision after three rounds in a fight that
saw him on his back a few times. Afterwards, Yamamoto apologized
to the crowd for not finishing the fight by knockout.
Katsuyori
Shibata survived a stumble while walking into the ring, but was
unable to defeat former Pride star Kazushi Sakuraba. After circling
each other for a moment, Sakuraba secured a single leg takedown.
Shibata immediately peppered his opponent with rabid punches
his back. The “Gracie Hunter” later transitioned into
side mount, biding his time while occasionally slapping and punching
Shibata. Sakuraba attempted an armbar with less than five minutes
left in the round and Shibata bravely defended the hold with
his legs. The Japanese pro wrestler eventually succumbed to the
submission about a minute later.
Afterwards,
the Japanese legend called out Rickson Gracie who was in attendance.
After
making an unsuccessful move from Cage Rage to Pride, Zelg Galesic
hoped to rebound with a victory in Hero’s against Yoon Dong
Sik. The Korean Judoka clinched early, eventually taking Galesic
down and landing into side mount. Sik transitioned into a full
mount and began to land some punches. As Galesic tried to sweep
his opponent from the bottom, Sik secured a textbook armbar forcing
the Croatian to tap.
Galesic
has now suffered back-to-back submission losses to two gold medal
Judokas.
Melvin
Manhoef extended his winning streak to two since losing to Yoon
Dong Sik at K-1’s U.S. debut back in June. The Dutch striker
stopped Chute Boxe’s Fabio Silva with strikes just one minute
into the first round. Manhoef dropped Silva with a left-right
combination and followed up with more than ten unanswered hammer
fists. The referee was forced to halt the fight.
Sergei
Kharitonov avenged his previous loss to Alistair Overeem with
a knockout victory. Sporting a new shaved haircut, Overeem took
the fight to the Russian, throwing looping hooks and knees. The
“Demolition Man” made many attempts to take Kharitonov
down, but was unsuccessful. As the round progressed, Sergei landed
straight punches and uppercuts with more regularity. Kharitonov
hit Overeem with a right hook with under a minute to go in the
round that had him reeling across the ring. Another right hook
put the Dutch striker through the ropes, bringing a prompt end
to the fight.
Sporting
his trademark mullet, fan favorite Ikuhisa Minowa defeated Kevin
Casey via strikes in the second round. Plodding at a dull pace,
the first round saw Minowa get outgrappled by Casey. “Minowaman”
dropped Casey with a right hook during an exchange in the final
round and followed with many unanswered strikes, forcing the
referee to stop the fight.
Kazuyuki
Miyata rebounded from his loss to Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro
with a submission victory over Harvey Harra in the evening’s
tournament reserve match. Harra charged out to engage Miyata
early, missing with a kick. The Japanese wrestler immediately
took Harra down with a double leg and transitioned into side
mount. Miyata secured an armbar shortly after.
In
preliminary action, Takenori Sato defeated Kenji Nagai via armbar
and Tashiro Nishiuchi earned a unanimous decision over Wataru
Takahashi. Team Sakurabatake and U-File split their victories.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
CATCHING
UP WITH MATT LINDLAND
Over the years Matt Lindland has worn many hats. He’s been
an Olympic Medalist, a top-ranked MMA fighter, and more importantly,
a leader and mentor to the members of the Oregon chapter of Team
Quest.
Throughout
it all, Matt has remained one of the most focused, determined
and competitive individuals in all of sports, which has earned
him the admiration of both fans and fellow athletes alike. And,
because of this, he remains busy with his myriad of roles.
After
facing off against consensus #1 ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko
this past April, Lindland has been working non-stop, helping
his teammates train for their respective fights, as well as re-tooling
his IFL team, and getting ready to present the latest installment
of his successful MMA promotion.
During
a brief break in his busy schedule, Matt spoke to MMAWeekly to
discuss various subjects, including his cornering of Dan Henderson
at UFC 75, the Portland Wolfpack and Sportfight.
MMAWeekly:
Firstly, Matt, let’s talk about the recent light heavyweight
championship unification bout at UFC 75, where you corned Dan
Henderson against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. What are
your thoughts on the fight and how Dan performed?
Matt
Lindland: Well, I certainly don’t want to make any excuses
for Dan, or anybody – especially on someone else’s
behalf – but a little bit of [how Henderson performed was
due to] his arms being fatigued. He hurt his neck about three
weeks before the fight and I think it was pinching some nerve
or something in his arms. By the end of the first or second round,
I can remember him telling me, “I can’t even feel my
arms,” so I know that didn’t help things out for him
at all.
He
didn’t have any opportunity to take time off [to heal],
being three weeks out. So, I honestly don’t think conditioning
was a factor. I mean, I’ve heard some people say, “Hey,
he gassed, because he came out so strong and then faded,”
as far as the swing of the bout toward the end. But, I really
don’t think conditioning was the factor.
I
don’t know what the difference in the fight was. I thought
it was a great stylistic match-up and Quinton fought a “great”
fight and Dan fought an “okay” fight, that’s kind
of how it went. I don’t think Dan fought poorly and I don’t
feel he “lost” the fight, it was a very close fight,
but I just feel like he didn’t “win” it. I don’t
think he did anything particular that lost the fight for him
or did anything in particular that won it for him either.
MMAWeekly:
Okay, moving on to you, prior to corning Dan, what have you been
up to lately?
Matt
Lindland: The week before that, I was at the Bodog show [with
Chris Wilson], then I went straight to the UFC show, and then
this week I’m going to the IFL show. We’ve got Jake
[Ellenberger] fighting for Miletich’s [Quad Cities Silverbacks].
We’ve got Ryan [Schultz] in one of the superfights there
with Aaron Riley.
I’m
trying to get as much training done as I can between being gone
and cornering guys. I need to get something scheduled so guys
quit asking me to go train with them and corner them, so I can
stay home, focus on my own training and get ready for fights.
[Laughs]
Right
now I don’t have anything imminent; I’ve got a lot
of, “This is what we think we’re going to do; this
should work; maybe this day, maybe this opponent,” but nothing
I can give you a solid answer on right now. I think I do have
some good stuff on the horizon though, some exciting stuff, I
just don’t have any solid commitments.
MMAWeekly:
There’s been some confusion to where you exactly stand as
far as weight class goes. Do you know what weight class you’ll
be fighting at in the future?
Matt
Lindland: I don’t. It’s between three different weight
classes. I will honestly fight at the middleweight, light heavyweight
and heavyweight divisions. I feel I’m most competitive at
middleweight, because that’s where I feel I’m the best
in the world, for sure. I think I can hang in there with the
best of ’em.
We
both saw the match where I beat Quinton Jackson [in the WFA],
but two of the judges gave it to him; and right now he’s
one of the top-ranked light heavyweights in the world. So, I
think I can compete with the light heavyies as well.
The
only heavyweight I’ve taken on so far is the guy that most
people consider the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world
right now. And, it wasn’t my best performance, but it showed
I could get in there and compete with the big boys too –
so, I don’t think you couldn’t rule me out of any weight
class.
MMAWeekly:
Trevor Prangley told us after he won the BodogFight 185-pound
title that he would welcome a fight with you. Since you’re
under contract to BodogFight, is that a fight you’d be interested
in?
Matt
Lindland: That would be a great match-up. Stylistically, Trevor
and I make an exciting match-up. He understands the style of
fighter I am and I think he makes for a very tough match-up for
me.
I
think there are some other guys, though, that are ranked higher
than him, which I match up better with. I think, Anderson Silva,
for example. Some people have him ranked #1 at middleweight,
and I think I match up really well with him. But, I’m looking
forward to getting in there with absolutely anybody.
MMAWeekly:
Okay, let’s talk about some of your other endeavors. First
off, your IFL team, the Portland Wolfpack, what’s the current
status with them?
Matt
Lindland: I released my welterweight [Mike Dolce] and my light
heavyweight [Aaron Stark], purely so they could get more match-ups
and experience. So right now, we’re looking to fill those
spots for next year. Again, I want to make clear that I only
released them so they could get more experience, they could be
back with the team next year, but for right now those spots are
open.
I’ve
got some big news that I just can’t release, who my heavyweight
is, until we get him on American soil and into the Team Quest
gym training – but look for us to have the #1 heavyweight
in the IFL next year. Ryan [Schultz, lightweight] and [middleweight
Matt] Horwich will be in the [individual] Grand Prix [later this
year], and they’ve secured their spots with their work ethic
and everything, so we’re going to have a very strong team
next year.
MMAWeekly:
And what about your MMA promotion, Sportfight, what’s up
next for the company?
Matt
Lindland: We’ve got our next show on Oct. 27 and it’s
going to be our best card ever. I say that every time, but, honestly,
I didn’t need to bring in a lot of guys that aren’t
from around here except for opponents for Chael Sonnen –
who’s our main event, fighting Kyacey Uscola – and
Chris Wilson – who’s fighting a very tough opponent,
Derrick Noble.
Both
are fights my guys are very excited about and style-wise these
can be very exciting match-ups for both Chael and Chris. We’ve
got Gerald Strebendt fighting Enoch Wilson. We’ve got Dolce
on the card – I didn’t book Stark because we’ve
got him out fighting in Oklahoma – and we’ve got a
lot of other great fights.
It’s
“BodogFight presents Sportfight” this time. They’re
our title sponsor for this show and we’re excited to be
working with them. We have a ton of big things in the works.
We’re
looking to do another TV thing with the local Fox affiliate and
just a lot of exciting stuff with Sportfight. Three years ago
when we went to the Fox affiliate about our sport, they said,
“Oh, the MMA, that’s too violent of content for our
audience,” but now, they’re like, “Wait, we really
want that stuff,” so that’s good news, good stuff is
happening.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
|
Pro
Elite pays big for KOTC & Cage Rage
So,
what did it take for Pro Elite to buy out King of the Cage? Now
we know.
Pursuant
to an agreement dated September 12, 2007 (the “Purchase
Agreement”) among King of the Cage, Inc. (”KOTC”),
Terry Trebilcock (”Trebilcock”) and Juliemae Trebilcock,
the shareholders of KOTC (the “Sellers”), and ProElite,
Inc. (the “Company”), the Sellers agreed to sell to
the Company all of the share capital (the “Shares”)
of KOTC. The consideration for the Shares is the payment to the
Sellers of $3,250,000 cash at closing; 178,571 restricted shares
of the Company’s Common Stock (the “PE Shares”)
to be delivered on January 2, 2008 to the Sellers and/or their
designees; and $500,000 in cash to be paid sixty days from closing
subject to any offset for any indemnity claims by the Company.
Additionally, the Company has agreed to make Contingent Payments
(the “Contingent Payments”) over a five-year period
of up to an additional $5,000,000 (payable in part in cash and
in part in shares of the Company’s Common Stock, as provided
in the Purchase Agreement) in accordance with a schedule based
on the number of events produced under the supervision of Trebilcock
under the KOTC name and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation
and amortization (”EBITDA”) for KOTC’s operations
during such period.
Next,
the price tag for buying Cage Rage:
Pursuant
to an agreement dated September 11, 2007 (the “Purchase
Agreement”) among Belgravia Entertainment International
Limited (“Seller”), John Faraday and ProElite, Inc.
(the “Company”), Seller agreed to sell to the Company
all of the share capital (the “Shares”) of Mixed Martial
Arts Promotions Limited, an English company (“MMAP”),
and the Mixed Martial Arts Productions Limited, an English company
(“MMAD”) (together, the “Target Companies”).
The consideration for the Shares is the payment to Seller of
$1,219,000, the issuance of 500,000 restricted shares of the
Common Stock of the Company (the “PE Shares”) and the
payment of an additional $1,000,000 within three business days
of the first anniversary of the Closing (subject to any offset
for breach of warranty). Additionally, ProElite will arrange
for the repayment at Closing of (a) a loan by Integrated Technologies
and Systems Limited in the amount of $2,600,000 and (b) a loan
by Andrew Gear of $181,000, each made to MMAP.
If
math and intrepretation serve me right, KOTC is going to get
paid $3.75 million USD cash plus 178,571 restricted shares of
Pro Elite stock and an additional $5 million USD in cash and
stock. As for Cage Rage, $2,219,000 USD ($2.2 million USD) in
cash, 500,000 restricted shares of Pro Elite, and paying off
$2.8 million USD in debt (loans that Cage Rage had to pay back).
Source:
Fight Opinion |
Quote
of the Day
"Silence
is one of the great arts of conversation."
Marcus
T. Cicero, 106-43 B.C., Roman Orator and Politician
|
Central
Oahu Youth Program Fund Raiser Today!
This Wednesday
at the Shack in Mililani!
Come support Niko Vitale get this youth progrm off of the ground
by supporting this fundraiser. Niko will be one of the leads
on this project which will give the youth of the west side some
place to go to get exercise, training, counseling, and stay busy
and out of trouble.
This
is just a short list of what the event will consist of:
Bikini
Contest
Perfomances by...
BET
Kawao
Be On Paradise
Beach 5
The
fund raiser starts at 5 pm and there will be a lot of food and
giveaways so don't miss it!
|
Kickin
It
September
28, 2007
Waipahu Filcom
6:00 PM
|
Ultimate
Fight Night Tonight!
All
18 competitors for UFC’s Ultimate Fight Night successfully
made weight on Tuesday night from the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The main event for Wednesday’s night card is Ultimate Fighter
one runner-up Kenny Florian taking on American Top Team’s
Din Thomas who was on the fourth season. Also on this card is
the return of Nate Quarry who hasn’t fought since being
knocked out by Rich Franklin in November of 2005. The Team Quest
member’s return is a rematch with Pete Sell who he TKO’d
in the opening minute of their controversial bout two years ago.
This could also be the last time we see Chris Leben in the Octagon
as he takes on Terry Martin in attempt to rebound after losing
his last two fights. Rounding off the main card will be the Ultimate
Fighter season five winner, Nate Diaz, taking on Junior Assuncao
in his first fight after obtaining his UFC contract. Here are
the official results:
Main Card:
Kenny Florian (155lbs) vs. Din Thomas (156lbs) – Main Event
Chris Leben (185lbs) vs. Terry Martin (186lbs)
Junior Assuncao (155lbs) vs. Nate Diaz (155lbs)
Pete Sell (184lbs) vs. Nate Quarry (186lbs)
Preliminary
Bouts:*
Edilberto Crocota (170lbs) vs. Luke Cummo (169lbs)
Leonard Garcia (155lbs) vs. Cole Miller (155lbs)
Joe Veres (156lbs) vs. Gray Maynard (154lbs)
Kuniyoshi Hironaka (170lbs) vs. Thiago Alves (171lbs)
Dustin Hazelett (170lbs) vs. Jonathan Goulet (169lbs)
*may
not make the television broadcast
|
Morango
trains with Diego Sanchez
Morango wil
be fighting on the Gracie Proving Ground at the Blaisdell on
October 6, 2007. Get your tickets now!
Champion
of the GP until 73kg of Super Challenge, Fabrício Morango
is in United States doing his preparation with the UFC star Diego
Sanchez, that will face John Fitch on the next UFC. Diogo will
fight in the 6th of october on Gracie Proving Ground, that´s realized
in Hawaii
. Besides Diego, Morango is training ground techniques with Saulo
Ribeiro, champion in six editions of the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship
and with Xande Ribeiro, that won three times the same competition.
“Xande and Saulo are coordinating my ground trainings. The
stand-up part I´m training with Joe, that was defeated
by Peter Manfredo in that reality show The Contender. The physical
preparation I´m doing with Oscar de La Roya´s preparator”,
said Morango, that is in San Diego training in the Jiu Jitsu´s
University of the brothers Xande and Saulo.
Morango
is very satisfied with the training sessions with Diego Sanchez
and both are improving in Jiu-Jitsu´s University. Training
with Diego is very good for me. He´s a guy that knows a
lot of octagon, has a good wrestling, but with Xande and Saulo
we´re training mainly the ground part. Saulo works the
grappling part with Diego two times a week, mainly the submission
techniques, and I´m using their extra free time to learn
too”, said Royler Gracie´s black-belt, that explained
how is the work in Jiu-Jitsu´s University. “Saulo
wants to work with a Vale Tudo team, this will take some time
to happen, because he needs to build an structure, but he´s
working in this way. The guy that has a Jiu-Jitsu academy and
doesn´t think of having a MMA academy it´s not pay
attention to the sport´s growth”, concluded Morango.
Source: Tatame
|
FORMER
UFC CHAMP RODRIGUEZ TO FACE ROTHWELL
The International Fight League announced Monday that former UFC
Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez will replace the injured
Tom Sauer at Thursday’s World Team Championships.
He
will represent Renzo Gracie’s New York Pitbulls in the heavyweight
division in the team championships. Rodriguez faces Quad Cities
Silverback Ben Rothwell.
The
news comes after Rothwell’s original opponent, Tom Sauer,
had to drop out due to an injury. Rodriguez steps into the bout
on just three days’ notice.
Since
exiting the UFC in 2003, Rodriguez has fought for various promotions
including World Extreme Cagefighting and World Fighting Alliance,
prior to both companies being purchased by UFC parent company
Zuffa, LLC. He holds victories over Randy Couture, Andrei Arlovski
and Jeff Monson.
The
past couple of years have been tumultuous for Rodriguez who has
battled weight problems. He is also coming off of a six-month
suspension for testing positive for Benzoylecgonine, a major
metabolite in cocaine, after a fight in November 2006.
Rothwell
has gone undefeated since entering the IFL, posting an 8-0 record.
Rodriguez, however, is likely to be the most accomplished fighter
he’s faced.
The
New York Pitbulls face the Quad Cities Silverbacks to determine
the team champion for 2007 IFL season. The IFL World Team Championships
will be held Thursday, Sept. 20 in Hollywood, Fla.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Paulão
Filho to give seminars in USA
Th
WEC champion, three times BJJ Mundial champion, five times BJJ
Brasileiro champion, Pride Champion and with no losses at MMA
(15-0) Paulão Filho is going to teach in many seminaries
at . Due to the head Coach of Team Link, Marco Alvan, Paulão
will make a tour around eight gyms at Massachussetts, Connecticut
and New York states.
Team
Link, that already has the UFC fighter and BJJ Mundila Champion,
Gabriel Napão as its fighter, settled with the black belts
Gabriel Gladiador and Fábio Serrão at last month
and they already have bouts schedules for September and October.
Source: Tatame
|
EliteXC:
Uprising Review
By Robert Rousseau
EliteXC: Uprising came to us from the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu,
Hawaii on September 15, 2007. On the card were bouts that would
get any MMA enthusiast pumped, including Jake Shields versus
Renato "Charuto" Verissimo, Gina Carano versus Tonya
Evinger, Nick Diaz versus the unknown Mike Aina, and "Ruthless"
Robbie Lawler versus Murilo "Ninja" Rua. Not to mention
a bout between Riki Fukuda and Joey Villasenor that would end
up being possibly the best fight of the night. Sounds good, huh?
The
best part is that the same could be said of EliteXC: Uprising
after the fights were over.
The
first encounter of the night was one of the more hyped ones coming
in as Jake Shields took on Renato "Charuto" Verissimo
at 175 pounds. On one hand there was Verissimo, a man that had
taken former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes to the brink,
losing a very close decision where this Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu guru
showed just how dangerous his guard was. On the other side was
Shields, a man with outstanding wrestling skills, athleticism,
and jiu-jitsu skills (a brown belt under Cesar Gracie himself).
A hard one to figure coming in. Would the man with the better
guard (Verissimo) or the man with the better on top skills (Shields)
take home the victory?
Things started off pretty well for Verissimo, as after he ate
a couple of low leg kicks he locked up with Shields and took
him down. However, Shields got up soon after that and turned
the tables on his opponent rather quickly, taking him down. Once
that happened, the ground and pound began. Further, Shields kept
improving his position until he gained the mount position along
the cage wall. From there he unleashed a furious assault of unanswered
punches on Verissimo until the referee had no choice but to stop
the fight at 4:00 of round one.
Somewhat
of a disappointment considering that many thought this could
be the fight of the night.
Next
came Japan’s Riki Fukuda versus Joey Villasenor. Before
the fight Fukuda said, "don’t blink." And this
fight surely proved to be one where you didn’t want to miss
anything, as it was that good.
Fukuda
and Villasenor went to absolute war on their feet with both fighters
delivering big shot after big shot. Villasenor landed several
very heavy high kicks to the face throughout the bout, whereas
both fighters came through with some big punches. In terms of
ground warfare, there was less. Still, Fukuda was able to take
Villasenor down on multiple occasions and almost secured an arm
triangle in the first against him. However, Villasenor was able
to elude that submission attempt and all other canvas trouble
against Fukuda rather easily.
In
every round except the last it appeared that Fukuda may have
been the busier fighter in that he seemed to connect with more
shots, even if they weren’t usually as hard as the ones
Villasenor hit home with.
"I
believe Joe has got this fight," Stephen Quadros said once
it ended. Can’t say that I had the same level of confidence
in that prediction necessarily (I thought this one could’ve
just as easily gone to Fukuda as Villasenor). But in the end,
via split decision, Villasenor won.
It
was such a close fight. Can’t fault anyone regardless of
the way it turned out. However, I’d like to see more of
Fukuda in the future. He’s got heart.
Next
came superstar female fighter Gina Carano (now working with Xtreme
Couture) and Tonya Evinger at 140 pounds. Carano, despite working
with one of the best MMA camps going, had trouble making weight
for this one and actually looked sick at the weigh ins because
of this. Would America’s most well-known female fighter
prove that she was more than just a pretty face once again in
the face of this adversity?
In
sum, yes.
Carano
got taken down right off the bat. Evinger achieved a dominant
position and went for a guillotine. Carano looked like she might
be in trouble.
But
then she turned Evinger over nicely. From there Carano snaked
around to Evinger’s back and secured a rear naked choke.
Moments later, Evinger tapped.
With
that performance, no one can doubt that Carano is improving as
a fighter.
From
there, one of the toughest and most confident fighters in the
world, Nick Diaz, took on the relatively unknown Mike Aina. First
thing that became obvious in this one?
Mike
Aina knows how to throw down on his feet. He looked like a polished
boxer from the get go, whereas Diaz looked like he "was
sleepwalking in there," according to Quadros early on. In
fact, after the first it looked like the mismatch many expected,
except in the other direction. Aina landed several hard and fast
shots on his opponent. The only truly positive thing one could
say about Diaz after the first was that he had once again proved
he could take a shot.
In
the second, Aina dropped Diaz with a right early on. Further,
he hit his opponent with several hard shots in the initial couple
of minutes. However, Diaz did hit home with multiple strikes
himself once things got going. Though these weren’t hard
punches, they did get him some points. Finally, at the tail end
of the round Diaz took his opponent down and took his back before
the bell sounded. This was a hard round to score, very close.
Aina connected with the harder shots and seemed to control more
of the round. However, Diaz may have connected with more strikes
and was winning the fight on the ground when the round ended.
The
third round was mostly spent up against the cage wall with Diaz
doing some dirty boxing and looking for a takedown. Aina did
hit home with some hard strikes, but many of his attempts hit
Diaz’s arms. Then, with over a minute to go, Diaz secured
a takedown and soon after took Aina’s back. He connected
with some strikes from that position and continually tried to
gain a rear naked choke to no avail. However, with just a few
seconds left Aina tried to escape and Diaz ended up with his
arm. As the bell sounded, it looked as if Diaz was just about
to sink in the armbar.
But
we’ll never know.
Quadros
gave Aina the first, thought the second was close, and said the
following regarding the third round.
"I
think Aina won more of the round."
I
personally agree with his assessment of the first two rounds
but think that he was way off with his assessment of the third.
That round went to Nick Diaz.
In
the end, Diaz won via split decision. Can’t fault the decision;
it could’ve went either way. However, it should be noted
that one of the judges gave the fight to Diaz 30-27.
This
judging lately could drive someone crazy. Aina clearly won that
first round.
After
the fight, Aina was very respectful regarding his opponent. Being
the only native Hawaiian on the card, he certainly did his state
proud.
Next
came the main event for the Elite XC Middleweight Championship:
"Ruthless" Robbie Lawler versus Murilo "Ninja"
Rua. Before the fight, according to Mauro Ranallo, Lawler said
“if Rua decides to stand for a little bit, that would be
too long.” Would that statement prove correct?
Ninja
won the first two rounds, the first due to leg kicks. However,
despite the amount of strikes he hit home with in the initial
stanzas, he appeared very tired in the second after missing on
several takedown attempts. This fatigue would come back to haunt
him in the third when Lawler started to open up on his feet.
Then with about 3:15 to go in the third, Lawler nailed Rua with
a left uppercut that stunned him. He followed that up with a
lethal flurry that ended with two straight rights and Rua hitting
the canvas. Several very hard and unanswered strikes on the ground
later, the referee had no choice but to stop things.
Robbie
Lawler is now the new EliteXC Middleweight Champion, winning
via TKO at 2:04 of round three.
This
version of EliteXC was a very entertaining one. The Fukuda-Villasenor
bout was an outstanding one. Further, fans were treated to an
almost huge upset in the Diaz-Aina fight. Finally, we all got
to see how far three fighters -– Gina Carano, Jake Shields,
and Robbie Lawler -– have come. In fact, Lawler is looking
like a true force in the division.
A
fun night of fights.
Source: Maxfighting
|
Lawler
Slugs His Way to EliteXC Title
by Josh Gross
HONOLULU,
Sept. 15 -- There's little mystery when it comes to Robbie Lawler
(Pictures); anyone who's seen the 25-year-old Iowan fight knows
he is gifted with one-strike finishing power.
And
so it shouldn't come as a shock that he set up a finish of Murilo
Rua (Pictures) with a neat right straight followed expertly by
a vicious same-handed uppercut.
If
you're looking for something noteworthy about Lawler's EliteXC
middleweight title-winning performance Saturday in front of an
excited group of fans at the Blaisdell Arena it was the path
he took to victory.
In
the opening period of the five-round title fight, "Ninja"
Rua stalked the ICON Sport champion while keeping out of range
of Lawler's heavy hands.
Kicks
to the inside and outside of Lawler's legs prompted viewers with
long memories to recall the southpaw's terrible 2003 performance
against Pete Spratt (Pictures), when he took several hard kicks
to his right leg before retiring with an injury.
"I
was really young back then," Lawler said. "I had the
talent. I had the skills. But I just couldn't put everything
together."
Not
only was Lawler "Ruthless" in the cage tonight, he
appeared wiser, which showed as the contest progressed.
"I
just wanted to press him and make my shots count," said
Lawler, now 15-4. "I didn't want to lunge out like he was,
get overextended. I just picked my shots."
A
round into the fight -- which headlined a Showtime-televised
EliteXC card that featured the first co-promotion between former
rival Hawaiian organizations ICON Sport and Rumble World Entertainment
-- Lawler had yet to unleash his hands.
That
soon changed.
With
"Ninja" kicking less and Lawler scoring more, it was
clear that the Brazilian had ceded whatever control he might
have seized after the first period.
For
Lawler, that simply signaled the inevitable: "I knew I was
going to knock him out. I'm not being cocky. I've just improved
my game a lot."
Opening
the third round with a swift kick to the body followed by a cracking
left to the Brazilian's jaw, Lawler's now-disciplined power striking
game had taken hold.
With
Rua (14-8-1) unable to damage Lawler's lead leg or threaten with
any type of power-punching, the UFC veteran felt comfortable
both stalking and standing in the pocket.
Eventually,
a lead left followed by a solid punch with the opposite hand
led perfectly into an uppercut from the right side, all of which
resulted in "Ninja" going down. Lawler unloaded with
huge punches before referee Mario Yamasaki finally put a stop
to the contest at 2:04 of the third.
"I
told my corner after the second round that I was going to knock
him out," Lawler recalled. "Even when he landed, I
punched back and knew I was hurting him."
Afterwards
Rua, who stopped Joey Villasenor (Pictures) in June to capture
the vacant EliteXC title, pointed to poor strategy as a significant
factor for the loss.
Though
his man had won, former UFC champ Matt Hughes (Pictures) charged
into the cage, where he got into Yamasaki's face and berated
the official for letting the fight continue the way it had.
"I
fought a smart and controlled fight, and kept my distance,"
Lawler said. "But that is how I fight these days."
Dedicating
tonight's title win to his longtime coach Pat Miletich (Pictures),
Lawler recognized those that put him in position to capture the
belt. Now, he said, his focus will shift towards a new gym he's
opened with Hughes in Illinois, and the goal of helping the former
UFC welterweight champion regain the title.
After
that, Lawler is expected to return to Hawaii and ICON Sport,
where he's expected to fight Kala Kolohe Hose .
Returning
to action for the first time since serving a six-month suspension
mandated by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after testing
positive for marijuana, Nick Diaz survived ring rust and a hungry
opponent to capture a tight split decision win.
Two
judges at ringside, including one sitting in front of the media
who was inexplicably chatting on his cell phone during the fight,
saw it 29-28 for Diaz (an initial scorecard reading of 30-27
for Diaz was incorrect, said ICON Sport's Patrick Freitas) while
a third judge saw it two rounds to one for the underdog Mike
Aina.
Sherdog.com
saw it 29-28 for Aina, who took advantage of a slow start from
the Stockton, Calif. fan favorite to notch the opening period.
In
the second Diaz (15-6-0, 1 no-decision) again chose to fight
at a plodding pace by throwing what appeared to be half-hearted
punches in Aina's direction.
Aina
countered a lazy kick with a big right hand that dropped Diaz
to the canvas. As the period came to a close, Diaz recovered
to put Aina (8-6-1) on the floor and take his back.
The
Californian, who wore a cut above his right eye, finally awoke
in the third. A takedown saw Diaz take Aina's back with more
than enough time to find a submission. However the newlywed,
with B.J. Penn (Pictures) in his corner, survived until the final
bell.
"I
know I could have fought better," Diaz said. "I feel
good, but I am really disappointed in the way I performed. I
should have started a lot faster because Aina fought me with
everything he had."
Gina
Carano (Pictures), the so-called face of women's mixed martial
arts, took a big step forward Saturday, enduring a difficult
weight cut and a tough opponent to notch her first submission
victory.
The
140-pound striker was put down on the canvas hard in the opening
moments of the fight, and faced an attack on her neck from Tonya
Evinger (Pictures). But Carano showed her guts by avoiding the
choke and sweeping to half-guard, where she finally found relief.
"When
she got me down, I knew I couldn't freak and had to keep my composure,"
said Carano, who remained unbeaten in five fights. "After
reversing her, I considered standing up. But I've been practicing
working on top, so I just went through with it.''
Billed
as a quality grappler, Evinger (4-3) made the rudimentary error
of giving up her back. Even though Carano's a relative newcomer
to the submission game, the Las Vegan, who fought with her parents
in attendance, knew exactly what to do after sinking in hooks
and securing back-control.
The
rear-naked choke surprised no one more than Carano, who rejoiced
by running around the cage.
Middleweights
Joey Villasenor (Pictures) and Riki Fukuda (Pictures) fought
wonderfully en route to a split decision that elicited a mixed
reaction from the Blaisdell Arena crowd.
After
15 minutes during which both absorbed powerful attacks, judges
at ringside saw it two rounds to one for the veteran New Mexican,
who scored with a counter left hook and a mean high kick throughout
the bout.
Sherdog.com
narrowly scored the contest 29-28 for the Japanese southpaw,
but considering how close the exchanges were, it's difficult
to argue against the official decision.
Both
men had their moments.
Fukuda's
best weapons came in the form of a lead left and a digging kick
that plowed into Villasenor's midsection on several occasions.
The Japanese fighter, representing Killer Bee, took down but
failed to control Villasenor, who reversed once to his feet and
another time to the top position.
After
an opening period that saw Villasenor, who last entered the cage
to fight Murilo Rua (Pictures) for the EliteXC 185-pound title,
hurt Fukuda with a left hook, the middle period was almost too
close to call.
Villasenor
slammed Fukuda's head off the cage fencing with a left hook,
and later connected with a high kick to his foe's stout jaw.
The Japanese fighter responded by coming forward and connecting
with a sharp kick attacking Villasenor's liver.
In
the third both connected: Villasenor with a left hook and a right
high kick; Fukuda with consecutive left hands.
Villasenor
negated a Fukuda takedown by reversing to the top, and action
slowed as the fight came to a close.
With
Phil Baroni (Pictures) screaming instructions from the corner,
Fukuda attempted to come forward but he was not aggressive or
effective enough for the judges.
"I
am happy and very relieved,'' said the 24-6-0 Villasenor, who
was taken to a nearby hospital for precautionary reasons. "I
think I showed what I am about: tough and gritty. This is very
important for me to win and prove to myself that I am one of
the best middleweights in the world."
Fukuda
(8-3) said he could not argue the decision.
"I
don't know if I was nervous with this being the first major fight
I've had in the United States, but I won't make any excuses,"
the Japanese fighter said. "I could have pressured him more.
I would love to fight him again."
For
many Hawaiian fans, last year's Rumble on the Rock 175-pound
tournament felt incomplete because Hilo's Renato Verissimo (Pictures)
came up short in his bid to win.
San
Francisco's Jake Shields (Pictures) took the tournament with
a decision win over Carlos Condit (Pictures), and tonight the
Top 10-ranked welterweight quieted any doubters who said Verissimo
(7-5) would have been the antidote to the 2006 tournament victory.
Shields
countered an early takedown by standing and working in the clinch,
where he out-muscled B.J. Penn (Pictures)'s jiu-jitsu coach to
the floor.
The
grapplers engaged in a technical display on the mat, with Shields
battling to pass the guard and the Brazilian working to deny
that.
Eventually,
Shields shifted his hips effectively enough to smoothly pass
to the mount position.
It
didn't take long before Shields, now 19-4-1, postured up and
delivered over 60 unanswered punches and elbows. All Verissimo
could do was turn to his side and cover before referee Mario
Yamasaki, hovering closely by during the torrent of strikes,
moved in to separate the fighters at 4:00 of round one.
The
win, said Shields and EliteXC promoter Gary Shaw, likely put
the grappler in line to fight for the unfilled welterweight title
belt.
Source: Sherdog
|
EliteXC:
Hawaiians Dominate Off-TV Bouts
by James Meinhardt
HONOLULU,
Sept. 15 -- Elias Delos Reyes (Pictures) went to work early in
the opening bout of the evening, scoring a double leg takedown
on Chico Cantiberos (Pictures). Working from the guard, Cantiberos
positioned his legs for a lazy submission attempt that failed
and resulted in Delos Reyes taking his back.
Cantiberos,
however, was able to pick up his opponent and slam him to the
canvas. Not only did Delos Reyes survive the slam, he slapped
on an armbar as the fighters fell to the mat. The submission
ended the bout 52 seconds into the first round and improved Delos
Reyes to 2-0.
After
narrowly dodging a high kick from Jesus is Lord's Ikaika Choy-Fu
(Pictures), Justin Buchholz (Pictures) was dropped early with
a right hand. He endured the onslaught of ground-and-pound from
Choy-Fu, though, and escaped to his feet.
Once
there, Buchholz turned it on, putting Choy-Fu up against the
fence and scoring with knees from the clinch. The Bull's Pen
fighter ate another right hand, but he kept the pressure on Choy-Fu
and landed a combination of punches that made referee Steve Mazzagatti
move to stop the fight. Before Mazzagatti could call it, Buchholz
chased his foe to the floor and quickly applied a rear-naked
choke 1:35 into round one.
The
win was a gutsy performance by Buchholz, the current ICON Sport
lightweight champ. He showed the ability to rally back from early
trouble, and his perseverance earned him a spot on the Oct. 26
ShoXC event on Showtime.
"I
was supposed to go right back to work after this fight,"
said Buchholz, who works as an oil refinery laborer in Alaska.
"Now I am not sure how I am going to handle everything,
but I am definitely fighting on Oct. 26."
Internet
Bouts
In
the ICON vs. Rumble on the Rock rivalry match, ICON representative
Tyson Nam (Pictures) held on through a tight rear-naked choke
to earn a unanimous decision over Albert Manners (Pictures).
Nam, 4-1, won all rounds on all scorecards.
Kala
Kolohe Hose (Pictures), who was originally scheduled to face
Robbie Lawler (Pictures) for the ICON middleweight belt in June,
continued his march toward the title with an impressive first
round stoppage over Jeff Cox.
Hose
shrugged off an early guillotine attempt and went to work with
right hands to the head and body before landing a left hook that
dropped his opponent just 20 seconds in.
Local
martial artist and television host Mark Kurano (Pictures) was
successful in his MMA debut, submitting Jose Diaz (Pictures)
via rear-naked choke at 1:13 of round one.
Kurano,
who is a Judo black belt and Gracie jiu-jitsu brown belt, weathered
the early storm of strikes from Diaz before scoring a takedown
to half guard. He worked steadily to free himself from a guillotine
choke and eventually got to Diaz's back, where he landed punches
to the head while working in both hooks. From there it was only
a matter of time until Kurano sunk in the tap-inducing choke.
Reigning
ICON 135-pound champ Mark Oshiro (Pictures) made quick work of
opponent Nui Wheeler (Pictures), catching the kickboxer in a
rear-naked choke 1:19 into the fight.
Oshiro,
normally known for his heavy hands, took Wheeler's back from
a standing position and quickly locked in a figure-four body
lock. From there he punched Wheeler's head and legs before securing
the submission.
Concluding
the Internet-only bouts was Hawaii's Brandon Wolff (Pictures)
and Colorado's Chad Klingensmith (Pictures). The two went back
and forth, trading strikes and takedowns, with Wolff winning
the unanimous decision.
Source: Sherdog
|
Quote
of the Day
“Not
the cry, but the flight of the wild duck, leads the flock to
fly and follow.”
Chinese Proverb
|
K-1
HERO'S RESULTS: JZ DOMINATES
KANAGAWA, JAPAN – MMAWeekly was on location at the Yokohama
Arena in Kanagawa, Japan for the K-1 HERO's Middleweight Tournament.
Gesias
"JZ" Calvancanti dominated his way through the brackets,
Sergei Kharitonov finished Alistair Overeem, and Kazushi Sakuraba
and Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto won.
QUICK
RESULTS:
Gesias
"JZ" Calvancanti def. Andre Dida by Submission (Armbar)
at 4:48, R1
Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto def. Bibiano Fernandes by Unanimous
Decision
Kazushi Sakuraba def. Katsuyori Shibata by Submission (Armbar)
at 6:20, R1
Sergei Kharitonov def. Alistair Overeem by TKO (Strikes) at 4:21,
R1
Melvin Manhoef def. Fabio Silva by TKO (Strikes) at 1:00, R1
Dong Sik Yoon def. Zelg Galesic by Submission (Armbar) at 1:29,
R1
Ikuhisa Minowa def. Kevin Casey by TKO (Strikes) at 0:42, R2
Gesias “JZ” Calvancanti def. Vitor "Shaolin"
Ribeiro by TKO (Strikes) at 0:35, R1
Andre Dida def. Caol Uno by Unanimous Decision
Kazuyuki Miyata def. Harvey Harra by Submission (Armbar) at 1:13,
R1
Takenori Sato def. Kenji Nagai by Submission (Armbar) at 2:40,
R1
Source: MMA Weekly |
JZ
LOOKS TO DEFEND; HERO'S FIGHTERS READY
Gesias
“JZ” Calvancante looks to solidify himself as one of
the top lightweight fighters in the world when he faces former
Shooto Champion Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro in the semi-finals
of this year’s K-1 Hero’s 154-pound tournament. As
2006’s defending Grand Prix Champion, Calvancante looks
to retain his title in one of the most highly anticipated fights
of the year.
In
preparation for the most defining fight of his career, the Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu brown belt under Ricardo Liborio has been training
hard with other American Top Team teammates such as Jorge Santiago,
Denis Kang, Thiago Alves, Wilson Gouveia, and Marcus Aurelio.
“I’ve
been training with all of my brothers at ATT. Ouali Mohamed is
helping me with my Muay Thai, Jason Kelly for wrestling, Howard
Davis Jr. with my boxing and Andre “Benkei” for my
physical conditioning,” stated Gesias. “Also, my friend
Melvin Manhoef came to train here for a month. Ricardo Liborio
helps me train in all aspects.”
“American
Top Team is not just a team, they’re my family,” added
Calvancante.
Commonly
considered one of the best fighters in the world to have previously
never fought in a major organization, Vitor Ribeiro made his
K-1 Hero’s debut last March. “Shaolin” submitted
Kazuyuki Miyata in his last outing and moved on to the semi-finals
in the 154-pound Grand Prix. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt
sports an impressive 19-1 record and holds wins over Tatsuya
Kawajiri, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Ivan Menjivar and Joachim Hansen.
“He’s
a good fighter. He has excellent Jiu-Jitsu and is really experienced,”
commented Calvancante regarding his opponent. “Definitely
a top ten fighter in this weight class. I’m not training
differently for him, not really. I’m training more of what
I love to train – submission, boxing, Muay Thai and wrestling.
MMA!”
Originally
scheduled to face Chute Boxe’s Andre “Dida” Amade
in the first round of the Grand Prix, Calvancante was advised
by his physician not to compete due to an aggravated hand injury.
K-1 granted Gesias a bye into the second round and Andre Amade
subsequently defeated late addition Artur Oumakhanov in a non-tournament
superfight.
“Last
time, my injury was an inflammation. Now it’s all healed,”
explained Gesias. “I’m ready.”
Takanori
Gomi has long been considered the top lightweight fighter in
the world. Recently it was speculated that the former Pride star
would sign with K-1 Hero’s. A potential match between Calvancante
and the “Fireball Kid” could be an early candidate
for fight of the year and would be one of the highest profile
fights in Hero’s history.
“That
would be a great fight,” commented Gesias regarding the
prospect of fighting Gomi. “He’s been at the top for
a very long time. To me, it would mean more competition, [lead
to] more exposure for K-1 and better fights for fans to watch.”
Assuming
Gesias defeats Vitor Ribeiro in his semi-final, he would meet
the winner between Caol Uno and Andre Amade later in the evening
to determine the champion. Amade is a late replacement for Kultar
Gill who suffered an injury during training. So whom does Calvancante
prefer to face in finals?
“It
doesn’t matter who I face,” stated the American Top
Team fighter. “I will fight the one who deserves to be in
the finals.”
On
Sept. 17 in Yokohama, Japan, Gesias Calvancante will have the
opportunity to defend his Grand Prix title and stake his claim
as one of the top ten lightweight fighters in the world.
“I
have been working hard to have a good performance and I want
it to show in the ring. Please look forward to my fight. American
Top Team for life!”
Source: MMA Weekly |
HERO'S
10 WEIGH-INS RESULTS/PHOTOS
The
fighters weighed in on Sunday in Yokohama, Japan, the day before
the tenth Hero’s event.
Sakuraba
put on a show as usual, as he came out with his eyelids painted
and posing like a cat.
All
participants in the tournament weighed in without a hitch except
for Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro. He originally weighed in 1.3kg over.
'Kid'
Yamamoto weighed in as he is fighting at his natural weight (featherweight)
this time and it doesn't look like he'll be fighting at 155lbs
anymore.
K-1
HERO'S
SEPTEMBER
17, 2007
YOKOHAMA,
JAPAN
venue:
Yokohama Arena
154-Pound
Tournament Semi-Final Bouts:
-Vitor
"Shaolin" Ribeiro 71.3kgvs-Gesias "JZ" Calvancante
70.0kg
-Caol
Uno 70.0kg vs-Andre Dida 69.3kg
-154-Pound
Tournament Reserve Bout
-Kazuyuki Miyata 70.0kgvs-Harvey Harra 69.9kg
Non-Tournament
Bouts:
-Norifumi
"Kid" Yamamoto 62.6kgvs-Bibiano Fernandes 62.8kg
-Sergei
Kharitonov (open weight, no need to weigh)vs-Alistair Overeem
-Kazushi
Sakuraba 83.7kgvs-Katsuyori Shibata 83.8kg
-Ikuhisa
"Minowaman" Minowa 89.3kgvs-Kevin Casey
-Melvin
Manhoef 87.3kgvs-Fabio Silva 88.0kg
-Zelg
Galesic 84.7kgvs-Yoon Dong Sik 84.8kg
-Takenori
Sato 84.1kgvs-Kenji Nagai 83.2kg
-Wataru
Takahashi 69.5kgvs-Tashiro Nishiuchi 69.4kg
Source: MMA Weekly |
LAWLER
UNIFIES MIDDLEWEIGHT BELTS AT ELITEXC
HONOLULU – “Ruthless” Robby Lawler lived up to
his nickname Saturday night. The ICON Sport Middleweight Champion
used a flurry of blows, capped with a devastating uppercut, to
stun and eventually finish off Murilo “Ninja” Rua in
the main event of the EliteXC: Uprising event in front of roughly
5,000 fans at the Neal Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu.
With
the victory by TKO coming at 2:04 of the bout’s third round,
Lawler claimed the EliteXC Middleweight Championship, earned
“Fighter of the Night” honors, and bolstered his standing
amongst the world’s greatest middleweight fighters.
Interestingly,
Rua was winning the fight on two of the three judges’ scorecards
until Lawler turned the tables and secured the knockout.
“I
knew I was gonna go out there and knock him out,” said a
confident yet relieved Lawler. “I love fighting. The fans
are great here and they’re smart about the sport.”
Lawler
(15-4) got things rolling with a takedown, but the two remained
on their feet for the majority of the fight. Rua (14-8-1) employed
a series of kicks to inflict punishment to Lawler’s thighs
and shins, while keeping Lawler away from striking position.
But Lawler did not stay dormant for long, exploding with a flurry
of punches, which Rua smiled at after taking. Rua controlled
the remainder of the round and continued to kick Lawler in the
legs, causing Lawler to wince in pain.
To
start the second round, Lawler landed a strong uppercut punch
to Rua’s chin, then continued to throw hard rights and left
hooks that stunned his Brazilian opponent. But Rua turned the
tides, landing a slew of shots that caused Lawler to take the
defensive, and went back to his powerful kicks that forced Lawler
into retreat mode as the second round came to a close.
After
being advised during the break by his corner that he needed a
knockout to win, Lawler came out firing with a wicked kick to
Rua’s chest followed by a punch to the jaw, and later connected
with a left foot to Rua’s temple. Lawler seized the momentum.
After another series of effective punches capped by the deciding
uppercut, Rua fell to the canvas where Lawler proceeded to rain
blows down upon the defenseless fighter. Referee Mario Yamasaki
jumped in to end the fight as Lawler’s jubilant corner –
which included former UFC champion Matt Hughes – piled into
the ring.
“Everybody
needs to be pushed, whether you’re a World Champion or an
amateur, you need someone to push you; it’s just human nature,”
said Hughes, who helped train Lawler and with whom Lawler is
partnering to open a new gym. “I was his ground-training
partner, and a body for him to beat on, and I tried to share
as much of my experience as I could with him. It’s harder
being outside the ring (than fighting) when your buddy is inside
the ring. I watched him throw and take punches, and it’s
hard because anything can happen.”
According
to fight promoter Patrick Freitas, Rua was taken to the hospital
with an eye injury following the bout.
EliteXC:
Uprising was the organization’s first since it acquired
Hawaii-based promotion company Icon Sport. The event also stands
as EliteXC’s Hawaiian debut, as well as the state’s
first live televised MMA event.
In
the night’s other bouts:
Nick
Diaz def. “Iron” Mike Aina by Split Decision (30-27,
28-29, 29-28)
Aina
erupted with a showcase of speed and power, throwing a series
of punches, many of which failed to connect, but awed the hometown
crowd. Diaz, who later said that his back was sore, appeared
wary of Aina’s attack and took a defensive approach as he
tried to figure his opponent out.
Aina
delivered a handful of strong, right crosses and hooks. Diaz
(15-6, 1 NC) appeared dazed and unable to counter effectively,
as his counterpunches were too slow for the shifty Aina (9-6-1).
But Diaz regained some momentum, and got in some blows of his
own as he held Aina against the fence, until the obviously quicker
Aina again attacked Diaz’ unprotected face with pot shots
as the round came to a close.
Round
two opened as Diaz attempted to kick Aina. The Hawaiian fighter
jumped in and delivered a staggering blow to Diaz’s head,
which forced the former UFC fighter to the ground. But the two
continued the stand-up battle, as Diaz took control with some
well-placed punch combinations. The slugfest continued as both
fighters clinched against the fence, trying to conserve as much
energy as possible. Aina’s punches opened a cut over the
right eye of Diaz, but the Stockton, Calif. native was relentless
and nearly got Aina to submit, barely missing a choke late in
the round.
Diaz
controlled the action out of the gates in round three, attacking
Aina against the fence with punches and knees to the legs. But
Aina again derived a series of punches, which stunned Diaz. But
Diaz eventually took Aina to the ground and controlled his back
with a choke in mind. Aina did his best to escape, but Diaz kept
reeling him back in. The judges’ decision was not appreciated
by the crowd, which felt Aina did enough to pull off the upset.
“I
know I could have fought better,” said Diaz. “I feel
good, but I am really disappointed in the way I performed. I
should have started a lot faster, but Aina fought with everything
he had. I am looking forward to getting back to the action again.”
Gina
Carano def. Tonya Evinger, TKO (submission, rear naked choke),
2:53 of Round 1
Evinger
came out firing right off the bat, taking Carano (5-0) to the
mat, and gaining side control as Carano tried to wriggle free.
However, Carano found a way to release. After securing control
of Evinger’s back, Carano waited patiently until the opening
round wound down. The Las Vegas native snuck her arm under Evinger’s
neck and secured the rear naked choke submission.
“This
is such a relief for me because there was a lot of pressure coming
into this fight,” said Carano. “When (Evinger) got
me down, I knew I couldn’t freak and had to keep my composure.
After reversing her, I considered standing up. But I’ve
been practicing working on top, so I just went through with it.”
Joey
Villasenor def. Riki Fukuda by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29,
29-28)
Fukuda
started the match with a takedown and let loose with a strong
right-handed punch to the head, which drove his opponent to the
canvas. But Villasenor (24-6) rolled out of the hold and escaped
to his feet. The two exchanged blows, with Fukuda (8-3) landing
the majority of damaging blows throughout the exchange and then
executing a double-leg takedown. The duo climbed to their feet
and Villasenor aimed to deliver shots to Fukuda’s increasingly
swollen right eye and ended the first round with a solid kick
to Fukuda’s head.
Villasenor
led off the second round with another vicious kick to the head
and Fukuda seemed stunned, but did not falter. He landed yet
another sweat-spraying kick to the head, but Fukuda again kept
advancing, showing no signs of quit as the two clinched to catch
their breath. Fukuda ended the round with a solid kick to the
midsection and then took Villasenor to the mat and started wailing
away with punches. Villasenor rolled out of danger just prior
to the bell sounding.
The
New Mexico native took control early in the final round with
a solid kick to Fukuda’s head. The two fighters traded blows
as the action see-sawed in the center of the ring. Fukuda controlled
Villasenor on the ground after a double-leg takedown, but Villasenor
reversed position and controlled the pace until Fukuda wriggled
out of his grasp and the two returned to their feet. The pair
traded hooks and danced around until time expired, putting the
onus on the judges to determine the fight’s outcome, one
that the crowd disagreed with mightily.
“I
am happy and very relieved,” said Villasenor. “This
was a tough guy I was against. I think I showed what Joey Villasenor
is all about, tough and gritty. This is very important for me
to win and prove to myself that I am one of the best middleweights
in the world.”
Jake
Shields def Renato “Charuto” Verissimo by TKO (strikes),
4:00 of Round 1
Local
fan-favorite Charuto took Shields to the canvas early in the
evening’s first televised bout, but Shields took advantage
as the two welterweights clinched. Shields then dropped Charuto
to the ground and delivered a series of blows to his head from
the guard. Eventually Shields (19-4-1) worked into the mount
position and unleashed a flurry of punches, which Charuto (8-5)
did his best to fend off. But the assault was too much for Charuto
to handle and referee Mario Yamasaki stepped in to stop the fight
at four minutes of the first round.
UFC
grappler B.J. Penn lent a hand in Charuto’s corner, much
to the delight of the local fans.
“I
was hoping to win in the first round, but in a way, I wanted
it to go a little longer,” said Shields. “If Frank
Trigg wants to fight me at a catch weight, I will be happy to
fight him next. If not, I feel I deserve a shot at the title.”
Justin
Buchholz def. Ikaika Choy-Fu, TKO (punches to the head), 1:35
of Round 1
Choy-Fu
unleashed a fury of punches to stun Buchholtz and took control
early. But Buchholtz (7-1) regained his composure and used a
combination of punches to the head capped with a solid right-hand
to drop Choy-Fu (1-2) and notch the TKO. Gary Shaw, Live Events
President of EliteXC, announced after the fight that Buchholz
would fight on Oct. 26 in Santa Ynez, Calif. on their next fight
card.
Elias
Delos Reyes def Chico Cantiberos, TKO (arm bar submission), 0:52
of Round 1
Delos
Reyes (2-0) didn’t waste any time dispatching fellow lightweight
Chico Cantiberos (2-4), successfully applying the arm bar submission
52 seconds into the first round of the night’s opening bout.
Tyson
Nam def. Albert “Always Bad” Manners by Unanimous Decision
(30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Kala
Kolohe Hose def. Jeff “Pee Wee” Cox by TKO (strikes)
early in Round 1
Mark
Kurano def. Jose “Bomber” Diaz by TKO (rear naked choke),
1:19 in Round 1
Brandon
Wolff def. Chad Klingensmith by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28,
29-28)
Source: MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
“The
joy of music should never be interrupted by a commercial.”
Leonard Bernstein, 1918-1990, American Composer/Conductor/Pianist
|
Central
Oahu Youth Program Fund Raiser
This Wednesday
at the Shack in Mililani!
Come support Niko Vitale get this youth progrm off of the ground
by supporting this fundraiser. Niko will be one of the leads
on this project which will give the youth of the west side some
place to go to get exercise, training, counseling, and stay busy
and out of trouble.
This
is just a short list of what the event will consist of:
Bikini
Contest
Perfomances by...
BET
Kawao
Beyond Paradise
Beach 5
The
fund raiser starts at 5 pm and there will be a lot of food and
giveaways so don't miss it!
|
KID
YAMAMOTO RETURNS CONFIDENT AS EVER
Norifumi
“Kid” Yamamoto returns at K-1 Hero’s for his first
mixed martial arts bout of 2007 today. With K-1 forming a new
weight class, tailor-made for him, Yamamoto will finally get
to compete against fighters his own size. Today, he faces King
of the Cage and Jungle Fight veteran Bibiano Fernandes.
That’s
not to say that he has done so bad competing outside of his natural
weight class. Yamamoto has managed to compile an impressive 15-1
professional record.
Looking
to notch another victory, Yamamoto spent some extra time on his
ground game, preparing for the jiu-jitsu expertise of Fernandes.
“I’ve
been training on the ground with a Brazilian jiu-jitsu guy …
so I’ve been gaining confidence in my ground game,”
said Yamamoto. “I feel most confident on my feet, but if
it goes to the ground I’m not worried because I’m confident
that I can hold my own, even if I’m on the bottom.”
With
a 15-1 record, Yamamoto has earned the right to be confident
against the 1-1 Fernandes. He wouldn’t give away how, but
he is quite sure that he will walk away with another victory.
“I’m
pretty confident that I can get the win. I’ve got a few
scenarios in my head of how I can do it.”
Yamamoto
did give fans an idea of what to expect when the action hits
the ring.
“I’m
going to go out there to stand up with him, and he’ll probably
come out and try to shoot on me. So the fans are probably going
to see that kind of a battle.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
WIRED BEGINS SYNDICATION ON OCT. 6
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced their most recent
television offering, UFC Wired, which begins airing Oct. 6 in
national syndication.
UFC
Wired will showcase some of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's
top fights from both the present and the past. Commentator Joe
Rogan will serve as host, as well as giving his expertise and
insight on the fights.
UFC
Wired will be syndicated throughout the entire country. This
will be the first syndicated program that the UFC has ever had.
It is expected to reach an even broader audience than the UFC
does already with its current offerings.
Check
your local listings for times and channels.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
STRIKEFORCE
CHAMP SOUTHWORTH CLASHES WITH “THE BUTCHER” AT PLAYBOY
MANSION
Former
WWE star Puder looks to continue undefeated run against Dalton
Beverly
Hills, CA; September 16, 2007…. Strikeforce World Light
Heavyweight (205 lb. limit) Champion and The Ultimate Fighter
reality series semifinalist Bobby Southworth (7-4) will square
off with Canadian striker Bill “The Butcher” Mahood
(15-5-1) in a non-title bout during the highly-anticipated Strikeforce
mixed martial arts event at The Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills,
California on Saturday, September 29th. Undefeated heavyweight
and former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star Daniel Puder
(5-0), meanwhile, will lock horns with Richard Dalton (3-2) during
the star-studded affair.
The
37-year-old Southworth is no stranger to performing on big stages.
The Santa Cruz, California native became a familiar face to millions
of Spike TV viewers two years ago during his highly entertaining
and controversial stint on the original season of The Ultimate
Fighter. Southworth’s victory over Lodune Sincaid in the
preliminary round of the smash hit reality series’ elimination
contest set up a meeting with Stephan Bonnar.
His
loss of a questionable, split decision to Bonnar, the eventual
runner up on the show, led to an unforgettable, heated exchange
of words between Southworth and UFC President Dana White.
Southworth
was crowned the first world light heavyweight mixed martial arts
champion in Strikeforce history on December 8th after he earned
a unanimous judges' decision over fellow UFC veteran and former
K-1 USA contender Vernon “Tiger” White at the HP Pavilion
in San Jose, California.
For
the majority of the last year, Mahood has shined as a contender
in the BodogFIGHT organization, reeling off back to back victories
over Khalil Ibrahim and Steve Steinbeiss, respectively. He is
also a veteran of both UFC and King Of The Cage.
The
son of a former collegiate boxer, Mahood took up Judo at the
tender age of eight. As a teenager, he became passionate about
Tae Kwon Do and competed in the Korean martial art through his
first two years of college. Mahood later took up another Korean
discipline, Hapkido.
It
was the inaugural UFC in 1993 that inspired Mahood to supplement
his traditional martial arts studies with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
training, which he pursued under acclaimed coaches Marc Laimon
and John Lewis. Mahood became a training partner of mixed martial
arts superstar Denis Kang after the two Canadians befriended
one another in 2003.
The
25-year-old Puder, who recently inked a six-fight deal with Strikeforce,
will make his first start since February 18th when he stopped
Michael Alden during BodogFIGHT’s visit to Costa Rica.
The
winner of the WWE’s “Tuff Enough” reality television
series, Puder’s conquest earned him a $1 million paycheck
as well as a one year contract with the leading professional
wrestling organization.
The
pinnacle of Puder’s run on the UPN-televised reality show,
which aired between October and December 2004, came when he was
granted the opportunity to grapple with 1996 Olympic Gold medalist
and professional wrestling legend, Kurt Angle. To the amazement
of WWE officials and the millions of TV viewers looking on, Puder
successfully placed Angle in a “kimura” submission
hold, bringing about a tremendous upset victory for the young
contender.
Since
he returned to the world of mixed martial arts where he had begun
his professional combat sports career with a victory in Japan’s
X-1 organization in 2003, Puder, a former student of Strikeforce
World Middleweight (185 lb. limit) Champion Frank Shamrock, has
only been forced to fight longer than a single round by one of
his four opponents, Mike Cook. Puder submitted Cook with a rear
naked choke in round two of their December 8th Strikeforce promoted
matchup.
Puder’s
opponent, Dalton, also brings to the table an impressive wrestling
resume that includes over 13 years experience in the sport. Following
a high school career that gained him recognition as one of the
top competitors in the state of New Jersey, Dalton achieved similar
status as a competitor for Palomar Junior College.
In
1996, Dalton enlisted in The United States Marine Corps and,
soon after, joined the Southern Pacific Navy wrestling squad.
While stationed in various locations, he enjoyed success in a
host of high-profile tournaments, including The Sunkist Open
in Arizona and The Dave Schultz International in Colorado.
Thus
far, Dalton’s work in the sport of mixed martial arts has
been primarily concentrated in the San Diego, California-based
Total Combat league where he holds combined record of 3-1-1.
The
Strikeforce mixed martial arts fight card at The Playboy Mansion
will be headlined by the return of undefeated Strikeforce Lightweight
(155 lb. limit) Champion, “El Nino” Gilbert Melendez
(12-0).
Former
UFC middleweight star Joe “Diesel” Riggs (26-9 (1 No
Contest) will make his Strikeforce debut against fan favorite
Eugene “The Wolf” Jackson (15-7-1). UFC and Pride veteran
Josh “The Punk” Thomson (34-2 (1 NC) will square off
with former IFL standout and United States marine, Adam Lynn
(11-7 (1 NC).
In
addition to the stellar mixed martial arts fight card, all “Strikeforce
At The Mansion” guests will be treated to an array of amenities
including a buffet style, gourmet dinner; top-shelf, open bar;
and a wine tasting party featuring the spirits of several gold
medal wineries. Various Playboy Playmates will be on hand to
partake in all activities.
The
event at the Playboy Mansion will be staged three months after
the Strikeforce co-produced “Shamrock vs. Baroni,”
extravaganza, the first mixed martial arts event to be distributed
live on SHOWTIME® PPV. Before a crowd of 10,850 at San Jose’s
HP Pavilion, former UFC middleweight champion and mixed martial
arts legend, Frank Shamrock, became the first Strikeforce middleweight
champion in history by choking out UFC and Pride veteran, “The
New York Badass” Phil Baroni, in the second round of the
star-studded fight card’s main event on Friday, June 22nd.
About
Strikeforce
Strikeforce
is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which,
on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock
vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts
fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza,
which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion,
played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. The rapidly
growing organization recently re-launched its website, www.strikeforceusa.net,
which boasts a bold new look and all-new features, including
video streaming capability. Since 1995, Strikeforce has been
the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and,
after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing
promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series
with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.”
Source: Mike Afromowitz
|
Quote
of the Day
"Never
go to a doctor whose office plants have died."
Erma Bombeck, 1927-1996, American Journalist/Author/Humorist
|
ELITEXC:
UPRISING
RESULTS!
EliteXC:
Uprising
Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii
September 15, 2007
Prelims
150lbs: MMA: 3 Rounds - 3 Minutes
Elias Delos Reyes (Animal House) def Chico Cantiberos (Eastsidaz)
Submission via arm bar from the guard at 0:52 in Round 1.
160lbs:
MMA: 3 Rounds - 3 Minutes
Justin Buchholz (Bulls Pen) def Ikaika Choy-Foo (Jesus Is Lord)
TKO via referee stoppage due to strikes at 1:35 in Round 1.
Televised
Bouts
175lbs: MMA: 3 Rounds - 5 Minutes
Jake Shields (Cesar Gracie/Fairtex) def. Renato "Charuto"
Verissimo (Nova Uniao)
TKO via referee stoppage due to strikes from the mount at 4:00
in Round 1.
185lbs:
MMA: 3 Rounds - 5 Minutes
"Smokin" Joey Villasenor (Jackson Submission Fighting)
def. Riki Fukuda (Killer Bee)
Split decision [(29-28), (29-28), (29-28)] after 3 rounds.
140lbs:
MMA: 3 Rounds - 5 Minutes
Gina Carano (Master Toddy) def. Tonya Evinger
Submission via rear naked choke at 2:53 in Round 1.
160lbs:
MMA: 3 Rounds - 5 Minutes
Nick Diaz (Cesar Gracie) def. "Iron" Mike Aina (BJ
Penn MMA)
Split decision [(30-27), (28-29), (29-28)] after 3 rounds.
185lbs:
MMA: 3 Rounds - 5 Minutes
Elite World Title:
"Ruthless" Robbie Lawler (Miletich Fighting Systems)
def. Murilo "Ninja" Rua (Chute Boxe)
TKO due to strikes at 2:04 in Rounds 1.
*Robbie Lawler becomes the new EliteXC World Middleweight
Champion.
ProElite.com
Bouts
135lbs: MMA: 3 Rounds - 3 Minutes
Icon vs Rumble Rivalry Bout:
Tyson Nam (Grappling Unlimited) def. Albert "Always Bad"
Manners (BJ Penn MMA)
Unanimous decision [(30-27), (30-27), (30-27)] after 3 rounds.
185lbs:
MMA: 3 Rounds - 3 Minutes
Kala Kolohe Hose def. Jeff "PeeWee" Cox
TKO via referee stoppage due to strikes at 0:20 in Round 1.
185lbs:
MMA: 3 Rounds - 3 Minutes
Mark Kurano def. Jose "Bomber" Diaz
Submission via rear naked choke at 1:13 in Round 1.
135lbs:
MMA: 3 Rounds - 3 Minutes
Mark Oshiro (Bulls Pen) def. Nui Wheeler (Team Soljah)
Submission via rear naked choke at 1:19 in Round 1.
170lbs:
MMA: 3 Rounds - 3 Minutes
Brandon Wolfe (Team MMAD) def. Chad Klingensmith (Jackson Submission
Fighting)
Unanimous decision [(29-28), (29-28), (29-28)] after 3 rounds.
|
MURILO
"NINJA" RUA SEMINAR
Today!
SUNDAY SEPT. 16TH @ 6PM
94-336
PUPUPANI STREET, WAIPAHU- HAWAII
(second level of the WESTGATE SHOPPING PLAZA)
COST
IS $50.00
PUT
ON BY SUBMIT ONE AND CENTRAL OAHU JIU-JITSU.
CONTACTS:
Wyman of Central Oahu Jiu-JItsu @ 808-216-4852
or
Alden of Submit One fight wear @ 808-371-1589
FOR MORE INFORMATION.
|
EVOLUTION
SPORTS, LLC Proudly Presents…
Hawaii’s
First Annual Mixed Martial Arts Sport & Fitness Expo
Evolution Sports, LLC will be holding it’s first ever Mixed
Martial Arts Sport & Fitness Expo at the Neal S. Blaisdell
Exhibition Hall. The Expo is first of its kind in Hawaii that
will involve Hawaii’s traditional martial arts schools,
Mixed Martial Arts Schools, Fitness clubs, Gyms, Vitamins shops,
Sports Gear shops, T-shirt Vendors, generally sponsors &
vendors that supports the sport health, fitness and athletic
industry in Hawaii to participate in the MMA Sport & Fitness
Expo.
Evolution Sports wishes to have sponsors at the expo that will
assist in promoting health & fitness and self-defense/MMA
schools to offer their services and products to the general public,
at the same time generating leads and memberships and future
clientele for the sponsors and MMA schools. Our goal is to provide
and promote awareness of health, fitness and self-defense tips
and awareness classes that will benefit the general public and
the MMA enthusiast.
Evolution Sport’s Mixed Martial Arts Sport & Fitness
Expo is geared towards traditional martial arts schools, MMA
schools, boxing, kickboxing; schools and any other self-defense
schools to participate in demonstrating their specific technique
in the sport of self-defense on stage at the Neal S. Blaisdell
Exhibition Hall in a scheduled timely manner to show the public
what they’re school offers as far as self-defense classes.
Traditional martial arts schools, MMA schools, boxing, kickboxing;
schools and any other self-defense schools will have the opportunity
to display their unique self-defense art on stage or ring in
a timely manner. (Program will be given out once we have the
final count of schools/vendors involved in the expo.)
We also will be holding an exhibition stand-up Mixed Martial
Art Bout in a boxing ring, which Evolution Sport will provide
for the general entertainment of the expo. We plan to bring down
a mainland celebrity Mixed Martial Art Artist to Hawaii for signing
and photo opportunities for the general public to enjoy, and
will be giving away a round trip for two to Las Vegas to the
UFC. Evolution Sport would like you to be a sponsor for this
first of its kind MMA
Sport & Fitness Expo at the Neal Blasdell Exhibition Hall
June 27-28 & 29 of 2008.
Hawaii’s
First Annual Mixed Martial Arts Sport & Fitness Expo provides
a unique marketing potential for companies/sponsors with their
products and services directed to the entire community. It offers
unlimited opportunities for a broad spectrum of self-defense
tips and classes, merchandise, activities, services, health tips,
weight lose programs to be displayed, demonstrated and sold through
personal contact and tantalizing visuals at the Event.
*This is the first year that Evolution Sports, LLC’s Mixed
Martial Arts Sport & Fitness EXPO. Evolution Sports are committed
to making the MMA Sport & Fitness Expo the premiere Expo
of its kind in HAWAII. The Expo will encourage a healthy, happy,
safe and active lifestyle, physical fitness and even financial
well-being. Our goal is to improve the quality of life for the
people of Hawaii by exposing them to an event that showcases
the most up-to-date, self-defense techniques in classes, comprehensive,
exciting and fun products and services in MMA Sports & Fitness
Expo!
For more information please contact Javen B. Guzon at (808) 781-6194
or email at evolutionsprts@yahoo.com.
Copyright © 2007 Evolution Sports, LLC.
Source: Javen B. Guzon
|
ProElite
Finalizes King of the Cage Acquisition
By FCF Staff
ProElite announced today via a press release, that the MMA organization
has added King of the Cage to its growing number of properties.
According to the statement, “KOTC will promote events in
conjunction with Los Angeles-based ProElite’s respected
and highly acclaimed live events division, EliteXC, which broadcasts
MMA events on Showtime Networks.”
In
a media conference call last week, Elite XC Live Events President
Gary Shaw reported that the promotion’s parent company,
ProElite, had letters of intent tabled to acquire KOTC and ICON
Sport. Recently, ProElite has also announced the acquisition
of Britain’s Cage Rage promotion, as well as South Korea’s
Spirit MC.
Today’s
release quoted KOTC CEO Terry Trebilcock as saying;
“ProElite’s
EliteXC is an ideal fit for KOTC, and we are honored to join
such a talented team of dedicated professionals. ProElite is
unmatched in its commitment to the sport, its fans and fighters,
and we are thrilled to grow in lockstep with the company.”
No
financial figures in regards to the transaction were disclosed.
Up next, Elite XC, alongside ICON Sport and Rumble on the Rock,
are hosting the “Uprising” event this Saturday in Honolulu,
Hawaii, which will feature a middleweight title fight between
Elite XC champion Murilo Rua and ICON Sport champion, Robbie
Lawler.
Source: FCF
|
SHAWN
TOMPKINS ON HIS IFL DEPARTURE
by Damon Martin
International Fight League Commissioner Kurt Otto, on Wednesday
night, confirmed the release of Anacondas coach Shawn Tompkins
after a successful run as head coach for the squad.
Tompkins
took over the Anacondas as the handpicked successor to original
head coach Bas Rutten earlier this year in March.
MMAWeekly
caught up with Tompkins, who commented on his departure from
the IFL.
“It
was something that Kurt and I and Bas talked about midway through
last season,” said Tompkins. “I’m training so
many people out here (at Xtreme Couture) and as well as my home
base, I always have to remember is Team Tompkins, and the guys
I train out there I owe a lot to.”
According
to Tompkins, it was the time commitment and travel schedule that
led to the mutual decision between himself and the IFL to part
ways.
“Just
with that kind of a commitment, and the timing with the IFL,
I mean, the travel schedule is so demanding out there and I was
just spreading myself way too thin,” stated Tompkins.
“It
was a mutual agreement between the three of us, and really it
was a lot of me. I brought it to the attention of them that I
felt like I was being pulled too much. The IFL, I had a great
time with them, they treated me awesome. I think of Kurt and
Gareb as very good friends. No hard feelings at all.”
In
an interview with MMAWeekly a few weeks ago, Tompkins confirmed
his move to Las Vegas to take on lead trainer duties for the
highly in demand Xtreme Couture gym. The former IFL coach also
attributes that job as a reason for leaving the organization.
“I
just moved to Las Vegas, Nev. I took on a job as the lead instructor
and gym manager at Xtreme Couture here and I’m getting married
in about 7 months, so there are so many things going on in my
life that it just wasn’t fair to some of the guys that I’ve
been training for multiple years.”
As
far as some of Tompkins top students who fight in the IFL, the
former coach says they are staying put with the promotion.
“Guys
like Jay Hieron and Chris Horodecki, they’re real happy
being in the IFL,” said Tompkins. “I’m still going
to be training them; I just won’t be on the same travel
schedule as they are.
“I
won’t be at all the events and in their corner. I mean Chris
Horodecki is like my son and he’s very happy with the IFL
and he has plans of winning the Grand Prix championship and being
with the Anacondas next year.”
With
a number of fighters from Xtreme Couture on the docket with upcoming
bouts, it is no doubt that Tompkins will remain busy with his
new job at the training center.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
IFL
removes Antonio McKee from IFL World Grand Prix
The IFL has removed Antonio McKee (21-3-2) from the IFL World
Grand Prix.
Without
approval from the IFL, McKee agreed to compete at a "Brawl
For It All" card in San Francisco, California on October
20 -- two weeks before the IFL Grand Prix.
"Antonio
made a decision regarding competition for another organization
that was unacceptable based on his contract with the IFL,"
IFL President Kurt Otto said in a statement. "We feel that
in the best interests of the league, these actions preclude him
from competing on the IFL World Grand Prix card. We are pleased
that an outstanding athlete such as Pat Healy is prepared to
step into the very competitive 170-lb. division."
Nevada
Lions' Healy (18-12) has stepped in to fight Delson Heleno (11-2).
Jay Hieron (12-4) faces Mark Miller (8-2) on the other bracket.
The
opening fround of the 2007 IFL World Grand Prix begins November
3 at the Sears Centre in Chicago, Illinois followed by the Finals
on December 29 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
UFC
Fight Night Interview: Kenny Florian
By Robert Rousseau
These days, Kenny Florian is a household MMA name. Due to this,
it’s sometimes hard to remember that he’s only been
competing in mixed martial arts events for a little over five
years now. And five years doesn’t seem like much when compared
to the nearly nine years of professional MMA experience his well-
rounded UFC Fight Night 11 opponent, Din Thomas, brings.
Then
again, length of MMA experience only means so much, especially
when you’re talking about a fighter like Kenny Florian who
achieved his BJJ black belt way back in 2003 and has been training
with famed Muay Thai coach Mark DellaGrotte for over three years
now. Further, he’s put in time training with the likes of
Greco- Roman expert Darryl Gholar, Cuban Wrestling National Team
coach Alejo Morales, and, of course, BJJ black belt Robert Maia.
Kenny
Florian has certainly utilized his time well. After all, he wouldn’t
have been able to run with the opportunity that TUF 1 gave him
if it were not for some of the most diverse skills in the lightweight
division. So how will it all come together when he takes on the
ultra experienced Din Thomas?
MMAFighting.com:
How has training been going?
Florian:
Going excellent. I’ve been doing all my training here in
Boston. I’ve been preparing here with the team that I always
train with and haven’t done any traveling. Usually, I travel
for fights, but I’ve just been staying put here in Boston.
MMAFighting.com:
If you could, name some of the guys you’ve been training
with?
Florian:
Patrick Cote and Jonathan Goulet were in town training for their
fights, so I did some work with them. Marcus Davis, I did a lot
of training with him as well. My brother Keith. Of course, Mark
Dellagrotti. . . And my other brother, Kirk.
We’ve
got a bunch of guys that have been training with me. It’s
been great; we’ve had some great training sessions. I’m
in the final week of training right now. (So) now it’s kind
of taper mode. Just relax and watch the weight until the fight.
All the hard work is done.
So,
this is a good time, bro.
MMAFighting.com:
Marcus Davis looked great in his last fight, by the way.
Florian:
Thank God he came back from that kick. That was intense.
MMAFighting.com:
The round of the night for sure.
Florian:
Yeah, absolutely.
MMAFighting.com:
You’ve seemed, at least to me, to be physically stronger
in the bouts since Sean Sherk. Do you feel that’s true,
and if so has that been a point of emphasis in training?
Florian:
Absolutely. One of the things I really did was start to train
like a professional athlete after that fight. I was injured for
that year; my back was really bad. Just doing regular things
and walking around was very painful– even lying down.
So
I knew that I really had to do something drastic about getting
my back stronger and getting my whole body stronger. I hired
a strength and conditioning coach and met with him two weeks
after the Sherk fight. (From there) I was training every single
day. And it just improved my overall strength tremendously and
the back injury went away.
Strengthening
of the back, strengthening of the core just made me a better
fighter and I got to do the things that I used to be able to
do. That’s been the model ever since the Sherk fight. There
is no offseason. . . That’s part of the reason why I took
this fight with Din Thomas. I am (always) in shape and was ready
to go.
MMAFighting.com:
Out of the six wins you have– according to Sherdog.com–
all have ended via stoppage. Along with this, you’re known
as a fighter that’s not content to simply eek out a decision.
Fans and media love that kind of thing. How does it feel to be
known as a guy like that, one that comes in trying to finish
fights?
Florian: It’s always been my mentality, since the moment
I started training in Brazilian Jiu- Jitsu. Almost to a fault
(actually) because that was the only thing on my mind, to submit
my opponent. I think that shows the ultimate in skill.
No
one wants to see a judges’ decision. We’ve seen it
recently with the Bisping- Hamill fight. You never want to put
your destiny in the hands of judges. I think that’s what’s
going to entertain fans (stoppages), so that’s what I train
for. My intent is always to finish my opponents with a knockout
or submission.
MMAFighting.com:
Din Thomas has a lot of MMA experience and is an interesting
opponent because, at least in my mind, he is similar to you in
that he is a well- rounded fighter. Without giving up too much
of your game plan, is there an aspect of fighting where you feel
that you have a clear advantage over him?
Florian:
I think we are very similar, as you said. (Still), I believe
and hope that I will show that I have the advantage everywhere.
I think that I am more of a diverse striker, whereas I believe
he basically utilizes a boxing style of striking. The majority
of his business comes off of his jab, his one- two combination
and his jab. I think I bring a little bit more to the table as
far as the striking department. I like to kick; I like to knee;
I like to punch; I like to elbow and mix it up in the clinch.
In that regard, I’m a little bit different.
I
think that the difference in this fight is going to be the will
of the fighter, though. Who wants this more? And I believe I
want this fight more. I think I’m hungrier right now, and
that’s going to be the difference ultimately. . . Obviously,
that’s a factor in all fights. But when you get fighters
who are very close in skill– extremely even– that’s
always going to be the difference, the mental game that they
bring into the ring.
MMAFighting.com:
You spoke of your diverse striking, and you’re certainly
known for having some killer elbows. After a fight with Evan
Tanner that was stopped due to some devastating elbows by his
opponent, David Loiseau, Loiseau was asked how he’d gotten
so good at using his elbows. He said the reason was that he worked
them everyday. Is that something you do?
Florian:
Absolutely. . . Even in Thailand it’s almost a dying art.
Not many people are training elbows as much nowadays. That’s
a technique that’s allowed. Why not work it? It’s something
that we drill a lot. We spar with elbows. And we work elbows
from all different positions.
It’s
something that needs to be practiced everyday if you want to
be good at it.
MMAFighting.com:
You’ve gone on record as saying that you want to beat all
the contenders so that when you get another shot at the belt
there’s no argument against you. If you win this fight against
Thomas, who are some of the other fighters that may be in the
back of your mind? I know you’re concentrating on this fight,
but who might you have to go through to achieve the status you
desire?
Florian:
That’s exactly right. That’s what I hope to do. Each
fight I want to gain more and more respect. I want to be that
number one contender without a doubt. I want to fight guys like
Guida: He’s very well respected and is one of the top guys.
Roger Huerta is certainly up there (too). Joe Stevenson, he’s
probably going to be the next guy to get a shot. As long as Sherk
doesn’t get through his appeal, he’ll probably be fighting
B.J. Penn. Then there’s the winner of Tavares and Griffin.
I
think those are the main players right now in the 155 pound division.
I’d love the opportunity to take those guys out one at a
time and really show that I’m the number one contender without
a doubt. I think the fans would appreciate that. I believe that’s
the best way to get a shot at the title and have no doubt in
anybody’s mind that you deserve it. I would definitely love
to gain that respect not only from the fans but also the MMA
experts who are doing the polls. I would love to see myself in
those top rankings of the best 155ers in the world.
MMAFighting.com:
You have a degree in communications. Any thought of maybe commentating
when your fighting career is over like Bas Rutten and Randy Couture
have chosen to?
Florian:
I would love that. That would be an absolute dream job. I really
enjoy doing commentating for fights. I watch fights all the time
and I love analyzing fights. It’s something I have a background
in and I would love to have the opportunity to do something with
Zuffa in the future.
MMAFighting.com:
You’re clearly an intelligent guy. You come off that way
when you’re speaking on TV and have the education to prove
it. There are a lot of people in mixed martial arts that–
and maybe outsiders wouldn’t realize this– have good
educations and are quite intelligent people. What do you think
lures introspective, thinking kinds of people into this game?
Florian:
I think it’s the overall game. It’s the ability to
not only work on weaknesses and work on technical skills–
which there are so many of– but it’s the strategy of
it, the mental game. Analyzing your opponent, analyzing yourself–
your own strengths and weaknesses– and coming up with a
game plan and executing it. There’s a tremendous amount
of skill and strategy that goes on. I know that’s what is
really intriguing to me. I think for a lot of the fans and the
fighters, they know how much work goes into it.
One
little mistake that your opponent makes could be the difference.
You need to be able to analyze that along with your team. It
definitely takes a tremendous amount of intelligence, strategy,
and skill. It’s just a work in progress, there’s always
something to work on and improve upon and that’s what makes
going to the gym everyday so exciting for me.
MMAFighting.com:
Any prediction for the fight?
Florian:
I think I’m going to finish Din in the second round. That’s
my opinion. I think Din’s a tremendous fighter. But I think
I’m going to bring a certain intensity and skill to this
fight that people haven’t seen before. I hope Din is healthy
and at his best. I’m in this game to fight the best, and
Din’s certainly one of those guys. I’m looking forward
to a great challenge from him.
MMAFighting.com:
Thanks a lot for taking the time to talk with me. Good luck in
the fight.
Florian:
Thanks so much, Bob. Much appreciated and anytime, my pleasure.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Paulão
Filho
By Bernardo Seabra
Filho wants to fight between Heavyweight
After
win the WEC belt and get scolded by his dad, the BJJ and Judo
black belt Paulão Filho wants new experiences. Paulão
wants to fight, not just at 83 kg, but also between lighheavy
and heavyweights. “It was a new experience to win the belt,
but I need more. I met the WEC 93kg title holder and I find him
very sassy, cocky, very stupid, so I want to challenge him. After
that, I want to fight against a heavyweight too”, said Paulão,
that completed: “I want to fight against all those guys
that people say they are the bests”. You can see the complete
interview below:
How
was win the belt?
It
was a new experience, last year I was almost there. But I need
more.
You
want more? What’s your plain now?
My
new plains are that I want to fight against all those guys that
people say they are the bests. I want to fight Dan Henderson,
Quinton Jackson… and even Shogun. I want to fight all those
guys that are pointed as top fighters in the world.
Now
that you have the WEC belt, what are you plain for this event?
I
have to do three more fights on my contract, so I want to all
being for the title. I met the WEC 93kg title holder and I find
him very sassy, cocky, very stupid, so I want to challenge him.
After that I want to fight against a heavyweight too. In fact,
with we’re going to play, let’s play nicely. I always
was against advertising, against marketing, but I know what I
can do. Let’s play a little and have some fun.
How
it’s behind the scenes on WEC?
The
organization is amazing. Everybody well-dressed, the event is
attended from class people. I thought the American people polite,
fast, dynamics. The event was broadcasted at the open TV, for
110 millions people. I still met a lot of good unknown guys there.
Fighters with 40 MMA fights and eight losses, tough guys. The
sport is very big there (), biggest than here at .
How
is your father after the heart attack?
He’s
OK. Next time I’m not going to kill him (laughs).
He
said that he like to see you fighting at 93kg, will you going
to change or you will keep at 83kg?
He’s
a demanding father and knows what I’m able to do at the
ring, because he is my company since I was born. He knows me
better then anyone. About the weight I will fight, I accept anything.
Of course that I fight because I love to fight, but I do it because
give me a good financial return too. My work is to fight and
I need money. Giving me money and I will fight where you want.
Are
you still fighting for Brazilian Top Team?
Not
in fact. For this last fight I didn’t train with then. I
have to let clear that I still don’t talk with Bebeo Duarte
or Murilo Bustamante, but I am not with then anymore. I can’t
say that I was upset, they can even process me, but everybody
is adult and we are going to settle this, but I’m not at
BTT anymore.
Source: Tatame
|
Quote
of the Day
"Baseball
is like a poker game. Nobody wants to quit when he's losing;
nobody wants you to quit when you're ahead."
Jackie Robinson, 1919-1972, Hall of Fame American Baseball Player
|
ICON
AND RUMBLE PRESENT
ELITEXC: UPRISING
TODAY!
BLAISDELL
ARENA, HONOLULU, HAWAII
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER
15, 2007
Fights Start at 3:00PM
VIEW THE TV SPOT HERE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKpQ14XmhY8
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT BLAISDELL BOX OFFICE, TIMES SUPERMARKETS,
ALL TICKETMASTER OUTLETS, AND www.ticketmaster.com
Come support Fighters'
Club TV's very own Mark Kurano in his debut MMA fight! Tickets
are going fast so do not wait to buy your tickets or you may
be left outside!
PRESALE
TICKET PRICES
$25 General
$35 Lower Riser
$45 Lower Riser Centered
$45 Loge
$75 Floor, rows 5 and back
$150 Floor, row 4
$250 Floor, row 3
$400 Floor, row 1&2
Military Discounts available.
Prelim Bouts (3x3mins)
Tyson Nam vs Albert Always Bad Manners
Justin Buchholz vs Kolo Son of Polynesia Koka
Televised Bouts (3x5mins, Championship 5x5mins)
Gina Carano vs Tonya Evinger
Jake Shields vs Charuto
Riki Fukuda vs Smokin' Joey Villasenor
Nick Diaz vs Iron Mike Aina
Murilo Ninja Rua vs Ruthless Robbie Lawler
ProElite.com Bouts (3x3mins)
Kala Kolohe Hose vs Jeff PeeWee Cox
Mark Oshiro vs Nui Wheeler
Mark Kurano vs Jose Bomber Diaz
Brandon Wolffe vs Chad Klingensmith
|
MURILO
"NINJA" RUA SEMINAR
Tomorrow!
SUNDAY SEPT. 16TH @ 6PM
94-336
PUPUPANI STREET, WAIPAHU- HAWAII
(second level of the WESTGATE SHOPPING PLAZA)
COST
IS $50.00
PUT
ON BY SUBMIT ONE AND CENTRAL OAHU JIU-JITSU.
CONTACTS:
Wyman of Central Oahu Jiu-JItsu @ 808-216-4852
or
Alden of Submit One fight wear @ 808-371-1589
FOR MORE INFORMATION.
|
Po'ai
has signed a contract with HEROES
Po'ai has signed a contract with HEROES and will be making his
HEROES debut in Japan on Monday, September 17. If you're wondering
why it's on a Monday, this is a National holiday in Japan. Po'ai
will still be fighting with ICON for the remainder of his contract.
Vince
SavageFightGear.com
|
I
WANT TO FINISH HIM" - JAKE SHIELDS
by Jeff Cain
Jake Shields, the eighth-ranked welterweight in the world by
the MMAWeekly World MMA Rankings, is set to take on Renato "Charuto"
Verissimo Saturday night in EliteXC.
Shields
thinks he can knock Verissimo out standing.
The
two have been on a collision course since they both entered the
Rumble on the Rock 175lb. tournament last year. Shields eventually
won the tournament, while Verissimo was ousted in the opening
round by Carlos Condit.
They
were also scheduled to meet earlier this year in the Gracie Fighting
Championship that was indefinitely postponed. Shields and Charuto
will finally face off this weekend in Honolulu at the EliteXC
event that will air live on Showtime.
Shields
and Verissimo are both known for their grappling abilities and
Jiu-Jitsu skills, but it wouldn't be uncommon if this fight remained
standing. "We're both good Jiu-Jitsu guys, we might want
to stand with each other instead," Shields told MMAWeekly.
Asked
if he's been working on his striking, Jake said, "I've been
working on it a lot, and it's definitely something I'm thinking
about doing. I'm going to get out there and fight and see how
I feel. I'm not putting together an exact game plan for this
fight, but I think it's definitely a possibility that I want
to stand with Charuto."
He
added, "I think his stand up is not bad, but I also think
he doesn't have the best jaw. I think he's definitely a guy I
could knock out."
Shields
is excited to fight Verissimo, and has been looking forward to
it for a long time. "I think me and Charuto is a good fight.
I think we're a good match-up, two top Jiu-Jitsu guys, and we're
going to go at it.
“I've
been wanting to fight him for a while. I like Charuto as a person
and a fighter. I think he's a great guy, but he's someone I think
is going to be a great fight.
“I'm
excited to do it on Showtime where my friends and fans can watch.
I"m going to go out there and hopefully put on a good show.
I know I'm ready, in shape, and ready to go out there and fight."
Shields
concluded, "Obviously, a win's a win, and nice, but I want
to go out there and put on a dominant performance. I want to
finish him. I don't really care if it's a submission or knockout,
but I'd love to go out there and finish him, hopefully in dominant
fashion. I w'ant to go out there and make it just look like we're
in different leagues."
Source: MMA Weekly
|
MARK
CUBAN'S HDNET FIGHTS ANNOUNCES PREMIERE CARD
First Event to Include Return of Erik Paulson
By FCF Staff
HDNet
Fights confirmed several bouts today for the new promotion’s
upcoming October 13th debut event, which will take place at the
American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. HDNet Fights represents
the official entrance of Dallas Maverick’s owner, Mark Cuban,
into the MMA promoting world. The high definition network has
broadcast MMA programming in the past, but now Cuban will use
his HDNet venture as a means of promoting MMA as well.
““Mixed-martial-arts
fighting is a fast, emerging business and there’s a lot
of demand out there right now.” Cuban was quoted as saying
in today’s press release. “It is in the best interest
of HDNet that we provide the programming that the viewers want
and MMA fighting has done very well for us. At the same time,
we can serve the many fight fans in Dallas and other cities by
bringing the sport to them in an arena atmosphere.”
One
of the sports pioneers, Erik Paulson, will return to competition
after a 7 year hiatus to face Jeff Ford in the October 13th,
main event. Paulson (9-4-1), who was born in 1966, has not competed
since April, 2000, when he defeated Ronald Jhun by Unanimous Decision at Superbrawl
17. The former Shooto champion and submission wrestling guru
earned his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Rigan Machado
last year. His opponent will be kickboxing champion Jeff Ford
(3-2) , who most recently was stopped by Steve Steinbess at BodogFight’s
“St.Petersburg” last December.
Other
confirmed bouts for the event include; Justin Eilers (17-6-1)
vs. Justin Howard (2-1), Sean Salmon (12-4) vs. Leopoldo Serao
(7-6), and Jason House (7-3) vs. Freddie Espiricueta (2-2).
Today’s
release also confirmed that UFC and Pride veteran Guy Mezger
has been hired by HDNet Fights to head up the companies fight
operations.
“Actually,
it’s a dream come true for me to work with Mark and his
HDNet team,” Mezger said in today’s statement. “I
know that Mark is committed to producing the best MMA events
possible and I’m going to do everything possible to help
him do that. I’m looking forward to growing with the company
and making some noise in this exciting business.”
Source: FCF
|
What’s
happening in the world of mixed martial arts now …
By Brian Knapp
Karo
Parisyan has confirmed the UFC is currently in negotiations with
both Hayato Sakurai and former Olympian Hector Lombard as potential
opponents for the 25-year-old welterweight contender at UFC 78
Saturday, Nov. 17 in Newark, N.J.
An
11-year veteran of the PRIDE, DEEP and Shooto promotions, Sakurai
(30-7-2) defeated Mac Danzig by second-round knockout at PRIDE
33 in February. The 32-year-old Japanese star has won seven of
his past eight bouts, the lone defeat coming to PRIDE Lightweight
Champion Takanori Gomi in December 2005.
Lombard
(11-2-1) placed fifth in Judo at the 2000 Summer Olympics and
has made a smooth transition to mixed martial arts. The Cuban
is 4-0-1 over his past five fights. Decision losses to Gegard
Mousasi and Akihiro Gono in PRIDE stand as the only blemishes
on his record.
Parisyan
(17-4) last fought at UFC 71 in May, as he earned a unanimous
decision victory over Josh Burkman. Believed to be on a short
list of eventual contenders to champion Matt Serra’s 170-pound
throne – he defeated Serra at UFC 53 – Parisyan has
been stopped only once in his eight-year career.
In
addition to potential bouts featuring Parisyan, Lombard and Sakurai,
PRIDE veteran Ryo Chonan is also believed to be in the mix for
the UFC 78 card. Chonan (14-7), the last man to defeat UFC Middleweight
Champion Anderson Silva, beat Seo Do Wong at a DEEP event in
June.
-------------------------------------
MAHOOD,
COOPER ADDED TO STRIKEFORCE PLAYBOY EVENT
Strikeforce
representatives have confirmed that Canadian Bill Mahood and
former K-1 star Dewey Cooper have been added to the Strikeforce
“Strikeforce Hits The Playboy Mansion” event Saturday,
Sept. 29 in Los Angeles, Calif.
As
previously reported by FULL CONTACT FIGHTER, Mahood will challenge
champion Bobby Southworth (7-4) for the Strikeforce light heavyweight
title. Mahood (15-5-1) last fought at bodogFIGHT “Clash
of the Nations” in April, as he defeated Steve Steinbeiss
by unanimous decision.
Cooper,
meanwhile, made his MMA debut with a unanimous decision victory
over Adam Smith at Palace Fighting Championships 3 “Step
Up” in July. He compiled an impressive 46-8 kickboxing record
and a 15-0-2 boxing mark before taking the leap into MMA. An
opponent has not yet been named for the man who calls himself
“Black Cobra.”
-------------------------------------
COUTURE
SHOOTS ‘THE UNIT’
Nursing
a broken left arm, UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture spent
three days within the last week taping scenes for his guest starring
role on “The Unit” at various locations in the Los
Angeles, Calif. area. The 44-year-old Couture will portray Sgt.
Strickland on the CBS action drama, the same character he played
in last June’s season finale.
Couture
(16-8) sustained a broken arm during his TKO stoppage of Brazilian
Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74 “Respect” Aug. 25 in Las
Vegas, Nev. He suffered the injury blocking a right high kick
with his left forearm in the third round. The kick cleanly separated
the ulna bone with a “nightstick fracture,” a break
common in law enforcement circles. Recent X-rays showed the break
was healing properly.
Couture
leaves for South Africa this fall to shoot his role in “The
Scorpion King – The Akkadian.” He does not expect the
injury to affect his shooting schedule, but the three-time UFC
heavyweight king may not return to the Octagon until sometime
in early 2008.
-------------------------------------
JUNK
TO REPLACE INJURED MCCULLY
Scott
Junk, the reigning Maximum Fighting Championships heavyweight
champion, will face Christian Wellisch at UFC 76 “Knockout”
Saturday, Sept. 22 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Wellisch’s
original opponent, Justin McCully, withdrew from the event with
an elbow injury according to his manager, Ken Pavia.
Junk
(6-1) has reeled off six consecutive victories since losing to
former UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez in his MMA debut
at Rumble on the Rock 7 in May 2005. He defeated Jimmy Ambriz
at MFC 12 “High Stakes” in June to win the MFC heavyweight
crown.
“As
soon as I signed Scott, I knew he would win the MFC title and
make the jump to the UFC,” said Mark Pavelich, owner and
president of the MFC and Pro Camp Sports Management. “It
won’t take long for Scott to become a force and a serious
contender in the UFC heavyweight division. Not only does he have
the talent and skills to make a huge impression, but, most importantly,
he has the heart and desire to reach huge heights.”
A
product of the American Kickboxing Academy, Wellisch (7-3) has
split two decisions in the UFC. He recovered from his knockout
loss to Cheick Kongo at UFC 62 to defeat Anthony Perosh four
months later. Wellisch has not fought since December.
“I’m
going to kill this guy,” Junk said. I’m going to come
out banging like always. I’m not going to waste any time.
I’m going to punch him in the head, and then I’m going
to take him down.”
Source: The Fight Network
|
Michael
Bisping's father attacked in the
02 Arena car park
"Nobody knows what happend before the press conference"
he told us, "Just before I walked in, I got a phone call
saying that my dad had been attacked in the car park by several
people." Bisping tried to come to his father's aid, but
was unable to find him. "A security guard came down on a
moped and I jumped on the back of the moped and we were flying
around looking for him and we hit a road block." Not the
ideal situation to meet the press after a controversial decision.
So when reporters suggested he lost the fight, Bisping lost control
a little bit. "It wasn't the right thing to say, but there
was things that went on beforehand." he explains, "The
guys that asked the questions, I apologize to them but I had
just been in a spin for the last 10 minutes."
On
the controversial decision, "The Count" also has a
lot to say. "The fight was very close, you know, and he
surprised me a little bit and he's improved." He was also
very complimentary of Matt's improved stand up. "He came
out and he shocked me in round one, I'd dedicated most of my
training to defending the takedown because that's what I thought
he was going to do. He hit me with a right hand that rocked me
a bit and I had to recover." But still thinks he won the
fight "So round one, definitely his. But rounds two and
three I think I did a better job." he continued, "I
still was beating him to the jab and slipping his punches."
On
his post-fight comments Bisping had this to say, "That was
just me having a go. You know the way I am, sometimes I talk
first and think later." He admits that telling Matt to go
back to wrestling wasn't neccesarily the best thing to say, but
he's quick to add "it was only 60 seconds earlier that we
were punching each other in the face." His final word on
the subject was simple, "He is a good fighter and perhaps
I should have shown him more respect."
He
spoke about the fans reaction on the internet aswell, "Fans
are always going to have their opinion and they can say what
they want, people will always have conspiracy theories. I took
a close decision, so the judges were corrupt. If I'd have lost,
I wouldn't be good enough to fight on Cage Wars let alone the
UFC"
Perhaps
what will interest fans the most is that Bisping is determined
to have a rematch, "I called Marshall Zelaznik (Ed. UFC
UK President) and asked him to speak to Dana and Joe on my behalf
and tell them that I want a rematch. You know that's what the
fans want, it's worth doing again, I'll do it wherever they want
to do it."
Source: All About MMA/Fight Opinion
|
Quote
of the Day
"Why
buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel."
Yogi Berra, Hall of Fame American Baseball Player
|
Grand
Opening of OTM Fight Shop Hawaii
Today!
COME MEET THE PROS
BJ PENN, KENDAL GROVE, JOSH BARNETT, JASON MAYHEM MILLER, XANDE
& SAULO RIBIERO
September 13, 2007
Greetings!
With a copy of this email you'll save 5 % to 20% or more OFF
your entire purchase and a FREE GIFT with NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.
I am writing to you to invite you to the Grand Opening of our
OTM Hawaii MMA Super Store in Honolulu Hawaii. The Celebration
kicks off on Friday September 14th, 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM.
Friday's events will include:
*
Afternoon BBQ with Napkin Nights, ProElite and EliteXC
* Celebrity appearances by BJ Penn, Kendal Grove, Mayhem Miller,
Josh Barnett, Xande & Saulo Ribeiro
* BJ Penn book signing from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM
* A special appearance from the BUTI Groove Babes
* FREE Evening Sushi Bar
Equally
important we are having a sale. All of our quality name brand
merchandise is on sale 5% to 20% off with many items discounted
even more. Just bring in a copy of this email to receive your
OTM Preferred Client discount. Just for coming in you'll receive
a free gift. This gift is a $20 value.
Why
are we holding this event? Well with all the growth of the OTM
Fight Shops nation wide we never had a chance to have a real
Grand Opening party in Hawaii. We now have our largest selection
ever including New LUCKY Gis, New FUTURE FIGHTER kids shorts,
SCRAP YARD, AFFLICTION, TapouT, BUILT TO FIGHT, & RING SIDE
Gear was just shipped in for this sale. Furthermore, we are having
this event to remind you of the importance of locally owned business
in the community.
Through
our growth, we were told time and again that there was no room
for another fight shop in Hawaii. But we refused to believe this!
As we opened this new shop we have been over whelmed with support
from local fighters and academies.
At
OTM Fight Shop we are a locally owned and operated store and
our commitment to the community has never been stronger. At OTM
Fight Shops we strive to know you by name, keep track of your
training needs and keep you up to date with local events. We
have brought over 10 years of experience with OTM to Hawaii and
we will continue our campaign to bring you the best in brand
name merchandise and great prices
On
January 19th, 2008 OTM will be holding is first annual Pacific
Submission Grappling Challenge. This will be a super tournament
with both Gi and No Gi divisions open to men, women, kids and
teens! Sign up this weekend and save $10.
Please
join us for our Grand Opening Sale. You will save on brands like
Built to Fight, TapouT, Future Fighter, Lucky Gi, Punishment,
Thorwdown, Combat Sports, Fairtex, Gameness, Sinister, Sprawl,
RVCA, Ring Side, Fokai, Scrap Yard, Da Hui, Pro Boxing, Warrior
Wear, and of course OTM.
If
you can't make it to Hawaii print this email out and bring it
to your local OTM Fight Shop to take part in the Celebration
and take advantage of your Preferred Client Savings!
Visit Our Website
PS
Don't for get to bring a copy of this email to get your OTM Preferred
Client discounts.
PSS If you have a friend who might be interested in taking advantage
of our sale please feel free to make a copy of this email for
them.
PSSS
If you can't make it to Hawaii take this email in to any of our
other OTM Fights Shops to take advantage of the savings!
Hope
to see you all Friday the 14th of September!
Sincerely,
Leif
& Aden
Owners
OTM Fight Shop - Hawaii
email: hawaii@otmfightshop.com
phone: 808-591-6620
web: http://www.OTMFightShop.com
|
ICON
AND RUMBLE PRESENT
ELITEXC: UPRISING
TOMORROW!
BLAISDELL
ARENA, HONOLULU, HAWAII
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER
15, 2007
Fights Start at 3:00PM
VIEW THE TV SPOT HERE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKpQ14XmhY8
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT BLAISDELL BOX OFFICE, TIMES SUPERMARKETS,
ALL TICKETMASTER OUTLETS, AND www.ticketmaster.com
Come support Fighters'
Club TV's very own Mark Kurano in his debut MMA fight! Tickets
are going fast so do not wait to buy your tickets or you may
be left outside!
PRESALE
TICKET PRICES
$25 General
$35 Lower Riser
$45 Lower Riser Centered
$45 Loge
$75 Floor, rows 5 and back
$150 Floor, row 4
$250 Floor, row 3
$400 Floor, row 1&2
Military Discounts available.
Prelim Bouts (3x3mins)
Tyson Nam vs Albert Always Bad Manners
Justin Buchholz vs Kolo Son of Polynesia Koka
Televised Bouts (3x5mins, Championship 5x5mins)
Gina Carano vs Tonya Evinger
Jake Shields vs Charuto
Riki Fukuda vs Smokin' Joey Villasenor
Nick Diaz vs Iron Mike Aina
Murilo Ninja Rua vs Ruthless Robbie Lawler
ProElite.com Bouts (3x3mins)
Kala Kolohe Hose vs Jeff PeeWee Cox
Mark Oshiro vs Nui Wheeler
Mark Kurano vs Jose Bomber Diaz
Brandon Wolffe vs Chad Klingensmith
|
HARDCORE
CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHTING UPDATE
Aleksander Emelianenko to Fight “Cabbage” Correira October 19th
By Kelsey Mowatt
According to the official Hardcore Championship Fighting website,
Pride veteran, Aleksander Emelianenko has been signed to fight
Wesley
“Cabbage” Correira, in the main event of the promotion’s upcoming
October 19th card. The event, which will take place at the Stampede
Corral, in Calgary, Alberta, will be the promotion’s second,
as HCF held its debut event, July 21st, in Edmonton.
HCF
Promoter, Keith Crawford had told FCF a couple of weeks ago that
the promotion was attempting to sign a notable Pride veteran
to compete on the card. In signing Emelianenko, the younger brother
of Pride Heavyweight Champion Fedor, that goal has apparently
been accomplished. The 11-3 fighter went 6-2 competing for Pride,
earning wins over fighters like Sergei Kharitonov and Ricardo
Morais, while losing to Josh Barnett and Mirko “Cro Cop”
Filipovic. Most recently the Russian fighter submitted Jesse
Gibson with a Kimura at M-1’s July 21st event.
Former
UFC competitor, Correira (18-13) has struggled as of late, going
1-4 in his last five fights. Most recently he dropped a Unanimous
Decision loss to Chris Marez at X-1, Extreme Fighting 2 in March.
Other
confirmed bouts for the card include, Marcus Vinicios vs. Edwin
Dewees, Ariel Sexton vs. Thomas Schulte, Toby Johnson vs. Garrett
Davis, and Sarah Kaufman vs. Ginele Marquez.
Source: FCF
|
UFC
75 draws huge numbers
UFC’s home page says it all - UFC 75 on Spike TV is the
most-watched UFC event in history. The event drew a 3.1 rating.
It’s an excellent rating for the show overall. Even better
for UFC is that the ratings numbers grew for each fight on the
show incrementally, meaning people did not turn off the TV even
though the show went past Midnight.
Historically
speaking, it’s interesting to compare the ratings UFC is
drawing on cable versus the ratings that the major Japanese promotions
draw on free-to-air Japanese TV. In Japan, cable and satellite
is not strong in terms of ratings for any sort of fight-related
programming. When K-1 draws a 10.0 or so for a rating on TBS
or Fuji TV, that’s considered ‘poor’ - yet if
that rating was on cable, it would be an amazing number.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
***For
Immediate Release***
RIGGS BATTLES
JACKSON AT STRIKEFORCE PLAYBOY MANSION MEGA-EVENT
Beverly
Hills, CA; September 10, 2007…. Former UFC middleweight
(185 lb. limit) star, Joe “Diesel” Riggs (26-9 (1 No
Contest), will face ageless brawler, Eugene “The Wolf”
Jackson (15-7-1), during the highly anticipated Strikeforce mixed
martial arts event at the world famous Playboy Mansion in Beverly
Hills, California on Saturday, September 29th.
“It’s
going to be a classic case of new school versus old school,”
said the 24-year-old Riggs of his upcoming challenge, which will
also mark his debut with the Strikeforce organization. “I’m
too talented of a fighter for (Jackson) to compete with me. I’m
just more technical and I’m quicker and I hit harder. Everything
that he’s good at, I’m better.”
Despite
his relatively young age, Riggs brings to the cage a wealth of
experience. The Phoenix, Arizona native was given his first chance
to shine on a national stage at UFC 49 on August 21, 2004, and
responded by finishing Joe Doerksen with an onslaught of strikes
in the second round of their matchup. Following his debut in
the octagon, Riggs notched three additional wins in the UFC,
including a unanimous decision victory over Nick Diaz at UFC
57 on February 4th of last year.
“It
was the fight of the night,” commented Riggs about his battle
with Diaz. “The whole fight was standing up, banging. Everybody
said he was supposed to be some great striker, but I stood toe
to toe with him and won the fight.”
Recognized
for his considerable punching power that has earned him 12 knockouts,
Riggs also claimed All-American honors twice as a high school
wrestler. “I think I’m probably one of the most well-rounded
in the world. I think I stand up and I throw just as good as
I ground and pound or fight off my back.”
“(Riggs’s)
strengths aren’t necessarily my weaknesses,” commented
Jackson. “I think the man with the bigger heart is gonna
win this fight.”
Jackson,
who will celebrate his 41st birthday six days prior to the bout,
has shown no sign of slowing down since he made his professional
fighting debut in 1998. During Strikeforce’s inaugural mixed
martial arts card on March 10th of last year, the East Palo Alto,
California native brought an end to a three-year hiatus from
competition to meet Jorge “The Naked Man” Ortiz at
San Jose, California’s HP Pavilion. Jackson controlled Ortiz
on the ground for the majority of the three round fight before
walking away with a unanimous judges’ decision win.
Three
months after his conquest of Ortiz, Jackson turned the tides
on a feisty Mike Seal in the second round of their Strikeforce
matchup and beat Seal into submission by executing a ground and
pound strategy in the second stanza of the contest. Jackson capped
off a successful comeback year when, for the second time in his
career, he faced Ronald Jhun whom he had submitted with a forearm
choke inside of one round, eight years earlier. The December
8, 2006 rematch saw Jackson stop his old rival in similar fashion
as he submitted Jhun with a rear naked choke at the 2:01 mark
of the first round.
“The
ring rust came off last year,” said Jackson. I got back
in there and quickly started believing in myself again.”
Jackson
entered the sport of mixed martial arts, during its early years,
as a rugged street brawler with no formal combat training. He
has since become a more sophisticated competitor, adopting world-class
trainers Tim Lajcik and “Crazy Bob” Cook as mentors,
in order to keep his skills on par with today’s highly-skilled,
hybrid trained athletes.
“Before,
I went in there and it was just fun for me. Now, I look at it
more like business,” said Jackson, whose new outlook on
his fighting career has him running, on average, 24 miles per
week.
The
Strikeforce mixed martial arts fight card at The Playboy Mansion
will be headlined by the return of two Strikeforce world champions
in undefeated lightweight (155 lb. limit) king, “El Nino”
Gilbert Melendez (12-0), and light heavyweight (205 lb. limit)
crown holder, Bobby Southworth (13-4 (1 No Contest). UFC and
Pride veteran, Josh “The Punk” Thomson (34-2 (1 NC)
will square off with IFL veteran and former United States marine,
Adam Lynn (11-7 (1 NC). Former WWE star and Tough Enough reality
series winner, Daniel Puder (5-0), will also see action on the
bill.
In
addition to the stellar mixed martial arts fight card, all “Strikeforce
At The Mansion” guests will be treated to an array of amenities
including a buffet style, gourmet dinner; top-shelf, open bar;
and a wine tasting party featuring the spirits of several gold
medal wineries. Various Playboy Playmates will be on hand to
partake in all activities.
The
event at the Playboy Mansion will be staged three months after
the Strikeforce co-produced “Shamrock vs. Baroni,”
extravaganza, the first mixed martial arts event to be distributed
live on SHOWTIME® PPV. Before a crowd of 10,850 at San Jose’s
HP Pavilion, former UFC middleweight champion and mixed martial
arts legend, Frank Shamrock, became the first Strikeforce middleweight
champion in history by choking out UFC and Pride veteran, “The
New York Badass” Phil Baroni, in the second round of the
star-studded fight card’s main event on Friday, June 22nd.
About
Strikeforce
Strikeforce
is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which,
on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock
vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts
fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza,
which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion,
played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. The rapidly
growing organization recently re-launched its website, www.strikeforceusa.net,
which boasts a bold new look and all-new features, including
video streaming capability. Since 1995, Strikeforce has been
the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and,
after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing
promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series
with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.”
For
More Information, Contact:
Mike Afromowitz
Strikeforce
(917) 566-8754
muaythaimes@aol.com
Source: Mike Afromowitz
|
Quote
of the Day
“One
of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder where you
are when you don't come home at night.”
Margaret Mead, 1901-1978, American Cultural Anthropologist
|
Elite
XC Press Conference Today!
PRESS CONFERENCE
TODAY!
2PM THURSDAY, SEPT 13
BLAISDELL CONFERENCE HALL - MAUI ROOM 2ND FLOOR (not in the arena)
SCHEDULED TO APPEAR:
EliteXC Champ Ninja Rua
Icon Champ Robbie Lawler
UFC vet Nick Diaz
BJ Penn protege Mike Aina
EliteXC # 1-ranked female fighter Gina Carano
Top-ranked female fighter Tonya Evinger
Top-ranked Jake Shields
Icon, Rumble, UFC vet Charuto
UFC, Pride, EliteXC vet Smokin' Joey Villlasenor
Icon, Rumble, K-1 vet Riki Fukuda
+ MOST PRELIM AND WEB-BROADCAST FIGHTERS
ALSO:
ProElite President Gary Shaw
ProElite CEO Doug DeLuca
Icon Sport Founder: T. Jay Thompson
Icon Sport Promoter Patrick Freitas
Rumble World President JD Penn
Rumble World Promoter Rich Chou
WEIGH-IN
2PM FRIDAY, SEPT 14
ROUND TABLE PIZZA
IN OHANA EAST HOTEL
PRINCESS KA'IULANI ST.
PARKING IN OHANA EAST HOTEL
ENTER FROM KUHIO AVE.
ELITEXC: UPRISING
EVENT EVENT
SATURDAY, SEPT 15
2PM DOORS OPEN
3PM PRELIM
BOUTS
4PM TELEVISED BOUTS
6PM INTERMISSION & PRESS CONFERENCE
620PM WEB-BROADCAST BOUTS
|
Murilo
"Ninja" Rua Seminar this Sunday!
Elite XC
Middleweight World Champ, Murilo "Ninja" Rua who will
be fighting for the undisputed World Middleweight Championship
against Icon Sport Middle weight World Champion Robbie Lawler,
will be holding a seminar at Tropic Lightning Tae Kwon Do.
Tropic
Lightning Tae Kwon Do
94-336 Pupupani St.
Waipahu, HI 96797
Cost: $50
Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
|
Gracie
Proving Ground
Tickets are on sale now!
|
Boxing
at Kalakaua Gym is Back!
Hi!! Wanted
to inform you that we have a Boxing show match event smoker at
the Kalakaua District Park Gym on Sat. Sept. 22nd.
First bout starts at 6 p.m. Between 9- 11 bouts scheduled.
Main Event will be Kawano Boxing Clubs Kainoa Oca-Kauhane the
2007 165lb Hawaii State Champion against undefeated Marine Pablo
Martinez (6-0) a 2006 All-Marine Team member at 178 lbs.
This is the 1st show at Kalakaua gym after 10 years, so hopefully
it is a good one.
Thank You for YOUR Support!!
Bruce |
MARCUS
DAVIS FIGHTING FOR THE FIGHT
Fresh off a victory over Paul Taylor at UFC 75 Saturday night,
"The Irish Hand Grenade," Marcus Davis, spoke with
MMAWeekly about the fight, the high kick that nearly finished
him, and what he wants his legacy as a fighter to be.
Marcus
Davis has come a long way since his appearance on The Ultimate
Fighter's second season. Since losing to Melvin Guillard in the
season's finale, Davis has strung together a ten fight win streak
with the last five amassed in the UFC.
Saturday
night, at UFC 75, Davis continued to look impressive defeating
the tough Brit, Paul Taylor, by arm bar late in the opening round,
but he found himself in a lot of trouble after being kicked in
the neck by Taylor and sent crashing to the canvas.
Questioned
about the kick, Davis responded, "I don't think it was how
hard the kick was. It was just where it was placed. If the kick
actually hit me in the head, I don't think it would have hurt
me since I'm used to taking a baseball bat to the head. It pretty
much caught me right in the neck, and what it did, if you watch
the tape you can see my legs just go out from underneath me.
As soon as I hit the ground my head was clear, even when he was
hitting me with shots, and that's why I think Yves Lavigne never
stopped him."
Davis
added, "He hit me in my neck, and what happened was my legs
just came out from underneath me. I don't know if anybody has
caught you in the Jugular vein before, but it immediately paralyzes
that side of your leg, or the leg on that side. It just took
my legs out from underneath me. When I first hit the ground,
I swear I was lying there thinking to myself, I can't believe
I just got caught with a high kick. I haven't been hit with a
high kick in about four years. I was actually in shock."
Marcus
was grateful that Yves Lavigne was the referee. He said, "I'm
so happy that I did have Yves Lavigne that night and not some
of the other guys that have been criticized for stopping fights
early."
He
continued, "When he did stand over me he got to see my face
and saw that I was fine. He saw Paul Taylor put his arm across
my throat and was hitting me with his other hand with hammer
strikes. I wasn't able to move my head, but he wasn't getting
any power into those hammer strikes. I think that's why he didn't
stop it immediately.
Marcus
was able to improve his position and reverse Taylor which eventually
led to the arm bar submission that ended the fight.
Davis
doesn't care about titles or rankings. He fights because he enjoys
fighting, and he wants to compete against competitors that are
going to present a difficult challenge and produce epic bouts.
"I
tell people all the time, and I don't know if they believe me
when I say this, I only fight because I love it. If I only fought
because I thought I was going to be UFC champion, if I wanted
anything I would have quit a long time ago. After the miserable
performance I had on TUF, and all that stuff, no where in my
head did I think, wow, I could easily jump into title contention.
I lived in reality at the time, and I knew that either A: I can
either quit fighting and hang it up, or B: I can just keep doing
it because I love it. I like to fight, and I love that challenge."
"I'm
striving to have one fight that solidifies my name in MMA history
like people talk about [Marvin] Hagler and [Thomas] Hearns. I
want to have that fight before I get out of mixed martial arts.
I don't need the belt. I don't need people to say he was the
best fighter in the world. I want people to say did you ever
see that fight that Marcus Davis was in with so and so? It was
probably the best fight that I ever saw. That's what I want.
That's where I want my legacy to be as a fighter."
We
can only hope a matchmaker can find that "so and so"
for Marcus Davis.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Monday
madness with Michael Bisping
So
far, the amount of North American media coverage for the UFC
75 (London) event after it took place feels similar to the coverage
for UFC’s Ireland event in June. In other words, pretty
light and not very much of it. There was an avalanche of previews
heading into the show, but not much reporting afterwards.
It’s
not Rampage vs. Henderson that has fans and media members talking,
albeit that fight did generate some press coverage. Instead,
the focus is on the Michael Bisping vs. Matt Hamill fight, in
which Hamill seemingly finds himself a huge winner PR-wise for
losing by a controversial judges’ decision. From Fox Sports:
Behaving
atrociously in the post-fight press conference, Bisping would
not accept criticism for his performance, and verbally abused
members of the press who questioned his victory.
“Of
course I (expletive) won,” said the agitated Brit. “I
gave him the first, then I took the second and third. I gave
him an (expletive) boxing lesson.”
Bloody
and bruised, Bisping was apparently the only one in the room
who thought so.
FOXSports.com
has now learned that Bisping is likely to go down to middleweight
after this fight.
Dana
White had this to say about the judges that worked the UFC 75
event in London. Take note of the heat UFC is getting for the
decision to run another show in an area with no official regulation
and how White is responding:
“These
controversies that come up don’t mean a thing to me and
they roll off my back with no problem because I know it’s
all (expletive),” he said. “We’re the top dogs
and every little thing we do is news and people create these
wacky (expletive) conspiracies. The bottom line is, we’ve
embraced regulation, we want the sport to be regulated everywhere,
but I’m not going to stop putting fights in the U.K. just
because they don’t have a commission.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Report:
Hidehiko Yoshida may appear at Dynamite
By Zach Arnold
Sankei
Sports is reporting that Hidehiko Yoshida is considering an offer
to appear at the K-1 Dynamite New Year’s Eve event. Yoshida
was quoted as saying that he wanted to fight before the end of
the year and that he is leaving any future career decisions to
the J-ROCK office to determine. J-ROCK’s stance is that
if PRIDE is dead, then Yoshida should be a free agent.
In
the various Japanese sports newspapers on Monday, the Rampage/Henderson
fight received little or no coverage whatsoever. The Yoshida
talk grabbed a lot of headlines.
Meanwhile,
Sam Caplan is trying to figure out how to salvage Mirko Cro Cop’s
career and Kevin Iole talks about the official death of PRIDE.
Well, it is. Plus, a proclaimation for Herb Dean.
Salvaging
What’s Left of Cro Cop’s Career
Posted by Sam Caplan
Mirko
Cro Cop FilipovicAn all-points bulletin was issued in London
last night and a search-and-rescue mission was officially launched
in hopes of finding anything resembling Mirko “Cro Cop”
Filipovic’s once promising UFC career following his unanimous-decision
loss to Cheick Kongo.
As
it stands now, Cro Cop’s UFC career is in ruin, and he’s
on the verge of going down as the biggest bust in company history.
During
Saturday’s match vs. Kongo at UFC 75, Cro Cop was dwarfed
by a fighter with respectable — but far less accomplished
— striking credentials who was bigger, faster, stronger,
and on this night, better.
This
isn’t a case of overreacting. The UFC has a serious problem
on its hands from a business standpoint. They can’t just
hit the restart button and do another take when it comes to Cro
Cop. You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
There
is no commission in the UK, so it wasn’t reported what Cro
Cop made vs. Gonzaga at UFC 70, and it won’t be reported
what he made last night vs. Kongo. What we do know is that he
was paid at least $350,000 for his debut at UFC 67 against Eddie
Sanchez. I have no idea how his contract is structured, but I’m
operating under the assumption that what he’s been paid
for his last two matches is pretty damn close to the first.
Normally
you’d just send a fighter in Cro Cop’s situation down
the card and have him fight nondescript opponents during the
non-televised portion of the card. But $350,000 is a lot to pay
a guy to fight in matches that will only be seen by a live audience
or subscribers of the UFC’s on-demand video service. He
would go down in history as the most expensive non-televised
fighter to ever appear on a fight card.
The
doom and gloom lies in the fact that we were told by the Cro
Cop apologists that after a devastating knockout that we always
see a better and badder Crop Cop. Well, I’m not exactly
sure what we saw last night. Pointing to a reason for his loss
isn’t as easy as it was against Gonzaga. Cro Cop appeared
to be in great shape (he had more definition in his physique
than usual), and by all accounts, he appeared motivated and relaxed
(was it me or did he even crack what somewhat resembled a smile
when they showed him getting his hands taped?).
And
when it came to the match, he actually didn’t look that
bad. The problem is, he just didn’t look all that good.
It wasn’t as if he went out there and totally got his ass
handed to him. He went the distance and came out of the match
in decent shape. He took a lot of punches to the face, knees
to the body, and kicks to his lower leg, but he was able to deliver
some offense as well. What we saw last night was not Cro Cop
vs. Randleman or Cro Cop vs. Gonzaga.
The
issue is that nobody lives in fear of the left high kick anymore.
In the past, Cro Cop could be in control of the match and stalk
his prey. Now, he is the hunted one, and fighting on his heels
is not something he apparently likes. You could see the frustration
in his body language. It was almost as if he took it as a personal
affront that Kongo had the audacity to impose his will.
Perhaps
Cro Cop should spend some time at The Pit in California working
with John Hackleman and Chuck Liddell so he can learn how to
strike while moving backward. If there was one thing I learned
last night, it was that while Cro Cop has a background in counter-terrorism,
he isn’t much for counter striking. In the meantime, the
UFC needs to have an emergency meeting at its Las Vegas offices
first thing Monday morning to figure out what’s next for
their Croatian destroyer.
I
have some ideas of my own.
Lock
him out of the gym for three months and tell him to not even
think about fighting. Then, after he spends some time with Georges
St. Pierre’s sports psychologist, you can schedule him for
a showcase match. The problem is that Cro Cop vs. Sanchez II
isn’t something that can happen again. Unless the UFC goes
outside the organization and serves up Wes Sims, there really
aren’t any guaranteed wins — and would anyone take
a win over someone like Sims or Brad Imes seriously? You could
put him in with Heath Herring or Frank Mir, two fighters he would
be heavily favored against, but if he lost to Kongo, then he
could lose to either.
You
could really think out of the box and loan his contract out to
another organization. I’m not sure if his contract is transferable,
but a match in Japan for HERO’S might not be a bad idea.
While he wasn’t the draw that Kazushi Sakuraba, Hidehiko
Yoshida or even Fedor Emelianenko or Wanderlei Silva were/are,
Cro Cop was still very popular in the land of the rising sun.
Let
him go to Japan, and let them put him against the kind of obvious
tomato can that the UFC is so far above at this point. Let HERO’S
foot most of the bill for Cro Cop’s fight, and in return,
get them to loan Kid Yamamoto to Zuffa LLC and the WEC for one
fight. With Yamamoto in tow, perhaps the WEC could hold their
first-ever pay-per-view event built about a Yamamoto vs. Urijah
Faber dream match. Then again, would the WEC want to risk a loss
by their poster boy to a fighter not even under contract to the
company?
In
reality there’s only one option that makes sense, and that’s
a forced move to light heavyweight. Cro Cop won’t want to
do it, but if I’m Dana White and company, I would tell his
management that he doesn’t have a choice: either cut weight,
or be cut. He can either fight at 205 or have his contract accelerated
and take his chances that another fight promotion may or may
not offer him what he’s scheduled to make with the UFC.
Cro
Cop says he doesn’t want to cut the weight, but it can be
done. If he alters his diet, he can go from 220 to 215 or 212.
Hell, if he cut down on the number of squat thrusts he does,
then he could lose all the weight by reducing the size of his
tree trunk thighs. Once he got down to the 212-215 range, he
could probably sweat the rest of the weight off two days before
his fight. He’s never really had to cut weight, and I’m
sure he won’t enjoy the process, but a few hours in a sauna
suit is a small price to pay for $350,000.
The
prospect of Cro Cop at 205 pounds would be daunting. Instead
of being an undersized heavyweight, he’d be a gigantic light
heavyweight. He wouldn’t have to worry about being dwarfed
by guys like Gonzaga and Kongo, and he could go back to stalking
his opponents. Once again, Cro Cop would be someone to be feared.
Starting over in a new weight class would be enough to resell
him to fans like me who have lost complete faith in him. The
money matchups are also endless. Cro Cop vs. Liddell, Cro Cop
vs. Shogun, Cro Cop vs. Rampage, Cro Cop vs. Silva III, and Cro
Cop vs. Ortiz.
If
Cro Cop refuses to make the move, then if I were the UFC, I’d
put his contract up for auction on eBay with no reserve price
and use the proceeds to pay for Fedor and Brock Lesnar.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Quote
of the Day
“Not
everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that
counts can be counted.”
Albert Einstein, 1879-1955, German-born American Physicist
|
Hawaii's
Own Punk Haole in the UFC!
Today Scott
Junk just signed a 3 fight deal with the UFC. His first fight
will be against Christian “the Hungarian Nightmare”
Wellisch on UFC 76 on September 22 in Anaheim California.
Wellisch better have an answer to the bone crushing elbows that
Scott Junk brings to the table or he is in for a short night!
Good
luck and congratulations to Scott!
|
Elite
XC Upcoming Schedule!
PRESS CONFERENCE
2PM THURSDAY, SEPT 13
BLAISDELL CONFERENCE HALL - MAUI ROOM 2ND FLOOR (not in the arena)
SCHEDULED TO APPEAR:
EliteXC Champ Ninja Rua
Icon Champ Robbie Lawler
UFC vet Nick Diaz
BJ Penn protege Mike Aina
EliteXC # 1-ranked female fighter Gina Carano
Top-ranked female fighter Tonya Evinger
Top-ranked Jake Shields
Icon, Rumble, UFC vet Charuto
UFC, Pride, EliteXC vet Smokin' Joey Villlasenor
Icon, Rumble, K-1 vet Riki Fukuda
+ MOST PRELIM AND WEB-BROADCAST FIGHTERS
ALSO:
ProElite President Gary Shaw
ProElite CEO Doug DeLuca
Icon Sport Founder: T. Jay Thompson
Icon Sport Promoter Patrick Freitas
Rumble World President JD Penn
Rumble World Promoter Rich Chou
WEIGH-IN
2PM FRIDAY, SEPT 14
ROUND TABLE PIZZA
IN OHANA EAST HOTEL
PRINCESS KA'IULANI ST.
PARKING IN OHANA EAST HOTEL
ENTER FROM KUHIO AVE.
ELITEXC: UPRISING
EVENT EVENT
SATURDAY, SEPT 15
2PM DOORS OPEN
3PM PRELIM
BOUTS
4PM TELEVISED BOUTS
6PM INTERMISSION & PRESS CONFERENCE
620PM WEB-BROADCAST BOUTS
|
GOUVEIA
OUT, UFC 76 PARED DOWN TO 8 FIGHTS
The Ultimate Fighting Championship today announced, via their
official website, that American Top Team fighter Wilson Gouveia
has been forced to withdraw from his proposed UFC 76 bout “due
to a broken nose suffered in training.”
Gouveia
was scheduled to face Jason Lambert at the Honda Center on Sept.
22 in Anaheim, Calif., site of the UFC’s next pay-per-view
effort.
The
UFC also stated that, “the intriguing 205-pound matchup
is expected to be rescheduled in the future, and due to time
constraints in finding a suitable opponent for Lambert, the UFC
76 card will now feature eight bouts.”
Earlier
media reports had mistakenly identified Lambert as the injured
fighter.
Gouveia
currently holds a 9-4 professional fight record and was looking
to extend his three-fight winning streak. 23-6 as a professional,
Lambert last defeated Renato “Babalu” Sobral at UFC
68 in Columbus, Ohio after having been derailed late last year
by Rashad Evans.
The
UFC 76 fight card for Sept. 22 in Anaheim currently stands as
follows:
Chuck
Liddell vs. Keith Jardine
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Forrest Griffin
Diego Sanchez vs. Jon Fitch
Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Lyoto Machida
Tyson Griffin vs. Thiago Tavares
Justin McCully vs. Christian Wellisch
Diego Saraiva vs. Jeremy Stephens
Matt Wiman vs. Michihiro Omigawa
Source: MMA Weekly
|
BRIAN
STANN & MIGUEL TORRES TALK WEC 30
An
active U.S. Marine and an active mixed martial artist, Brian
Stann is quickly becoming one of the most popular stars that
World Extreme Cagefighting has this side of featherweight champ
Urijah Faber.
Since
debuting in January of 2006, Stann has been on a roll, winning
all five of his fights. Not only that, but he finished each and
every opponent he has faced by technical knockout, including
a much more experienced Jeremiah Billington last week.
“I
want to continue to get better. Every time I fight, I get better,”
stated Stann. “That’s what I need to do is keep improving
and yeah, I want that belt eventually.” Referring to the
light heavyweight title currently in the possession of WEC champion
Doug Marshall.
Stann
is also utilizing his skills by starting up a program to help
out fellow soldiers that suffer from PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder. He plans to help to rehabilitate them from conditions
resulting from the stresses of combat by training them in mixed
martial arts.
Also
fighting on last week’s event in Las Vegas was Miguel Torres,
who made his WEC debut by submitting the previously undefeated
Jeff Bedard.
The
victory was just the latest addition to the young Midwesterner’s
resume. Fighting primarily in the Indiana area, Torres has managed
to rack up a professional career record of 19 wins to only 1
defeat.
Opening
up the live television broadcast on the Versus network, Torres
wasted no time finishing Bedard with a triangle choke at the
midway point of round one.
Torres
actually found his way to the WEC after several false starts
with the Bodog promotion left him needing to get back to work
and start collecting a paycheck. “The WEC took me with open
arms and gave me a very good contract,” says Torres.
The
bout with Bedard was highly regarded as a number-one contender’s
bout to determine the next challenger to WEC Bantamweight Champion
Chase Beebe.
“I
feel I can submit Beebe and I feel I can knock him out on my
feet. A five-round war with Beebe is not going to be a problem
for me,” stated Torres, also declaring that he plans “to
be the world champion for the WEC.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
ED
FISHMAN STILL MAKING MOVES IN MMA
Despite
a stint as the president of Pride’s U.S. operations as the
promotion dove into oblivion, casino and entertainment mogul
Ed Fishman is still as motivated as ever to make a run at mixed
martial arts promotion.
In
fact, in speaking with Fishman, he confirmed to MMAWeekly that
he is already on course for a big move into the MMA space in
2008. He has already signed on with several venues to host MMA
events in China, Macau and Las Vegas during the year.
One
of the bigger questions is what form those events will take.
Fishman is currently nearing a point where he will be ready to
make some “big announcements” regarding the promotional
side of the equation. But he couldn’t reveal yet whether
the promotion would be a start-up of his own accord or an acquisition
or partnership, although it would seem the latter would be more
feasible considering his desire to start holding events in 2008.
Pointing
towards that latter scenario, it is interesting to note that
Fishman was in attendance for the recent Art of War event in
Dallas, Texas, as was Guy Mezger, who is being tapped to head
up a portion of billionaire Mark Cuban’s own ventures into
MMA.
In
fact, Reed Wallace, President of White Chocolate Management,
has said that his firm is working with both Fishman and Cuban
in varying facets and believes that it isn’t out of the
question that the two entities may end up working together in
some fashion. “It makes sense [that the Fishman and Cuban
might end up working together], I think it would be a very synergistic
relationship,” said Wallace, although no official partnership
was confirmed at this point.
Whether
a relationship develops in partnership with Cuban or not, Fishman
is moving forward. Another recent development that he has confirmed
is a television presence for his venture. Having yet to outline
the details of what form it would take, Fishman did confirm that
he and media mogul Dick Clark have agreed to produce a new one-hour,
weekly MMA show for television that will also be out in 2008.
The
weekly show does not yet have a network home, but with the involvement
of Clark, it isn’t a stretch to say that the partnership
has some solid inroads into making the show a reality on American
television.
Fishman
is also one of the many parties interested in the services of
Fedor Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, and other world-class fighters
that are currently looking for a home, but hasn’t indicated
that he has a roster in place or nearing completion. He obviously
sees value in a fighter like Fedor, but was quick to point out
that he doesn’t believe that a promotion should be built
on the back of one fighter.
There
are still many questions surrounding Fishman’s return to
mixed martial arts promotion, but if his past successes in gaming
and television are any indication of what the man can do, he
is certainly an interesting factor in the future direction of
the sport. Fishman pioneered slot club cards, riverboat gambling,
gambling tournaments, and other facets of the gaming industry,
as well as, creating the TV game show “Dealer’s Choice.”
Can
Fishman take those past successes and build the next MMA empire
in a world currently dominated by the Ultimate Fighting Championship?
Only time will tell, but it appears that Fishman is dedicated
to the task.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
“I'm
not overweight, I'm just nine inches too short.”
Shelley Winters, 1920-2006, American Actress
|
Fighters'
Club TV Tonight!
Tonight
we feature the wizard Matt Hume. Matt is the trainers' trainer,
one of the pioneers of MMA both as a fighter and promoter as
well as started one of the first, if not the first, MMA organization
in America.
He
is also a master at leg locks. This is a seminar that was done
at the Icon Martial Arts and Fitness Center. |
Gracie
Proving Ground
Saturday,
October 6, 2007
Blaisdell Arena
The long awaited arrival of an MMA event by Relson Gracie makes
it way to his home in Hawaii! The Gracie Proving Ground is a
feeder show for up and coming MMA talent to prove their worth
for a shot at possibly being on the Gracie Fighting Championships
seen on pay-per-view across the country. Relson has constructed
his team of international, mainland, and local Hawaii fighters
to take on fighters from Hawaii and Team Quest.
Headlining
the show is none other than Relson's son, Rhalan Gracie, who
will make his return to the MMA scene after an epic debut fight
against Dustin Hazlett. Rhalan showed huge heart and incredible
technique in his first fight against a much more experienced
Hazlett. Rhalan faces one of Hawaii's rising stars in Keone Bryant
of Jus Rush. Bryant has been on a tear as of late finishing another
MMA stud who is also on this card Koa Ramos of the Eastsidaz.
Don't miss this opportunity to see a Gracie in action!
Also
on this card, Hawaii's own knock out artist Kaleo Kwan from the
Eastsidaz and O2 Martial Arts Academy will face hard hitting
Duke Saragosa of the 808 Fight Factory.
Three Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belts have been brought in by
Relson to face Hawaii's own Kimo Wolfel from the Eastsidaz, "Sugar"
Shane Nelson of Nova Uniao, and Brandon Wolff from Team MMAD.
The rest of the card features Relson Gracie trained MMA fighters
against a mix of Hawaii's up and coming talent.
Even
Jason "Mayhem" Miller will bring two Team Quest fighters
to compete in this event.
Will
Rhalan be the Gracie that brings the Gracie name back to prominence
in MMA?
Tickets
are on sale now! The seats closest to the ring are filling up
fast so don't wait!
The
tentative fight card is as follows:
Main
Event
175 lbs
Rhalan Gracie (Relson Gracie) vs Keone Bryant (Jus Rush)
155
lbs
Kaleo Kwan (Eastsidaz & O2 Martial Arts Academy) vs Duke
Saragosa (808 Fight Factory)
155
lbs
Fabricio Morango (Relson Gracie Black Belt) vs "Sugar"
Shane Nelson (Nova Uniao)
170
lbs
Jorge Drito (Relson Gracie Black Belt) vs Brandon Wolff (Team
MMAD)
170
lbs
Daniel Nova (Relson Gracie Black Belt) vs Kimo Wolfel (Eastsidaz)
185
lbs
Fabio Prata (Relson Gracie Brown Belt) vs Billy Hall (HMC)
170
lbs
Jeramiah O'Neal (Relson Gracie) vs Dave "The Tan Superman"
Padilla (Jesus is Lord)
170
lbs
Kamal (Relson Gracie) vs Kolo Koka (Team MMAD)
155
lbs
Randy Vera (Relson Gracie) vs Dean Lista (HMC)
170
lbs
Pono Pananganan (Relson Gracie) vs Ferrid Kheder (Team Quest)
170
lbs
Ryan Larson (Relson Gracie) vs Koa Ramos (Eastsidaz)
205
lbs
David Chew (Relson Gracie) vs Kevin Grace (HMC)
185
lbs
Jason Carr (Relson Gracie) vs Ron Verdadero (Jesus is Lord)
185
lbs
Justin Dyer (Relson Gracie) vs Jodi Messiona (808 Fight Factory)
135
lbs
Ramon Howard (Relson Gracie) vs Ivan Jennings (808 Fight Factory)
205
lbs
Maui Wolfgram (Team MMAD) vs Brian Harper (Team Quest)
Fight
card subject to change without notice.
|
URIJAH
FABER OUT TO PROVE HE'S NUMBER 1
Urijah
Faber is far and away the most popular featherweight fighter
in the United States, if not the world, but it is still argued
whether he is the most accomplished fighter in the 145-pound
class. On Wednesday, Dec. 12, Faber will finally get the opportunity
to force his critics to accept the error of their ways.
The
centerpiece of the newly revamped World Extreme Cagefighting
promotion, Faber will defend his WEC Featherweight Title against
fellow top-ten-ranked fighter Jeff Curran on Dec. 12. The event
will be aired live on the Versus network. It marks the first
live telecast of the WEC’s new deal, which entails 15 live
shows and an 20 additional episodes of WEC WrekCage.
“I’m
excited to fight Jeff. [He’s] been a guy that I’ve
seen in the rankings since I started the game; he’s been
in the top ten for a long time. He’s earned his spot as
one of the top [145-pound fighters] out there. But he’s
not number one, I am,” declared Faber, adding, “I’m
looking forward to proving that.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Barral
to focus MMA
With
two MMA fights at his career, the BJJ Mundial champion at Meio
Pesado category and finalist at the Absoluto, Rômulo Barral
(Gracie Barra BH), want to return to MMA rings after conquered
his unprecedented title. “I want to stay a month at taking
care of my body, curing my injuries, resting a little bit and
after that I will came back to to begin my MMA trainings. I want
to spend some time at Renzo Gracie academy and after that train
with Draculino in , because he is with a wonderful academy”,
said Barral.
Source: Tatame
|
Lovato
wants a BJJ Absoluto title before MMA
The
second Brazilian fighter at BJJ history to conquer a Mundial
Title at Black Belt, Rafael Lovato Jr. had a superb 2007 year
winning also the Brasileiro and Pan-Americano. Despite the titles,
the Saulo and Xande Ribeiro athlete wants to conquer much more.
“With gi, I won in my category and my next goal is to reach
the impressive result at Absoluto. I took third place some times
at Pan-Americano, some times at Europe, but now I want to win
one of them at Absoluto, something that no North-American did
yet. This year at Abu Dhabi , unfortunately I lost the second
fight against Demian Maia, and this is another goal, to conquer
the ADCC and in the future I want to fight MMA too”, guaranteed
Lovato, that defeated Luiz Felipe Big Mac (Godoi) at Pesadíssimo
final and match BJ Penn, that conquered the Mundial at 2000 in
Pena category.
Source: Tatame
|
ELITE
XC PRE-FIGHT CONFERENCE CALL
Rua,
Lawler, Shields and Carano Ready for September 15th
By Kelsey Mowatt
Time is
running out to get a seat at the huge Elite XC event! Get your
tickets early in case it sells out. Remember, the event will
start at 3:00 pm with fights well in to the night so you will
definitely get your money's worth. Come support FCTV's own Mark
Kurano as he makes his MMA debut!
Elite
XC held a media conference call today in preparation for the
promotion’s upcoming September 15th event in Honolulu, Hawaii. The card, which will
be the result of a strategic partnership between Elite XC, ICON Sport and Rumble
on the Rock,
will be headlined by a middleweight title fight between Elite
XC champ, Murilo “Ninja” Rua and ICON title holder,
Robbie Lawler. Also scheduled on the event, FCF’s 8th ranked
170lb. fighter Jake Shields will take on BJJ instructor Renato Verissimo, UFC and Pride veteran
Nick Diaz will fight Hawaii’s Mike Aina, Joey Villasenor is set to meet Riki
Fukuda, and rising star Gina Carano will battle Tonya Evinger.
Elite
XC Live Events Division President, Gary Shaw, participated in
today’s call, and fielded several questions pertaining to
issues outside of the upcoming September 15th card. In regards
to today’s announcement that ProElite, the parent company
of Elite XC, has acquired Cage Rage, Shaw stated that the British
promotion’s co-founders Andy Geer and Dave O’Donnell
would remain integrally involved with the event. Due to the purchase
just being finalized, Shaw did not discuss the financial particulars
of the deal.
In
respect to recent rumors that have been circulating that ProElite
is also engaged in negotiations to acquire ICON Sport and King
of the Cage, Shaw responded;
“Yes,
there is a letter of intent out on both properties that is correct.”
If
indeed both those promotions become ProElite property, that would
give the growing MMA company a foothold in Hawaii, the U.S.,
England and South Korea, as Shaw reminded the calls participants
today that ProElite has also acquired Spirit MC. The promoter
also re-iterated ProElite’s intention to allow the free
movement of its fighters throughout the MMA world,
“Sure,
there is nothing stopping us from fighting anyone,” Shaw
said in response to a question about the possibility of Rua or
Lawler fighting Strikeforce 185lb. champ Frank Shamrock. “We’ll
fight any fighter in the UFC, we’ll let our fighters go
into the UFC to bring back their belt, our will do it on Showtime,
on an Elite XC card, or an ICON card, or Cage Rage, it doesn’t
make a difference, that’s what makes this exciting, so everyone
has a chance.”
The
Elite XC Live Events President also revealed that the organization
is examining creating a permanent 160lb. division, but has not
decided on whether or not they would keep promoting that alongside
a 155lb. division in the future. Shaw also confirmed today that
the winner of the September 15th fight between Lawler and Rua
would retain both the Elite XC and ICON Sport middleweight championship
belts. To which Rua responded through his translator,
“Now
he’s more excited, if what we understand, if both belts
is true, Ninja is saying he’s more excited now with both
belts on the line. For sure, Ninja believes this is the best
moment of his career, he’s feeling very well with the support
from the media and the fans, and is feeling very well fighting
for the fans in the U.S.”
Rua’s
opponent, Miletich fighter Robbie Lawler ,also sounded excited
about the upcoming opportunity,
“Well
I’m very excited to fight, I’m in good shape, ready
to go, I’m healthy. I’m looking forward to putting
on a good show and knocking Ninja out.”
Lawler
maintained in answering further questions that he hopes to keep
the fight standing, and that he believes he will be able to stifle
any attempt from Rua to take the fight to the ground. Rua laid
claim to the Elite XC title in June by stopping Joey Villasenor
in the second round, while Lawler knocked out Frank Trigg in
the 4th round at ICON Sport 50 in March, to win that promotion’s
185lb. belt.
Gina
Carano has quickly become not only the poster girl for the organization’s
women’s competition, but one of ProElite’s more notable
athletes. When asked about her upcoming fight with Evinger, Carano
said,
“I
just want to say thank you to ProElite and Showtime for putting
me on this card, it’s an honor once again, I’m really
planning on putting on a good fight, I’ve got a really tough
opponent, and I really respect that they put this fight on, so
I’m hoping to put on a good show.”
And
as far as the welterweight match-up between the notable grappling
practitioners in Shields and Verissimo, the Cesar Gracie trained
fighter had this to say,
“I’m
excited for the fight, Charuto (Verissimo) is someone I was supposed
to fight twice before and it fell through,” said Shields.
“I think he’s a great jiu-jitsu guy and I’ve trained
my ass off, I’m ready to go out there and fight you know?
Hopefully I’ll be able to do a little stand-up with him,
hoping to bring a little pressure and knock him out.”
Source: Full Contact Fighter
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