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(All events on Oahu, unless noted)
2008
11/8/08
Aloha
State Championship of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
(BJJ/Sub Grapping)
(Gym #1, UH Manoa)
7/26/08
Maui Jiu-Jitsu BJJ Tournament
(BJJ)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
6/27-29/08
OTM Pacific Submission Tournament
(Blaisdell Convention Center)
MMA Expo
(Blaisdell Convention Center)
6/14/08
EliteXC
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, HI)
6/5-8/08
World Jiu-Jitsu Championsihps
(BJJ)
(California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California)
5/25/08
Man Up Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
5/16/08
X-1: Legends
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, HI)
5/9/08
Man Up Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
Hawaii Fighting Championships 9
(MMA)
(Dole Cannery Ballrooms)
5/3/08
Hawaiian
Open of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
(BJJ/Sub Grapping)
(Gym #1, UH Manoa)
5/2/08
Heart-of-a-Cage-Fighter
(Kauai
Veterans Center, Lihue, Kauai)
4/18/08
Local Pride
Friday, April 18, 2008
(MMA)
(Dole Cannery Ballroom)
4/12/08
Man Up &Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
4/6/08
GrappleFest: Submission
Sundays
(Submission Grappling)
(Hawaii Room, Neal Blaisdell Center)
3/29/08
Garden Island Cage Match 7
(MMA)
(Hanapepe Stadium, Hanapepe, Kauai)
Hawaii Fighting Championships 8
(MMA)
(Maui War Memorial)
3/28-30/08
Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship
(BJJ)
(Californina State University, Dominguez Hills, CA)
Registration ends 3/22/08
3/16/08
Sera's Kajukenbo Open Tournament
(Continuous
Sparring, MMA, Submission Grappling)
(Maui High School Gym, Kahului, Maui)
Icon Fitness Gym Tournament
(Submission Wrestling)
(Icon Fitness Gym)
3/15/08
Icon Sport
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
3/9/08
2008 Pacific Invitational BJJ Tournament
(BJJ )
(Hibiscus Room, Ala Moana Hotel, Honolulu)
3/7/08
Got Skillz Fighter
(Kickboxing/MMA)
(Waipahu Filcom)
3/1/08
USA-Boxing
Hawaii, Palolo B.C. & Kawano B.C. Presents Amateur Boxing
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park)
2/29/08
X-1 at the O-Lounge
Fight Club Meets Nightclub 4
(MMA)
(O-Lounge, Honolulu)
2/24/08
Icon Grappling Tournament
(Sub Grappling)
(Icon Gym)
2/17/08
Hawaiian
Championship of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
(BJJ/Sub Grapping)
(Gym #1, UH Manoa)
2/15/07
Midwest Invasion: Team Indiana vs. Team Hawaii
(MMA)
(Coyotes Night Club, 935 Dillingham Blvd, Kalihi)
2/8/08
Hawaii Fighting Championships 7
(Kickboxing & MMA)
(Dole Cannery Ballroom)
2/2/08
Man up and Stand up
(Kickboxing)
(Dole Cannery
Ballroom)
1/26/08
X1 World
Events: Champions
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
1/20/08
Big
Island Open Jiu-Jitsu Tournament
(Konawaena High School)
(BJJ/Sub Grappling)
(POSTPONED)
1/19/08
UFC 80: Rapid Fire
(BJ Penn vs. Joe Stevenson)
Newcastle, England
1/12/08
Hawaii Fight League
Season 1, Event 2
(MMA)
(Dole Cannery Ballroom)
|
|
April 2008 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
with Ian Beltran and Kickboxing Tuesday and Thursday with Kaleo
Kwan!
Click
here for info!
Take classes from the Onzuka brothers in a family-like environment! |
In Memory of
Lars Chase
Rest in peace my brother
March 10, 1979 - April 2, 2008 |
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Quote
of the Day
"No
man can become rich without himself enriching others."
Andrew Carnegie, 1835-1919, American Industrialist and Philanthropist
|
Gracie
Barra's Lepri and Feitosa train Sherk
Fighter from Minnesota to face BJ Penn for lightweight belt
With the rise in purses and competition in the world of MMA,
athletes’ preparations have become ever more complex and
painstaking. Anyone disputing a belt or hoping to go far needs
to subject one’s self to intense physical preparations and
be around the best training partners possible.
It
is with that in mind that Sean Sherk maintained his place as
UFC lightweight champion for nearly two years and racked up a
record of 31 wins and two losses. On May 10th, in Las Vegas,
the Minnesotan will try to recover the belt he lost, not in the
octagon, but in the laboratories, as he was caught for drug use
at UFC 73, handing the crown over on a tray to BJ Penn, who snatched it up by beating Joe
Stevenson at UFC 80.
In
returning to the top, the wrestler maintains his laborious training
routine and has been calling up the best training partners around
to help him especially where his adversary is strongest: in Jiu-Jitsu.
According to statements made by his coach Greg Nelson to British
tabloid The Sun, the world lightweight champion in 2007, Lucas
Lepri, has been heading some training sessions with Sherk and
three-time World Champion Marcinho Feitosa will soon help out
as well.
“He
has started his 12-week training camp, during which he puts it
into full throttle. He has two or three training sessions a day
and trains with Lucas Lepri, the 2007 Mundials World Champion
and 2008 Mundials Silver Medalist. Marcio Feitosa is coming in,
along with other top-level BJJ competitors and fighters throughout
the training camp. In addition, he is continuing to hone his
striking skills and wrestling skills, especially his upper body
Greco,” declared Greg Nelson.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Kevin
Randleman vs. Jeff Monson in Charlotte on June 21
Former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman will take on
former UFC title contender Jeff Monson at a Global Fighting event
on June 21 at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North
Carolina.
In
addition to getting suspended for submitting a fake urine sample,
Randleman has encountered kidney problems since losing to Mauricio
"Shogun" Rua at PRIDE 32 in October 2006.
Monson
defeated Hakim Gouram last December at the Platinum Fighting
Productions event "Ring of Fire" in the Philippines.
A year ago, Monson participated as a UFC representative in the
final PRIDE event and submitted Kazuyuki Fujita with a rear naked
choke in the first round.
Other
UFC veterans slated to compete on the card are former middleweight
champion Murilo Bustamante and The Ultimate Fighter 3 runner-up
Josh Haynes.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Jon
Fitch Talks St. Pierre-Serra, Title Shots And Karo Parisyan
By Jason Perkins
Our friends Chris Fries and The JDH of Tagg Radio's The Lights
Out Show interviewed top UFC welterweight contender, Jon Fitch
on their last show (volume 113). Jon is obviously very interested
in this weekend's Serra/GSP fight, since he will likely be facing
the winner. Here are some excerpts from the show.
FITCH
ON GETTING A TITLE SHOT NEXT
"The only way I could see not getting a title shot is if
they push the (Matt) Hughes vs (Matt) Serra fight for a title
(if Serra beats St. Pierre)."
FITCH
ON WHO WILL WIN SERRA/GSP 2
"St. Pierre is going to find a way to put him (Serra) away
by the end of the second (round)."
FITCH
ON MOVING UP IN WEIGHT
Many of you may not know, but Fitch has fought as big as 205,
with many of his fights coming in at 185. Here's what he had
to say when asked if he would consider moving up to 185 again
when the time was right.
"Yeah.
I don't want to fight the same six guys ten times. A lot of times
rematches and trilogies are a waste. You got to mix it up a little
bit."
Jon
also speaks out on Karo Parisyan allegedly "ducking"
Fitch before and if Karo deserved a title shot had he beaten
Thiago Alves.
Source: Fight Line
|
Filho:
“Sonnen screamed just like a little girl”
By Guilherme Cruz
After face the depression with the same drive as he conquered
the WEC 84kg belt, Paulão Filho conceded an exclusive
interview to TATAME website and talk about his return to trains
and the controversial with Chael Sonnen, that call the Brazilian
of “liar”, when the news about Filho’s depression
were posted at the internet. “He is the liar! He screamed
just like a little girl and after that he said he didn’t
tap out, but he tap twice and everybody saw it”, said the
WEC champion that talked about his friend Anderson Silva last
bout. Check out the complete interview tomorrow here at TATAME.com.
Source: Tatame
|
Brazilian
championship leads to Worlds
CBJJ will pay airfare of absolute black belt champion
More
than serving as a stage for revealing new talent in the Brazilian
domestic scene, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship may also,
to many, be a big chance to fulfill the dream of competiting
in the 2008 World Championship, to take place this June. That
is because the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Confederation confirmed to
GRACIEMAG.com that it will reward the champion of the adult absolute
black belt division with a ticket to California.
GRACIEMAG.com
also uncovered that organizers are also working on having the
champions of the other categories graced with the same reward,
and all news regarding this you will find here.
Check
out the timeline:
April
23 to 25
Male
and female toddler, infant, child and teen
Blue belt youth 16 and 17 years old male and female
Blue and Purple master and senior male and female
Blue and Purple adult male and female
April
30 to May 2
Brown
and black adult, master and senior (male and female)
Click
here for more information regarding the 2008 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Championship
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Bodog
Fight to cease operations
While it was always known Bodog Fight was losing money, it was
also understood that the promotion was used as a way to draw
more interest to the Bodog online gambling site.
But
it appears that the losses have become too large. Bodog Fight,
the mixed martial arts promotion launched by billionaire Calvin
Ayre, has closed its doors.
MMAFighting.com
learned Thursday from former employees of the promotion that
Ayre has discontinued Bodog Fight to focus on his online gambling
empire.
Bodog
Fight held its first show in August 2006 and ran thirteen dates
until February 2008. The promotion was seen on ION Televison,
Men's Outdoor and Recreation Network and pay-per-view.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Quote
of the Day
"The
road to a friend's house is never long."
Danish Proverb
|
UFC
83: Serra vs. St. Pierre 2 Preview
By Robert Rousseau
UFC 83: Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre 2 will be coming to
us all live from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
on April 19, 2008. So that takes care of the headliner, but what
about the rest?
Well,
there’s this bout between guys that go by the names of Rich
“Ace” Franklin and Travis Lutter that you may have
heard of. Interested? Good.
Let’s
get it going.
Matt
Serra (9-4) vs. Georges St. Pierre (15-2): We all know what happened
back on April 7, 2007 at UFC 69: Shootout. But just in case you’re
living in an MMA bubble. . . Georges St. Pierre, fresh off of
a victory over longtime UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes,
got knocked out by this TUF Champion named Matt “The Terror”
Serra. So, here’s the question: Could it happen again?
Answer:
Yes. But the real question is will it?
Georges St. Pierre is the most explosive and athletic welterweight
fighter in the history of the game. Heck, he may even be the
most explosive and athletic MMA fighter of all time in any weight
class. Beyond that, St. Pierre is also an extremely large and
powerful welterweight that possesses outstanding takedowns/ takedown
defense and always comes to fight in shape. Further, his submissions/
jiu jitsu skills are now above average and his striking is well
above average in both a technical sense and in terms of power.
Oh
yeah, and St. Pierre has only lost to two guys: Matt Hughes (avenged)
and Matt Serra. So he really wants to avenge that fight with
Serra. Want some reinforcement? How about the fact that he told
Fight! Magazine he threw an actual brick with Matt Serra’s
name on it into Montreal’s South Shore, following the advice
of a sports psychologist to get rid of the baggage that was holding
him down. St. Pierre also had this to say concerning the fight.
“If
Serra wants to fight me again, again, and again (then) I will
fight him again, again, and again. And the result will be the
same thing every single time that I fight him.”
Guess
is, he thinks he’s going to win.
Of
course, Matt Serra has knocked out St. Pierre previously and
is the current UFC Welterweight Champion for a reason. Namely,
the striking skills and power that always looked good but never
really finished things for him came through in a big way last
year. Furthering that, Serra is a very strong and powerful fighter
with more than solid technical striking skills, particularly
of the boxing variety. However, despite his knockout victory
over St. Pierre, he’s truly known for his jiu- jitsu and
submission skills. Along with this, he’s an elite jiu jitsu
fighter. That is the one clear advantage that he olds over his
Canadian opponent.
People
just seem to forget that Matt Serra has never been destroyed
by anyone. Sure, he’s lost. But this guy has been in there
with some very good fighters and has always looked good, even
in losing.
Prediction:
Matt Serra is an underrated fighter. Further, he has some confidence
coming into this one, having defeated St. Pierre previously.
That said, St. Pierre is just on another planet when it comes
to athleticism next to everyone else in the division (not just
his opponent at UFC 83). Serra will fight hard and be tough,
but in the end expect St. Pierre to beat him on his feet by utilizing
his longer reach and well placed kicks, and on the ground with
a furious ground and pound assault.
Georges
St. Pierre wins in a clear decision. That said, don’t be
surprised if his elbows end up winning the fight via TKO or KO.
Travis
Lutter (9-4) vs. Rich Franklin (22-3): The last time we saw Travis
Lutter back on February 3, 2007, he looked like he was on his
way to upsetting UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. But
it was not to be. Still, he showed a lot in that fight.
Leaving
aside the fact that he didn’t make weight.
Travis
Lutter possesses well above average takedowns, takedown defense,
and ground control skills. Further, he’s an outstanding
jiu- jitsu/ submission fighter. His only real weakness seems
to fall in the striking department; he’s not bad in that
arena, but the power and results just aren’t there (Lutter
only possesses one TKO to his credit).
That
said, once you hit the ground with him, Travis Lutter is one
dangerous fighter.
Rich
“Ace” Franklin is one of the most well rounded fighters
in MMA. He is solid, though unspectacular in terms of technical
striking (rather unorthodox) with excellent power. He also has
excellent takedowns, takedown defense, ground control, and submission/
jiu jitsu skills. In other words, he’s the entire package
plus outstanding cardio.
The
only knock on him may be that he can be knocked out. Is he tough?
Yes. But he doesn’t have one of those stone jaws.
Prediction:
Here’s the thing: On their feet this one goes to Rich Franklin.
Can Lutter get him to the ground? Well, not easily. But even
if he does Franklin may be able to survive long enough to get
back to his feet. And as this fight goes into round three, expect
Franklin’s always outstanding cardio to take over.
Rich
Franklin wins via decision.
Nate
Quarry (9-2) vs. Kalib Starnes (8-2-1): This fight represents
a battle between two former TUF fighters that were injured on
their prospective shows (Starnes while in a fight). Regardless,
this is an interesting match up.
Kalib
Starnes is an excellent submission- jiu jitsu fighter that has
improved his striking skills in a big way since he participated
on the show. In terms of size, power, and athleticism he is solid
but not dominant.
A
terrible, career threatening neck injury had sidelined Nate Quarry
for almost two years before he came back in one of the best fights
of 2007 to defeat Pete Sell by knockout. Along with this, Quarry
is one tough hombre that hits very hard and possesses extremely
strong takedowns/takedown defense/ and ground control skills.
Though solid on his feet, he is not an overly technical fighter
there.
In
terms of weaknesses, his opponent has a definitive advantage
in terms of submissions.
Prediction:
If Starnes can keep this one on the ground for any length of
time, he has a good shot at winning this fight. But you’ve
got to figure that he’s going to have a tough time doing
that. Nate Quarry is a tough guy to take down, and even if you
do he may have the stuff to get back up.
In
a stand up fight, Quarry is just a tough guy to deal with unless
you’re name is Rich Franklin.
Nate
Quarry wins via TKO in round two.
Charles
McCarthy vs. Michael Bisping: Bisping is big for this division
and has much better stand up skills.
Michael
Bisping wins via KO in round one.
Mac
Danzig vs. Mark Bocek: This one could go either way. I like Danzig’s
experience and well roundedness.
Mac
Danzig wins via TKO in round three.
Kuniyoshi
Hironaka vs. Jonathan Goulet: Interesting fight here.
Jonathan
Goulet wins via decision.
Jason
MacDonald vs. Joe Doerksen: Two awesome fighters, but Jason MacDonald
is just a freak athletically.
Jason
MacDonald wins via third round submission.
Jason
Day vs. Alan Belcher: Will the Canadian win?
Alan
Belcher wins via TKO in round three.
Sam
Stout vs. Rich Clementi: After seeing Clementi against Guillard,
I’m a believer.
Rich
Clementi via submission in round two.
Ed
Herman vs. Demian Maia: A very interesting fight. Going to give
it to the guy with more experience in MMA.
Ed
Herman wins via TKO in round three.
Cain
Velasquez vs. Brad Morris: Morris has a lot more experience.
But experience doesn’t always win, and AKA puts out some
good fighters.
Cain
Velasquez wins via TKO in round two.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
MATT
SERRA RELISHES ROLE AS THE UNDERDOG
by Ken Pishna
It’s
been a year since Matt Serra planted Georges St. Pierre on the
canvas and took his Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight
title, yet he enters Saturday’s rematch at UFC 83 the underdog
once again.
And
why not? Serra hasn’t fought a round since that bout. While
he spent the year getting married, serving a stint as coach on
The Ultimate Fighter, and then laid up due to a back injury;
St. Pierre was outwrestling NCAA Division I wrestling champion
Josh Koscheck to a unanimous decision and dismantling the legendary
Matt Hughes for a second time.
But
Serra is not unaccustomed to being in such a position. As he
says, it’s the same position he was in when he and St. Pierre
met at UFC 69 in Houston, Texas.
“I’m
a huge underdog, maybe not as huge as last time. People are basing
it on his last two performances, which were great. Last time
I fought him he basically cleaned out the division and he was
coming off of a decision win over B.J. Penn and then the destruction
of Hughes. And now he’s coming off of this decision win
over Koscheck and the destruction of Hughes. They can look at
it any way they want. I know I’m the underdog and I’m
comfortable with that.”
The
symmetry between then and now seems quite obvious, but there
are some key differences as well. The most glaring factor introduced
in the rematch is that they are no longer on neutral ground.
At UFC 83, Serra will be walking into the lion’s den, as
the fight takes place in St. Pierre’s hometown of Montreal.
“I’m
don’t really expect to get cheered walking out. I think
I’m finally going to feel like Tim Sylvia feels when he
fights anywhere,” quipped Serra. “I have my trainers
and my sparring partners boo me on a regular basis, so I’m
getting mentally prepared for it.”
He’s
also been getting physically prepared. Despite the official one-year
layoff, Serra doesn’t see his time out of the Octagon that
way, crediting the sweat equity of his time in the gym.
“How
I fight in the gym, in the academy, that’s how I perform.
And I’m basing that off of my past performances,” he
stated confidently. “I do what I do in the academy and I
don’t make a big difference between that and a fight. To
me, it’s another day of hardcore sparring.
“People
say you haven’t fought in a year, but I’ve been fighting
three or four times a week with multiple partners. I’m really
happy with the way things are going, I feel great. The way I
look at it, what I pull off in sparring, I should be able to
pull off in the fight. (The layoff is) not going to affect me
at all.”
That’s
not to say that he is overlooking his Canadian adversary. In
fact, he has tremendous respect for St. Pierre’s abilities.
“I have to be prepared and dangerous on all fronts. Georges
is very well rounded. He’s got very good wrestling besides
his striking, so standing up, off my back, everywhere basically
I have to bring my ‘A’ game.”
But
he’s also not quick to short-change himself, feeling that
his style could once again be a problem. “He’s obviously
super talented but anybody on any given night anybody can beat
any given fighter,” said Serra. “I think it’s
how styles match up. I feel, and I’m not even saying I’m
a better fighter than Hughes, but I feel I’m a way worse
match-up for him. I think styles make fights and I believe my
style is real good for this match-up and I’m prepared to
prove it.”
Despite
Serra’s confidence, there are still the naysayers that,
much like the first time the two met, believe the New Yorker
doesn’t match-up with St. Pierre. That Serra cannot repeat
his feat of a year ago. That St. Pierre will be the one to walk
out of the Octagon with UFC gold around his waist on Saturday
night in Montreal.
“I
try not to get caught up in all the hype, the fluff,” Serra
commented stoically, “because they’re not in there
with us, it’s just me and Georges and it’s a fight.
When that cage door shuts, it’s just us two. So all the
hype, all the critics, they can have an opinion, that’s
great. I’m the one who controls my destiny, not these guys.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Marrero
to fight his idol in Inoue May 16
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Six
years ago, Hans Marrero Jr. watched a mixed martial arts documentary
featuring Egan
Inoue.
"That inspired me to get into MMA," Marrero said. "I
wanted to be exactly like Egan Inoue. He had a shaved head at
that time, so I shaved my head. I even tried to fight like him."
On
May 16 in a matchup for the ages, Marrero will face Inoue in
the main event of the X-1 World Events "Legends" card
at the Blaisdell Center Arena.
Marrero,
who is from Scottsdale, Ariz., was announced as Inoue's opponent
yesterday. Marrero is 23; Inoue is 42.
"It's
going to be interesting," Inoue said. "I could be his
dad."
Inoue,
who was one of Hawai'i's most popular fighters in the early 2000s,
is fighting for the first time since 2003.
Marrero
has a professional record of 15-6, and all 15 of his victories
have come via armbar submission. He trains in a style called
"Kobushi Sessan Jitsu," which he said is "a different
form of MMA."
"He's
legit," said Inoue, who has a record of 12-7. "He really
intrigues me because it's strange to get all your wins by one
submission. He must be exceptionally strong, I don't know."
Marrero
said he started asking X-1 officials about the possibility of
fighting Inoue several months ago.
"When
I heard it was in Hawai'i, the first name I thought of was Egan,"
Marrero said. "He was one of my heroes, and I always wanted
to test myself against a guy like that."
The
bout will be in the 185-pound division, but no titles will be
on the line.
Three
X-1 championships will be decided on May 16: Shane Nelson of Hilo will defend his lightweight
(155 pounds) title against Ray Cooper of Waipahu; Chad Reiner of Nebraska will defend
his welterweight (170) title against Brandon Wolff of Kailua; and Kana Hyatt of the Big Island will defend his
featherweight (135) title against Tyson Nam of Honolulu.
Tickets
range from $25 to $150, and are available at the Blaisdell Center
box office and online at www.ticketmaster.com.
Reach
Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Egan
Inoue’s
opponent is…
…Hans
Marrero (15-5) of Scottsdale, Ariz. The 23-year-old fighter,
who trains under Mark Kerr, said he saw Egan in a documentary
that inspired him to fight. When contacted by X-1, he asked for
Inoue and will get his wish when the two tangle in the main event
of May 16th’s X-1: Legends card at the Blaisdell Arena.
Marrero,
19 years younger than Inoue, has ended every fight he’s
won with an armbar which makes for an exciting fight with the
42-year-old Inoue. Marrero calls his fighting style “Kobushi
Sessan Jitsu”, which he claims was invented by his father
who served in the U.S. Marine Corps.
X-1’s
Legends event is beginning to shape as most of the card was announced
yesterday. In addition to the previously mentioned fights, Michael
Brightmon, the X-1 Grand Prix winner from a year ago, will face
well-known local sensation Kolo Koka. Ron Jhun also returns after
a one-year hiatus against Dylan Clay. Sean Sakata, Nicolai Curry,
Tony Giraldi, Doug Hiu, and Danny Steele will also be fighting
on the card.
Source: Honolulu Star Bulletin
|
Heart
of a Cage-Fighter On Kauai!
ETERNAL FIGHT WEAR present’s: Heart of a Cage-Fighter
it’s going to be at 6:30pm at the Kauai Veterans Center
in Lihue, Kauai.
We will be having Musical performances including original “Eternal
Fighter” song preformed by “Kaina-boy” Costa,
as well as other musical performances. Our guest speakers are
Ron Waterman UFC veteran, current X-1 Champion, Ron has also
fought in venues such as WEC, PRIDE, PANCRASE, WFA, IFC, and
more plus he has a character on the UFC video games… Also
coming is Doug Evans TUF contestant and AFC champion, we have
2 other possible pro fighter coming out. We will be having an
explosive Mixed Martial Arts Demonstration, MMA DVD presentations,
Door Prizes, Refreshments and Pupu’s, there will be a raffle,
winners get a chance to train personally with these fighters
on May 2nd. Meet the Pro and Local fighters, get autographs
and pictures, there will be sponsorship booths available at the
event with cool merchandise. These guys will be going over techniques,
training, exercise, diet, what it takes to make it professional,
tips on how to win, and advise on how to handle a loss, hear
their testimonies!! It’ll be an exciting and fun environment
for all ages.
Admission is Free, raffle included. For more info they can call
652-6849 or email me info@eternalfighter.com
Shauna
Eternal Fighter
Source: Shauna Castle
|
Ninja
cut from May Elite XC
The reason is yet to be made clear
Today some bad news rattled the world of Brazilian MMA fans.
The fighter from Curitiba, Murilo Ninja was axed from the May
31 EliteXC card. The fight would be against Xtreme Couture representative
Phil Baroni, in what will be the first MMA event broadcast on
network television in the United States, on CBS.
ProElite
estimates that around 30 million people will be watching the
live event, which will include street tough Kimbo Slice in the
main event. The one to take Ninja’s place will be Joey Villasenor,
who in June of last year was knocked out by the very Brazilian
he is replacing in the second round of the EliteXC promoted fight.
An
official proclamation as to why the substitution was made has
yet to be released, but stay tuned to GRACIEMAG.com and we will
bring you more news on the episode in the days to come.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Diaz
To Dream?
Nick Diaz has verbally accepted to fight Marcelo Garcia at
the next Dream show. (April 29th) Although Garcia inititially
accepted the fight, there has been talk that the match will now
be scrubbed. According to Dream promoters, Marcelo has now decided
that he does not want the fight and it is unclear if Dream will
be able to find an opponent in time for Nick to participate.
Stay tuned.
Source: Gracie Fighter
|
TAMURA
VS. SATO FOR SHOOTO'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY
by Ricardo Mendoza
Former Shooto lightweight champion Akitoshi Tamura will face
off with Shooto legend Rumina Sato on Shooto’s 20th anniversary
card on May 3 at the brand new JCB Hall in Tokyo.
Tamura
comes off a decision loss to Hideki Kadowaki at Shooto “Back
to our Roots 8,” dropping the Shooto lightweight title in
the process. Sato also comes off a loss to Kadowaki, when he
was submitted with a rear naked choke at Shooto “Back to
our Roots 5.”
The
winner of the fight will be in an advantageous position to possibly
challenge for the Shooto lightweight title sometime later this
year.
Already
announced for the event will be a match for the vacant welterweight
title between Shooto Pacific Rim welterweight champion Takashi
Nakakura and Purebred lightweight Ganjo Tentsuku. These two previously
met at Shooto “Champion Carnival,” where they fought
a back and forth affair that ended in a draw.
Shooto
legend Hayato “Mach” Sakurai returns to take on Pride
veteran David Baron in a middleweight bout.
Sakurai
comes off a stoppage victory over Cage Force veteran Hidetaka
Monma at DREAM 1, while Baron submitted Niek Tromp at a recent
Shooto event in Belgium.
Top
ranked Shooto bantamweight fighter Yasuhiro Urushitani takes
on recently promoted rookie Ryuichi Miki.
Urushitani
comes off a disappointing draw with relatively unknown fighter
Jesse Taitano at Cage Force 5, while Miki won a decision over
Kenji Hosoya at Shooto “Shooting Disco 4.”
Former
Shooto lightweight champion “Lion” Takeshi Inoue has
been tapped to participate on the card against an, as yet, unnamed
opponent.
Shooto
Welterweight Championship Bout:
-Takashi Nakakura vs. Ganjo Tentsuku
-Hayato
“Mach” Sakurai vs. David Baron
-Akitoshi Tamura vs. Rumina Sato
-Yasuhiro Urushitani vs. Ryuichi Miki
-Hayate Usui vs. Sakae Kasuya
-Katsuya Murofushi vs. Shinpei Tahara
-“Lion” Takeshi Inoue vs. TBA
Source: MMA Weekly
|
A
Critique on the Birth of YAMMA
By Barry Narapareddy
Photo
Courtesy of Matthew Kaplowitz/YAMMA Pit Fighting
When YAMMA Pit Fighting made its debut in Atlantic City, New
Jersey this past Friday, fight fans were reintroduced to familiar
elements from the early installments of the the Ultimate Fighting
Championships. And just as the first UFC was introduced, YAMMA
kicked off the evening in similar fashion by explaining the construction
of its cage, a bowl-shaped space with an elevated platform around
the fence. One can only wonder, is this just a gimmick or a legitimate
attempt to revolutionize MMA forever?
The fight card itself was composed of talent that ranged from
promising up and comers such as George W. Bush, to journeymen
like Travis Wiuff, to even a former UFC champion in Ricco Rodriguez.
It also encompassed savvy veterans well past their glory days
such as Mark Kerr, Patrick Smith, and Oleg "The Russian
Bear" Taktarov. The blatant reality is that people are going
to generalize these fighters as either "cans" or "has-beens."
However, despite these negative generalizations, fight fans have
to admit that they are still intrigued. YAMMA takes mixed martial
arts back to its roots of tournament-style fighting where fighters
must truly test their will power. It encourages fighters to swing
for the fences with shortened rounds and breaks in between each
fight. It brings a much-needed sense of uniqueness that is missing
from MMA today. While the competition is lacking, it is definitely
something that they can build on. The first UFCs were composed
of less than stellar competition with fighters that ranged from
one glove-wearing boxers, to sumo wrestlers that were defeated
by men 200 pounds lighter than them.
The
selling point of the evening was certainly the unorthodox makeup
of the cage. Takedowns were more challenging because in order
to effectively take an opponent down, you would have to slide
him off the elevated surface. When fighters were taken down on
the elevated portion of the cage, they had an easier time getting
back to their feet due to the high surface. This causes a fighter
to implement some strategic elements in to their fight plan.
It also allowed fighters to become more aware of their surroundings.
For instance, on multiple occasions, one could see Oleg Taktarov
losing his footing while circling away from his opponent. The
elevated sides of the cage will also allow for more emphatic
slams. We may see the suplex become as common as a single or
double leg takedown. The downside of the structure is that fighters
are more susceptible to incur injuries. For instance, as they
are scrambling or circling away, they may twist their knee or
ankle due to the sudden change in elevation.
Overall,
one must not be too critical of the YAMMA organization just yet.
Ultimately they delivered as promised. We witnessed a show that
brought back some of the pioneers of MMA. We were also treated
to old school tournament-style battles that will improve as the
talent pool grows, especially when quicker, lighter fighters
try out the platform. Furthermore, we saw how the structure of
the cage does affect the course of the fight. Will this organization
evolve and become a legitimate contender in the world of MMA?
At this point, it is far too early too tell. However, if they
acquire young promising talent and market the YAMMA efficiently,
there is plenty of room for this newly born organization to flourish.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
UFC
on cover of Forbes
Company presently worth over US$ 1 Billion
In 2001, an MMA event called The Ultimate Fighting Championship
was nearly rejected altogether in the United State. After being
banned in all 50 states in the union and having been boycotted
by cable television, Rorion Gracie and Bob Meyrowitz (now owner
of Yamma Pit Fighting) decided to sell the company for a mere
2 million dollars.
A
businessman in the realm of fighting named Dana White saw this
lack of prestige as an opportunity to start a new business. As
he didn’t have the capital he needed, White called on two
buddies of his from high school, billionaire brothers Lorenzo
and Frank Fertitta to invest their money with a promise of huge
returns.
But
by 2003, the Fertittas had thrown US$ 44 million at a business
that seemed to never take off, so they told their friend they
were giving up on the business. Once again the UFC president’s
smooth talking came got him through it, and he even refused an
offer of US$ 4 million for the company, double what was initially
paid. With the turbulence past, now the UFC is estimated at over
US$ 1 billion, generating revenues of US$ 250 million per year
and controlling 90% sales in the world of MMA.
This
information comes for the cover story of Forbes, a magazine best
known for its rankings of the world’s richest men. Currently
the show is broadcast in more than 170 countries, and just last
year sold 5.2 million pay-per-view packages (in 2001 it was 140,000),
to a majority of 18 to 49 year-old males. Each of the brothers
owns 45% of the franchise, with the other 10% being held by Dana
White.
The
article also reports that the majority of the 275 fighters under
the UFC’s employ earn less than US$ 100 thousand per year
and stars like Chuck Liddell and Rampage Jackson earn millions.
With tickets to the live shows at around US$ 250, most of the
success of Zuffa (means “fight” in Italian), the UFC’s
controlling company, seems far from peaking, as MMA is expected
to be the sport of the future.
Until
then you can find out all the best about fighting on GRACIEMAG.com.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Quote
of the Day
"Talking
much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself."
Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900, German Philosopher
|
Local
Pride Today!
Dole Cannery
Ballroom
Friday, April 18, 2008
Fights start at 7:30 pm
|
UFC
83 PREVIEW
“St.Pierre vs. Serra 2”: MMA World Awaits Saturday’s
Verdict
By Kelsey Mowatt
This
Saturday night the Ultimate Fighting Championship will venture
north to the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, to host the promotion’s
first ever card on Canadian soil. Of course, the UFC has made
it a well known fact that the event sold out in record time,
and really, to us Canadian observers of the sport, this was of
little surprise. The historic city of Montreal has a rich tradition
with combative sports and MMA, and due to the fact the card not
only features the city's own Georges St. Pierre, but other well
known Canadian fighters like Kalib Starnes, Jason MacDonald,
Joe Doerksen, and Jonathan Goulet, the card was guaranteed to
be a sell out.
Georges St. Pierre (14-2) vs. Matt Serra (9-4)
The
highly anticipated rematch has been referred to by some Canadian
media outlets as the biggest combative sports fight to take place
on Canadian soil ever, and for good reason, the fight will have
a profound effect on the world’s welterweight rankings.
Of course, if St.Pierre wins, the fighter will take a huge step
forward in the world’s pound-for-pound rankings, so much
so, talk of a possible fight between him and UFC Middleweight
Champion Anderson Silva has already begun. (Jon Fitch, of course,
would argue that there is still plenty for St. Pierre to deal
with in the welterweight division) If Serra wins, then the Long
Island fighter proves his point that he is among the very best
at 170.
Like
last time, it appears that Serra has little to lose, other than
his championship belt of course. Despite the fact that the veteran
fighter stopped St. Pierre in the first round at UFC 69 last
April, questions still remain as to whether or not Serra can
defeat his younger opponent for a second time. While Serra has
remained inactive, including a lengthy stint on the disabled
list with an injured back, St.Pierre has not only gone on to
defeat Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes, but did so in extremely
impressive fashion, reassuring many observers that the Canadian
fighter has regained his world class form.
Perhaps
the most frequently asked question heading into this weekend’s
rematch is what kind of game plan St.Pierre will employ in his
bid to regain the welterweight crown. Serra demonstrated in the
fourth season of “The Ultimate Fighter” and more vividly,
in his bout with St. Pierre, that the jiu-jitsu black belt has
improved his stand-up capabilities immensely. It remains to be
seen as to whether or not St.Pierre will attempt to test Serra
once more in the striking game, as he did in bout one, or if
he will utilize his ever improving wrestling skills to take Serra
to the mat. St. Pierre may not have the jiu-jitsu credentials
of Serra, but the ground-and-pound skills he showcased versus
Sean Sherk could be a great equalizer, and the Quebecois fighter
remained composed working from within the submission savvy guard
of BJ Penn at UFC 58.
If
Serra does indeed go on to pull off yet another upset, the sting
to the MMA pundits picking St. Pierre will likely be less, but
this writer wouldn’t bet on Serra beating GSP two times
in a row. In the end, if St. Pierre comes to the Octagon Saturday
night mentally sound, he has the skills and athleticism to beat
Serra standing or on the mat.
Travis
Lutter (9-4) vs. Rich Franklin (23-3)
In
a bout that a year and a half ago would have captured MMA headlines,
this middleweight contender clash has flown somewhat under the
radar heading in to UFC 83. After dominating much of the opposition
in TUF 4, Lutter has not competed since his disastrous bout with
Anderson Silva last February, which saw Lutter receive international
scorn for failing to make weight against the promotion’s
middleweight champ.
Although
Franklin has drifted from being one of the UFC’s most popular
champions to contender status, due to the beatings he received
at the hands of Silva, the talented fighter has remained a force
in the division thanks to wins over Yushin Okami and Jason MacDonald.
Lutter
has wasted little time informing the public that he intends on
taking Franklin down where he feels he can dominate the former
champion. Franklin has in turn, made no secret about the fact
that he intends to keep the fight standing, where he feels he
will be able to stop Lutter.
If
Franklin can squash the majority of Lutter’s takedown attempts,
or if he can effectively use his Jorge Gurgel jiu-jitsu to negate
Lutter’s ground game in the early going, the former champion’s
renowned conditioning should lead him to victory.
Nate
Quarry (8-2) vs. Kalib Starnes (8-2-1)
In
a middleweight bout between two former TUF competitors, Starnes
might be in need of a win to ensure future UFC appearances for
the time being. The British Columbian resident has lost 2 of
his last 3 fights in the Octagon, after an impressive run in
the third season of TUF. Quarry only recently returned to the
Zuffa Octagon at UFC 77 last October, after a near 2 year hiatus,
and knocked out Pete Sell in the third round.
Starnes
has worked on his stand-up game considerably, training with the
Revolution Fight Team while in Canada, and American Top Team
in the U.S, to add to his already formidable ground game. Quarry
has consistently proven that he possess impressive stopping power,
and will likely hope to keep the fight standing in attempt to
duplicate the kind of success Alan Belcher had against Starnes
at UFC 77.
If
Starnes can survive Quarry’s onslaught early on and work
his clinch game to a takedown, the Canadian fighter has a good
chance of earning his ninth career win.
Michael
Bisping (15-1) vs. Charles McCarthy (7-2)
In
yet another middleweight match-up of former TUF competitors,
Bisping will make his UFC middleweight debut against the accomplished
grappler McCarthy. Although many believe that the British star’s
record should reflect back-to-back losses, due to the horrific
scoring that awarded Bisping a Split Decision win over Matt Hamill
at UFC 75, Bisping has continued to show signs of vast improvement
in his wrestling game.
This
could pose a problem for McCarthy, who will most likely need
to get his opponent to the mat, if he is to have a decent chance
of winning this fight against the talented striker Bisping.
Mark
Bocek (5-1) vs. Mac Danzig (17-4-1)
Although
at first glance the more casual fan might conclude that this
lightweight bout will be a landslide victory in favor of the
recent TUF winner Danzig, avid fans, in particular, those who
follow the jiu-jitsu world, know the bout could be extremely
competitive. In fact, match-makers for KOTC Canada had these
two scheduled to fight quite sometime ago, however, the bout
never took place as scheduled. Bocek is one of Canada’s
more accomplished jiu-jitsu practitioners, and has continued
to train with Dan Henderson at Team Quest’s facility in
Temecula, to round out his game.
Of
course, Danzig appears to be the better rounded fighter, and
where he may not have the jiu-jitsu skills of his opponent Bocek,
the veteran fighter has proven stand-up capabilities and seems
to be consistently improving his wrestling game.
Although
Bocek will have a large contingent on hand in Montreal rooting
him on, he will likely have to have his best performance to date
thus far in the UFC, to beat the veteran Danzig.
Bouts
that may not be broadcast Saturday include; Joe Doerksen vs.
Jason Macdonald, Alan Belcher vs. Jason Day, Brad Morris vs.
Cain Velasquez, Jonathan Goulet vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka, Rich
Clementi vs. Sam Stout, and Ed Herman vs. Demian Maia.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Dana
White On Kimbo Vs. Chuck Liddell
By Jason Perkins
Dana White made some interesting comments recently regarding
a possible match up between Kimbo Slice and Chuck Liddell recently
in an article on Deadspin.com.
"If he [Kimbo] fought anybody that mattered, I would book
that tomorrow," White told Deadspin.com on a possible match
up between Kimbo and Chuck Liddell. "The fact is, Kimbo's
not there yet. He would get destroyed. I heard he just got knocked
out by Forrest Griffin last week in a sparring match after a
kick to the head."
White
apparently also puts no credence in the fact that Kimbo destroyed
former UFC Legend Tank Abbott in less than a round.
"Tank
Abbott?! I mean, come on. That guy was a bad UFC fighter,"
said White. "A friend of mine said he was out at a bar the
week before that fight and he saw Tank there drinking beers.
Source: Fight Line
|
BODOG
FIGHT ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION
by Tom Hamlin
According to several sources within the ailing company, Bodog
Fight may be ceasing its fight operations next week.
A
subsidiary of billionaire Calvin Ayre’s online gambling
empire Bodog, Bodog Fight emerged in late 2006 with a self-titled
online reality series. The company expanded aggressively into
sponsorship, placing its brand on the cages and rings of several
other fight promotions.
Two
live events, most notably a clash between highly sought after
free agent Fedor Emelianenko and Matt Lindland in Russia, marked
Bodog Fight’s only excursions into the realm of pay-per-view.
The reality series ran for two seasons on the Ion network before
being taken off the air.
Bodog
Fight’s last event as a major sponsor was on Feb. 1, when
it partnered with Las Vegas-based Tuff-N-Uff promotions for a
show featuring Bodog Fight welterweight champion Nick Thompson.
Since
then, the company has announced no new plans for the reality
show or live events.
Asked
if the company was folding, one executive who declined to be
named told MMAWeekly.com, “I can neither confirm or deny
that.”
A
report from the Wrestling Observer put Bodog’s 2007 losses
at $38 million, though that figure could not be verified.
The
reality show never gained traction amongst avid MMA fans, who
ridiculed its format and Ayre’s playboy image. A July 14
event, “Alvarez vs. Lee,” a live show later repackaged
for the reality series, was an attendance disaster.
When
asked what Bodog Fight was currently working on, the executive
responded, “I’m sitting in an empty office.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Formal
Autopsy on Vasquez Published
by Jaime Martinez
An
18-page autopsy report on MMA fighter Sam Vasquez was formally
filed and presented April 17 by the Harris County Medical Examiner's
Office in Texas.
Vasquez
died after competing in his third professional bout on Oct. 20,
2007, at a Renegades Extreme Fighting event in Houston's Toyota
Center. Dr. Mary L. Anzalone, the Harris County Assistant Medical
Examiner, performed the autopsy on Dec. 1, 2007.
The
report elaborated on the circumstances of Vasquez's death, which
was due to complications of blunt trauma of the head with a subdural
hemorrhage, and filed the manner of death as accidental.
A
timeline of events was also given.
Vasquez
collapsed during the third round of his fight against Vince Libardi,
during which the subdural hematoma on the left side of his brain
began to develop. The swelling began to shift toward the right
side of his brain soon after he was admitted at 9:55 p.m. Oct.
20, studies at St. Joseph Medical Center have confirmed.
The
next day Vasquez's hemorrhage was relieved via surgery that required
the removal and replacement of a section of his skull. Later,
on Nov. 4, he suffered "a sudden decline in neurological
status requiring emergent placement" of a catheter that
drains cerebral spinal fluid in an attempt to reduce swelling
of his brain. A second procedure to reduce swelling was attempted
the same day.
After
Vasquez showed no improvement, additional life-preserving measures,
such as the placement of tracheostomy and gastrostomy tubes,
were taken on Nov. 14.
He
was discharged to a hospice Nov. 26 and died Nov. 30.
No
additional comment has been made by the Medical Examiner's Office
or the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which sanctions
and presides over MMA bouts.
Source: Sherdog
|
Ortiz
tried to hire Belfort for his trains to face Lyoto
By Guilherme Cruz
Carlson Gracie’s black belt, Vitor Belfort, that is training
at Minotauro team and at Nova Geração, bet at Lyoto
Machida, his ex-train mate, in his next bout at UFC 84 in May,
against Tito Ortiz. “Lyoto has the skills to win, but is
a tough fight. Two famous athletes, but I believe that Lyoto
has more chances, he is at fight rhythm and Tito is star”,
tell Belfort that reveal that Toto Ortiz tried to hire him to
help at train to the fight.
“Tito
wanted to hire me with a lot of money, but I said no. I said
that money can’t buy everything. I respect Lyoto a lot,
we trained together and he is Brazilian. I thank and said that
maybe in another opportunity, but not now. Lyoto is Brazilian
and that is his time”, said the ex-UFC champion, that commented
about the Brazilians that went abroad to train.
I
am very satisfied here at , with my coaches, my family, everything
is nice here. I think people kid yourselves with going to . Each
one has to look for their goals and by happy. I think this is
nice because its shows that the sport is growing, increasing
the value of the athlete”, said Belfort , that now is a
presenter at a the Brazilian cable TV Premiere Combate, exclusive
about fights.
Source: Tatame
|
Shields
and Fairtex Part Ways
Jake Shields will no longer be the head jiu-jitsu instructor
at Fairtex, San Francisco. After the tragic death of Alex Gong,
Shields was appointed to head the grappling program originated
by Cesar Gracie at the Fairtex, Daly City location.
Taking over all teaching duties in early 2004 at their brand
new facility on Hawthorne Street, Shields quickly built up a
formidable group of grapplers and began the Jake Shields MMA
Team.
Disagreements
with the management convinced Shields to relocate elsewhere in
San Francisco and it has been announced that this month will
closeout Shields' teaching duties at Fairtex.
In
the interim period between academies all Shields Team members
are encouraged to train at the Cesar Gracie Academy in Pleasant
Hill and the David Terrell Academy in Santa Rosa.
Source: Gracie Fighter
|
Cro
Cop’s agent admits to vetoeing Schilt
Bout between strikers would have happened at Dream 1
Mirko Cro Cop is a perfect example of how in the world of MMA
a fighter can go from the highest highs to the lowest of lows
over the course of just a few fights – in the Croatian’s
case, two. Seen as one of the best of all times, and lethal with
his punches and kicks, Cro Cop has been the target of much criticism
for having left the UFC with losses and having faced an unknown
adversary at Dream 1.
The
former policeman defends himself saying he lost the will to fight
in the United States and had gone through the greatest crisis
of his career, but hopes to recover in Japan, facing the best
and returning to the famous octagon. His manager, however, Ken
Imai, doesn’t seem to have heard him and admitted in an
interview with Japanese Kamipro Magazine that he refused a fight
against Dutch three-time K-1 GP champion Semmy Schilt, under
MMA rules.
“For
the first fight in Dream, I rejected the plan for the fight.
It was not Mirko’s decision, but mine. For example: I said
no to the fight against Semmy Schilt (under MMA rules). For Mirko’s
first fight in Dream, Semmy was too difficult,” said the
agent, in a rare demonstration of humility when the subject is
facing someone in MMA.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Quote
of the Day
“It's
not what you look at that matters; it's what you see.”
Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862, American Author/Critic/Naturalist
|
DIAZ
DRAWS CORBBREY AT ELITE
XC IN HAWAII
Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Nick Diaz has been tabbed
to face ShoXC veteran Muhsin Corbbrey on June 14 in an Elite
XC show scheduled to take place in Hawaii. The bout was announced
by ProElite.com on Wednesday.
The
two were initially scheduled to face one another in late April
in Hawaii, but that show was canceled. Diaz was then tabbed to
face Korean fighter Jae Suk Lim at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs.
Le, but was pulled off the card the week of the fight because
he was unable to be licensed medically.
California
State Athletic Commission director Armando Garcia stated that
Diaz wasn’t licensed because he didn’t complete his
medical documents in the alloted time to be licensed to fight.
EliteXC
president Gary Shaw states otherwise for Diaz not being licensed,
believing that he was prevented from fighting because Diaz disclosed
that he uses medical marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Diaz
comes off a stoppage loss to KJ Noons at EliteXC: Renegade, where
he also lost a chance to become EliteXC lightweight champion.
Corbbrey
comes off a submission victory over Bobby McMasters at a ShoXC
show in October. The winner of the fight could very well become
the next challenger for the Elite XC lightweight title.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
CHUTE
BOXE SENDS FIGHTERS TO SENGOKU
Chute Boxe fighters Michael Costa (170 pounds) and Fabio Silva
(205 pounds) recently signed with the Japanese organization Sengoku,
and will be part of its upcoming show. According to head coach
Master Rudimar Fedrigo this is an important step for Chute Boxe
to regain its dominance in Japan.
Encompassing
the best qualities of Chute Boxe, Michael Costa brings a lot
to the ring as he is a jiu-jitsu brown belt and a strong Muay
Thai fighter.
Hoping
to conquer in Japan, Costa commented, "My biggest dream
has always been to fight in Japan. I love their culture, especially
the fight culture. I grew up watching Chute Boxe, seeing them
as these huge stars, and I wanted to be a star in Japan too.
I know in order to achieve that I need to work a lot and this
is why I am training so much.
“I
will do my best to train hard and do my best in Japan. I hope
I can be victorious in Sengoku. I don’t know who is going
to be my opponent, but here at Chute Boxe we train for any kind
of game. Fabio Silva and I are preparing ourselves for these
events, training heavily in Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu and wrestling.
It will be great for us to be able to fight in May at the next
Sengoku."
Silva
is a Japan veteran already, having fought twice in the K-1 Hero’s
events. After losing both bouts, he is hoping for a victorious
come back.
"Unfortunately,
I had some bad results in Japan, but this time it will be different.
I am going to Japan to win,” said Silva.
“I
am currently training more on my ground game with Cristiano Marcello
and Fabricio Werdum. Despite the changes that have happened in
the last few months at Chute Boxe, we will prove that the Chute
Boxe Camp is a huge star that will never stop shining. The upcoming
athletes and those who are being prepared to come to the MMA
scene will rock the structures of the MMA world. This is why
I am hoping only for the best from now on."
Source: MMA Weekly
|
YOU
CAN FIGHT JENS PULVER SATURDAY
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder
and current World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight number one
contender Jens "Little Evil" Pulver will not be watching
UFC 83 this weekend. Pulver will be playing Call of Duty 4 with
Xbox Live members April 19 from 9PM - 11PM EST.
MMAWeekly
caught up with Pulver, who is in training for his WEC featherweight
title bout against "The California Kid" Urijah Faber,
to talk about his long-time passion of gaming.
"I've
been playing the Call of Duty game for about five years, or six
years, if not more," said Pulver. "I play. That's what
I do. I game, so they asked if I wanted to get a game with them
and I said absolutely. I get to play the Xbox 360 and get down
there and mingle with people. I'm loving it."
Sponsored
by Activision and Call of Duty 4 for his fight with Cub Swanson
and for his upcoming title bout with Urijah Faber, it's a perfect
fit for Pulver who's been an avid PC gamer for years.
"I've
always played PC, so I'm learning how to play on the Xbox with
the controller and everything. I've always been a keyboard and
mouse guy," stated Pulver."
On
the PC, Pulver is level 55 on Call of Duty 4. He admitted, "On
the Xbox I'm COD4JensPulver and I'm only level 22 right now,
but I'm trying to get him up there."
Asked
if gaming ever gets in the way his training, Pulver answered,
"It's all in moderation. I spend my time, I do my training
six to eight hours a day and rather than watch TV, which really
isn't my thing, I just get on there and play online with people
and shoot it up. That's never been an excuse when you're not
training and getting ready."
For
those who want to get on and play Call of Duty 4 with Jens Pulver,
he commented, "Let's go. Let's mix it up. Let's play. Keep
it fair. Keep it clean and let's have fun."
Source: MMA Weekly
|
FRANKLIN
MOVES PAST SILVA; FOCUSED ON LUTTER
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder
Rich “Ace” Franklin will look to get back to his winning
ways this Saturday night when he takes on Travis Lutter. Both
fighters are looking to find their way back to the top of the
185-pound weight class.
Franklin
has been a mainstay in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio for many
years, working with coaches like Jorge Gurgel and Neal Rowe,
but for the fight with Lutter, the former champion has moved
his camp to the Northwest and started training with Matt Hume.
In
a recent interview with MMAWeekly Radio, Franklin divulged that
after working with Hume for a short time prior to his second
fight with Anderson Silva, he decided to split his camp between
Cincinnati and working in Seattle with Hume. He believes the
change will do nothing but positives for his overall game.
“Sometimes
it takes an outside party to kind of subjectively look at how
you’re training and you reevaluate things. You can look
at mistakes you’re making or the complacency that you’ve
developed in your training and it just gives you a fresh look
at things,” said Franklin.
Working
with Hume’s camp has given him a “one stop shop”
for all of his MMA needs instead of working with multiple schools
as he’s done for most of his career.
“The
one thing that Matt does really, really well is he puts together
a good game plan and he’s well rounded. It’s the first
time that I’ve had a coach that basically takes care of
all aspects of my fight game,” Franklin commented. “When
I’m up here I have Matt Hume and Matt Hume basically runs
the entire gambit. So it makes it a lot easier for me to get
everything accomplished and everything’s on the same page.”
Facing
adversity is something every fighter faces at some point in their
career and after two losses to Anderson Silva, the Cincinnati
native admits he’s learned a lot.
“Within
the last year, year and a half of my life, I’ve fought Anderson
(Silva) twice, and I’ve probably learned more about myself
in this last year than I have in the previous 14 or 15 years
of my life,” stated Franklin.
“When
that happens you start re-evaluating strategies, career, all
that kind of stuff, so I’ve basically taken a look at things
that way. I’ll just say given the fact that I lost to Anderson
the first time and was able to rebound back and just focus on
the next fight, that’s the same thing I’ll do with
this fight.”
Rebounding
hasn’t been a problem for Franklin after tough losses. Following
a trip to Japan and a loss to Lyoto Machida, he reeled off eight
wins in a row, won the UFC middleweight title and defended it
successfully twice. After the first loss to Silva, he returned
to defeat Jason MacDonald and Yushin Okami to work his way back
to a shot at the title.
Facing
Travis Lutter will be a new challenge for the former high school
teacher, and his opponent has not kept his game plan a secret,
openly stating that he plans on taking Franklin to the ground
and either pounding out a win or catching him in a submission.
“He
basically knows what I’m going to do as well,” said
Franklin about their respective game plans. “Travis is a
smart guy, so he is smart enough to say ‘I’m going
to shoot in and take him down’ and then possibly fake the
shot and start throwing some punches. I can’t just completely
discard his stand-up. There is enough danger there that I have
to worry about that.
“The
fact of the matter is that I’m not a tricky fighter either.
The way that I fight, I try to impose my will on my opponent.
If I can oppose my will on my opponent, it does not matter what
he’s going to do, because I’ll take him out of his
game plan. Somebody like Lutter, it’s the same thing with
him, if he can effectively take me to the ground and take me
out of my game plan, then it kind of makes things much more difficult
for me to win my fight.”
Franklin’s
fight is usually a brutal display of punching power that has
put many opponents out and staring up at the lights to end their
night. The former champion is looking for much of the same when
he faces Lutter.
“Nothing
tricky about what’s going to happen with me,” said
Franklin. “The door’s going to shut, I’m going
to walk out to the center of the ring, obviously Travis will
walk out to the center of the ring as well, and I’m going
to throw a few punches and, Lord willing, some of them will land.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
CALIFORNIA
MOVING TO ADD AMATEUR MMA
LOS ANGELES – California State Athletic Commission executive
director Armando Garcia hopes to make amateur mixed martial arts
a reality by the end of this year.
At
an informational meeting for promoters held Tuesday in Los Angeles,
Garcia released a rough draft of proposed rules for non-professional
competition. It was the second meeting on the subject since the
CSAC began regulating MMA in March of 2006, designed to get feedback
from the MMA industry on the shape of the new program.
Most
of the proposed rules were similar to those in place for professional
MMA in California, with a few notable exceptions.
Participants
would be divided into eighteen separate weight classes, starting
at flyweight (111.9 pounds and below) and ending at maximumweight
(250 pounds and above). Fighters with less than 10 fights would
be limited to three three-minute rounds. Fighters with 11 or
more fights would be allowed up to five two-minute rounds upon
approval of the commission.
Elbows
and forearms to the head of a grounded opponent would be prohibited,
as well as upkicks, neck cranks, hammer locks, slamming, and
heel hooks.
Despite
the revocation of many common techniques in today’s MMA,
there was surprisingly little feedback from the promoters on
hand. Garcia admitted he was taken aback by the silence that
followed the suggestions.
“It’s
been slow in coming,” Garcia told MMAWeekly.com. “I’ve
been pushing this thing left and right, and there’s little
to no feedback at all. People just sit there and they look at
me and hear me talking, and go ‘great, great, great,’
and I’m asking (for feedback) and nobody says anything.”
The
final draft of the amateur rules will be completed next week
and presented for the commission’s approval as early as
June. If approved, the program will likely take effect by December
of 2008 or January of 2009.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
MANNY
TAPIA INJURED, OUT OF WEC TITLE BOUT
World Extreme Cagefighting top bantamweight Manny Tapia will
be unable to contend for Miguel Torres’ 135-pound divisional
title due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. The
two were scheduled to meet at WEC 34 on June 1 in Sacramento,
Calif.
“I
fought Antonio [Banuelos] like that,” revealed Tapia. “Two
weeks ago it completely gave out during training. I couldn’t
walk for three or four days. I couldn’t bend my knee.”
He
is coming off of a controversial decision win over Antonio Banuelos.
The fight was initially scored as a draw, although many spectators
thought Tapia should have been the victor. After a mistake in
tallying the scorecards, he was ruled as the winner via split
decision.
“I
messed my knee up three weeks before I fought Antonio. It was
only bad for like two days,” said the undefeated fighter.
“I started training for Miguel and my knee popped every
day. Apparently my ACL wasn’t completely healed and I had
a slightly torn meniscus.”
Tapia
is expected to undergo surgery within the next few weeks and
will likely be out of action for three to four months.
The
injury marks the second time he has been sidelined before a championship
fight. “The Mangler” was scheduled to challenge then-champion
Chase Beebe for his title back in September, but a knee injury
derailed his title shot. Beebe recently lost his belt to Miguel
Torres at WEC 32 in February.
“Everything
happens for a reason. I’ll be back stronger and I’ll
definitely be ready. I’m not going to let it slow me down.”
No
replacement had been named at the time of publication. Even though
he had just been announced as facing Damacio Page at WEC 34,
Yoshiro Maeda has, however, been mentioned as a possible candidate
to replace Tapia.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Terry
Martin wins via KO in professional boxing debut
Former
UFC middleweight Terry Martin needed less than 30 seconds to
pick up his first professional boxing victory Friday night at
"The Odeum Rumble" in Villa Park, Illinois.
Martin
scored the first-round knockout over the now 0-2 Ricardo Upchurch
of Mansfield, Ohio in a cruiserweight bout scheduled for four
rounds.
Next
up for Martin is a mixed martial arts bout versus David "The
Crow" Loiseau on May 17 at a Combat Fighting Championships
event in Newcastle, England.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Jucão
wants revenge at UFC 85
The
Brazilian fighter Roan Jucão will fight at UFC 85 at London,
, and has extra-motivation to train harder for his new fight
at Ultimate’s octagon, where he knocked out Tony deSouza
on his last fight at UFC 79. His opponent will be a well-known
fighter, the Japanese Ryo Chonan, that defeated Jucão
at DEEP. “I wanted this time for a long time and now I got
this chance. It’ll be a war and I’m very motivated
and I’ll do my best”, said the fighter, that don’t
fear the judges this time.
“The
judges won’t interfere as they did at Deep, the difference
is that now it’ll be at the cage, where I can do better
because of my style. There, I fought against him and against
the judges, because I put him to the ground a lot of times and
the referee sent the fight back stand up”, remembered the
black belt, that will get to the octagon at June 7th, same event
of another Brazilian fighter, Luiz Banha, that will face Jason
Lambert.
Source: Tatame
|
Chute
Boxe opens branch at USA
Main
MMA coach from Chute Boxe, Rafael Cordeiro went to to open new
horizons to the team, that have passed through some problems
last year, and starts now his new journey. At Beach Boulevard,
California , Cordeiro opened the American branch of the Brazilian
team. “We’ve composed a good deal with the black belt
of Jiu-Jitsu Junior Gazzé, that trains here for ten years
and opened Chute Boxe’s ways here four years ago. The training
center here already has big names of the fight from UFC and WEC
and each day more athletes come to our training center, interested
on training with us. It’s a special moment for the team,
that makes everything easier for the Brazilian athletes that
wants to come to . Everyday Brazilian fighters get more respect
here”, said Rafael, that will run Jiu-Jitsu and Muay-Thai
classes at the new training center.
Source: Tatame
|
Carlão
Barreto denies rumors about the end of Black House
Technical
Coordinator of the Black House, the UFC and Pride ex-fighter
Carlão Barreto denied the rumors that were surrounded
the Team in recent weeks and said to the TATAME website the teams
plans for 2008. "We were in a restructuring stage. I know
that there are some rumors, but only who can talk about Black
House and about the future of the team are me and Jorge Guimarães.
We want that all our athletes fight and became champions at their
events", said Carlão, denying the rumour of exit
of many athletes from Black House to Brazilian Top Team.
"It
is all rumors. Unfortunately, at the MMA, we still have lack
of structure. I have talked with many influential people as Oswaldo
Paquetá, Artur Mariano, Wallid Ismail, Luis Alvez, which
are people that want the best of the sport, about the come and
go of the athletes. Obviously we must always look for the best,
but we have to have dignity, respect and gratitude. Unfortunately,
there is a lack of that with MMA people at ", poured out
Barreto, that is also promoting an event. "Barreto Fighter
is preparing an event at Niteroi that will have famous fighters
at Rio de Janeiro . Since I stopped fighting my priority is to
make MMA a respected sport", said Carlão Barreto.
Source: Tatame
|
Reports:
Choi Hong-Man out of the fight game for three years
It
appears that Choi Hong-Man will head to the Korean army training
center on April 21st. He decided to head to the army and not
postpone because he could have been in trouble with South Korea’s
military laws. It is very difficult to get a visa for him. Hong-Man
ended up canceling his role in the casting of “Transporter
3.” After four weeks of basic army training, Choi will work
for the national service conscript instead of being a soldier
because he is too big. He may do traffic tickets, parking tickets,
speeding tickets, or copy papers at a district office. What comedy.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
El Dirte Dishes
Dirt
Beer lover won't date fight fans
Every
Monday, a Sun staffer will get to know a local sports figure
a little better in Up Close. In this week's instalment, Kirk
Penton steps into the cage with Winnipeg mixed martial artist
Joe (El Dirte) Doerksen, who will fight fellow Canadian Jason
MacDonald on Saturday's UFC 83 card at Montreal's Bell Centre.
The
Sun: How does a guy from New Bothwell, Manitoba, end up on the
UFC stage?
Doerksen:
Almost by accident. I started fighting just to answer some personal
questions I had about myself. How would I react in a certain
situation? How would I do in a fight? So the most logical way
to answer that question is to go fight. I did it once, and then
I had to do it again, and I had to do it again. All of a sudden
it's been nine years, 50 fights and fighting in the UFC. That's
kinda cool.
The
Sun: Can you do this for a living yet?
Doerksen:
Yes, for almost two years now this has been my full-time job.
The
Sun: That's pretty cool that this is your job.
Doerksen:
It's pretty neat. but it's still a job. I still have to be in
the gym every day, and I have to behave myself. But it's a fun
job. This is what I used to do after work. Now I get to do it
for week, so I feel pretty lucky.
The
Sun: What song has to be played just before you step into the
cage?
Doerksen:
I don't ever pick my own music.
The
Sun: What about when you're sitting in your dressing room?
Doerksen:
I just sit around. There's not usually music playing. We just
hang out.
The
Sun: What TV show can't you miss?
Doerksen:
I don't have cable right now, so there's nothing I can't miss.
The
Sun: What do your parents, Ed and Tina, think about your profession?
Do they watch?
Doerksen:
My dad watches. My dad absolutely loves it. You can tell. My
mom doesn't really want her son to be a fighter, but at the same
time she's very supportive. My mom doesn't like watching me fight,
but the last time I fought Jason MacDonald was 2 1/2 years ago
and I lost here in Winnipeg, in my hometown, in front of my friends
and family. And I was kind of down for a couple days, and I had
suggested that night that I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue
fighting. And my mother, who would like nothing better than to
see me quit, called me up and said, 'Joe, now is not the time
to quit. You have to keep going.' So here I am, 2 1/2 later,
fighting the guy again. I don't think I'd be the person I am
today without my parents. They've just been great. They're good
people and good role models. That's probably why I don't beat
people up in the bar every weekend.
The
Sun: Favourite junk food?
Doerksen:
Oh man, I could give you a list.
The
Sun: Pick just one.
Doerksen:
I'm going to say burgers. I like burgers.
The
Sun: Is that the worst part of training, not being able to pig
out?
Doerksen:
Yep. I like beer, too. Not being able to drink beer three days
a week, that sucks. I like beer.
The
Sun: What's the dating scene like for a single guy on the UFC?
Doerksen:
You can't date a girl who wants to hang out with you because
she saw you on TV. That's not going to be a healthy relationship,
so it's not really a perk because that's a dead-end road. It's
nice to be recognized, it's nice to get that kind of attention,
but at the end of the day if you're a mature, healthy adult and
looking for a mature, healthy relationship, that's not where
you're going to look. You don't want to be dating a fan. Don't
get me wrong, when a young girl's making googly eyes at you and
smiling at you, it's a nice compliment, but you gotta kind of
take it for what it's worth. She thinks I'm a big deal because
she saw me on TV. She's wrong. I'm not that big a deal.
Source: Winnipeg Sun
|
Quote
of the Day
“Today
knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement.”
Peter F. Drucker, 1909-2005, Austrian-born Management Consultant
and Author
|
Local
Pride This
Friday!
Friday,
April 18, 2008
Dole Cannery Ballroom
Fights start at 7:30 pm
|
LUTTER'S
GAME PLAN IS SIMPLE FOR FRANKLIN
Travis "The Serial Killer" Lutter heads into the Ultimate
Fighting Championship octagon this weekend against Rich "Ace"
Franklin confident and eager to get one step closer to a rematch
with UFC middleweight champion Anderson "The Spider"
Silva.
Lutter
hasn't fought in more than a year, losing to Anderson Silva in
Feb. of 2007. He was scheduled to compete in August but a neck
injury in training put the middleweight contender on the sidelines.
Healthy
and ready to go, Lutter looks forward to fighting Franklin. "Rich
is a really, really good fighter," Lutter told MMAWeekly.
"A lot of people I don't think are giving him the respect
he deserves because of the Anderson Silva fights. I'm excited
to be given the opportunity to fight him. The Rich Franklin's
of the world are who I want to fight."
Lutter
failed to make weight for his match with Anderson Silva and subsequently
the advertised five-round title bout was relegated to a three-round
confrontation. Asked what he's going to do different this time
to ensure he tips the scales at the 186 pound limitation for
non-title middleweight contests, Lutter explained, "As far
as the weight, I'm going back to the weights that I've cut in
the (Ultimate Fighter) house. I'm not going to try to do the
monster cut anymore. I'm going to do a cut that's a lot more
reasonable and a lot more guys do."
"I'm
going to do around 195 pounds instead of 205 and cut from there.
Plus, I think I cut from 208 for the Anderson Silva fight. I'm
just coming into the fight a lot smaller, or a lot lighter I
should say."
Along
with his weight cutting technique, Lutter changed up his training
camp in preparation for Rich Franklin traveling to Boston for
a week to work with Mark DellaGrotte at his Sityodtong training
center.
"I
went up there and spent a week with Mark," explained Lutter.
"It was good to work with Mark, but I feel like I prepare
my best when I'm at home. It's just easier for me to train with
the guys that I'm training with all the time. I've got a real
good group of guys that come in here. Mark kind of gave us the
game plan, so I went out there and worked game plan, so then
I come back here and work on making that game plan work."
"Mark
is a master of putting together a game plan and helping taking
away what your opponent's going to do," commented the Texan.
"That's why so many guys are using him. That's why I'm using
him. I think it's a good compliment to what I do."
The
stylistic match up between Travis Lutter and Rich Franklin can
be oversimplified into a striker versus a Jiu-Jitsu practitioner.
"It''s never a secret what I go out there and do, stated
Lutter. "I do the same thing for basically every fight.
I go out there and try to take the guy down."
"I'm
a guy that's going to go out there and I'm going to fight to
my strengths. I'm going to go out there and I'm going to try
to take Rich down, and I'm going to beat him up. That's what
I do. If I can't take him down than it's going to be a long day
for me. If he can't stop me from taking him down, it's a long
day for him."
Lutter
expects to be the one imposing his will at UFC 83. He predicted,
"I'm going to circle with him. I'm going to take him down
and I'm going to beat him up."
Source: MMA Weekly |
SHERK
FINALLY CLEARED FROM SUSPENSION
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder
Sean Sherk was released from active suspension in California
on Monday after meeting all of the requirements as outlined by
the California State Athletic Commission.
Sherk
was suspended for 12-months and fined $2,500 for testing positive
for Nandrolone, a banned substance, following his July 7, 2007
bout with Hermes Franca in Sacramento, Calif.
After
several delays in his appeals hearing, Sherk’s sentence
was eventually reduced to six months and the fine held at $2,500.
The UFC then stripped him of the lightweight title, which he
had defended against Franca.
The
reduction made him eligible to come off of the active suspension
list as of Jan. 7. Sherk, however, remained on the list due to
the fact that he had not yet paid the fine associated with his
infraction, which he did on Monday. Official records will indicate
that he was suspended from July 7, 2007 through April 14, 2008.
Following
the reduction in his sentence, Sherk told reporters he would
never fight in California again.
“Absolutely
not,” he said. “It won’t even be offered to me.
The way (the CSAC does) stuff is very biased. They don’t
have rules; they don’t have regulations … they make
stuff up as they go.
“There
needs to be some kind of regulation. They want to follow WADA
when it benefits them; they want to change things when it benefits
them. Nobody overlooks them. There’s got to be some sort
of backlash to everything that’s happened in the last five
months.”
Sherk
is scheduled to return to the Octagon at UFC 84 on May 24 when
he challenges current lightweight champion B.J. Penn. Although
the bout will take place in Las Vegas, he had to be cleared from
California’s suspension list before the bout would be allowed
to take place in Nevada.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Couture
doesn’t want Minotauro
Fighter remains firm in wish to fight Fedor
The
brilliant professional MMA career of Randy Couture can be summed
up in recent months with questions about a possible fight with
Fedor Emelianenko and his judicial dispute with the UFC. The
American wrestler, who still has one fight pending on his contract
with Dana White, and is technically the organization’s heavyweight
champion, has not been speaking much about another potential
adversary: Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira.
The
Brazilian asked politely, after submitting the oversized Tim
Sylvia at UFC 81 and capturing the interim belt, Randy to face
him. Even so, the desire to square off with the Russian is such
that Couture seems unwavering in accepting any other possibility,
including that of facing Minota, who is seen by some to be one
of the greatest of all times, and who has never been submitted,
nor knocked out.
“I’m
44 and looking at the end of my career. I want to fight the best
guy in the world and be considered the best guy as well. That
fight is the only way that will happen. It doesn’t make
sense – the UFC is criticizing me for not fighting (Antonio
Rodrigo) Nogueira, and I have a lot of respect for Nogueira.
I think he’s a great fighter, but he’s been beat by
Fedor twice. That fight doesn’t make sense for me right
now. If I have more fights left in me after Fedor, maybe I’ll
fight Nogueira then, but right now, it just doesn’t make
sense,” said Couture to the boxing website 15rounds.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Anatomy
of Affliction Ban
The UFC's ban of Affliction is one of the most interesting and
perhaps under-appreciated stories of recent months in MMA. The
brand is one of the most coveted and lucrative sponsors in the
industry with a who's who of MMA on its sponsorship roster including
Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, George St. Pierre,
and Sean Sherk to name a few. Through royalties from signature
shirt sales its sponsored fighters stand to make several hundred
thousand dollars per year.
The
root of the ban has been the subject of much speculation inside
the industry. Last week Dana White offered his explanation of
the ban. "I never had a problem with Affliction clothing
until they took a picture of Couture and Fedor with no Affliction
shirts on, but it looks like a fight poster," White told
The Canadian Press. While the ban was inevitable once Affliction's
promotional aspirations were revealed, MMAPayout.com has learned
that the ban originally stemmed from Affliction's relationship,
or at least perceived relationship, with Couture.
The
UFC responded to Couture's resignation last fall by enacting
a ban on all things Couture. This meant no mention of Couture
on UFC broadcasts, no camera shots of Couture cornering fighters,
and no Xtreme Couture apparel in the octagon as of UFC 78. The
ban affected not only Couture himself, but also a number of fighters
sponsored by his brand. The company went so far as to force Wanderlei
Silva to move his training from Xtreme Couture for the filming
of his All Access Special.
Eight
days before UFC 79 the ban was suddenly and unexpectedly extended
to include Affliction. The ban was apparently the result of the
UFC's belief that Couture was a part owner of Affliction, a common
misconception. While Couture and Affliction are co-owners of
the Xtreme Couture mark, Couture has no ownership interest in
Affliction.
The
immediate victim of the decision was St. Pierre who, after wearing
Xtreme Couture in August, was scheduled to wear signature Affliction
apparel at the event. However, it was Karo Parsiyan, not St.
Pierre, who forcefully raised the issue with Joe Silva, Vice
President of Talent Relations at the UFC.
Parisyan
placed what has been described to MMAPayout.com as a heated phone
call to Silva after hearing about the ban. Silva was unaware
of the ban, but understood the actual nature of Couture's relationship
with the company. He was ultimately able to get the ban reversed
after explaining the situation to White. St. Pierre entered the
octagon on December 29th in full Affliction regalia.
However,
the reprieve was short lived. On January 18, Affliction staged
the now infamous photo shoot featuring Couture and Emelianenko
in the shirtless stare down referenced by White. Affliction hasn't
been seen on a UFC broadcast since.
The
company's control of the fighter's "commercial identification"
is addressed by three clauses in the standard Zuffa contract:
Fighter
covenants and agrees that no wording, symbols, pictures, designs,
names or other advertising or informational material (i) for
any beer, alcohol, beverage company, tobacco, casino or gaming
company, media company (including, but not limited to, HBO, ABC,
SET, FOX, ESPN and any Internet related company); (ii) of any
sponsor in conflict or competition with ZUFFA or any of ZUFFA’s
sponsors; (iii) of any sponsor causing injury to the reputation
of ZUFFA or ZUFFA’s sponsors and/or their respective officers
and owners; or (iv) which has not been pre-approved in writing
by ZUFFA and iN DEMAND, L.L.C. shall appear on the trunks, robe,
shoes, regalia or any other part of the costume or the body (including
by use of temporary or henna tattoos) of Fighter or any of Fighter’s
Affiliates during or at any Bouts, Pre-Bout Events or Post-Bout
Events.
Notwithstanding
the foregoing, ZUFFA shall have the right to include any advertising
or other informational material of ZUFFA, ZUFFA’s sponsors
or other entities designated by ZUFFA on the trunks, robe, shoes,
regalia or any other part of the costume of Fighter or any of
Fighter’s Affiliates during or at any Bouts, Pre-Bout Events
or Post-Bout Events.
For
television purposes, Fighter must be clearly distinguishable.
Therefore, Fighter shall provide one (1) pair of dark-colored
trunks and one (1) pair of light-colored trunks for each Bout.
If it is necessary to distinguish Fighter from his opponent,
ZUFFA shall have sole discretion to require Fighter to wear either
the dark-colored or light-colored trunks.
At
first blush this control might seem unjustified, but upon further
consideration it makes perfect sense to a degree. It is obvious
that for most companies sponsoring a fighter is merely a means
to ride the UFC's marketing coattails. As a result, it is more
than reasonable for the company to seek to exercise some control
over which brands it allows into the octagon and the company
has generally been very judicious in its use of the power.
However,
their are those in the industry who believe that fighters should
be given some financial consideration in the event a sponsorship
is blocked, particularly if it was approved when the deal was
signed. This is an issue, along with other ancillary rights,
worth keeping an eye on as the sport continues to grow, sponsorships
become more lucrative, and promotional opportunities more plentiful.
Source: MMA Payout
|
Rooney
takes MMA skills to NFL
IFL trainer and GM writer Martin Rooney III
IFL trainer’s book breaks into ESPN's top ten
New
York, April 14, 2008: As the International Fight League (IFL)
readies for its next event at Mohegan Sun Arena on May 16, IFL
Camp Trainer Martin Rooney has his eyes set on several additional
goals, including the top of the sports bestseller list and the
top picks in the NFL Draft. The Fair Lawn, N.J., resident, one
of the most sought-after fitness professionals in the world,
has spent a good part of his non-IFL training work this winter
readying many of the potential top picks for the upcoming NFL
Draft (including potential top pick Chris Long and Rutgers standout
Ray Rice) for selection weekend, as well as promoting his MMA-style
workout book Training For Warriors, which has rocketed up the
sports best seller list (it was at No. 7 this week on ESPN’s
list).
Rooney,
who was a member of the United States Bobsled Team from 1995-1997
and in 2000, and a four-time All Conference MVP performer in
Track and Field at Furman University, is also a purple belt in
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Ricardo Almeida and a black belt in
Kodokan Judo under Sensei Matsumura and Olympian Teimoc Johnston-Ono
of the prestigious New York Athletic Club. He has used all that
training to perfect hand-eye coordination conditioning tactics
that many of the elite MMA athletes in the world (including top
IFL athletes and coaches like Renzo Gracie, Jamal Patterson,
Delson Heleno, and many UFC and PRIDE MMA stars) and now apply
them to the elite athlete, especially those in the NFL and top
collegiate programs.
“The
mental discipline, quickness and flexibility training that makes
Mixed Martial Arts the phenomenon that is has become and has
helped forge so many recent successes like the athletes from
Renzo Gracie’s New York-based Academy are skills that we
have seen translate very well to other sports, especially football,”
Rooney said. “It has been great to see how the MMA success
story, through a book like Training For Warriors, can help make
so many elite athletes even better.”
In
addition to his draft training and his work with the IFL, Rooney
has been the martial arts consultant for the New York Giants
and New York Jets and is a speed and conditioning consultant
to a host of colleges and many athletes from the NFL, MLB, NBA
and WNBA. He has also trained numerous Olympians, including one
gold and four silver medalists.
Currently,
Martin is COO and director of training of the Parisi Speed School.
The Parisi Speed School is launching its national franchise opportunity
under Martin's leadership, and there are already over thirty
franchises in twenty states across the country sold in addition
to five company-owned stores in New Jersey.
Details
of the book can also be found at trainingforwarriors.com.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Canadian
Bocek used to school UFC owners
UFC
president Dana White knows all about Mark Bocek's jiu-jitsu skills.
As a teenager, the would-be mixed martial arts fighter from Woodbridge,
Ont., used to school White.
White
and brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta took up jiu-jitsu around
the time they bought the UFC in 2001. Bocek just happened to
be in Las Vegas at the time, training with their instructor John
Lewis.
"They
were like three or four of them so he (Lewis) brought me along
just to help out," recalled Bocek.
"He
used to come in and smack us around, submit us every 13 seconds,"
White recalled. "And it's good to see him in there fighting
(in the UFC today). I'm so impressed with the way that kid fights,
too. He's got a ton of heart, he goes after it. He was a great
kid then and he's a great kid now."
Bocek
was a purple belt back then. Now 26, he is a black belt and about
to enter the cage for his third UFC fight. The Canadian lightweight
faces off against Mac Danzig, winner of Season 6 of "The
Ultimate Fighter" reality TV show, at UFC 83 in Montreal
on April 19.
Bocek
isn't much of a talker at the best of times, so he doesn't say
much about his link to the UFC at the highest levels. But he
allows that White has always been good to him
"Dana's
very cool to me every time he sees me," he said.
Bocek
(5-1 and 1-1 in the UFC) is coming off a decision over Doug Evans
at UFC 79 in December, the same month that. Danzig (18-4-1) defeated
Tommy Speer in the December finale of "The Ultimate Fighter."
Both
fighters stand five foot eight and train in top camps: Bocek
with Team Quest in Temiculah, Calif., and the 28-year-old Danzig
at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Bocek, a decorated international
jiu-jitsu competitor, also spent time training in Brazil after
the Evans win, which followed a UFC debut loss to highly regarded
Frankie (The Answer) Edgar at UFC 73 last July.
"That's
nothing to be ashamed of," White said of the Edgar defeat.
Bocek,
for his part, says he feels more at home every time out.
"I
was just more comfortable in there and a more experienced and
a more skilled fighter," he said of the Evans bout. "Now
I feel that again from the last fight -- more confidence."
Danzig
will be a handful, however. He has experience, working his way
through smaller circuits until a brief stop at Pride and then
the UFC, via the reality show.
"Mac
Danzig is awesome," White said. "He's a tough little
kid, man. This guy goes after it. He is another one who's mean
and nasty and all business, serious about his career and about
fighting."
Danzig
showed his talent -- and the size of his heart -- in moving up
a weight class to welterweight (170 pounds) in winning the show
and beating the much bigger Speer. Danzig normally walks around
at 170, cutting to 155 to fight at lightweight. He reckons Speer
weighed 190 the night they met in the cage.
Technique
and experience won out over size as Danzig choked him out in
two minutes and one second.
The
strategy in this fight seems easy to predict. Danzig expects
Bocek to try to take him down. Bocek says Danzig will want to
keep the fight up.
"He's
going to stand and throw punches a little bit. He's going to
strike a little bit, I'm sure, but at the same time I know he's
looking to just set up takedowns," said Danzig. "And
if he has the fight his way, he'll be able to take me down, get
my back and get a choke and finish the fight.
"That's
what he's looking to do, he's a jiu-jitsu guy. I'm ready for
anything... My objective is to keep the fight standing where
it's a disadvantage to him."
Bocek's
assessment is simple: "He's going to try and sprawl and
brawl."
While
Danzig has not gone through formal jiu-jitsu training, he knows
what he's doing when it comes to grappling. Nine of his wins
have come through submission. Neither man has ever been submitted.
Away
from the cage, Danzig relaxes via photography and just gave permission
for one of his shots to be used on an album cover. His work,
mostly nature and landscapes, can be seen at www.macdanzigphotography.com.
Bocek
(www.markbocek.com) teaches jiu-jitsu.
Source: Sports Net |
UFC
loses both Jake O’Brien and its credibility
Buried
amongst the YAMMA headlines on Saturday morning came the news
that the UFC have released Jake O’Brien from his UFC contract
with Palace Fighting Championships likely to be his next destination.
The
10-1 heavyweight who is fresh off a loss to Andrei Arlovski had
two fights remaining on his contract and was widely considered
one of the best heavyweight prospects in world MMA. The reported
reasoning for the decision is that the company simply had too
many athletes under contract and he was purely one of the unlucky
few chosen for the chop.
Until
this news broke, and even now, I have no strong opinion on O’Brien
as a fighter. I have seen maybe one non-UFC fight of his and
have never interviewed him. I can’t even say that based
on what I have witnessed that I could class him as a particular
favourite of mine. His style is often derided as boring (sometimes
unfairly) and there is no apparent charisma radiating from him
to instantly grab a viewer’s attention.
Despite
this however the news of his release was greatly disappointing
without being too much of a shock. In fact it serves as a perfect
microcosmic example of an issue that plagues the entire company.
Quite simply, they aren’t a sporting league or entity and
no longer can they have any claim to be so.
The
aim of a sport is to determine who has the most legitimate claim
of being the best in the world in their specific field / division.
It’s impossible for the UFC to claim that this is their
objective and must now be classified as an entertainment company
rather than a competitive fighting league.
O’Brien
has all the potential you could ask for. Bursting onto the scene
boasting a decorated amateur wrestling pedigree he finished his
first eight fights within six minutes. Two more dominant wins
followed including a victory over a Heath Herring before he sustained
what was a described as a potentially career threatening injury.
He
suffered his first and only loss last month when returning from
having his body re-built to take on a former UFC heavyweight
champion in Andrei Arlovski. Ironically he was chosen as The
Pitbull’s opponent in the hope that he would give the Belarussian
a loss in the last fight of his contract - thus lowering his
stock to any potential suitor.
It
should be noted that O’Brien is still only 23 years old.
Regardless of your opinion on his fighting style you cannot diminish
his accomplishments in such a short space of time.
I’m
not saying that every young fighter deserves to receive the Roger
Huerta treatment where they are nurtured to stardom with a carefully
selected list of opponents designed to test every facet of their
game before moving on to fight a high level of talent.
Similarly
the UFC do not owe anyone a contract. They could have as many
or as little athletes under their control as they choose. However
when the reason given for releasing someone is that you have
too many competitors and yet people like Antoni Hardonk have
an upcoming fight booked then it becomes clear that there is
a massive case of double standards afoot.
Total
MMA currently ranks O’Brein at number seven in their heavyweight
rankings. There are only two people ranked above him in this
weight class that are currently available to the UFC. One is
belt-holder Rodrigo Noguiera and the other is Fabricio Werdum.
Whilst these lists are obviously not official it illustrates
the point that there are far more deserving candidates to face
the boot.
The
simple reason for his departure is that his face doesn’t
fit. His style is not aesthetically pleasing in the way that
say a Brandon Vera’s is and so he is considered dispensable.
That he could beat the majority of the other heavyweights under
Zuffa control is deemed irrelevant. It boils down to personal
favouritism in much the same way that Dana White has twice reneged
on his promise that the winners of supposed number one contenders
fights would be in line for a title shot.
Arlovski
defeated Werdum by unanimous decision at UFC 70 but did not fight
again until nearly a year later with his stoppage of O’Brien.
His performance in Manchester received the Dana White equivalent
of a gladiatorial thumbs down and his recent bout was buried
in the prelims and never shown on UFC programming due to an ongoing
squabble over contracts.
Similarly
the winner of the Gonzaga / Werdum fight in January was scheduled
to face the UFC heavyweight champion in their next contest. Werdum
stopped ‘Napao’ in the second round but now finds himself
taking on Brandon Vera in June. It seems that number one contenderships
are only valid if the person you want to win does so and even
then it has to be in a fashion personally pleasing to the decision
makers.
Those
who have suggested that a few wins on the independent scene will
see O’Brien return to the octagon should run that particular
theory past Matt Lindland and see if he agrees.
It
would be grossly unfair to apply the tag of being unprofessional
solely to the UFC and maybe it is sometimes easier to choose
the companies that do not fall victim to it. Elite XC, for example,
are set to headline the biggest show in their short history and
what will likely be the most viewed MMA card of all time with
Kimbo Slice against James Thompson.
In
the undercard of the same event Phil Baroni will face Murilo
Rua. Both men are coming off at least one loss yet are given
prominent placing on network television. Once again the message
is loud and clear - if we like you then it doesn’t matter
if you win or not as we’ll look after you anyway.
Whilst
I understand the need for entertainment, depressingly it sometimes
feels as though asking two poorly-skilled pugilists to stand
in front of each other is all the men in charge feel the sport
has offer.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
DAMACIO
PAGE FACES YOSHIRO MAEDA AT WEC 34
He made his World Extreme Cagefighting debut on only three days
notice, winning a hard fought decision over former NCAA wrestler
Scott Jorgensen at WEC 32. Now, Damacio Page will meet featherweight
King of Pancrase Yoshiro Maeda on June 1 at WEC 34. The promotion
announced the bout on Monday.
Maeda
also made his promotional debut at WEC 32, stopping Charlie Valencia
with strikes in the first round of their bantamweight bout.
Page
is excited and has already started training, being two weeks
into his training camp for the bout. “I feel good about
the fight. I’ve been working on my stand-up and explosiveness
in preparation for the (Maeda). He is really good on the feet
and it will be a good test for me.
“One
of the reasons I wanted to fight Maeda was because I fought Miki
Shida in Pancrase, I beat him and Maeda has beaten him twice,”
said Page, who has had his sights set on the Pancrase champion
for some time.
“Maeda
is one of the best 145-pounders in Japan and I’ve wanted
to measure myself against him to see how good I am.”
Page
is taking the fight seriously and is hopeful of a title shot
by year’s end. “Hopefully if everything goes well,
I can get a title shot in December at the last show of the year.”
If
he does earn a title shot in December, he will likely face the
winner of the June 1 bout between current champion Miguel Torres
and challenger Manny Tapia. Page realizes that neither is an
easy task, “They are both really good fighters on the ground.
Tapia has good takedown defense and Torres has slick submissions
with good takedowns.”
First,
he must get past Maeda, who hasn’t lost in his last five
bouts, but Page feels he is prepared, having learned from his
WEC debut. “I learned a lot from my last fight. I need to
be in shape all the time because you never know when you’re
going to get an opportunity to fight.”
Unlike
the bout against Jorgensen, however, Page has ample time to prepare
for Maeda and promises to be ready come June 1 when the WEC makes
its own debut in Sacramento, Calif.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
“Life
has its own hidden forces which you can only discover by living.”
Soren Kierkegaard, 1813-1855, Danish Philosopher
|
Fighters'
Club TV Tonight!
Channel 52, Tuesdays
at 7:00 PM
FCTV episode
58 will run in our normal timeslot of 7pm on Oceanic Channel
52 Olelo Oahu Tuesday nights, March 25, April 1, 8, & 15.
Episode
58 features:
Highlights
from the Pacific Invitational Jiu-Jitsu tournament including:
1. Interview & footage with purple belt heavyweight &
absolute winner, Kelly Grissom
(Relson Gracie Kaneohe Team)
2. Internview with tournament director Ronn Shiraki
3. Highlights & great subs from Jake Scoval & Luke Hacker
from Longman JJ, Dustin
Grace from Kaneohe Team, Lenora from Team HK, Andy Marshall vs.
Dr. Suehiro & many
more...
-HFC
highlights from the Dole Cannery including:
-Interview with fight promoter Sly Kekahuna
-170 lbs HFC champion Keoni Bryant
-Interview with Koa Ramos with highlight of fight with Bryson
Kamaka
-Highlight of Brennan Kamaka in action
Technique
of the Week:
-Mario "Zen Machine" Sperry demonstrates the standing
guard pass
Rob
Demello's report
-Kala Hose vs Phil Baroni fight highlights & inteview with
Kala Hose
-Extended unedited interview with Phil Baroni
Comments,
Questions, and Suggestions to: fctv@onzuka.com
|
HFC
Returns!
Hawaii
Fighting Championship
Stand Your Ground IX
Dole Cannery Ballrooms
Friday, May 9, 2008
Doors open at 5:30, show starts at 6:30
|
Shamrock-Cung
Le Showtime Rating
Showtime's
3/29 broadcast of the EliteXC-Strikeforce event featuring Frank
Shamrock v. Cung Le did a 1.2 rating (287,00 viewers), according
to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The number is considered
a disappointment, trailing Kimbo-Tank (1.9), Shamrock's first
two fighters (1.6, 1.7), and Lawler-Rua (1.5).
Source: MMA Payout |
TUF
7 Ratings - Week 2
MMAPayout.com
has learned that the second episode of season seven of The Ultimate
Fighter drew a 1.2 rating (an average of 1.4 million viewers).
The program drew quarter hour ratings of 1.02, 1.17, 1.17, and
1.27. The demographic breakdowns were 1.59 in M18-49, 0.98 in
P18-49, and 2.01 in M18-34.
The
overall number is off roughly 7.7% from last week's season debut.
That is good news for the series as the previous six seasons
have averaged a 12.5% drop between weeks one and two. However,
further erosion is likely next week now that the win and you're
in twist. featuring 16 fights in the first two episodes, has
played out.
Source: MMA Payout
|
ST.
PIERRE TALKS TRAINING, DIET, AND MORE
Georges St. Pierre says he's at his best when he's under pressure.
And with his impending fight against Matt Serra for the UFC welterweight
championship, which will be their second matchup (and the most
highly anticipated on top of it). Find out how Georges St. Pierre’s
workout uses a variety of techniques and tactics to stay on top
of his opponent, including MMA (mixed martial arts), a rigorous
diet and keeping a positive attitude.
EXERCISE
"I
always train with better wrestlers than me, better boxers than
me, better jiu-jitsu guys than me," St. Pierre says. "When
you train with people who are better than you, it keeps challenging
you. By challenging me it makes me better. It makes you better
develop your skills than someone who is always training with
the same people over and over again. I have a very good team.
"When
I go there (other training gyms) I play their game. When I wrestle
a guy like David Zimmerman, I don’t have the best of him…
I wrestle well, but not the best of him. But when I get into
the sport and have myself in a takedown position, the guy that
I’m fighting isn’t a guy like Zimmerman. It’s
the same thing in boxing, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai. So that’s
why I try to train in every single discipline with the best guys."
TRAINING
ROUTINE
"Normally,
when I don’t have a fight coming up, I always train,"
St. Pierre explains. "I train six days a week, two training
sessions a day. I box, go the gym and I have a lot of great training
partners. I train with guys who are going to the Olympics, and
I train with some of the best jiu-jitsu guys in the world. In
every type of training I do, I train with better guys than me,
so I always develop my skills.
"When
I have a fight, and the fight is getting closer, let’s say
a month before the fight, I don’t train by just boxing,
or just wrestling. I train more MMA, and what I mean by that
is I make training partners come here and I mix all the training
together, like kickboxing, submissions, takedown on the ground,
to really give me the reflex and the momentum for the fight.
"I
do boxing, wrestling, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu – that’s
the four disciplines that I do. I also do sprinting and strength
conditioning.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
ST.
PIERRE, "I WILL WIN OR I WILL GO TO THE HOSPITAL"
When Georges St. Pierre travels to the Bell Centre in Montreal
on April 19 to battle Matt Serra for the UFC welterweight title,
he won’t have to venture far, as the fight is taking place
in his hometown.
He
won’t have to look very far for his most adamant supporters;
they will surely be in attendance.
He
won’t have to dig very deep for the motivation to fight
the man who beat him for the title almost exactly one year ago.
He
will now battle for his shot at redemption and a second reign
as the 170-pound king of the MMA world.
With
the rematch between Georges St. Pierre and Matt Serra just days
away, the current interim welterweight champion, who stated he
will not bring the belt with him to the fight with Serra, is
focused on the task at hand and excited about fighting for the
title in front of his hometown fans.
“It
pumped me up so much, I can’t believe it,” St. Pierre
said about the fight taking place in Montreal. “It’s
a dream come true. It’s a great opportunity for me to shine
in front of my people by winning the world title, and that’s
the guy I’ve wanted to fight for a long time, too, because
he beat me. I can’t wait, it’s going to be fun.”
Working
with St. Pierre for this fight are a familiar cast of training
partners including Denis Kang, Nate Marquardt, Rashad Evans and,
of course, lead trainer Greg Jackson, who will formulate the
game plan that is expected to beat Serra.
“I’ve
been working for my game plan against Serra. Like I said, in
(this) fight people will see some stuff that I’ve never
shown before,” St. Pierre stated in an interview with MMAWeekly
Radio. “Some stuff people have never seen in MMA. So it’s
going to be interesting. Don’t blink because the fight can
finish very early, or it can go to the distance, but don’t
blink.”
Going
into the fight, current welterweight champion Matt Serra hasn’t
been short on words for the last fighter he defeated, but the
Canadian isn’t fazed by the verbal assault.
“I
don’t mind. He can talk as much as he wants. He can say
whatever he wants. It’s not going to change the fact that
I’m going to come and hit as hard as I can on him,”
St. Pierre commented. “If I win this fight by decision,
I’m not going to be satisfied. I’m going to go for
the finish. That’s what I want, I want to end the fight,
to take him out.”
In
a recent promotion with the UFC, St. Pierre was quoted as saying
that Serra “crossed the line” without much explanation
as to why.
“(The
UFC was) talking to me about the fact that he called me a ‘Frenchy’
and he said the ‘F-word’ Frenchy, and said ‘go
back to your red wine and hockey games,’” explained
St. Pierre. “And when I think about that, I said a champion
should not talk like that because now it’s getting personal
when you say those things. I think a champion should show by
example and not talk like that and he crossed the line by saying
that.”
Being
as talented as he is, St. Pierre often gets verbal jabs thrown
at him from other fighters. Recently, No. 1 contender Jon Fitch
jumped on board during the UFC 82 post-fight press conference
stating that he felt St. Pierre was afraid of getting knocked
out.
St.
Pierre also had a message for Fitch.
“We’ll
see what is he going to say after my next fight with Serra if
I’m afraid to get knocked out. Maybe he’s going to
change his mind,” he commented. “Tell him to wait one
more fight before saying stuff like that and maybe after that
he’s going to change his mind.”
After
his last fight with Serra, many fans and critics questioned his
state of mind going into the bout, but St. Pierre promises he
is more mentally prepared for this match-up than any fight before
it.
“The
confidence of a fighter comes from how he prepares himself for
the fight,” he said. “I’ve been training so hard
and I trained myself to fight an army, with fresh guys all the
time on me, with the best training partners, so one guy will
never break me. There are two ways this night is going to finish
for me, I will win or I will go to the hospital.”
The
chance for St. Pierre to prove himself is just days away and
he will take a second shot at Matt Serra on April 19 in Montreal.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
SENSATIONAL
NEWS FOR ELITEXC:
IT RE-SIGNS KIMBO SLICE, GINA CARANO,
ROBBIE LAWLER TO LONG-TERM CONTRACTS
MMA
Standouts Will Appear
On Landmark May 31 “CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS’’
LOS
ANGELES (April 14, 2008) – Fans can continue to expect to
see mixed martial arts standouts and fan favorites Kimbo Slice,
Gina Carano and Robbie Lawler fighting for Los Angeles-based
ProElite, Inc.’s live fight division, EliteXC, for a long,
long time.
“I
am proud and very excited to announce that Kimbo, Gina and Robbie
have all re-signed with us,’’ EliteXC Live Events President
Gary Shaw said today. Terms of the long-term, multi-year agreements
were not disclosed.
Kimbo,
Carano and Lawler are three of EliteXC’s most popular, talented
and exciting fighters and all will be featured Saturday, May
31, in the first of four prime time events on the CBS Television
Network in 2008.
Kimbo
(2-0) of Perrine, Fla., and Carano (5-0) of Las Vegas will face
fighters to be announced while the exciting Lawler (15-4) of
St. Louis will defend his EliteXC middleweight title against
hard-hitting Scott “Hands Of Steel’’ Smith (15-4)
of Sacramento, Calif., in a slugfest that figures to be non-stop,
toe-to-toe action.
The
official lineup for the historic MMA card, the first on network
television, will formally be announced in the next few days.
The highly anticipated event will emanate from the Prudential
Center in Newark, N.J.
“We’re
extremely happy to get these deals done with Kimbo, Gina and
Robbie,’’ Shaw said. “Fighters know EliteXC is
the place to be and the organization to fight for, which is why
we’ve always been able to sign or re-sign almost each and
every one of our fighters.
“You
don’t see our guys leaving. With us, it’s family and
all about the fighters. Every fighter who has fought on an EliteXC
card has come away being ambassadors for EliteXC.
“Kimbo
has already become an MMA star due to his incredible popularity
on YouTube. His backyard street fights are legendary. No question
Kimbo has made a successful transition from Street to Elite and
is on his way to becoming a superstar and world champion.
“Gina
became an instant star after her first fight for EliteXC and
has gone on to gain even more national prominence. She truly
is the face of women’s MMA, an inspiration to many up-and-coming
athletes and is a perfect illustration as to why women do indeed
have a place in this sport and with EliteXC.
“Robbie’s
nicknamed ‘Ruthless’ – what more you need to know?
He’s tough, hard-nosed and always been highly regarded.
EliteXC is extremely proud to have Robbie as its world middleweight
champion. Robbie has shown time and again that he’s one
of the most thrilling fighters in any weight class in MMA.
“For
sheer action and power, it doesn’t get better than ‘Ruthless’
Robbie Lawler versus Scott ‘Hands Of Steel’ Smith.’’
For
more information on EliteXC and other MMA-related stories, including
bios, video-on-demand, photos, stats, Fantasy Fight Game TM and
more, please visit ProElite.com and EliteXC.com.
Source: EliteXC |
Quote
of the Day
"Not
everybody trusts paintings, but people believe photographs."
Ansel Adams, 1902-1984, American Photographer
|
Fighters'
Club Radio Monday!
Tune in
every Monday morning for your weekly fill of MMA talk on the
radio with Pat and Mark.
Tell
everyone to tune in to AM 1500 from 9:00 to 10:00 am every Monday
morning right after Leahey and Leahey!
|
Maui Jiu-Jitsu BJJ
Tournament Date Announced!
On July 26th, Maui Jiu-Jitsu will host another one of their great
tournaments on the Valley isle. Stay tuned for more details as
they become available.
|
Christine
Young
X-1 World Events Executive
DirectorPhone (808)723-0504
Christine@x1events.com
www.x1events.com
" 5X World Icon Champion
" 2X World Brazilian Champion
" 2X World Racquetball Champion
For Immediate
Release:
"Legend" Egan Inoue's Opponent Named
The opponent for Egan Inoue's comeback fight will be announced
at a 2pm
press conference Tuesday April 15, 2008, at Dave and Busters located in the Ward
Entertainment Complex. Both Inoue and his mainland opponent will
be in attendance and available for photos and interviews at that
time.
Inoue, a former state middleweight mixed martial arts champion,
is making a heralded return to the sport headlining X-1 World
Events "Legends" card Friday May 16, 2008, at the Blaisdell
Arena. Also making his MMA comeback at this show is local legend
Ray "Bradda" Cooper, who will be fighting for the X-1
World Lightweight title.
In addition that night, Chad Reiner of Nebraska defends his X-1
World Welterweight belt against Brendon Wolf of Kailua, Hawaii.
In the 135-pount featherweight division, Kana Hyatt defends his
crown against Tyson Nam. There will also be 8 other professional
MMA matches.
The Inoue press conference begins promptly at 2pm in the private
room on the second floor of Dave and Busters. Pupus and soft
drinks will be served.
For more information about this event or X-1 World Events please
contact
Russell Shimooka at (808) 256-9788 or email at russ@lpshawaii.com
Contact, Christine Young, Ph: 808-723-0504
Email: Christine.x1events@gmail.com
www.x1events.com
Source: Event Promoter
|
COUTURE
WEIGHS IN ON FEDOR VS SYLVIA
A match-up between former Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko
and former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia is currently in
the works for July. Current UFC heavyweight champion, Randy “The
Natural” Couture, recently spoke to MMAWeekly Radio about
his thoughts on the fight, if it does happen.
Couture
defeated Sylvia in March 2007 to regain the heavyweight championship
and for the last few months has been campaigning for a bout with
Emelianenko, once Couture’s current deal with the UFC expires.
“I
think Tim poses some interesting problems for anybody who wants
to fight him,” said the embattled champion. “At six-foot-eight
and 280 pounds, he’s a seasoned veteran now; he’s got
some very good striking skills. I think he poses interesting
problems for anybody.”
One
of the obvious glaring problems for Fedor going into a fight
with Sylvia is the size difference between the two fighters,
and Couture understands that could create problems for the Russian.
“Fedor’s
a lot more akin to my size, around 230 pounds, and I think he
may even be a little shorter than I am. I’m six-foot-one,
he may be six-foot or even five-foot-eleven,” he commented.
“It’s interesting how Fedor just fought Hong Man Choi
over New Year’s and that’s a seven-foot tall guy, who’s
a lot heavier than Tim even, but probably not nearly as seasoned
as Tim is, but still similar problems in the height and dealing
with the range.”
Fedor
was able to defeat Hong Man Choi on the ground, submitting the
much bigger fighter by armbar in the first round of their match-up
last New Year’s Eve.
The
proposed fight would also give Couture a chance to size up Emelianenko
with a similar opponent that he’s already faced.
“It
would be an interesting match-up and I think it gives me a pretty
good indication where I stand in watching on how Emelianenko
kind of solves the problems that Tim poses and what happens in
that fight,” he said.
Of
course one major question looming overhead is would Couture still
pursue a fight with Fedor if he loses to Tim Sylvia?
“I’m
not sure if all the interest in that fight goes away if he should
lose to Sylvia, (me) having just beat Sylvia back in March,”
Couture said. “The whole thing for me at 44-years-old at
this stage in my career is to fight the best fighter in the world,
and be considered the best fighter in the world.
“I
don’t have a lot of fights left in me to be honest, and
so that fight makes sense to me. Now if he loses to Tim, then
obviously the question probably gets answered because he lost
to Tim, and then they’ve got to decide and rank who’s
the No. 1 fighter in the heavyweight division after that.”
As
of now, the bout between Emelianenko and Sylvia is still in the
works, although it has reportedly been verbally agreed to by
both fighters, and Couture will wait for his chance to step in
the ring with the Russian fighter.
Source: MMA Weekly |
UFC
83: Serra vs. St. Pierre 2 Preview
By Robert Rousseau on April 14, 2008
UFC
83: Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre 2 will be coming to us
all live from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on
April 19, 2008. So that takes care of the headliner, but what
about the rest?
Well,
there’s this bout between guys that go by the names of Rich
“Ace” Franklin and Travis Lutter that you may have
heard of. Interested? Good.
Let’s
get it going.
Matt
Serra (9-4) vs. Georges St. Pierre (15-2): We all know what happened
back on April 7, 2007 at UFC 69: Shootout. But just in case you’re
living in an MMA bubble. . . Georges St. Pierre, fresh off of
a victory over longtime UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes,
got knocked out by this TUF Champion named Matt “The Terror”
Serra. So, here’s the question: Could it happen again?
Answer:
Yes. But the real question is will it?
Georges
St. Pierre is the most explosive and athletic welterweight fighter
in the history of the game. Heck, he may even be the most explosive
and athletic MMA fighter of all time in any weight class. Beyond
that, St. Pierre is also an extremely large and powerful welterweight
that possesses outstanding takedowns/ takedown defense and always
comes to fight in shape. Further, his submissions/ jiu jitsu
skills are now above average and his striking is well above average
in both a technical sense and in terms of power.
Oh
yeah, and St. Pierre has only lost to two guys: Matt Hughes (avenged)
and Matt Serra. So he really wants to avenge that fight with
Serra. Want some reinforcement? How about the fact that he told
Fight! Magazine he threw an actual brick with Matt Serra’s
name on it into Montreal’s South Shore, following the advice
of a sports psychologist to get rid of the baggage that was holding
him down. St. Pierre also had this to say concerning the fight.
“If
Serra wants to fight me again, again, and again (then) I will
fight him again, again, and again. And the result will be the
same thing every single time that I fight him.”
Guess
is, he thinks he’s going to win.
Of
course, Matt Serra has knocked out St. Pierre previously and
is the current UFC Welterweight Champion for a reason. Namely,
the striking skills and power that always looked good but never
really finished things for him came through in a big way last
year. Furthering that, Serra is a very strong and powerful fighter
with more than solid technical striking skills, particularly
of the boxing variety. However, despite his knockout victory
over St. Pierre, he’s truly known for his jiu- jitsu and
submission skills. Along with this, he’s an elite jiu jitsu
fighter. That is the one clear advantage that he olds over his
Canadian opponent.
People
just seem to forget that Matt Serra has never been destroyed
by anyone. Sure, he’s lost. But this guy has been in there
with some very good fighters and has always looked good, even
in losing.
Prediction:
Matt Serra is an underrated fighter. Further, he has some confidence
coming into this one, having defeated St. Pierre previously.
That said, St. Pierre is just on another planet when it comes
to athleticism next to everyone else in the division (not just
his opponent at UFC 83). Serra will fight hard and be tough,
but in the end expect St. Pierre to beat him on his feet by utilizing
his longer reach and well placed kicks, and on the ground with
a furious ground and pound assault.
Georges
St. Pierre wins in a clear decision. That said, don’t be
surprised if his elbows end up winning the fight via TKO or KO.
Travis
Lutter (9-4) vs. Rich Franklin (22-3): The last time we saw Travis
Lutter back on February 3, 2007, he looked like he was on his
way to upsetting UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. But
it was not to be. Still, he showed a lot in that fight.
Leaving
aside the fact that he didn’t make weight.
Travis
Lutter possesses well above average takedowns, takedown defense,
and ground control skills. Further, he’s an outstanding
jiu- jitsu/ submission fighter. His only real weakness seems
to fall in the striking department; he’s not bad in that
arena, but the power and results just aren’t there (Lutter
only possesses one TKO to his credit).
That
said, once you hit the ground with him, Travis Lutter is one
dangerous fighter.
Rich
“Ace” Franklin is one of the most well rounded fighters
in MMA. He is solid, though unspectacular in terms of technical
striking (rather unorthodox) with excellent power. He also has
excellent takedowns, takedown defense, ground control, and submission/
jiu jitsu skills. In other words, he’s the entire package
plus outstanding cardio.
The
only knock on him may be that he can be knocked out. Is he tough?
Yes. But he doesn’t have one of those stone jaws.
Prediction:
Here’s the thing: On their feet this one goes to Rich Franklin.
Can Lutter get him to the ground? Well, not easily. But even
if he does Franklin may be able to survive long enough to get
back to his feet. And as this fight goes into round three, expect
Franklin’s always outstanding cardio to take over.
Rich
Franklin wins via decision.
Nate
Quarry (9-2) vs. Kalib Starnes (8-2-1): This fight represents
a battle between two former TUF fighters that were injured on
their prospective shows (Starnes while in a fight). Regardless,
this is an interesting match up.
Kalib
Starnes is an excellent submission- jiu jitsu fighter that has
improved his striking skills in a big way since he participated
on the show. In terms of size, power, and athleticism he is solid
but not dominant.
A
terrible, career threatening neck injury had sidelined Nate Quarry
for almost two years before he came back in one of the best fights
of 2007 to defeat Pete Sell by knockout. Along with this, Quarry
is one tough hombre that hits very hard and possesses extremely
strong takedowns/takedown defense/ and ground control skills.
Though solid on his feet, he is not an overly technical fighter
there.
In
terms of weaknesses, his opponent has a definitive advantage
in terms of submissions.
Prediction:
If Starnes can keep this one on the ground for any length of
time, he has a good shot at winning this fight. But you’ve
got to figure that he’s going to have a tough time doing
that. Nate Quarry is a tough guy to take down, and even if you
do he may have the stuff to get back up.
In
a stand up fight, Quarry is just a tough guy to deal with unless
you’re name is Rich Franklin.
Nate
Quarry wins via TKO in round two.
Charles
McCarthy vs. Michael Bisping: Bisping is big for this division
and has much better stand up skills.
Michael
Bisping wins via KO in round one.
Mac
Danzig vs. Mark Bocek: This one could go either way. I like Danzig’s
experience and well roundedness.
Mac
Danzig wins via TKO in round three.
Kuniyoshi
Hironaka vs. Jonathan Goulet: Interesting fight here.
Jonathan
Goulet wins via decision.
Jason
MacDonald vs. Joe Doerksen: Two awesome fighters, but Jason MacDonald
is just a freak athletically.
Jason
MacDonald wins via third round submission.
Jason
Day vs. Alan Belcher: Will the Canadian win?
Alan
Belcher wins via TKO in round three.
Sam
Stout vs. Rich Clementi: After seeing Clementi against Guillard,
I’m a believer.
Rich
Clementi via submission in round two.
Ed
Herman vs. Demian Maia: A very interesting fight. Going to give
it to the guy with more experience in MMA.
Ed
Herman wins via TKO in round three.
Cain
Velasquez vs. Brad Morris: Morris has a lot more experience.
But experience doesn’t always win, and AKA puts out some
good fighters.
Cain
Velasquez wins via TKO in round two.
Source: MMA Fighting |
SEMMY
SCHILT DEFEATS MARK HUNT IN YOKOHAMA
YOKOHAMA,
Japan – Moroccan Muay Thai dynamo and defending K-1 heavyweight
champion Badr Hari, 23, scored three quick first-round downs
to defeat Ray Sefo at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Yokohama.
In the evening's main event, defending K-1 World Grand Prix champion
Semmy Schilt defeated challenger Mark Hunt.
It
had been more than six years since Mark Hunt's incredible 2001
World GP Tokyo Dome Final performance, when the New Zealand boxer
dispatched K-1 stars Francisco Filho, Stefan Leko and Jerome
LeBanner to become the first non-European K-1 World GP Champion.
Hunt wanted very much to score another upset against the juggernaut
that is Semmy Schilt.
Schilt
towers a full 33cm/13" taller than Hunt, but from the bell
the scrappy Kiwi undertook valiant attempts to overcome this
disadvantage – leaping forward to throw the right overhand
punch to the delight of the crowd. Hunt also strived to control
the distance with low kicks. Alas, Schilt threw low kicks as
well, and unfortunately for Hunt and for underdog fans everywhere,
Schilt's kicks were a heck of a lot harder, and there were a
heck of a lot more of them. By midway through the first round,
Hunt's left leg had been brutalized.
To
make matters worse, Hunt also received a hard left knee to the
chops late in the round. As the seconds clicked down, Schilt
went all-out, and at the clapper delivered a spinning back kick
smack into his opponent's midsection. Hunt fell in a heap and
lay there with pain tattooed on his face. A most convincing KO
win for Schilt.
"We
practiced the spinning back kick in training," smiled Schilt
in his post flight interview, "but I didn't know it would
work out so well. I'm glad I won because he was also a GP Champion,
so now I have beaten all the active K-1 champs!"
Asked
what advice he could offer anyone contemplating fighting him,
Schilt simply smiled, "I'd tell them not to take the fight!"
"I
felt like I'd been kicked by a horse," said a distressed
Hunt. "I think anybody who got caught with that kick, even
Ernesto Hoost, would have been out. I only started getting my
air back when I heard the ring announcer call the number 'eight'."
Ray
Sefo versus Badr Hari, meanwhile, was a highly anticipated matchup,
the civil New Zealand veteran facing the volatile Moroccan rising
star.
Despite
some trash talk in pre-fight interviews, there were smiles on
both fighters' faces as they met center-ring for the referee's
instructions. Then it was straight to business. An explosive
start – both fighters attacking aggressively, Sefo firing
in a right that put his opponent off balance, Hari responding
with a number of knees then a devastating left cross to score
a down. After resumption, Hari went right after Sefo, who was
forced to the ropes, closed up in defense. Sefo has a great chin,
but Hari brought up a hard knee then added a right straight to
score another down.
Hari
showed no mercy, firing one punch after another, and again bringing
the knee up on the doubled-over Sefo. The crowd watched nervously,
well aware that Sefo had many times before taken a beating only
to rebound and return the favor. But on this night, "Sugarfoot"
could not sustain a counterattack. As Hari's fists flew, the
referee stepped in and waved his arms, signaling a sensational
first-round KO victory for Badr Hari.
"Before
the fight, I said I'd get a KO, and I delivered!" said Hari
afterward. "In the ring, you can't miss anything, but Ray
blinked and I landed the blow, and that was that."
"I
was feeling okay," said Sefo, "and then I got caught
by the knee and it all went down from there. Badr was the better
fighter, that's all."
The
card comprised nine bouts, all fought under regular K-1 Rules.
The
penultimate contest featured a couple of superbly conditioned
combatants – Kyokushin stylist Ewerton Teixeira of Brazil
and Japanese karate fighter Yusuke Fujimoto. Teixeira entered
the ring with but one K-1 bout to his name – a 2004 win
against Petar Majstorovic. Fujimoto, meanwhile, is the K-1 '07
Asia GP Champion and has honed his skills at the respected Mejiro
Gym in Holland.
Teixeira
missed with a high kick and a spinning back kick early on, but
then answered Fujimoto's hard low kicks in kind. A Teixeira right
set Fujimoto stumbling, but Fujimoto also got some good punches
through in the first. In the second, both fighters closed frequently
and fearlessly, leading with the fists and making good contact.
This was shaping up to be one heck of a battle.
In
the third there was more aggressive punching, Teixeira missing
with a number of his ambitious kicks, Fujimoto repeatedly closing
with the right but absorbing punishment from Teixeira's quick
counters. A spirited round, in which Teixeira's left straight
punch would have put many fighters down – Fujimoto showing
a good chain to stay on his feet and answering deftly with a
spinning back punch that made partial contact. Judges saw a draw
and called for a tiebreaker round.
Teixeira
landed a dandy left straight punch here, Fujimoto was also good
with body blows, moving forward but now beginning to either slip
and fall to the canvas or grab hold of his opponent to stay on
his feet, suggesting possible damage to his left leg.
When
the round ended, the judges once again pronounced a draw, sending
the fighters to a second and final tiebreaker.
Here
Teixeira's superior stamina proved the difference, as he kept
on coming while Fujimoto began falling apart. It was a left straight
on a counter that scored Teixeira his first down, followed by
a left hook for a second down just 20 seconds later. Fujimoto
was now awfully wobbly, and Teixeira's right straight punch was
the coup de grace, dropping the Japanese fighter for the third
time and giving the Brazilian the KO win.
At
35 years of age, Seidokaikan veteran Musashi is Japan's most
accomplished K-1 fighter. He faced a challenge from compatriot
Junichi Sawayashiki, a 23-year-old kickboxer. His stunning upset
win over Jerome LeBanner last year established Sawayashiki as
one of Japan's most promising youngsters.
The
fighters exchanged jabs and low kicks through the early going,
Musashi getting a good middle kick through, Sawayashiki making
partial contact with a high kick in the first round. In the second,
Musashi worked the body blows before getting a left kick up and
on target to score a down. After resumption, Musashi put his
opponent on the ropes and laid in with the fists, and soon a
left uppercut had dropped Sawayashiki a second time. The poor
kid beat the count, rising to his feet only be sent back down
by Musashi's decisive left straight. An impressive win, Musashi
sending the message that he still has a lot of fight left in
him.
The
Brazilian with the magic legs, Kyokushin fighter Glaube Feitosa,
met low-kick specialist Arex Roberts, a kujyuken fighter from
the United Kingdom making his K-1 debut.
Roberts
started with a couple of low kicks and a knee to the midsection,
but these did not at all rattle Feitosa, who remained characteristically
cool. A number of technical exchanges followed, and by the end
of the round although neither fighter had dominated, Feitosa
had the edge, and Roberts' nose was bloodied.
If
Roberts the rookie was beginning to believe he was holding his
own against one of the world's best, that thought flew out of
his mind the minute Feitosa's left foot connected with the right
side of his head. The British fighter collapsed to the canvas
ingloriously, and Feitosa had yet another clip for his Kyokushin
high-kick highlight reel.
The
Squat Samoan with the herculean right hook, Mighty Mo, stepped
in against cocky Japanese kickboxer Keijiro Maeda.
Maeda
cycled at the far perimeter, occasionally tossing in a kick,
while Mo tracked him from the center of the ring. Mo did catch
the Japanese fighter on several occasions and Maeda did go to
the canvas, but these were ruled slips. Apart from endlessly
circling, Maeda's unusual strategy involved diving into the clinch
or darting away when it looked like he might get punched. In
the second, Mo answered one of Maeda's dive-and-hug maneuvers
with a knee, but otherwise had a difficult time tagging his wily
opponent.
Maeda
continued with the kick-and-run strategy in the third, a number
of low kicks making good contact, a number of them also hitting
Mo below the belt. Mo now attempted his own low kicks, but these
were woefully inadequate. You had to give Maeda credit –
he had put Mo off his game. It wasn't pretty, but it forced a
tiebreaker round.
Here,
Mo was again kicked below the belt, prompting an extended time
stop and recovery period. At the age of 34, Mo is 13 years older
than Maeda, and stamina now came into play. An increasingly exhausted
and frustrated Mo could not find his distance, while the evasive
Maeda scored enough with this kicks to take a unanimous decision.
Veteran
kickboxer Petr Vondracek of the Czech Republic, who had lost
his last four K-1 bouts, hoped to turn things around here against
Japanese karate stylist Mitsugu Noda.
But
that was not to be. Too much clinching in the early going, until
Noda unloaded a barrage of punches on the cornered and closed-up
Vondracek, prompting the referee to call a standing count. A
repeat performance in the second, Noda putting Vondracek on the
ropes and pummeling him for a good while before finally earning
another standing count. The Czech made a bit of a rally, coming
in with a series of hooks, but Noda weathered these and was soon
on the offensive again, literally chasing Vondracek round the
ring to get a referee stop and the victory.
A
hard-hitting German, Chalid "Die Faust" hails from
the champion-producing Golden Glory gym in Holland. Here he met
the technically-advanced Russian Kyokushin karate fighter Aleksandr
Pichkunov.
Die
Faust had lost his last K-1 contest after eating a knee served
up by Glaube Feitosa, another Kyokushin fighter. So this was
something of a chance for payback. Pichkunov the kicker was also
coming off a loss, having been out-punched by Doug Viney.
A
tentative start here, both men testing with low kicks and the
occasional jab. The pace picked up midway through the first,
Pichkunov moving forward with punches and sailing a spinning
back kick just high. But Die Faust answered the challenge, coming
back with a punching attack to end the round.
In
the second Die Faust hunkered forward with straight punches and
stepped inside to throw the uppercut, but Pichkunov's defense
was sound, although Die Faust did clock him soundly with a right.
In the third Pichkunov strived to score with low kicks, while
Die Faust, leaning forward, made the most of his upper body strength,
pumping in body blows and tight hooks. The judges saw a draw
and called for a tiebreaker round.
Here,
Pichkunov repeatedly jabbed and threw low kicks at the ever-approaching
Die Faust, until, in the final seconds, the exhausted pair simply
slugged it out from in close. Once again, judges could not pick
a winner, and a final tiebreaker was prescribed. This time Pichkunov
stayed with the low kicks, stinging his opponent; while Die Faust
attempted combinations – but neither fighter got through
to do serious damage. A tough one to call, the split decision
giving Pichkunov the win by the narrowest possible margin.
The
nine-bout card started with a couple of Japanese fighters, Takashi
Tachikawa, who came out of the K-1 Tryout series and is known
for his low kicks; and Hiroyuki Enokida, a Seidokaikan stylist
improbably making his K-1 debut at age 37. This was a bizarre
fight. Four seconds after the bell, Tachikawa deposited his rotund
opponent with a punch. Enokida beat the count, only to be laid
out again immediately after resumption. This was looking like
a laughably one-sided affair, when suddenly Enokida smacked through
a right hook that KO'd Tachikawa. Three downs in 40 seconds!
In
undercard action, Tsuyoshi Nakasako of Japan beat compatriot
Takumi Sato by decision; and Tsutomu Takahagi of Japan KO'd Kyoung
Suk Kim of South Korea.
The
K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Yokohama attracted a crowd of 10,629
to the Yokohama Arena. It was broadcast live across Japan on
the Fuji TV network, and will be shown on a delayed-basis in
a total of 135 countries around the world.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"Not
everybody trusts paintings, but people believe photographs."
Ansel Adams, 1902-1984, American Photographer
|
YAMMA
Pit Fighting Results!
YAMMA Pit Fighting
Trump Taj Mahal Arena, Atlantic City, New Jersey.
April 11, 2008
With
the exception of the tournament final, which is three five-minute
rounds, all other tournament bouts are one five-minute rounds.
The two Masters Superfights are each two five-minute rounds.
1. Lamont Lister def. Oleg Savitsky via TKO (strikes) - R1 (0:33)
2. Bryan Vetell def. Antwain Britt via unanimous decision
3. Alexey Oleynick def. Sherman Pendergarst via submission (choke)
- R1 (4:18)
4. Chris Tuscherer def. Tony Sylvester via unanimous decision
5. Travis Wiuff def. Marcelo Pereira via unanimous decision
6. Ricco Rodriguez def. George Bush via unanimous decision
7. Oleg Taktarov def. Mark Kerr via submission (kneebar) - R1
(1:55)
8. Chris Tuscherer def. Alexey Oleynick via unanimous decision
9. Travis Wiuff def. Ricco Rodriguez via unanimous decision
10. Patrick Smith def. Eric "Butterbean" Esch via submission
(strikes) - R1 (3:17)
11. Travis Wiuff def. Chris Tuscherer via unanimous decision
Source: MMA Fighting
|
AURELIO
VS. GRIFFIN AT UFC 86 IN JULY
by Damon Martin
Marcus “Maximus” Aurelio and Tyson Griffin are set
to do battle on July 5 at UFC 86 in Las Vegas. Sources close
to the fight confirmed the bout on Thursday to MMAWeekly.com.
The bout agreements have been issued and are expected to be signed
by the end of the day.
Griffin
is coming off of a win over American Top Team fighter Gleison
Tibau at UFC 81 in February. The California native looked strong
with his stand-up game as he pummeled Tibau throughout the three-round
bout, working his way to a unanimous decision.
After
a rocky start to his UFC career, Aurelio has looked dominant
in his last two fights, finishing both of his opponents in the
first round.
A
late change in opponents gave Ryan Roberts the chance to step
in against Aurelio at UFC Fight Night 13, but the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
black belt gave him a rude welcome as he dropped Roberts with
a punch early on and then finished with a transition to an armbar
on the ground.
There
has been no official announcement regarding the bout from the
Ultimate Fighting Championship, but it is believed the bout will
be featured on the main card.
UFC
86 Bouts (officially announced):
-Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin
-Joe Stevenson vs. Gleison Tibau
-Frank Mir vs. Justin McCully
-Melvin Guillard vs. Dennis Siver
UFC
86 Bouts (unannounced):
-Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Lytle
-Tyson Griffin vs. Marcus Aurelio
-Justin Buchholz vs. Corey Hill
-Ben Saunders vs. Jared Rollins
-Cole Miller vs. TBA
-Steve Bruno vs. TBA
Source: MMA Weekly
|
WORLD
RENOWNED FIGHT ANNOUNCER BATTLES CANCER!
Boxing ring announcer, Michael Buffer, famous for the trademarked
phrase, "LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE", is currently recovering
at his
home in Los Angeles following surgery to remove cancerous tumors
from the throat and neck.
Buffer
has issued the following statement:
"The cancer was detected at a very early stage in mid-February
and three weeks ago I was operated on by one of the best surgeons
in the field. I am recovering well and feel stronger every day.
The early detection prevented any spread that would have jeopardized
my vocal ability. I am looking forward to being back in the ring
next week
(Saturday, April 19th) as Bernard Hopkins faces Joe Calzaghe
on HBO PPV from Las Vegas. The support and encouragement for
a return to good health received from my friends and members
of the sports promotion and broadcasting community was overwhelming
and greatly appreciated. I was very surprised to learn how many
cancer survivors are out there and how they instantly rallied
to my support. As a new member of that group, I intend to keep
up that tradition.
"My
physicians are not sure of the cause as many things can contribute
to cancer but one very distinct possibility is smoking. After
a decade of smoking, I quit 35 years ago but the damage may have
begun. Hopefully, my circumstances will encourage others to
avoid smoking and second hand smoke when possible, and please
get regular checkups."
For
more than 25 years, Buffer has been recognized around the world
as boxing's premiere ring announcer. He is a staple on HBO boxing
and regularly travels to Europe and Asia for fight telecasts.
The words, "Let's Get Ready To Rumble" are actually
a registered
trademark and the licensing of the phrase has generated hundreds
of millions of dollars with video games (a new one coming out
late this
year), toys, food products, clothing and sporting goods to name
a few.
Source: The Fight Network
|
Sorting
Out the UFC Lightweights
by Greg Savage
As
Kenny Florian showered Joe Lauzon with punches from the mount
at UFC Fight Night, the final pieces of a very muddled lightweight
picture were undoubtedly being shuffled for the umpteenth time
in the mind of UFC matchmaker Joe Silva.
With
Sean Sherk set to challenge champion B.J. Penn for his former title May 24, Silva
will have some time to sort things out after watching four of
his most promising 155-pounders secure victories last Wednesday
in Colorado.
"The
lightweight class is stacked," said Florian, highlighting
Silva's propitious dilemma. "Look at all the guys who won
[Wednesday] night and some of the guys who lost. They are all
tough."
Florian
(9-3-0) had his way with a game Lauzon after tiring out the young
prospect in the thin Rocky Mountain air. In victory, he stated
his case for another step up in competition.
With
hopes of earning another crack at the belt he saw slip through
his grasp in a decision loss to Sherk 18 months ago, Florian
mentioned Roger Huerta and Tyson Griffin as possible matchups
that would propel him closer to his goal.
"I
want to fight the two top guys in the division or the winner
of Sherk-Penn," stated the 31-year-old Bostonian. "Huerta
or Tyson are both top guys, and that is all I want to fight."
Though
he hasn't heard anything official from Zuffa, Florian continued
to point toward Huerta as his most desired opponent.
"[Huerta]
is the most impressive guy out there right now for me,"
Florian said. "There are no easy fights in this division,
and I just want to keep fighting guys that will move me closer
to the title shot and Roger Huerta is that kind of fighter."
Huerta
(20-1-1) has been mentioned as a possible participant for UFC
87, which is scheduled for August in his adoptive hometown of
Minneapolis. A Florian-Huerta battle would go a long way in determining
a contender for the winner of Sherk-Penn.
Huerta's
manager, Matt Stansell, told Sherdog.com that his charge has
been approached about fighting in Minnesota and could very well
compete on the card. Stansell acknowledged that Florian would
be an acceptable opponent.
Other
UFC lightweights turning in notable performances at UFC Fight
Night included Marcus Aurelio, who, albeit against a late replacement,
tied the record for fastest submission; Gray Maynard, who put
the first blemish on Frankie Edgar's record; and Nate Diaz, who
scored a slick submission over Kurt Pellegrino.
With
Maynard and Diaz relatively early into their UFC campaigns and
Clay Guida still trying to establish himself as a contender after
some tough losses, it appears that outside of Florian, Aurelio
is positioned best to make a run at the title. He probably has
to win at least one more fight against a top lightweight after
his dismantling of less than stellar opponents Luke Caudillo
and Ryan Roberts. A fight with Tyson Griffin would make a lot
of sense and provide another title-worthy contender.
More
positive notes from the UFC Fight Night card, which featured
seven lightweight bouts in all, came from former reality show
performers and future stars Maynard and Diaz.
After
asking for a fight with Edgar, a guy people were not lining up
to fight, Maynard (5-0-0) had little problems imposing his will
and proving he belongs in the upper reaches of the division.
However, it was not all good news for the former Michigan State
wrestling standout. He suffered a broken bone in his right hand
that will require at least eight weeks to heal, putting him out
of action for the next few months.
Once
he is healthy, Maynard, with his stellar wrestling credentials
and emerging striking ability, should continue his progression
into an all-around mixed martial artist. By his own admission,
he understands he still has a considerable way to go before he
can be considered a title contender.
"I
think this win is a big step for me, but I have only been doing
this for a couple years," Maynard told Sherdog.com after
his win over Edgar. "I know I still have a lot to improve."
Diaz
(9-2-0) is cut from the same cloth as his older brother, but
he could soon shed the shadow that has followed him since he
began down the path first blazed by Nick. First he won "The
Ultimate Fighter" and now he has established himself as
an up-and-comer with his latest victory. He showed his moxie
while surviving an early onslaught by a seasoned Kurt Pellegrino
to notch a classic triangle submission victory, double-barreled
salute and all.
Diaz
is in possession of a fluid submission game that makes him capable
of ending a fight just about anytime. He has proven he will take
advantage of the slightest mistake, as Pellegrino found out after
dominating right up until he was tapping out.
It
is always better to have too much of a good thing than not enough.
And for Joe Silva and the UFC brass, the lightweight division
has turned out to be just that. The matchmaking combinations
are innumerable, but one thing is for certain: No matter who
wins between Penn and Sherk, there will be a deep pool from which
to choose the champion's next opponent.
Source: Sherdog
|
COUTURE
SAYS MATCH WITH ANGLE STILL SPECULATIVE
by Damon Martin
The speculation surrounding a possible grappling exhibition between
MMA legend, Randy “The Natural” Couture, and former
Olympic Gold medalist, Kurt Angle, continues to simmer around
the headlines and the current UFC heavyweight champion recently
spoke about the match-up with MMAWeekly Radio.
While
Angle has been flirting with the idea of transitioning into mixed
martial arts for years, Couture is interested in a grappling
match with the former WWE wrestler, but isn’t overly concerned
about it happening either.
“I’m
not too worried about it either way,” said Couture. “When
it is signed on the dotted line and it can really be a reality
then I will definitely start training and getting myself into
top grappling shape, sharpening all those tools for a match with
him.”
The
two are both legends in the wrestling world with Angle, as previously
mentioned, winning a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics while Couture
served as an alternate for three different Olympic teams.
“Obviously,
he’s a great wrestler, we kind of came out of college at
the same time, him at Clarion, me at Oklahoma State, in different
weight classes, and then he went to freestyle, I was more into
Greco,” Couture stated about their respective wrestling
backgrounds. “He’s got a great wrestling pedigree,
he just hasn’t done any real competition for a number of
years, so I think the burden is on him to step up and compete
at that level again.”
Couture’s
main hurdle for any competition is his “no compete”
clause of the UFC contract he's is still serving under, but he
remains open to the possibility of grappling Angle at some point.
“There’s
some hoops to jump through, me first and foremost getting cleared
of the UFC,” Couture stated. “I’m sure they’re
not going to give me permission to do anything at this point
while I’m under contract with them.”
Angle
has gone as far as to say the match is already set to happen,
but Couture states the opposite and for now the fight is simply
speculation.
“I’m
not going to lose any sleep over it either way. If it happens
it would be a lot of fun, it would be cool,” he said. “I
got the chance to do the “Jacare” match last year with
the PSL (Professional Submission League), and just had a blast.
I would be all over the chance to compete against a guy like
Kurt. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
‘The
Russian Bear' Dances Again
by Mike Sloan
A
takedown and pivot, the leg was secured. Moments later, after
the proper pressure was applied, Moti Horenstein had no choice
but to tapout from the excruciating pain of a kneebar.
That's
how Oleg Taktarov triumphantly ended his first stint as a professional
mixed martial artist.
Four
months ago against John Marsh, Taktarov similarly jump-started
his second foray into the sport via the leg lock that threatens
to pop kneecaps like those little plastic confetti champagne
bottles on New Year's.
After
nearly a full decade away from the trade that allowed him to
legally remove another man from consciousness, it's hard to argue
the 39-year-old Russian forgot how to perform his trademark sambo
submissions.
One
of the pioneers of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Taktarov
(15-5-2) embarked on a fighting career that elicited loyalty
from a legion of hardcore fans. Though he toppled quite a few
popular fighters in his day and captured the UFC 6 title, Taktarov's
time as an active mixed martial artist lasted just more than
four years before he walked away.
"I
went into a very successful business career in Russia: acting,"
said Taktarov, who headlines Friday's Yamma Pit Fighting pay-per-view
card from Atlantic City. "Right now you can say my acting
career is a bit shaky. In the United States it's a nice place
to live but in Russia, it's a whole different story right now.
I just finished a movie called ‘Montana' and I have some
other things in the works, too. I'm confident that I will be
able to accomplish some very nice things and I'm sure they will
be mostly in United States."
Though
he may not be in high demand in Tinseltown, Taktarov, with his
piercing grayish-blue eyes and heavy Russian inflection, appeared
in dozens of movies with varying measures of camera time. The
fighter has graced the silver screen alongside many of Hollywood's
giants in such works as "Air Force One," "15 Minutes,"
"National Treasure" and "Miami Vice," though
most know him as the man who liked to choke out his opponents
in the UFC's infancy.
Taktarov
decided to put the gloves back on and put his script reading
and retakes on hold. But unlike many a fighter who climbs back
into the realm of combat after having been away from a lengthy
duration, Taktarov said he's not doing it because he needs to.
"I
don't like to do things for money or because I have to do them,"
he stated while trying to warm up from the lingering New Jersey
winter. "I like to do things that I love to do and when
I do things, I want to go for the biggest, most exciting things.
Right now, I don't have to work for money and I don't have to
take parts in movie because I have to. I can take a year [off]
from movies, so right now I have some free time on my hands.
"I
don't want to work on some cheesy B movie," the fighter-turned-actor-turned-fighter
continued. "I want to be here in the United States and I
want to do something big. Right now, Yamma Pit Fighting with
their different game plan and their arena, it's never been done
before. Their cage, how you call it, it's really something to
look at."
Taktarov could have easily come out of retirement on many an
occasion but opted not to because, as he put it, it wasn't worth
the effort. He didn't want to waste his time, especially while
earning a comfortable rate by appearing in roles on both television
and cinema; there just was no need to kill himself in the gym.
"I
don't like to go fight in some small show that no one would know
about, you know, just for money," he said. "It's very
important to be a spotlight; it's got to be something big that
we could talk about. In this case, it's Bob Meyrowitz back in
action and I feel that it's going to be huge. It's going to be
nice to compete and fight in the United States 10 years after
[I retired]."
When
Taktarov climbs into the Yamma Pit Fighting cage inside the Trump
Taj Mahal, it'll be like old times, what with UFC co-creator
Meyrowitz running the show and his scheduled opponent, fellow
UFC pioneer Mark Kerr.
"This
has been a very long process in getting an opponent for me,"
a somewhat agitated Taktarov sighed. "Originally I was supposed
to fight Don Frye and that was going to be very exciting for
me. With Don Frye, some people used to compare us in fighting,
but he couldn't do the fight. So then from Don Frye it turned
into another guy, then another guy and then another guy and now
we have Mark Kerr. I just keep my fingers crossed that he's going
to stay healthy and that the fight is going to happen."
Like
most fans shelling out $34.95 to watch the card from home, Taktarov
is uncertain what to expect from Kerr, whose record stands at
15-6 with one no-contest.
"The
Smashing Machine," also 39, battled a horrendous chemical
dependence and has looked like nothing more than a shell of the
man who once was the most feared fighter in MMA. Still, Taktarov
understands that he can't fool himself into believing it may
be an easy fight.
"I
used to watch Mark Kerr fight and he was very impressive,"
the Russian revealed. "He had a nickname -- ‘The Specimen'
-- and he had many very impressive victories and back then I
thought it would have been tough to fight him. But now he's been
taking the time and cleaning up some of that extra stuff he put
into his body and became a normal person. So now we'll what he's
all about. I expect him to be very strong and determined."
Taktarov
admitted that he plans on eventually fighting the best there
is in the sport but can't decide on whether to campaign at 205
pounds or heavyweight. He walks around comfortably at 215 and
can easily make both weight classes, though the magnitude of
future opponents would determine which side of the scale he'll
lean on in the coming months.
Still,
Taktarov realizes that he's not quite at his best just yet; he
stills needs some time to fine-tune his arsenal.
"I
personally feel that I'm almost there," he said. "Last
fall I felt good but something was missing. But now I finally
got back into fighting shape, and it doesn't really matter who
I am fighting. I just need to keep focus. And speaking of conditioning,
my fighting style and preparation, I think I am much better now
than 10 years ago."
Source: Sherdog
|
A
big one: Alexander Emelianenko's interview
In his interview to a major Russian newspaper the next day after
his latest bout on M-1 Challenge 2 in Saint Petersburg Alexander
tells about the victory, reveals the date of his upcoming fight,
talks about evolution of sport in Russia and so much more in
this huge interview.
We
spoke to Sasha a day after the 'M-1 Challenge' event in St. Petersburg.
Teams from Japan, Korea, Finland and Russia took part in the
event. There were also three main bouts. All three with Russian
participants. And all three ended up with Russian wins. In one
of the fights Aleksander Emelianenko knocked his opponent out
in the first round.
-
'I'm very tired. After the fight I didn't get a chance to rest.
First there was an afterparty, then I sent my friends off to
Moscow, and just now came back from the countryside with my family'
- said the champion as soon as we sat down behind the table in
a comfortable bar. We did not order any alcohol to relax. It's
not fitting for a journalist, and Sasha doesn't drink at all.
What
are your impressions from the event in Petersburg?
-
I did not see all the fights, because when I fight, I try not
to get distracted. I try to get focused and do some prelim exercises.
I liked my fight. I came out and did what I had to do, and won.
We will rewatch the fight with my coach, go through mistakes.
Is
it plausible to compare the show with the likes of shows in Europe
and America?
-
Mixed martial arts is a young sport in Russia. Not one sport
has gained such a popularity in such a short time. We already
are filling the stadiums. On the other hand, we cannot organize
everything as good yet. But we're trying. I think it will start
working soon.
Your
opponent was lower in class, it was noticeable. When will we
be able to see you in a fight with someone who's considered to
be one of the best in the world?
-
I only found out who will be my opponent a week prior to the
fight. Everyone refused to fight with me, he was the one who'd
agreed. He is not weak, he's a good fighter, he had a lot of
fights. It's just that I'm strong and train a lot. Today I am
ready to fight with any top fighter, to prove that I'm the best!
Is
it hard to recover after a loss?
-
No. You just need to understand why you lost. And draw conclusions.
It's not scary to come out for the next fight. I know that I'm
the best. Let my opponents fear me. That's what they do anyway.
What
are you upcoming plans?
-
Today I will talk with a promoter, to try to negotiate a fight
in Canada on May 10. I don't know an opponent yet. To win and
to become the best in the world - those are my upcoming plans.
Where
do you live and train now?
-
In Petersburg. I don't know why they still announce that I'm
from Stary Oskol, for my second fight already. I left that place
a long time ago. Maybe because I don't have a permanent registration
here. But I do have a temporary one. I rent an appartment in
the center of the city. Valentina Matvienko (Saint Petersburg's
governor) promised me to help with a place to live.
How
did you come to the fighting sport?
-
I started with Judo. At 16 years old I got a Master of Sports
in Judo title. In 99 I won the Europian championship in sports
sambo. Three times, in 2003, 2005 and 2006 I won the world championship
in combat sambo. But I don't participate in those every year.
It's more of a hobby for me. I fought so that I could get the
titles of Master of the Sport. Sometimes I come to world championships
to fight and my opponents quit. One of the championships I won
without ever fighting. Didn't come out on the mat even once.
Klitchko
brothers will never come out to the ring against each other,
because their mother won't be able to handle this fight. What
about you?
-
Me and my brother will never fight each other - that's just not
right. There is plenty of good fighters in the world, with whom
we have not fought yet.
But
can you imagine what ratings such a fight can bring?
-
So what?! For money? Two brothers will beat each other senseless?
It will never happen. Nobody even pitches this fight to us. They
know that we will not even consider it.
Do
your parents worry about you?
-
Very much so. My mother wouldn't even let me do boxing in the
beginning. But I liked this sport very very much. So I tried
to trick her: I would hide my things in the post box in the lobby
and would tell her "Mom, I'm going out". And would
then go to the gym. At the same time when my friends would sit
around on the street, drank beer and smoked.
How
do you spend your free time?
-
With my family. I have two daughters. Ksyusha - 8 years and Polina
- just 7 months old. My spouse Olga helps me very much.
But
they say that marriage is detrimental to a professional athlete.
Because he starts to perform worse.
-
It's the other way around for me. Whoever knows me will say that
as soon as I got married, everything started going up. For all
I have, I am thankful to my wife.
Do
you train a lot?
-
At 8 in the morning I take my daughter to school. Then I start
the training. My first session is at 11. Then I rest, and take
a nap right there. And then another session at night. And it's
been like this for many years now. I don't really get stressed
because of this. I will be performing for the next ten years.
Will
your younger brother follow your footsteps?
-
Vanya is in Lesgafta academy studying and majoring in wrestling.
Although he broke his hand right now, unlucky punch. So this
haluted his training regimen. But he is ready to fight and will
follow our footsteps.
Did
you have to protect yourself on the street at times?
-
No. I'm either at the gym or at home most of the time. Don't
go anywhere else for the most part. If someone wants something
from me, I just stand there and listen; try to understand why
he needs this. And then come to conclusion that it's not worth
it to get myself involved. I turn around and walk away. And actually
I like to go to a theater, and you really can't fight the kind
of people that go to a theater (laughs).
Are
you a fan of 'Zenit' (popular footbal footbaal team from Saint
Petersburg)?
-
Yes. I'm not a bad player myself. I love team sports. I even
went to commentate one Zenit game on TV. I'm also being treated
by the doctors of Zenit. Before my last fight, I had a temperature
of 37.2 degrees for two weeks. At first I treated myself. Then
I went to them. There was a suspicion that I had a pneumonia.
They quickly brought me to my feet again, gave me IVs, vitamin
shots.
Do
you know any players?
-
Whenever I come to their center, we always talk to Riksen. He
also has many tattoos. I also know Radimov and Krizhanats.
It's
been a while since strongest fighters faced each other. Maybe,
it's time to organize some unified tournament, where all the
fighters in the world would compete, no matter which organization
they're from?
-
I would gladly participate in such a tournament. UFC (american
mixed martial arts), for example, won't take me, because if they
let me in there, I would beat everybody and take the belt to
Russia. They don't want that. They want their own American champions.
We alreayd beat everyone in Japan, even though no one bet on
us.
What
makes Russian fighters be the best in the world?
-
Our will! And the huge amount of work we perform in training.
Who
do you think is the best fighter in the world?
-
I'm prepared to fight with the best, to prove that I am the best.
Do
we have upcoming fighters, who will replace those who currently
glorify Russia?
-
Yes, but we have a difficult situation with sports today. Dmitriy
Medvedev said that only 20% of young people participate in some
sports. My coaches tell me that it's more like 2%. This will
not lead to anything good. Before, everything was free, and now
all they gyms are becoming paid. And now all the of them are
getting empty.
And
it's easier to just drink with your friends than to work out
hard during training?
-
But I like to work hard. What am I going to prove to anybody,
by drinking more vodka?
So
what to do?
-
In our country sport athletes are not rewarded at all. I have
a friend who's a Combat Sambo world champion. But he has to survive
and feed his family, so he works as a bouncer at a bar. Another
friend who's an olympic champion. He tells me: "I'm about
to go to the new Olympic games, but they still have not given
50,000 G for the previous Championship I tooka part in."
And he's an olympic champion - this is the highest status you
can achieve in any sport.
translated
by stripthesoul
Source: MFC M-1
|
Quote
of the Day
"Let
everything you do be done as if it makes a difference."
William James, 1842-1910, American Philosopher and Psychologist
|
MAN-UP
& STAND-UP TODAY!
WHAT : MAN-UP & STAND-UP (KICKBOXING)
WHEN: APR. 12, 2008 (SATURDAY)
DOORS OPEN @ 6PM
WHERE WAIPAHU FILCOM CENTER
MAN-UP
& STAND-UP IS BACK WITH PART 2 OF 2008. IF YOU THOUGHT THE
FIRST SHOW HAD SOME BANGAZ. YOU GOTTA CHECK OUT THIS ONE. WITH
THE MAIN EVENT FEATURING BEN "THE KING" SANTIAGO GOING
UP AGAINST THE BAD BOY WITH THE COLORED MOHAWK HAIR WHO GAVE
KONA KE A RUN FOR HIS MONEY AT THE 2007 MAN-UP & STAND-UP.
HE GOES BY THE NAME OF HOKU CUBAN OF NAKOA FIGHT CLUB. DAS RIGHT,
THIS GUY HAD ONLY 2 KICKBOXING FIGHTS BEFORE HE FOUGHT KONA.
BUT LASTED ALL 3 ROUNDS AND DIDNT MAKE IT EASY FOR HIM TO PULL
OUT THE WIN. BEN ALWAYS BRINGS HIS DANGEROUS HIGH KICKS TO THE
GAME BUT HOKU'S FISTS WILL BE LOOKING TO GREET BEN WITH A
HAKU
LEI OF STARS AROUND HIS HEAD.
BE
SURE TO ALSO CHECK OUT EXCITING FIGHTERS LIKE DIDO BOY RODRIGUES,
IKAIKA MORENO, MIKE BALASI, JARID IHA & JUST CHECK OUT THE
LINE UP BECAUSE THERES TOO MUCH BANGAZ TO MENTION.
GRAB
YOUR TICKETS NOW FROM ALL PARTICIPATING CLUBS.
KILEY
RAMIRO
95
JONAH SLAUSON
DIDO BOY
105
TBA
JENNALYN GANABAN
135
NANI
KAINOA THOMAS
175
LAWRENCE HINOJOSA
DANIEL MADAYAG
135
KELII KAMOLU
MIKE UEMOTO
145
MAX HALLOWAY
BRANDON NALEEHA
220
WAYNE PURVEY
JONAH KUTZEN
110
SHELDON CRAWFORD
API
135
GEORGE SCHIMIDT
ELLISON BADUA
40
TAZ KAHALEWAI
ZION LISTA
55
SPIKE KAHALEWAI
KOLOA KAHALEWAI
230
CHRIS BARNARD
JARID MATSUDA
145
MIKE BALASI
GINO TEVES
160
MATAGI TOILOLO
JON MENDONSA
150
VINCE LONGBOY
HOKU CUBAN
180
BEN SANTIAGO
EDWIN NAVARRO
155
KAIKA MORENO
ANNA SCHIMITD
165
CHANTELL
KOBY VISANTE
110
KALAI MCSHANE
RICHARD BARNARD
140
JARID IHA
DESMOND
170
KAINOA
Source: Event promoter
|
Kron
Speaks
Kron
presses the triangle during the last Pan. Photo by Alicia Anthony
"Jiu-Jitsu was always about the submission, the detail of
seeking out the easiest route to the submission is what my dad
taught me"
Kron
Gracie is one of those fighters who was born with everyone around
him expecting a brilliant future of him. Bearing the enormous
responsibility of being son of Rickson Gracie, the brown belt,
of just 19 years of age, moves steadily forward in his long and
gradual journey to the top.
The 2008 Pan-American was one more successful step in his career
as a fighter, as the prodigy submitted his opponent in every
single fight he participated in, snatching up the top medals
at weight and absolute. Kron's next stop is this year's World
Championship, in California, at the beginning of June.
For the biggest competition of all, the young man will still
be sporting his old brown belt, and despite his results and the
current pushing for his promotion, he is more motivated than
ever to take on yet another challenge.
GRACIEMAG.com: What's your training routine like?
Kron: I train pretty much the whole day. I don't divide my day
into sections or time allotments, I just train the whole day
and push myself in training.
GRACIEMAG.com: Was getting the submission in every one of your
fights the result of this daily effort?
Kron: I think it's the result of the technique my father's been
teaching me since I was a kid. There's a difference between the
Jiu-Jitsu you see going around and the way it should be done.
Jiu-Jitsu was always about the submission, the detail of seeking
out the easiest route to the submission is what my dad taught
me.
GRACIEMAG.com: Are you against fighters stalling the entire fight
and winning by an advantage point?
Kron: I'm not against any type of Jiu-Jitsu. These days there
are a lot of people involved in the realm of Jiu-Jitsu to make
money, to get sponsorship. All of them have their way of teaching,
each does things their own way. But what my father teaches is
the most efficient, it comes from Helio Gracie and was adjusted
a bit by him. Both he and I are proof of this.
GRACIEMAG.com: What did you think of the organization of the
Pan-American, which was the biggest of all times and is already
being considered the second biggest Jiu-Jitsu competition?
Kron: I found the Pan to be really good. There were more than
two thousand people competing, which means its finally getting
the recognition it deserves. Jiu-Jitsu is a sport that is growing
by leaps and bounds.
GRACIEMAG.com: Tell us a bit about your quick conquest in the
absolute.
Kron: The guy I fought in the absolute final (Alliance's Christopher
Muriarty), I already knew. He's a really tough and calm competitor,
very big and technical. He had already beaten a lot of tough
guys. I was very focused and God granted me a quick fight. But
he's really good, I'm sure we'll meet again down the road.
GRACIEMAG.com: What about the Worlds? Do you have great expectations?
Kron: I have no expectations for the Worlds. I just train every
day and believe in my technique. I don't worry about winning
or losing, I just worry about doing what I know how to do, proving
my technique.
GRACIEMAG.com: About your belt, of course your father is the
one who knows best about when to give you your black, but, judging
from your results, don't you think you deserve it?
Kron: I'm still 19 years old and the black belts are a lot older,
stronger and more experienced. I want to go in there and be competitive,
I want to be the best in the world. My level is brown belt, I
think one should move up in belt color for what they learn and
not for having won one championship or another. I think I still
have a lot to learn. These days belts are handed out really quickly.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Liddell
to coach when it's time to retire from UFC
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell will focus
on coaching when it comes time to retire from competitive fighting,
which he says could happen in two to four years.
"I
definitely will be moving into coaching," Liddell said in
an interview with The Sun. "I've got a couple of guys that
have been training with me for a long time and they've helped
me get to where I'm at today."
Well
known for his love to fight, Liddell, 38, plans to keep competing
as long as his body holds up.
Acting
is another possibility for Liddell in the future. Liddell told
the UK publication that he has received offers but has been too
busy to follow through.
"But
If I can get something to fit in with my fight schedule, I might
do it now but for we'll see what happens."
Liddell
will see action next on June 7 against The Ultimate Fighter 2
winner Rashad Evans at UFC 85 in London.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
ST.
PIERRE FOCUSED ON SERRA, OPEN TO SILVA
by Ken Pishna
Make no mistake about it Georges St. Pierre is currently focused
on reclaiming the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight
title he lost at the hands of Matt Serra. He will get his chance,
in front of his hometown crowd in Montreal, on April 19 when
the two meet in the main event of UFC 83.
“I
do a lot of imagery. I have seen these things before and when
I walk into the Octagon on April 19 it seems to me it won’t
be the first time that it has happened because I have been through
the scenario before,” said St. Pierre on Thursday’s
pre-fight conference call.
He
added, “I know how to fight him. I’m going to fight
him in a way that nobody has fought him before. I’m going
to do some stuff that nobody has seen before.”
Despite
the task at hand, St. Pierre’s future has continually garnered
more attention. In particular, he has been adding name after
name to his list of accomplishments in the welterweight division.
If he is able to defeat Serra, the field fighters for him in
the UFC’s 170-pound class narrows severely.
There
are possible welterweight fights on the horizon in Jon Fitch
and Thiago Alves, but a true blockbuster event has recently been
gathering steam in the form of a challenge to Anderson Silva’s
middleweight championship.
Silva
has dominated the 185-pound division since his arrival in the
UFC. In six bouts, he has yet to venture outside of the second
round, finishing every one of his opponents; a list that includes
Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin and Nate Marquardt. He seems unstoppable.
A
showdown between two of the UFC’s most popular stars, St.
Pierre and Silva, would seem to be a monumental event. But to
make a fight happen, the first order of business is for both
to agree to fight each other. St. Pierre, at least, has given
it thought and is open to the challenge.
“I’ve
been thinking about it. It’s going to depend on the scenario.
I have a lot of training partners at 185 and my weight class
is 170. I would never get into the way of one of my training
partners,” he stated. “I would never fight somebody
I train with. But if one day, I have the opportunity, the way
is clear, and I did everything I had to do in my division, of
course I will (fight Silva).”
Of
course any such talk is still premature, as St. Pierre must first
get beyond Serra on April 19.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Randy
Couture signs exclusive deal with Everlast
UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture has inked a long term deal with
Everlast, the sporting goods manufacturer announced Wednesday.
Under
the partnership, Couture will exclusively sport Everlast fight
shorts, gloves, training equipment and training apparel. Everlast
will also be the exclusive equipment and apparel sponsor of Couture's
Xtreme Couture Gyms across America.
In
addition, Couture will collaborate with Everlast on a new line
of MMA equipment, which is scheduled to hit stores in September.
"Our
goal is to become the number one performance equipment and apparel
brand within the Mixed Martial Arts space, and Randy Couture
is the perfect partner for this mission. He is a living legend
within the sport, and his dedication to fitness and the overall
fighting community aligns perfectly with our brand ethos,"
Everlast CEO Neil Morton said in a statement. "Together
with Randy, we will be able to bring this tremendous sport to
new levels with authenticity and dedication to making the best
product the sport has to offer."
"Xtreme
Couture Gyms have quickly become the Mecca for training fighters,"
Couture said. "By entering into a partnership with Everlast,
we join a proud heritage of fighting champions, and further surround
our members with product to elevate their training and competition
experience."
Source: MMA Fighting
|
HDNet
v. Zuffa Remanded to State Court
by Adam Swift
The
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has granted
HDNet's emergency motion to remand its lawsuit against Zuffa
to Texas State Court.
Zuffa
had removed the declaratory judgment action concerning Randy
Couture (Pictures)'s promotional contract to Federal Court last
month. Wednesday's ruling represents a procedural victory for
HDNet and Couture.
The
issue at the center of the ruling was whether or not HDNet's
use of a Nevada corporation as party to the suit was done solely
to maneuver around Federal Court jurisdiction by destroying diversity
of citizenship, which exists when parties in a lawsuit are from
different states.
HDNet
entered into contract with Couture through a Nevada LLC owned
by a Nevada corporation established shortly before the lawsuit
was filed. In support of the case's removal to federal court
Zuffa alleged that the action represented a collusive manipulation
of the court's jurisdiction and asked the court to look beyond
the company's legal citizenship in Nevada.
In
his order granting the motion to remand, Senior Judge A. Joe
Fish wrote that the "timing and circumstances surrounding
the formation of the HDNet Nevada entities presents circumstantial
evidence of collusive manipulation, but without more the defendant
has not discharged this heavy burden."
Judge
Fish went on to state that the court found that "though
the circumstantial evidence suggests the plaintiff might have
been motivated in part by the underlying lawsuit … the court
also finds the plaintiff ‘was also influenced by other factors
unrelated to jurisdiction.'"
The
action now returns to District Court in Dallas.
Adam
Swift is the Editor of MMAPayout.com and a regular contributor
to Sherdog.com.
Source: Sherdog
|
Cacareco
comments on IFL title
Brazilian to face current champion, Vladimir Matyushenko
The
devastating debut of Alexandre “Cacareco” Ferreira
in the United States has already bore fruit. The luta livre athlete,
who submitted American Top Team representative Lew Polly in just
20 seconds of fighting with a vise-like guillotine, already has
a new and tough mission ahead of him.
His
next commitment in the IFL will not be to defend his team, World
Class Fight Center, captained by Ze Mario Sperry, but to dispute
the 93kg belt, now belonging to Vladimir Matyushendo. The Russian
is coming off eight wins in a row, the most recent of which took
place on the fourth against Renzo Gracie student Jamal Patterson
by judges’ decision. Matyushenko also holds wins over Brazilians
Rogerio Minotouro, Pedro Rizzo and Carlao Barreto.
The
bout is to take place on May 16, in Connecticut, although it
has not yet been officially confirmed. What is for sure is that
Cacareco is already training hard and does not intend to let
what could be the greatest fight of his career pass him by.
“I’m
going to fight the Russian for the belt. I was already going
to fight in the WEF for the title there but the event ended.
He’s also fought Pedro Rizzo at a time when he was on the
Ruas team and I was there, so I know him. To me all adversaries
are tough and I’m going with the same mindset of carrying
out my ground game. There days Brazilians are wanting to strike
a lot, but what we’re actually good at is ground fighting.
I’ve been around, both in gyms and submission grappling,
I’ve been in several ADCC finals, so the ground is nothing
new to me,” said the beast to GRACIEMAG.com.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Quote
of the Day
"It
is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."
Herman Melville, 1819-1891, American Novelist/Poet/Short Story
Writer
|
RIP
Lars Chase
O2MAA student
Lars Chase passed away earlier this week. He was a great friend
who always put people in a good mood and was a fierce competitor
on the mats. When you rolled with Lars, you better bite down,
prepare for a battle, and hope for the best. He represented our
school many times in competition and we were honored that he
came to our school and that we had a chance to meet him.
His funeral services are this Friday (4/11/08) from 10:30 am to 2:00 PM
at the Moanalua Community Church and burial will be held at Punchbowl cemetary at
3:00 pm.
We
are asking that the guys from O2 that attend wear their green
O2MAA t-shirt in honor of the training that Lars did at the school
Moanalua Community Church
4867 Bougainville Drive, Honolulu Hawaii 96818
The church is located on the street that is between the NEX and
the Golf Course right near Moanalua Shopping Center (more Makai).
|
MAN-UP
& STAND-UP
Tomorrow
WHAT : MAN-UP & STAND-UP (KICKBOXING)
WHEN: APR. 12, 2008 (SATURDAY)
DOORS OPEN @ 6PM
WHERE WAIPAHU FILCOM CENTER
MAN-UP
& STAND-UP IS BACK WITH PART 2 OF 2008. IF YOU THOUGHT THE
FIRST SHOW HAD SOME BANGAZ. YOU GOTTA CHECK OUT THIS ONE. WITH
THE MAIN EVENT FEATURING BEN "THE KING" SANTIAGO GOING
UP AGAINST THE BAD BOY WITH THE COLORED MOHAWK HAIR WHO GAVE
KONA KE A RUN FOR HIS MONEY AT THE 2007 MAN-UP & STAND-UP.
HE GOES BY THE NAME OF HOKU CUBAN OF NAKOA FIGHT CLUB. DAS RIGHT,
THIS GUY HAD ONLY 2 KICKBOXING FIGHTS BEFORE HE FOUGHT KONA.
BUT LASTED ALL 3 ROUNDS AND DIDNT MAKE IT EASY FOR HIM TO PULL
OUT THE WIN. BEN ALWAYS BRINGS HIS DANGEROUS HIGH KICKS TO THE
GAME BUT HOKU'S FISTS WILL BE LOOKING TO GREET BEN WITH A
HAKU
LEI OF STARS AROUND HIS HEAD.
BE
SURE TO ALSO CHECK OUT EXCITING FIGHTERS LIKE DIDO BOY RODRIGUES,
IKAIKA MORENO, MIKE BALASI, JARID IHA & JUST CHECK OUT THE
LINE UP BECAUSE THERES TOO MUCH BANGAZ TO MENTION.
GRAB
YOUR TICKETS NOW FROM ALL PARTICIPATING CLUBS.
KILEY
RAMIRO
95
JONAH SLAUSON
DIDO BOY
105
TBA
JENNALYN GANABAN
135
NANI
KAINOA THOMAS
175
LAWRENCE HINOJOSA
DANIEL MADAYAG
135
KELII KAMOLU
MIKE UEMOTO
145
MAX HALLOWAY
BRANDON NALEEHA
220
WAYNE PURVEY
JONAH KUTZEN
110
SHELDON CRAWFORD
API
135
GEORGE SCHIMIDT
ELLISON BADUA
40
TAZ KAHALEWAI
ZION LISTA
55
SPIKE KAHALEWAI
KOLOA KAHALEWAI
230
CHRIS BARNARD
JARID MATSUDA
145
MIKE BALASI
GINO TEVES
160
MATAGI TOILOLO
JON MENDONSA
150
VINCE LONGBOY
HOKU CUBAN
180
BEN SANTIAGO
EDWIN NAVARRO
155
KAIKA MORENO
ANNA SCHIMITD
165
CHANTELL
KOBY VISANTE
110
KALAI MCSHANE
RICHARD BARNARD
140
JARID IHA
DESMOND
170
KAINOA
Source: Event promoter
|
Report:
Tim Sylvia vs. Fedor Emelianenko will happen
The final PRIDE heavyweight champion, Fedor Emelianenko, confirmed
to Sherdog.com that he will take on former UFC heavyweight champion
Tim Sylvia.
"[Sylvia]
is a good fighter, a strong fighter, the former UFC heavyweight
champion, which is important," Emelianenko told Sherdog.com.
"I am looking forward to fighting him and training hard
for this fight."
The
report also states that the fight is tentatively scheduled to
take place at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas and is rumored
to air on HDNet.
Tim
Sylvia announced last week that he left the UFC to sign with
his manager's Adrenaline MMA promotion in order to fight more
frequently. Sylvia has stated on numerous occasions his interest
in fighting Emelianenko and his belief that he knows how to offset
the highly-ranked Russian.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Tibau
confirmed at UFC 86
Adversary will be Joe Stevenson
One more tough stop off for Gleison Tibau. Looking to come back
from the decision loss he suffered at the hands of Tyson Griffin
at UFC 81, in February, the Brazilian fighter will have an encounter
with Joe Stevenson ahead of him at UFC 86, set for July 5, in
Las Vegas.
As
with Tibau, Stevenson is also trying to get back on the winning
track, as he was dominated and beaten by BJ Penn at UFC 80, in
January, thus losing his shot at the interim lightweight belt.
Here
is the provisory card:
Quinton
Jackson vs Forrest Griffin – light heavyweight belt
Josh Koscheck vs Chris Lytle*
Ricardo Almeida vs Patrick Cote*
Justin McCully vs Frank Mir
Joe Stevenson vs Gleison Tibau
Justin Bucholz vs Corey Hill*
Melvin Guillard vs Dennis Siver
Cole Miller vs a definir*
Jared Rollins vs Ben Saunders*
Steve Bruno vs a definir*
Marcus Aurélio vs Tyson Griffin*
*
yet to be made official
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Fedor
Carries Olympic Torch in St. Petersburg
by Evgeni Kogan
In a traditional lead-up to the Beijing Olympics, the Olympic
torch touched down in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Saturday before
heading off to England and France, continuing its world tour.
The
torch was taken along a 12-mile route through the wide streets
and boulevards of the historical river city by a relay of 80
Russian sporting champions, cultural icons and national heroes.
After
starting at the Soviet World War II memorial, it passed Petropavlovsk
Fortress and St. Isaac's Cathedral before finally arriving at
the Palace Square in front of the State Hermitage Museum -- the
setting for the beginning of the 1918 Communist Revolution.
The
first carrier of the torch was Galina Zybina, 77, an Olympic
shot put gold medalist at the 1952 Games, the first year that
the Soviet Union took part in the competition. Zybina was a survivor
of the 900-day German blockade of the city during World War II,
during which approximately 2 million of the residents died from
a lack of food and the harsh Russian winters.
The
ceremony to light the torch was conducted by city governor Valentina
Matvienko, flanked by soldiers in period uniforms and serenaded
by a military orchestra. Zybina's starting of the relay was said
to be "deeply symbolic."
Former
Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) also
carried the torch, and for the sport of mixed martial arts in
Russia, it is perhaps also deeply symbolic that he was asked
to participate.
The
public profile of MMA has been rising steadily throughout the
last 10 years, particularly in St. Petersburg due to the city
being a base for the Red Devil Club and a continuing host of
the M-1 Mixfight events.
Nationalism
is a very important part of the Russian culture and psyche. Though
its uptake of popular culture is on par with any Western country,
Russia still holds in very high regard its national victories.
The whole country, young and old, celebrates a variety of war
and peacetime achievements.
Under
a bright blue spring sky, Fedor, wearing an official Beijing
Olympics training shirt and sporting the number 42, carried the
torch alongside such national heroes as Zybina, Olympic figure
skater Evgeni Plushenko, St. Petersburg soccer star Andrei Arshavin
and the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova.
"The
Olympics is the pinnacle of sporting achievement, and the torch
is the game's symbol," said Emelianenko, who on Tuesday
told Sherdog.com he'll fight Tim Sylvia (Pictures) this July.
"It's therefore a treasure. I was very honored to be asked
to participate and carry the torch for my part of its journey
with such accomplished company, including a great number of world-class
athletes, whom I hold in very high regard."
The
carriers in each country were chosen by each nation's Olympic
Committee representatives along with local authorities. The 31-year-old
Emelianko's participation is perhaps the strongest sign yet of
the sporting establishment's acceptance of MMA.
This
is particularly interesting in Russia, where MMA does not have
the broad audience it enjoys in the United States or Japan. That's
not to say it is unknown. There is "Boets," a television
channel dedicated to the fighting arts and, famously, Russian
President Vladimir Putin is a big fan. However there aren't significant
gate numbers, events are few and far between and pay-per-view
does not exist.
This
isn't only the case with MMA. All Russian professional sports
have a long way to go before they are commercialized to the level
that the United States enjoys.
Hence
MMA in Russia has not forced itself on mainstream sporting consciousness
purely through its economic might and the media presence that
follows it. It has quietly done its own thing, appealing to the
country's grass roots combat sports fans, slowly gaining acceptance
and a following.
Source: Sherdog
|
ULTIMATE
FIGHTER WANTS THE ULTIMATE KO
by Al Yu
For the first time since winning the sixth season of the Ultimate
Fighter, Mac Danzig returns to the Octagon at UFC 83 in Montreal.
He defeated Tommy Speer via submission in the season six finale
to finish off what many considered a dominating performance throughout
the show. The 28-year old fighter will now move down to the lightweight
division to face Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Mark Bocek.
“It’s
awesome. I think it’s a great opportunity for all of us
fighters on the card,” said an elated Danzig. “Being
up there in front of that sold out crowd, it’s going to
be pretty cool. I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited
to finally be able to showcase my skills to a lot of people.”
A
veteran of Gladiator Challenge, King of the Cage and Pride Fighting
Championships, Danzig has a lot of experience under his belt.
In preparation for the first fight under his new UFC contract,
Danzig moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to join Xtreme Couture
and train full time.
“I’m
excited. I’ve been training really hard. I made the move
to Las Vegas finally to be part of Team Couture full time. The
training is incredible,” he revealed. “I miss California,
but I have to do this for my career.”
Joining
Xtreme Couture has allowed Danzig the opportunity to train with
many great fighters such as Tyson Griffin, Gray Maynard, Sam
Stout, Chris Horodecki, Jay Hieron, John Alessio and Martin Kampmann.
“When
you train with the best you’re ready to fight the best.
It makes it so there are no surprises. A lot of times the fight
is much easier than the training. It all depends on how you prepare.”
“I
do have a lot of confidence,” added the former Gladiator
Challenge champion. “I know how good my training partners
are, especially Gray Maynard. The guy is phenomenal. He’s
an incredible wrestler, he hits like a freight train, and he’s
one of the strongest guys at 155.”
Danzig
is looking to get his second Octagon victory against Bocek, who
is a decorated grappler that holds a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black
belt under Joao Roque and a black belt in Kempo Karate. The Nova
Uniao fighter is coming off of a win over Doug Evans at UFC 79.
“I
have to be really careful because he’s one fight away from
being dropped, if only temporarily, from the UFC. He’s completely
motivated to win this fight. It’s a good fight for him and
a good opportunity; I’m not going to let him take my momentum
away,” commented Danzig. “This is the most momentum
I’ve had in my career.
“A
lot of people don’t understand how much of a tough fight
this is stylistically and how easy it is for this guy to slow
the fight down. He’s really motivated to take the fight
to the ground. A lot of people expect me to walk through this
guy but it’s not like that; he’s really, really tough.
“I’m
always looking for that damn knockout that has eluded me. I’ve
gotten plenty of TKO wins, but I’ve never gotten that clean
KO win. I feel like it’s my duty to make this fight exciting
for the fans. No offense to Mark, but he slows the pace down,”
said Danzig.
UFC
83 marks the first time that the organization has held an event
in Canada. Danzig’s opponent lives in Canada and has been
a resident since birth. Fighting Bocek on his home turf doesn’t
seem to add any pressure on Danzig, though.
“Him
being Canadian…the home country advantage, I’m not
worried about that. If I get booed, I get booed; I don’t
care,” he explained.
“No
matter what happens with my career, I can say I did my best and
I tried my best. I worked at 100%, that’s the way I want
to look back…with no regrets.”
At
UFC 83, Mac Danzig will add his name to the large list of talented
fighters in the UFC’s bolstering lightweight division. His
next test will arguably be one of the most important fights of
his professional career.
“I’m
motivated to keep things standing, but I’m ready to fight
anywhere it goes. I’m looking to end this fight in the first
round that’s for sure.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Cause,
Manner of Vasquez Death Confirmed
by Jaime Martinez
Mixed
martial artist Sam Vasquez died due to "complications of
blunt trauma to the head with subdural hemorrhage," the
Harris County Medical Examiner's Office has concluded.
The
official manner of death is classified as accidental, reported
the Houston Chronicle.
Vasquez
died at age 35 on Nov. 30, 2007. He had participated in his third
sanctioned mixed martial arts fight on Oct. 20. Vince Libardi
stopped him late in the third round of their bout at the Toyota
Center in Houston. Vasquez collapsed and was rushed to St. Joseph
Medical Center in downtown Houston, where he remained before
being discharged to a hospice.
In
late March, Stephen Bruno of the Texas Department of Licensing
and Regulation confirmed in an e-mail to Sherdog.com that a detailed
report compiled by his agency will be released. However, he added
that the report cannot be finished until a detailed autopsy is
filed.
Though
the cause and the manner of death have been filed, it is still
too early to tell whether the injuries occurred all at once or
whether an accumulation of blows over time led to his death.
The expectation is that once the autopsy is revealed, these circumstances
can be fully explained in relation to Vasquez's death.
Source: Sherdog
|
Ricardo
Arona
By Eduardo Ferreira
“This time away
was very important to me… I really wanna fight and come
back ready to the ring”
Away from fights since his loss at Pride 34 at 2007, when was
knocked out by Thierry Sokoudjou, the athlete from Brazilian
Top Team, Ricardo Arona, told in exclusive interview to TATAME
about his life, the time away from rings and his training to
come back to the MMA, commented Rodrigo Minotauro’s and
Wanderlei Silva’s fight at UFC. Check below the complete
interview with Ricardo Arona.
You’re
away from fights… What have you been doing? Are you training,
have any contract?
I
have some options to fight, but this time away was very important
to me, getting some things right on my life too, but the important
is that I really wanna fight and come back ready to the ring.
What’s
your focus? USA, Japan?
I
was invited from events of both countries, but I’ll fight
where comes the better proposal. I’ll think what’s
the best to me. Actually, I don’t have anything in mind
for now, some Japanese come, but there’s nothing right yet.
How
is Paulão? You’re close friends...
Paulão
had this moment that everybody knew, went to the internet too…
Everybody can pass from what he’s passing, it’s natural,
but now he’s coming back, getting ready to come back and
everybody knows how he is, he’ll come back to do his job.
There’s no mistake, on the right time he’ll get into
there and do his job.
Did
you see Minotauro’s fight at UFC?
Rodrigo
always fights this way. Always pass trough problems, but he always
faces the difficulties and reverts it… I wasn’t worried
about it, I knew it was a matter of time, I saw where Tim Sylvia
could go and saw it was just a matter of time Minotauro pass
over him. He got a lot of fighters on this kind of combat. I
knew it was just a matter of time, he got everything ready, I
was pretty sure of it.
And
the athletes going to United States… Do you think about
going too?
I’ll
try to do everything I have to do always here. Niteroi , Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil, I like to fight here, that’s other energy,
it’s our home. I won’t say that I’ll never move
there, but I’ll stay here the most I can.
You’re
fans keep saying that you’ve disappeared, that don’t
fight anymore… Do you think you can lose the competition
timing?
Undoubtedly,
if you compete all the time you’ll get always better at
the ring, but I’m not worried with this kind of challenge.
Although I don’t get into the rings, I’ve faced challenges
all day in my life, in everything I do. Being well prepared,
the mind will be ready too and I’m not worried about that,
I’m worried of being 100%.
What
kind of training are you doing now?
I
keep doing my physical training, training that I like, but I’m
mixing a lot with the mental part, to come back strongly to everything
go right. I’m pretty optimist and this time will be important
to me too, because since I’m 14 years old I’m competing.
Wanderlei
faced Liddell and now will face Keith Jardine… What do you
think about this fight?
Chuck
Liddell and Wanderlei I knew pretty well, I knew every movement
of each one and it was easy to describe how the fight would be,
I almost predicted it. On his next fight, I don’t know his
next opponent well, I only saw one quick fight and it’s
hard to say. I keep saying, until Wanderlei keeps his predictable
game, it’s easier to beat him. It’s a good fight for
Wanderlei, standing up, but I think the better way for him is
to keep change the game. Until he shows the same thing, he’s
predictable and easier.
You
continue at Brazilian Top Team just waiting to close come contract,
right?
I
continue the same way.
Source: Tatame
|
James
Thompson to face Kimbo Slice at EliteXC on CBS event
James Thompson, who was long rumored as Kimbo Slice's opponent,
will indeed take on the former street brawler at EliteXC-CBS's
"Saturday Night Fights" on May 31, according to Mike
Chiappetta of NBCSports.com.
Thompson
(14-8) has lost six of his last eight fights, with his two most
recent losses via first-round knockouts. The two wins were against
Don Frye and Hidehiko Yoshida in PRIDE events.
Slice,
under the tutelage of Bas Rutten, won his two professional mixed
martial arts fights, scoring first-round knockouts over Bo Cantrell
and Tank Abbott.
Slice
and Thompson will headline the event, which takes place at the
Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
CURRENT
CARD:
Kimbo
Slice vs. James Thompson
Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith
Phil Baroni vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua
Gina Carono vs. Kaitlin Young
Brett Rogers vs. John Murphy
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Local
Pride
Friday,
April 18, 2008
Dole Cannery Ballroom
Fights start at 7:30 pm
|
|