Upcoming
Events
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(All events on Oahu, unless noted)
2009
1/31/09
UFC 93
(PPV, Las Vegas, NV)
2008
12/27/08
UFC 92
(PPV, Las Vegas, NV)
12/13/08
The Ultimate Fighter 8 Final
(PPV, Las Vegas, NV)
11/21/08
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
11/15/08
UFC 91
(PPV, Portland, OR)
11/8/08
Aloha
State Championship of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
(BJJ/Sub Grapping)
(Gym #1, UH Manoa)
10/25/08
UFC 90
(PPV, Chicago, IL)
10/18/08
Destiny
(MMA)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
10/18/08
UFC 89
(PPV, Birmingham, England)
10/12/08
HFL Championships
(MMA)
(Waipahu Filcom)
10/11/08
NAGA
(BJJ & Sub Wrestling)
(Blaisdell)
10/10/08
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
10/4/08
The Quest
for Champions Martial Arts Tournament
(Sport-Pankration, Submission Grappling and Continuous Sparring)
(Kalani High School Gym)
9/27/08
X-1 Presents Temple of Boom
(Palolo Hongwanji, Honolulu)
(MMA & Boxing)
9/20/08
Boxing
(Palolo District Park)
(Boxing)
9/17/08
UFC Fight Night 15
(PPV, Omaha, NE)
9/7/08
2008 Samahan Filipino
Martial Arts Tournament
(Forms, Fighting, Masters Demonstrations)
(Pearl City High School Gym)
9/6/08
UFC 88:
Break Through
(MMA)
(PPV)
9/5/08
Got Skillz Fighter
(Kickboxing & MMA)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
8/23/08 & 8/24/08
Hawaii Training Ctr Boxing
(Boxing)
(Waipio
Industrial Court)
8/15/08
MMA At The O
(MMA)
(O Lounge Night Club)
8/14/08
Paragon Fighter
(Kickboxing)
(O Lounge)
8/9/08
K-1 Hawaii Grand Prix
(Kickboxing & MMA)
(Stan Sheriff Center, UH at Manoa)
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Kalaheo High School)
UFC 87
(MMA)
(PPV)
7/26/08
Maui Jiu-Jitsu BJJ Tournament
(BJJ)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
7/19/08
Kawano B.C., Palolo B.C., & USA-Boxing Hawai Amateur Boxing
Show
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
Affliction - Fedor vs. Sylvia
(PPV)
7/12/08
Aloha State
Mixed Martial Arts Competition
10AM - 7PM
(Kickboxing & MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
7/11/08
Hawaii Fighting Championships 10
(MMA)
(Dole Cannery Ballrooms)
7/5/08
UFC 86 - Jackson vs. Griffin
(PPV)
6/27-29/08
OTM Pacific Submission
Grappling Tournament
(BJJ/Sub Grappling)
(Blaisdell Exhibition Hall)
MMA Expo
(Blaisdell Convention Center)
6/21/08
Hawaii
Xtreme Combat
(MMA)
(Lahaina Civic Center, Lahaina, Maui)
Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale
6/20/08
Paragon
(MMA Hybred)
(O Lounge)
6/15/08
Grapplefest
(Submission Grappling)
Anderson Silva Seminar
Studio 4, UH at Manoa
1-4PM
$100
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua Seminar
Tropic Lightning TKD
Waipahu
5-7PM
$60
6/14/08
EliteXC
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, HI)
6/7/08
UFC 85 - Bedlam
(PPV)
6/6/08
Punishment in Paradise
Pound 4 Pound
(Kickboxing)
(Ahuna Ranch, Maili)
6/5-8/08
World Jiu-Jitsu Championsihps
(BJJ)
(California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California)
6/1/08
Hawaiian
Open of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
(BJJ/Sub Grapping)
(Gym #1, UH Manoa)
WEC 33
(Faber vs. Pulver)
(PPV)
5/31/08
CBS EliteXC
Saturday Night Fights
(9-11 p.m. ET/PT)
(CBS)
5/25/08
Man Up Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
5/24/08
UFC 84 - Ill Will
BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk
(PPV)
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
Hawaii
Fight League
Season 1, Event 3
(MMA)
(Filcom Center, Waipahu)
Full Force 4
(MMA)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
Heart-of-a-Cage-Fighter
(Kauai
Veterans Center, Lihue, Kauai)
4/25/08
Punishment
in Paradise
(Kickboxing)
(Farrington High School)
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)
|
|
August 2008 News
Part 3
|
Casca Grossa Jiu-Jitsu
is now the O2 Martial Arts Academy with 6 days a week training!
We are also offering Escrima (stick fighting) on Monday nights
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 |
Looking for a hotel
room on Oahu?
Check out this reasonably priced, quality hotel in Waikiki!
For the special Onzuka.com price, click on one of these banners
above! |
Check out the FCTV website! |
Fighters' Club TV
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Teleivision
Tuesdays at 8:00PM
***NEW TIME***
Olelo Channel 52 on Oahu
Also on Akaku on Maui
Fighters' Club TV Radio
The Toughest Show On
Radio
Mondays at 9:00-10:00AM
AM1500 The Team
(808) 296-1500
- Call
in with questions and comments
with hosts Mark Kurano
& Patrick Freitas |
Onzuka.com
Hawaii Underground Forum is Online!
Chris, Mark,
and I wanted to start an official Onzuka.com forum for a while
now. We were searching for the best forum to go with and hit
a gold mine! We have known Kirik, who heads the largest and most
popular forum on the net, The Underground for years.
He
offered us our own forum within the matrix know as MMA.tv. The
three of us will be the moderators with of course FCTV808 being
the lead since he is on there all day anyway!
We
encourage everyone from Hawaii and our many readers around world
to contribute to the Hawaii Underground.
If you
do not have a login, it's simple and fast to get one.
Click here to set up an account.
Don't worry about using Pidgin English in the posting. After
all it is the Hawaii Underground and what is a Hawaii Underground
without some Aloha and some Pidgin?
To
go directly to the Onzuka.com Hawaii Underground Forum
click here!
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for pricing and more information!
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O2 Martial Arts
Academy Day Classes Start May 2!
Women & Kids Kickboxing Class starts May 4!
Click here
for pricing and more information!
O2MAA Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Day Classes will be held on Monday,
Wednesday, and Fridays from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm and will be taught
by one of Relson Gracie's first black belts, Sam Mahi!
We will be starting a Womens and Kids kickboxing class on Sunday
afternoons from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm. The class will be taught
by none other than O2's Kaleo Kwan! It will be a non-competitive,
fun atmosphere and allow the ladies and kids to get in a quick
workout and learn some legitimate kickboxing technique before
the long work week starts.
|
Want to Contact
Us? Shoot us an email by Clicking Here!
Quote
of the Day
"What
is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, American Poet and Essayist
|
X-1
Palolo Hongwanji, Honolulu, Hawaii
September 27, 2008
BLUE CORNER RED CORNER
Main Event
JOHN "THE WARRIOR" VISTANTE vs 170lbs MMA Title Match SEAN
SAKATA
Team Sit U Down Amateur 3/3 Min Rounds No
Remorse
Co
Main Event
CHRIS BERNARD vs Heavy Weight MMA VILI FONOKALAFI
Team Sit U Down PRO 3/3 Min Rounds No Remorse
JOSHUA
FEREIRA vs 185lbs MMA Match BRAD TAVARES
Team Ruthless PRO 3/3 Min Rounds MMAD
THADDEUS
MALBREAUX vs 145lbs MMA Match JUSTIN MERCADO
Freelance PRO 3/3 Min Rounds MMAD
ALLAN
HASHIMOTO vs 145lbs MMA Match ALDRIN FERNANDEZ
Freelance Amateur 2/3 Min Rounds MMAD
JAMES
ROMANO vs 170lbs MMA Match STEVE FARMER
EastSidaz Amateur 2/3 Min Rounds Universal
Combat
FERDINAND
RAMIREZ vs 155lbs Kick Boxing Match MATT KANEHALE
Inner Circle Grappling Amateur 3/2 Min Rounds No
Remorse
JUSTIN
HALEMONO vs 185lbs MMA Match CALEB PRICE
Team Gambla Amateur 2/3 Min Rounds HMC
MAX
HALLAWAY vs 135lbs KB Title Defense EVAN QUEZON
Gods Army Amateur 3/2 Min Rounds Team Devastion/Nakoa
Fight Club
GURU
DAS vs 205lbs MMA Match JOHN HEWIT
Team Icon Amateur 2/3 Min Rounds No Remorse
KEALII
AIWOHI vs 185lbs MMA Match ANTONY KINOSHITA
Gods Army Amateur 2/3 Min Rounds No Remorse
ADD
THE FOUR BOXING FIGHTERS
PHILLIP
LIFTEE vs 145lbs XMA Match TAI LE
Nakoa Fight Team Amateur 3/2 Min Rounds Freelance
WILL
MORRIS va 145lbs MMA Match DEVON AGARAN
Nakoa Fight Team Amateur 2/3 Min Rounds Old
School/Inner Circle Grappling
TRAVIS
BERNADES vs 155lbs MMA Match VERNON TANGONAN
Freelance Amateur 2/3 Min Rounds Old School/Inner
Circle Grappling
SCOTT
RAMIREZ vs 145lbs Kick Boxing Match ROBERT BANIS
Inner Circle Grappling Amateur 3/2 Min Rounds West
Side Connection
Source: Mike Miller
|
Quinton
may be back at UFC 91
Fighter denies rumors regarding Shogun
Ever
since his loss to Forrest Griffin, in early June, Quinton Jackson
has been in the news more for his police problems than for being
a world-class MMA fighter. Nevertheless, if left up to Dana White,
UFC president, soon Rampage will be back in the headlines for
his exploits in the ring.
In
an interview on Yahoo!Sports, the bald top dog gave signals Jackson
could be called up to fight at UFC 91, set for November 15, in
Portland. “Of course he’ll fight. If he was doing drugs,
if he had been drunk, if he had gone out there and done what
he did because he was pissed off at someone, that would be a
completely different story. But he was ill. And in this company,
we support our friends and anyone who works for us when they’re
ill and have problems. He was ill, the incident occurred, and
now he’s fine. Rampage feels awful about the woman’s
baby, but he had nothing to do with it. And the (traffic incident)
occurred because he was very ill and not with him in control
of his faculties,” said White as quoted on MMAMania.com.
Quinton
Jackson himself stated that he is ready to take up his career
again. In an interview in Fighters Only Magazine, the former
light heavyweight champion shrugged off rumors he would face
Mauricio Shogun. “I don’t know anything about Shogun.
I was hoping to face Wanderlei Silva. But to be honest, I couldn’t
care less who I fight. I just want to show the world Rampage
is the best there is,” said the fighter.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
NAGA
RETURNS TO HAWAII
On
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Neal Blaisdell Arena
NAGA
returns to Honolulu, Hawaii for the largest grappling tournament
in the Hawaii, the NAGA Hawaiian Grappling Championship. This
tournament is open to all grappling styles. You do not need to
be a member of a team or any organization to compete. You do
not have to live in Hawaii to compete.
OUR
BEST VENUE EVER We have acquired one of the best venues in Hawaii
for a grappling competition, the Neal Blaisdell Arena. The venue
is awesome, with 4 full sets of wrestling mats for competition
and additional mats for warming up. This facility has huge bathrooms
and changing areas, and a 2,000+ car parking lot. The Arena is
located just Ward Ave and is easy to get to.
WEIGH-IN
on Friday or Saturday NAGA will be offering all competitors the
option of registering and weighing in the night BEFORE the tournament!
If
you cannot make it on Friday, you can weigh-in anytime on Saturday
prior to your division starting.
60
CHAMPIONSHIP BELTS AWARDED All Men, Women, Children and Teen
Experts take home a magnificent championship belt. SAMURAI SWORDS
to all 1st PLACE
The
NAGA will be handing out custom engraved SAMURAI SWORDS to ALL
1st place winners who do not win a belt! Medals will be awarded
to all 2nd & 3rd place winners.
RANKED EVENT All NAGA events are part of the nationwide ranking
system entitled RANKED. Our goal is to determine who the best
grapplers in the country are for various age, gender and skill
levels. NAGA Hawaii will be nationally Ranked. Do not miss your
opportunity to gain points towards a true “National title”.
Go to www.nationallyranked.com for current rankings.
SANDBAGGERS
BEWARE
NAGA works diligently to prevent 'sandbagging', the practice
of fighting down skill levels to ensure one takes home an award.
At NAGA Hawaii, front door personnel will use RANKED data to
determine whether or not individuals who have fought in past
events belong in a higher skill level (i.e. placed 1st at a prior
NAGA event for that skill level). We feel very confident that
sandbaggers will be forced to fight in their appropriate divisions.
|
Garcia,
Pulver Promise Shootout
by Chris Yucus
Leonard Garcia's upcoming fight with former UFC lightweight champion
Jens Pulver at WEC 36 on Sept. 10 in Hollywood, Fla., serves
as a return to competition that only a few months ago he thought
might never happen.
In
late March, Garcia was implicated by a criminal informant as
being part of a narcotics ring in Texas. Facing federal charges,
his promising fight career was suddenly in jeopardy of being
terminated permanently. The prospect of spending several years
in prison hovered above him.
“At
one point in time, I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able
to fight again,” says Garcia, who was eventually cleared
of all federal charges. He believes he will face no jail time
for a pending state obstruction of justice charge and maintains
his legal problems stem from “hanging out with the wrong
crowd.”
Having
his future as a mixed martial artist cast in doubt provided Garcia
(11-3) with motivation from which to draw while training for
his latest bout, a fight with Pulver that seems certain to have
title implications in the WEC featherweight division.
“I
think about it when I’m tired, if I don’t want to train,
if I feel sore, anything,” he says. “Mentally, I say
to myself, ‘Think about suffering right now, or think about
what you would have done if you were sitting in jail.’”
For
Pulver (22-9-1), a nine-year veteran of the sport and the first-ever
UFC lightweight champion, motivation for the fight stems from
a desire to prove himself as more than simply relevant in MMA’s
changing landscape. He hopes a victory over Garcia will earn
him another shot at the featherweight belt after he dropped his
first bid against reigning titleholder Urijah Faber by decision
in June. The though of wrapping another title around his waist
drives Pulver at this stage of his career.
“It
would be the biggest thing for me; all those other things are
in the past,” Pulver says. “When I won [the UFC lightweight
title], don’t get me wrong, it was great, but winning [a
title in the WEC’s featherweight division] now would go
to show everyone else that I’m still competitive, that I’m
still one of the best. It would be bigger than any other time
in my career.”
Training
for this fight opened a door to the past for Pulver, who once
again relied heavily upon the tutelage of his longtime coach,
Pat Miletich (Pictures), something he strayed from in recent
years. Pulver says training under Miletich’s direct supervision
keeps his fight preparation focused and has reacquainted him
with being a student of the sport.
“He
has a workout; he has things to do, and I don’t have to
think, ‘I could go in there and do this, or I could do that,’”
Pulver says. “Really, I can just start learning again. It’s
just like old times.”
Garcia’s
preparation also has him revisiting the past, as he trained in
Minnesota with former opponent Roger Huerta (Pictures). Garcia’s
battle with Huerta, a unanimous decision loss at UFC 69 in April
2007, was considered a “Fight of the Year” candidate
by many. Garcia admits training with “El Matador” brought
back feelings from their epic encounter, a match made famous
not only for the relentless action inside the Octagon but also
a photograph taken of Huerta unleashing a front kick on Garcia
that graced the cover of Sports Illustrated.
“Everybody
said [watching us train together] was like watching our fight
all over again, except this time more technical,” Garcia
says. “We were basically just going at it. I feel like I
gained a lot of steps since our last fight.”
Garcia
-- who has trained at the Jackson’s Submission Fighting
camp in Albuquerque, N.M., and in Vail, Colo., for high-altitude
work -- claims Pulver’s legendary status does not leave
him awed, even though he has wanted to fight “Little Evil”
as a featherweight for quite some time.
“He’s
just like anybody else,” Garcia says. “Basically, any
fight you come into in the WEC or UFC, there’s always going
to be people who are saying, ‘This guy did this, or this
guy did that.’ My attitude towards every fight, unless I’ve
fought the guy before, is he’s never done it against me.”
Styles
make fights, and, on paper, the matchup between Garcia and Pulver
appears as volatile as they come. Both fighters know a victory
could serve as a direct path to Faber and a shot at his WEC crown.
While
Pulver maintains his rededication to training under Miletich
helps make him a more technical fighter and less reliant on winning
matches in a slugfest, do not be surprised if some seriously
heavy leather starts flying between him and Garcia.
“The
thing about Jens is he comes forward,” Garcia says. “For
me, the dogfights, the fight where someone is going to push you,
it’s the perfect matchup, not only for me but for the fans,
as well.”
“I’m
trying to get better technically, catch up with the sport and
not be so one-dimensional,” says Pulver, a moment before
his hot-blooded “Little Evil” alter ego surfaces to
qualify the statement. “I like power; I like throwing punches.
Basically, I like playing with knives: I’m going to get
cut, but I’m going to cut somebody. I love to shoot it out
with the hands.”
Source: Sherdog
|
Matt
Hughes won't require surgery on injured knee
Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes updated his blog
Wednesday to say that he thinks he will not be needing surgery
for his torn ACL and MCL.
"It all came back very positive and looks as though I will
not need surgery," Hughes said of his second MRI and stress
X-Ray conducted last week. "I still have to go back for
my three month check-up to find out more, but as of right now
I can do more and start exercising a little bit."
Hughes
suffered a torn MCL and a partially torn PCL when he landed awkwardly
on his knee in the closing moments of his loss to Thiago Alves
in the main event of the June 7 UFC 85 "Bedlam" in
London.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Glover
Teixeira Fighting in UFC
Sam Caplan
Glover
Teixeira, who trains under John Hackleman at “The Pit”
in San Luis Obispo and is a teammate of former UFC light heavyweight
champion Chuck Liddell, has revealed that his next fight is expected
to take place with the UFC.
Teixeira
made the comments during a video interview with InTheGuard.tv.
The UFC has yet to confirm the signing.
“I’ve
always loved to have fought in the UFC and now actually my dream
is going to come true,” the native Brazilian said. “I’m
going to be fighting in the UFC, probably in my next fight. I’ve
been having visa problems in the United States. That’s why
I am here, taking care of everything. And soon as I am back I’ll
be ready to go and fight with the big boys.”
If
the Teixeira’s statement is accurate, he will make a strong
addition to an already stacked 205 lbs. division in the UFC.
He has long been considered one of the top unsigned light heavyweight
fighters in the world and had been rumored to be a part of the
cast for the upcoming eighth installment of “The Ultimate
Fighter.”
Teixeira
improved his national profile with a first round TKO over Rameau
Thierry Sokoudjou at 1:41 of round 1 during WEC 24 in 2006. He
also holds another win over a UFC fighter having recorded a decision
victory over Matt Horwich at Sportfight 3 in 2004.
Source: The Fight Network
|
Robert
Drysdale
By Guilherme Cruz
"I'm very confident... If I can do sparring with Wanderlei,
I can fight anybody. If I can put Forrest or Couture down, I
can put anyone"
TATAME.com spoke to the ADCC 2007 champion and Xtreme Couture
BJJ coach, Robert Drysdale, and learned that he signed a contract
to debut in MMA in October. In the interview, that you can check
here later today, he spoke about his first fight, the training
with Wanderlei Silva, Forrest Griffin and the Boxing champion
Skiper Kelp, and that he’s also thinking about the main
ADCC 2009 fight, against Roger Gracie. Check below the complete
interview with Robert Drysdale.
How
is your preparation for MMA?
It’s
great, I’m training hard twice a day. I’m teaching
less BJJ classes, doing my physical preparation with (Rafael)
Alejarra…He’s awesome, he almost killed me yesterday
with only a three minutes training (laughs). I do Boxing with
Skiper Kelp, who is an expert fighter and I’m learning a
lot with him. I’m feeling a lot better now, and I’m
pretty confident. I’m helping Frank Mir at BJJ classes for
his fight against (Rodrigo Nogueira) Minotauro and I might train
with Wanderlei (Silva) for his next fight too.
How
were you invited to start in MMA?
Actually,
I was going to debut in September, but then I got hurt and postponed
to get well prepared. I saw a Canadian event, but it’s only
in November, and I want to two twice this year yet.
How
the training sessions with Wanderlei Silva, Forrest Griffin and
Randy Couture help you for you first MMA fight?
It
gives me confidence. If I can do sparring with Wanderlei, I can
fight anybody. If I can put Forrest or Couture down, I can put
anyone (down). There are a lot of new sparrings here that nobody
knows, so it’s good for me.
Will
you fight ADCC in 2009?
I’ll
be there, and that’s why I wanna fight twice this year in
MMA, because in 2009 I only wanna do my preparation for Abu Dhabi
. I’m already thinking in the main fight against Roger Gracie,
and I’m sure I’ll win. I only need to get well prepared.
Do
you want to face him in MMA too?
Look,
it’s not my focus now, but if I had the opportunity I’ll
do it. I don’t see it like a personal thing. I wouldn’t
face Demian, that is like a brother to me. I respect Roger, he’s
very smart and a good person, but I’d face him. I won’t
ask for this fight, but I would do it.
Source: Tatame
|
Shamrock:
‘I Will Break His Leg’
by Jack Encarnacao
The contrasts couldn’t be clearer. Ken Shamrock (Pictures)
is a grizzled veteran of mixed martial arts, a 44-year-old UFC
Hall of Famer who has battled the most well-known fighters of
the past 15 years in rings and cages across the world. Kevin
"Kimbo Slice" Ferguson (Pictures) is a baby in the
sport, a tough street fighter who banks on his heavy hands to
get him toward a respect to match his box office appeal.
Shamrock
(26-13-2) knows these differences. But heading into a fight with
the bearded brawler on national network television Oct. 4 --
the main event of EliteXC “Saturday Night Fights” on
CBS -- Shamrock is thinking just as much about what he and Slice
(3-0) have in common.
“Where
I’m at in this stage of my career, this is probably the
biggest fight in my life since I started fighting,” Shamrock
said. “This is the biggest, because, you know, I’m
at the stage of my career where it’s put up or shut up.
And you know, Kimbo’s at that same stage. Put up or shut
up.”
Like
Slice, Shamrock is coming off a less-than-stellar performance,
which itself came after he’d lost four straight. In March,
“The World’s Most Dangerous Man” fizzled against
journeyman Robert “Buzz” Berry in London for the Cage
Rage organization. Shamrock circled Berry tentatively, failed
on a takedown attempt, and about three and a half minutes into
the first round was hit with a right hook that felled him unceremoniously.
Slice
also struggled in his last effort on May 31 against the cartoonish
James Thompson (Pictures). Slice was hurt and exposed on the
ground, and gassed so hard he had trouble talking after the fight,
which he managed to win with flailing punches in the third.
Shamrock
believes Kimbo Slice (right)
was exposed in his bout with James
Thompson back in May.“Kimbo got exposed,” Shamrock
said. “Because he got exposed, they’re going to go
back and make sure they fix those things. So it’s not like
they’re going to have the same fighter this time.”
There’s
another similarity. Shamrock said he also won’t be the same
fighter who stepped into Cage Rage in March. He said he was hit
by an illness that intensified once he touched down in England
and cut into his preparation. Experience alone wasn’t enough
to get him through the fight, though he thought he could handle
it.
“I
don’t want to go into the symptoms,” Shamrock said
about the ailment. “It was serious enough to where I lost
20 pounds and I was probably sick for about four weeks after
I got back from England. I was hospitalized for about four days.
It was a bad sickness. We got the right antibiotics and got everything
cleared. I got myself back on the track again and going in the
right direction and got my weigh back on. We started pursuing
a fight, the Kimbo Slice thing came up and we said, ‘Wow,
this is the perfect fight for me, man. You can’t gift wrap
one better than this.’”
EliteXC
managed to book a main event that is perfect for both Shamrock
and Slice. Slice, 34, needs to face name opponents who present
a threat, but not one dire enough to seriously damage his marketable
aura. Shamrock, unquestionably in the twilight of his career,
needs a high-profile opponent to maintain his relevance in the
marketplace, preferably one with an experience deficit that could
create openings.
The
in-ring chemistry is right, and so is the potential to draw viewers
to a broadcast that could keep the deeply indebted EliteXC above
water. Slice and Shamrock have been in two of the three most-watched
fights in the history of the sport stateside. The YouTube icon’s
May 31 tilt with Thompson attracted 6.51 million viewers on CBS,
while the third meeting between Shamrock and Tito Ortiz (Pictures)
in October 2006 drew 5.7 million viewers during its initial live
airing on Spike TV.
Shamrock,
who has never met Slice, didn’t hesitate when asked to name
the traits that make Slice a television draw.
“The
way he looks, he’s very impressive looking,” Shamrock
said. “He moves well for a big guy, before he gets tired,
and talks well. He’s just got this image about him in the
way he speaks. He’s a very, very intimidating person. He
walks into the room, people look. When he talks, people listen.
So he’s got that charisma. He’s got what it takes to
be marketable. Now we’ll figure out whether he’s got
what it takes to be a fighter.”
Shamrock
is training at his Lion’s Den facility in Reno, Nev., and
is looking to improve his punching power and his ability to cut
angles on his feet. Shamrock first made his name using leg locks
to submit boot-and-kickpad-wearing opponents in the Pancrase
organization, but said he can handle Slice in all facets of the
game.
“Honestly,
I think I can test him anywhere,” he said. “He’s
got big, heavy hands. Everyone says he punches hard and he probably
does. But again, he doesn’t punch properly, in my opinion.
He swings his hands, he moves his body back and forth trying
to get as much power as he can, but there’s really no snap
behind it. You can usually see the punches coming. I’m going
to do what I need to do. If it goes to the ground, I’ll
probably break his leg. I mean, no question. I will break his
leg. If he gives it to me, I’m going to break it.”
One
thing Shamrock said he needs to factor into his game plan is
referees’ tendencies to stop his fights when he’s in
deep waters. The stoppage in his second fight with Ortiz in 2006
touched off an audience backlash that compelled the UFC to put
a rematch on free TV, and Shamrock feels he should have been
given more time to regain his composure after being knocked down
by “Buzz” Berry.
“I’m
sure (referees) are concerned,” he said. “But they’ve
got to keep in the back of their mind that I didn’t get
to where I’m at by having people protect me.”
Source: Sherdog
|
SHAMROCK'S
REDEMPTION: TALKS KIMBO & ROGERS
by Damon Martin
Since the announcement was made that Kimbo Slice would make his
return to action on Oct. 4 in the third edition of the CBS-EliteXC
Saturday Night Fights series, fans and critics alike have been
clamoring to find out whom his opponent would be.
It
was decided earlier this week that Ultimate Fighting Championship
Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock would fill those duties to step in
and face the Internet sensation.
But
the immediate question turned from the match-up between Kimbo
and Shamrock to what did the embattled leader of the Lion’s
Den do to deserve a fight against Kimbo?
“I
think I’ve paid my dues to be able to get in there and be
able to have something thrown my way every now and then,”
said Shamrock during an appearance on MMAWeekly Radio on Wednesday.
“To those people that say that (I don’t deserve the
fight) those are short timers, and the ones that haven’t
really followed the career of MMA to know the guys that have
been here a very long time and fighting when there was no money.
To now get an opportunity to fight and make some money.”
Shamrock
puts it clearly on his experience and sacrifice as to why he
was offered the opportunity to face Kimbo in such a high profile
fight. A career that has spanned over 15 years in the sport and
with that time he feels his body has helped him earn this fight.
“I’ve
got a shoulder I had to replace, I’ve got a knee I had to
replace, I’ve got a few broken bones in my feet and my hands,”
he commented. “A bunch of stitches and all of that is attributed
to the time I’ve put into the UFC and the times I’ve
put into MMA.
“Me
and a bunch of others have stepped in and made it possible. We
went through all the trials and tribulations of them trying to
close it down, and calling us animals and fought for practically
nothing at one time because we love the sport.”
Among
Shamrock’s detractors about his placement in this fight
is EliteXC heavyweight Brett Rogers, who has a history with Kimbo
following his last fight in May. He had choice words for the
former UFC champion because he was getting the fight that Rogers
believed he deserved.
“Some
guys in the fight world are saying that I stepped in front of
them or this and that, and hey I didn’t do nothing, but
train and be a part of the history of the UFC, and the history
of MMA and it got offered to me,” said Shamrock very bluntly.
“Tell me any jabroni that wouldn’t take it if it got
offered to them.”
Shamrock
also directly addressed the reason he is in this fight and not
Brett Rogers.
“To
me it’s ridiculous because when you’ve got people that
are talking like that who don’t know the source, don’t
know how things get started, they’re just flapping their
jaws. You have know idea why this fight happened,” he commented.
“This fight is happening because the organization needs
a good fight, they need something to go out there and sell tickets
and draw people in.
“And
unfortunately, for (Brett Rogers), he’s not there yet. He
will be someday, but he’s not there right now. Fortunately
for me, I’ve put in my dues. I’ve been in this for
a very long time. I’ve sold my body to MMA, all of my body
parts I’ve left in the ring. I think I deserve to get in
there and get some redemption.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Cris
Cyborg and Rudimar excited
Fighter to face Takahashi in October EliteXC
Cris
Cyborg has a fight date with Japanese fighter Yoko Takahashi
on October 4th, at EliteXC, in Florida. Judging by their records,
Cyborg has the upper hand against the Japanese fighter. While
the Brazilian is coming off a win at EliteXC, over Shayna Baszler,
Takahashi lost her last dispute at Smack Girl, by unanimous judges’
decision. Her record shows 13 wins and nine losses.
Chute
Boxe leader, and Cyborg’s instructor, Rudimar Fedrigo, analyzed
his student. “Cris takes her training really seriously and
is very focused on her goal. She is a very aggressive fighter.
She’s always looking for the knockout or submission. Her
aggressive style impresses a lot,” said Fedrigo.
Coming
off two weeks of rest after beating Shayna, Cyborg is back in
training. “I’m lifting weights and now will get back
to training, after 15 days. I’m preparing myself the same
way I prepare for all my fights. I’ve been training on the
ground, wrestling, muay thai. I watched one of her fights [Takahashi’s],
but she was submitted. I think she’s good standing, a bit,
and on the ground. But she’s not better than Shayna, who
I fought already. I’m ready to fight on the ground, standing.
Either way. I want to fight in my area, muay thai,” said
Cyborg.
Cyborg’s
master has great expectations for the October fight. “I
hope for her to put on a great show again. I think there’s
another knockout waiting up ahead,” said Fedrigo.
Besides
the Brazilian lady scrapper, at the same EliteXC event, on October
4th, Murilo Ninja will face Benji Radach (ATT).
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Liddell
vs. Griffin Probable After Evans Fight
By Jagjit Sidhu
The upcoming light heavyweight bout between Rashad Evans and
Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell could have serious title
implications in the future.
A match up between the newly crowned champion Forrest Griffin
and the frmer champion Chuck Liddell would most likely take place
at UFC 92, labeled as the UFC's New Years card.
Liddell's
nutrition company - Iceman Rx - is holding a special sweepstakes
running from September 1 through December 27 (to coincide with
the UFC 92 bout). The winner will receive a special edition Chuck
Liddell Iceman Rx Hummer H2 complete with a giant decal of the
mohawked warrior. Recently Liddell spoke to The Sun based out
of the UK about a possible match up with Forrest Griffin.
“So
after [Evans] I want the title shot, yeah. I was asked about
fighting Forrest when he won the Ultimate Fighter three years
ago, and I said he’s not ready and I’d beat him up.
But he’s ready now and it would be a great fight.”
Source: Fight Line
|
Quote
of the Day
"It
is a mistake to try to look too far ahead.
The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time."
Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, English Politician and Author
|
KJ
Noons fires
back at EliteXC
EliteXC lightweight champion KJ Noons released a statement today
firing back at EliteXC for pressuring him to sign a fight against
Nick Diaz, whom Noons has already defeated to win the belt.
It is not about being scared to fight Diaz, who I previously
defeated, it is about the fight I am currently in with Elite
XC regarding my career.
I
would first like to address all the false allegations and insults
from Jared Shaw, aka $kala, VP of Elite XC. You will see why
I am so disgusted of how Elite XC treated me and how it applies
to this proposed fight and my career.
$kala says:
Honor
my contract. Elite XC wants to talk about honoring the contract.
How about when Elite XC honored the contract and my pay to fight
Edson Berto went down after I lost my first fight. That was not
part of my contract. Or how about the contract Gary Shaw breached
by not promoting my boxing career? Gary Shaw only gave me one
out of four of the agreed upon fights. I have not boxed for over
a year. When I signed with Elite XC, I was promised they would
promote both my boxing and MMA careers. I could have signed with
another MMA only company, but I wanted to box too.
Elite
XC does me a favor after I lose, by putting me on the first ShoXC
against Edson Berto? Berto’s father is good friends with
Jared’s father, Gary Shaw who wants Berto’s brother
on a boxing contract. Berto was the next guy Elite XC wanted
to build. But I win that fight and now I am 1-1. Elite XC gives
me an opportunity to fight Diaz. Elite XC puts me against Diaz
because Elite XC’s roster was so light and there was nobody
else to fight him.
Elite
XC creates a new weight class for Diaz because he beat Gomi.
Giving Diaz a belt and creating a weight division (160) he can
make, will make your belt legit. Sorry to ruin Elite XC’s
plans and beat him.
Elite
XC never promoted or took care of me as their champion.
Examples:
In
the Elite XC’s DVD where Diaz and I fought there are two
(2) baseball cards of Diaz and Kimbo. Hello! I won the fight
and Elite XC’s promoting Diaz after I beat him? Or how about
the day Elite XC flew Diaz in to do a signing on the DVD where
he lost. Wow, that must have been uncomfortable Nick? Signing
a DVD, and it is a fight that you lost. Why wasn’t I flown
in for the signing?
Elite
XC has never promoted me on either of their websites, EliteXC
or Pro-Elite.
Elite
XC offered me a fight on the first CBS show, but only if I signed
a new long-term contract. Instead of promoting their best fighters
on CBS, you have to be on a long term contract for them to promote
you. That was not our deal.
Consider
when Elite XC gives a couple thousand tickets away at their CBS
show in Stockton.
Elite
XC gives me a hard time about comping me one extra ticket for
my cousin that helped me train for my fight. I only get four
tickets per show. I am the main event in Honolulu, my home town!
I did not ask for any tickets for my family and friends and they
gave me a hard time about one extra ticket!
Or
how about when Elite XC brought Diaz into the ring after my last
victory in Hawaii to disrespect me and my family.
Chuck
Champion (President Elite XC) threatens me, my family and my
manager with lawsuits and how he’s going to sue me. HAHA.
Pretty hard to sue a guy who does not make jack with your company.
I’m glad $kala disclosed how much I make, which breached
the confidentiality clause of the contract. I will break down
the real numbers for you. I am the defending world champ, I have
been the main event for Elite XC three out of four times on Showtime.
In almost two years I have made approximately $83,000?
After
paying my trainers and managers fee, I have $50,000 thousand.
After taxes, probably 30 grand. Divide that by two years for
$15,000 thousand a year. Divide by 52 weeks that amounts to approximately
$300 a week. I do not know anybody that can survive on that amount
of money. My buddies make more money than that in a couple days
being a bus boy or bar back. And yes you can argue I should fight
more. Elite XC doesn’t give me fights or promote me, they
ice me. Gary Shaw Productions only gave me one of the agreed
upon four fights per the boxing contract.
And
I do not want to ramble on about all the little small stuff that
I can keep going on about. But the straw that broke the camel’s
back is they want me to fight Diaz for the second time. Diaz
is not the number one contender and they are paying Diaz three
times more money than me. Diaz complained after the Stockton
fight, he was not paid enough. How do you think that made me
feel? Yes you can argue that Diaz gets more for the draw, therefore
I do not deserve as much compensation. If that is the case, it
is a result of Elite XC terrible job promoting me. Instead of
promoting me as their champ and upcoming athlete, Elite XC has
resented me for ruining their plans to make Diaz their champ.
That is just total disrespect. So it comes down to money and
what is fair. I am tired of being bent over by Elite XC with
no Vaseline.
I
am right when I say Diaz is not the number one contender. Elite
XC is trying to force this fight for their ratings. Eddie Alaverez
is the number one contender and anybody with half a brain knows
that a fight with Eddie is a way harder fight for me than Diaz.
I will fight Diaz, but Elite has to be fair. I’m not ducking
Diaz, why the hell would I be scared of someone I already beat.
With
that being said, I am going to focus on my boxing career. I can
make more money doing 6 and 8 rounders every other month and
make more than I did being the Elite XC defending world champ.
At least I will be able to sleep at night and be able to look
myself in the mirror everyday. That right there is worth more
than $300 bucks a week or fighting a guy I cannot stand for less
money than him the second time around.
Will
the Diaz fight happen? Yes. Will the fight happen on Elite XC
on October 4, 2008, probably not. The way things are being run
by Chuck Champion, a guy whose history is newspapers, not fighting,
and $kala, someone who talks a lot of game, but has never put
on a pair of gloves, never stepped in a ring or cage. $kala has
had everything handed to him with a silver spoon from daddy.
Does anyone else but me think $kala just wants to be famous and
stir up all this dirty laundry? I guess any publicity is good
publicity. When I think about it, it has been good promotion
for their October card since nobody is talking about it until
you bring up the Noons vs. Diaz match up.
Before
I end, I would like to thank my team, my trainers and workout
partners for helping me prepare for my fights hours every day.
I would like to also thank my manager Mark Dion for standing
behind my decision making. I want to be a fighter who is not
doing whatever I am being told like some kind of mindless puppet.
Thanks
for hearing my side.
- KJ Noons
Source: MMA Fighting
|
SCHULTZ
VS MASVIDAL TOP NEW SENGOKU 5 BOUTS
by Ricardo Mendoza
Less than a week removed from Sengoku 4, World Victory Road has
announced three bouts for Sengoku 5, which is highlighted by
the first round of the Sengoku middleweight tournament. The event
takes place on Sept. 28 at the Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo.
In
a lightweight bout, IFL lightweight champion Ryan Schultz takes
on American Top Team fighter Jorge Masvidal. Schultz last saw
action several days ago, being knocked out by Cage Force lightweight
Mizuto Hirota at Sengoku 4. Masvidal comes off a controversial
stoppage loss to Rodrigo Damm at Sengoku 4.
In
a Sengoku middleweight tournament bout, Pride veteran Yuki Kondo
faces off with Team Grabaka middleweight Yuki Sasaki. Kondo comes
off a knockout victory over Ryuji Ohori at a recent Pancrase
Shining show. In his most recent action, Sasaki suffered a submission
loss to Strikeforce tournament winner Jorge Santiago at Sengoku
2.
In
another Sengoku middleweight tournament bout, Chute Boxe middleweight
Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos takes on Shooto light heavyweight
champion Siyar Bahadurzada. Santos scored a submission victory
over Makoto Takimoto at the first Sengoku event. Bahadurzada
was submitted by Pride veteran Kazuo Misaki at the same show.
Other
participants for the show include Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion
Alexandre “Xande” Ribeiro, who makes his mixed martial
arts debut, and fellow Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion Roger
Gracie. Two other participants for the middleweight tournament
include UFC veteran Kazuhiro Nakamura and Strikeforce middleweight
tournament winner Jorge Santiago.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
De
La Hoya, Pacquiao Agree to Dec. 6 Fight
Ariel Shnerer
After
months of negotiating and speculation, Manny "Pacman"
Pacquiao has accepted the fight against 10-time world champion
and former Olympic gold medalist Oscar De La Hoya.
The
blockbuster mega fight will take place Saturday, Dec. 6 at the
MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV. The bout will be distributed by HBO
and will air exclusively on pay-per-view.
A
co-promoted extravaganza by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank
Inc., Pacquiao and De La Hoya are scheduled for a 12-round affair
at the 147-pound welterweight limit.
After
weeks of negotiating how they will split the purse, the two world-renowned
boxers agreed to the bout and confirmed their Dec. 6 meeting
on Thursday.
Source: The Fight Network
|
MMA
fighter's life to reach big screen
Time-Warner finances major motion picture on life of Lee Murray
Although
efforts to bring the world of MMA to the big screen have so far
failed, with the box-office flops of promising big-budget flick
“Redbelt” and less-than-riveting “Best of the
Best,” big motion picture companies have not given up on
MMA’s potential to fill seats in movie houses. This time,
though, the endeavor will be taken out of the realm of fiction
and focus on the story of a real-life character from the world
of MMA.
For
the very first of what is expected to be a long series of film
projects, the new fund put together to by media giant Time Inc.
to produce feature-length movies based on stories published in
the Sports Illustrated monthly magazine, in partnership with
management and production company The Collective, and production
company XYZ Films, MMA’s image will be presented in a light
not quite ideal to those wishing to elevate the way the sport
and its athletes are regarded publicly, but one that will surely
capture viewers’ interest and imaginations. The “hero”
of the real-life action movie “Breaking the Bank” is
surly former UFC fighter Lee Murray, author of the greatest cash
heist in history, who captured the fight world's after knocking
out “Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz in a street brawl.
In
jail in Morocco since 2006 for possession of cocaine and hashish,
and awaiting extradition to Britain for his part in robbing 92
million dollars, Murray once said he “died four times”
from blood loss after being stabbed in an altercation outside
a London nightclub. His career as a professional fighter includes
a win in his only participation in the UFC, over Jorge Rivera,
and a decision loss to current UFC middleweight champion Anderson
Silva, at Cage Rage. When arrested at his hiding place in Morocco,
a luxurious house in a swanky Rabat suburb, a mural portraying
Murray himself posing in the octagon adorned the wall of his
swimming pool.
Whether
the first movie to be scri pted based on the heroes, or anti-heroes,
of Sports Illustrated stories will see greater success than the
other MMA-based films, remains to be seen. What is certain, though,
is that the life Lee Murray has lived thus far has all the makings
of a blockbusting sensation.
The
original bulletin announcing the production can be found on the
Sports Illustrated website.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
“No
Spin” Brett Rogers: I’ll Wait for Kimbo…and Shamrock
By Steven Marrocco
You’d
expect Brett Rogers to be pretty pissed off. He puts his career
in potential jeopardy by bucking handlers and dissing Kevin “Kimbo
Slice” Ferguson at Elite XC’s network coming out party
in May. Then-CEO of Live Events Gary Shaw finally relents to
fan pressure and names him as Slice’s next opponent. The
stage looks set for a ready-made showdown, on network TV no less,
on October 4th.
Then,
in a bout of promotional panic, Elite XC pulls the plug on Rogers
and installs ready-heel Ken Shamrock as Slice’s October
4th opponent. No network payday for Rogers—some of his sponsors
even ditch him for Slice—and no word on when he’s going
to face the man, and myth, he wants to debunk.
Rogers
tells FCF that it’s a lock he will face the winner of the
October 4th bout, and his managers are trying to ensure it’s
on CBS’ fourth installment of “Saturday Night Fights,”
but it’s not the outcome he imagined for his burgeoning
MMA career.
It
is, however, a different Rogers than the world has seen lately—he’s
got more perspective and patience. He realized that carrying
around all that anger towards Slice wasn’t good for him
in the long run.
“It
has nothing really to do with Elite XC, I mean, Elite XC is doing
their job,” Rogers says. “I really can’t knock
them for wanting to promote themselves, and the game, more in
the interest of the sport, and definitely the financial part.
As far as me as a fighter, and for the October fight with Slice,
and now Ken Shamrock, I feel that’s a little BS, you know.
It definitely should be me and [Slice], because that’s what
the fans want. I’m sure you watch the websites, the fans
definitely wanted that fight. But I’m just going to be using
that energy when the time rolls around. At least they’re
giving me the winner of the two.”
Rogers (R) punching Jon Murphy during their bout in May
The
battle for perspective is one that Rogers doesn’t always
win. He doesn’t know how or why he was cut from the fight,
other than “the business” getting in the way, but says
Elite is still taking care of him financially. Because of that,
he’s a little easier on them when it comes to pointing fingers.
“Elite
XC is still trying to figure out where they’re going,”
he says. “And who they’re trying to bring up as the
next superstar. Because I guess their superstar right now, he’s
kinda putting himself in the hole by not performing as a superstar.
I’m pretty sure Kimbo had his little say-so in wanting to
fight Shamrock. Who wouldn’t want to fight Shamrock? The
man is a legend. He’s been around since day-one in the UFC.
I don’t understand why he’s still around fighting personally.
I ain’t knockin’ him for back in the day, but what
else does he have to prove? He’s just jumping in the game
and snatching my prey. I feel a little salty about that.”
Rogers
won’t shy away from calling out anyone in Elite or the UFC’s
ranks, and at this point, wouldn’t mind facing off with
Shamrock instead.
“I hope Shamrock does great and has a great night,”
Rogers continues. “So I can get him and Slice at the same
time. He can only pass for so long….we’re in the same
weight division. I can’t wait for either one of them.”
Rogers
says he will be doing an appearance on the October 4th telecast,
a “meet and greet” of sorts for the viewing public.
There, he will re-state his disapproval of Slice, and announcers
will name him as the man to face the winner of Slice/Shamrock.
Rogers gets to rebel again, albeit in a structured way.
“They’re
going to give me a chance to speak my mind,” he says. “Because
like I said, I wanted to be on that card that day. But I guess
they wanted two old dogs to fight instead.”
Despite
having no upcoming fight, Rogers is hard at work in the gym,
doing two-a-days at Team Bison in St. Paul, Minnesota. He knows
he will get his day in the sun.
“I’m
a real patient guy, and I’m gonna hold it all in for [Kimbo],”
he says. “Shamrock, he’s just a legend that’s
just waiting to get knocked out.”
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Malaipet
vs. Douglas at Sept. 26 ShoXC
Muay Thai striker Malaipet has been booked to fight Cesar Gracie
fighter David "Tarzan" Douglas at ShoXC: Elite Challenger
Series on Sept. 26 in Santa Ynez, Calif.
Kickboxing professionally in Thailand since he was 8, Malaipet
moved to America in 2001 for new fight opportunities, which eventually
led to him competing in mixed martial arts in Aug. 2006. Malaipet
resides in Upland, Calif., where he teaches Muay Thai at Team
Diamond.
Malaipet
(3-2) headlined the ShoXC in March but lost via disqualification
for delivering illegal elbows to avoid being taken down by Thomas
"Wildman" Denny.
Douglas
(3-1) has won both his EliteXC fights via TKO in a combined time
of 1 minute and 24 seconds.
ShoXC:
Elite Challenger Series
Friday, September 26, 2008
Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, CA
140
lbs. | Bao Quach vs. Wilson Reis (for vacant EliteXC Title)
265 lbs. | Shane Del Rosario vs. Jon Murphy
160 lbs. | Malaipet vs. David Douglas
170 lbs. | Erik Apple vs. Matt Makowski
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Semmy
Schilt tipped to face Cro Cop
Japanese TV ad gives hint
All
Mirko Cro Cop had to do was confirm he will fight at Dream 6,
on September 23rd, for rumors to surface regarding his adversary.
According to information published in the Japanese press, Dream
is already airing a series of ads on Japanese television dealing
with Cro Cop’s return to the ring, and suggest giant Dutchman,
Semmy Schilt, three-time K-1 GP champion, could be his opponent.
“In
a fight, Pride champion Mirko may have to deal with the man to
knock out K-1 champion Mark Hunt,” says one of the promotional
pieces. Although there is no direct reference to Schilt, it was
the Dutchman who knocked Hunt out at last April’s K-1 event.
The
matching of the Cro Cop vs Schilt bout shows how important it
is for Dream to achieve good audience numbers for its next event.
In recent months rumors abound that the organization is having
financial problems, and only a public success may off set the
danger of bankruptcy.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Robert
Drysdale to MMA debut in October
By Guilherme Cruz
TATAME.com
spoke to the ADCC 2007 champion and Xtreme Couture BJJ coach,
Robert Drysdale, and learned that he signed a contract to debut
in MMA in October. In the interview, that you can check here
later today, he spoke abuot his first fight, the training with
Wanderlei Silva, Forrest Griffin and the Boxing champion Skiper
Kelp, and that he’s also thinking about the main ADCC 2009
fight, against Roger Gracie. Stay tuned and check the complete
interview with Robert Drysdale.
Source: Tatame
|
MM-Eh:
Kang to Re-Sign with Spirit MC
by Andy Cotterill
Denis Kang (Pictures) set out from his home in Vancouver, British
Columbia Monday on a twelve-hour flight to South Korea, where
he’ll defend his Spirit MC middleweight title against Jae
Young Kim (Pictures) this weekend. Kang has dropped his last
two bouts, first from a shocking knockout punch from Yoshihiro
Akiyama (Pictures) at K-1 Hero’s last October, and then
to a slick triangle choke applied by Gegard Mousasi (Pictures)
in the opening round of the Dream 2 Middleweight Grand Prix in
April.
Needless
to say, Kang has a reason to be eager.
“All
the hard work is done; the only thing left to do is kick his
ass,” said Kang. “I know my last two fights weren’t
what anybody expected, but I think for awhile I was just kind
of lagging in training and lost my concentration. I don’t
know what to call it, you know? I wasn’t depressed or anything
like that, it’s just the focus of my motivation was misplaced.
I wasn’t training like I am now to try to improve myself
and be the best –- I was just going through the motions
basically.”
This
ennui could have come from the Kang’s separation from his
American Top Team comrades in Florida due to visa issues. Kang
told Sherdog.com that he expects his P1 visa, also known as an
“Athlete’s Visa,” to arrive soon, and that he’ll
then head back south for training.
In
the meantime, Kang found an alternate solution by traveling to
Montreal, where he spent several months in a world-class training
camp with UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre (Pictures),
Patrick Cote (Pictures), David Loiseau (Pictures), Roger Huerta
(Pictures), Gustavo Machado (Pictures) and Nathan Marquardt (Pictures).
Kang called the camp simply, “Awesome.”
The
30-year-old fighter was also introduced to strength and conditioning
coach Jonathan Chaimberg, whom Kang credits with his recent improvement.
“I
love working with him and I really notice the difference with
his training with my explosiveness and overall endurance,”
said Kang.
Kang
and opponent Kim are no strangers to each other. They already
fought each other twice, with Kang emerging victorious on both
occasions with a combined time of 2:16, so this should be a good
chance to get in a morale-boosting win.
On
the final fight of his current contract, Kang said he is on the
verge of re-signing a new one- to two-year contract with Korea’s
most successful MMA promotion. The Korean-born French-Canadian
has enormous popularity in his native country, which is starting
to spill over into his second home of Canada.
Following
his Spirit MC bout, Kang is scheduled to fight Marvin Eastman
(Pictures) at Raw Combat on Oct. 25 in Calgary, Alberta –-
the first time he’ll be competing on home soil since he
defeated Chris Peak in 2003.
Source: Sherdog
|
Quote
of the Day
"Education
is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom."
George Washington Carver, 1864-1943, American Botanist
|
GSP’s
Manager Confirms Rematch in Works
by TJ De Santis
All signs point to a rematch between UFC champions Georges St.
Pierre (Pictures) and B.J. Penn (Pictures) on Jan. 31 in Las Vegas, the French
Canadian’s manager Shari Spencer confirmed on the Sherdog
Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show Monday.
“That’s
my understanding,” said Spencer. “I know [UFC President]
Dana [White] has been announcing it publicly. We haven’t
officially signed a bout agreement, but everything is pointing
toward January 31 in Vegas against B.J. Penn.”
Current
welterweight king St. Pierre (17-2) edged out a split decision
victory over his lightweight counterpart Penn (13-4-1) over three
back-and-forth rounds at UFC 58 in March 2006.
Nearly
three years later, the 29-year-old Penn --- now the UFC’s
undisputed lightweight champion on a three-fight win streak –-
and a majority of fans have clamored for the second meeting,
which will pair up two of the sport’s most gifted athletes.
Spencer
confirmed news of the potential 170-pound title bout on the heels
of intensive renegotiations with Zuffa LLC, parent company to
the UFC, to retain St. Pierre’s services.
Following
the Quebec native’s five-round decimation of the durable
but overmatched Jon Fitch (Pictures) at UFC 87 on Aug. 9 in Minnesota,
St. Pierre had one fight remaining on his contract with the organization.
“We've
been in long discussions with the UFC for several months,”
said Spencer. “I am not at liberty to say anything right
now. But there should be some news coming out regarding that
very shortly."
A
mixture of athleticism, work ethic and professionalism in and
out of the cage, the 27-year-old St. Pierre has risen to become
one of the sport’s most marketable and sought-after stars.
With
word of St. Pierre’s current contract reaching its maturation,
speculation mounted that the affable champion might consider
migration to a rival promotion, particularly Affliction Entertainment,
which enjoys a healthy clothing sponsorship deal with the fighter.
Fighters
were forbidden from wearing the wildly popular clothing brand
once Affliction decided to enter the market as a rival promoter
last year. St. Pierre was among those affected by the decision.
Affliction
held its first event “Banned” on July 19 in Anaheim,
Calif., in front of a sell-out crowd of nearly 15,000 patrons.
It’s pay-per-view numbers have been estimated between an
impressive 85,000-135,000 buys, and the company will hold its
second event on Oct. 11 in Las Vegas.
"We've
had a very strong and supportive relationship with Affliction
as a clothing sponsor ever since I have been involved with Georges,
and it's grown during that time,” said Spencer. “We
have a loyalty to them as a clothing sponsor and we have a loyalty
to our promoter, and a respect for their decision not to allow
a competing promoter to have brand placement within their event.
“We
don't have to like it, we respect it obviously, and understand
it. Having said that, it's still difficult. The UFC right now,
they're a privately held company. I think Dana has also used
the term to describe it as the ‘wild west.’ It lacks
a strong infrastructure, it lacks a governing body, so you dance
with the guy that 'brung' you to the dance so to speak. It's
their rules, it's their show, so we respect that.”
Source: Sherdog
|
Quinton
'Rampage' Jackson pleads not guilty
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson entered a not guilty plea
today to his two felony charges and four counts of misdemeanor
for leading the police on a wild car chase in California through
Cosa Mesa to Newport Beach on July 15.
Jackson was charged on Monday with felonies of evading while
driving recklessly and evading a peace officer. He also faces
misdemeanors of hit and run (3 counts) and driving recklessly.
Jackson is facing up to 3 years in prison if convicted.
A
pretrial date of Oct. 9 has been scheduled for Jackson.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
WHAT
HAPPENS NEXT FOR QUINTON JACKSON?
by Ken Pishna
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson – the subject of a high-speed
chase with police in California last month – faces charges
that include one felony count of evading while driving recklessly,
one felony count of evading a peace officer and driving against
traffic, three misdemeanor counts of hit and run with property
damage, and one misdemeanor count of reckless driving.
If
convicted, he could face up to three years in prison.
Present
in court on Thursday, Jackson entered a plea of not guilty. A
date for a pretrial was scheduled for Oct. 9, and a preliminary
hearing on Nov. 3. He remains out of custody on bail of $25,000.
Although
the investigation into Jackson’s case is ongoing, Orange
County District Attorney spokesperson Farrah Emami told MMAWeekly.com,
“We’ve filed our charges. We don't believe that there
would be additional charges filed unless there was new evidence.”
As
for Jackson’s not guilty plea, Emami said that was not surprising.
In fact, it is in line with how most defendants go through the
legal process. “It's common. Any case that goes to a pretrial
or preliminary hearing or a trial stage, the defendant pleads
not guilty in order to move through the process in that way.
So more often than not, defendants plead not guilty.”
Despite
his status as a celebrity due to his fighting career, Jackson
shouldn’t expect to be treated any differently than other
defendants either. Yes, because of who he is, his face was plastered
all over the media, including celebrity gossip and news website
TMZ.com.
“Absolutely
not,” stated Emami about any special handling in Jackson’s
case, however. “We're charging this case against based on
the crimes that were committed, and our job is to make sure that
we charge cases fairly. So in this case, we took the evidence,
we took the actions of the defendant, and we made a criminal
filing decision based on what Mr. Jackson did.”
With
the pretrial scheduled for October and preliminary hearing in
November, it is too early in the case to estimate a time frame
for Jackson’s case. If it goes to a full trial, the outcome
is open ended.
“That
would depend on how the case plays out. If this case goes to
trial, it could take any amount of time just depending on the
availability of parties, including the prosecution, the defense,
and the judge,” informed Emami.
In
the meantime, according to a report by Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports,
Jackson and UFC president Dana White are planning for the former
champion to continue his fight career amidst the legal proceedings.
White
told Iole that Jackson would fight and that he and UFC chairman
Lorenzo Fertitta stood behind their fighter. They spent the better
part of the day on Monday working out details for his return
and ideas for an opponent.
Current
speculation has him returning to the Octagon on Nov. 15 at UFC
91 in Portland, Ore. No opponent has been named, but rumors have
zeroed in on Mauricio "Shogun" Rua if his knee is healthy
enough for him to compete.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Kimbo
vs Shamrock to promote MMA
Fighters to face off on US network television
Media monster CBS, the network television channel in the United
States, seems not to be playing around when it comes to promoting
MMA to television viewers. It is so serious about it that for
the October-4 event it has called upon two of the biggest characters
in the American MMA scene: Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock. Considered
to be a modern phenomenon, coming to fame through videos aired
on the internet, Kimbo will have the chance to face someone many
consider to be one of the most important figures in American
MMA history.
The
venue for the event will be the Bank Atlantic Center, in Florida,
and already has the directors of EliteXC CBS excited. “Millions
upon millions have been entertained by Shamrock over the years
in Japan, the UFC, the WWF and now the WWE. He is the greatest
example of a pay-per-view commodity in the sport. Putting the
two together (Shamrock and Kimbo Slice) will maximize the attention
to MMA on October 4th,” said Jared Shaw, EliteXC vice president.
At
44, Ken Shamrock is coming off a five-fight losing streak, and
hasn’t known victory since June of 2004, when he knocked
out Kimo Leopoldo. Now, Kimbo Slice debuted in professional MMA
just last November. Since then he has had three fights, winning
all by knockout or submission.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
UFC
wants to run shows in Japan… again
By Zach Arnold
Dave
Meltzer reporting:
That’s
only the first wave of planned expansion. Fertitta leaving his
post as the highest-paid casino executive in Las Vegas to work
full-time for UFC was with the goal of trying to duplicate the
company’s U.S. success on a worldwide basis. There are even
serious talks of running a regular schedule of events in Japan,
now that the company has a television deal, although that is
more on the long-term radar.
If
UFC thinks that getting back on WOWOW means anything in the Japanese
marketplace, then they are totally clueless. They would be fortunate
to sell out a building like Yokohama Bunka Gym (5,000 seats)
and be lucky to get 70% capacity at a place like Ryogoku Kokugikan
(11,000 seats) if they tried to run in the Kanto area.
A
WOWOW television deal didn’t mean much for SWS in the early
1990s, it didn’t help RINGS survive in the mid-to-late 1990s,
and it likely isn’t going to give UFC much exposure at all
in 2008-2009. Why even bother trying to go back to Japan when
the MMA scene has fallen off a cliff? Even the native players
can’t muster up any juice whatsoever in the marketplace.
Some
advice to UFC: Give Japan a two or three year break so you can
wait and see what Kazuyoshi Ishii does. If Ishii reinvents DREAM
or creates a new MMA project to test the waters, then maybe consider
co-promoting shows with K-1. Otherwise, don’t bother.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
'Rampage'
joins The Wolfslair Academy
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who last month parted ways
with Juanito Ibarra, has agreed to a 3-year deal with the UK's
Wolfslair Fight Team to manage his career, Fighters Only Magazine
reported Wednesday.
The signing of Jackson immediately adds name recognition to the
Wolfslair Academy, whose lone star had been UFC middleweight
Michael Bisping. With the UFC promoting shows more frequently
outside of the US, fighters like Jackson, Andrei Arlovski and
Cheick Kongo have chosen the Wolfslair Academy to prepare for
fights in the UK.
Ibarra,
who served as Jackson's mentor and trainer up till his loss to
Forrest Griffin at UFC 86 in July, has officially resigned as
Jackson's manager. According to Wolfslair co-owner Anthony McGann,
the split was amicable.
Jackson
will prepare for his UK fights in England with his new team,
but will remain in Huntington Beach, California when he's training
for fights in the US to take advantage of high-altitude training
in Big Bear.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Matt
Brown Prepares For His Toughest Fight
By Steven Marrocco
Cincinnati
welterweight Matt Brown fell short of his goal to best 16 UFC
hopefuls for the honor of being “The Ultimate Fighter”
in the show’s seventh season, but he didn’t lose the
bigger war. Now a bonafide UFC fighter, things have changed quite
a bit for the former construction worker and personal trainer.
He can walk into any gym and get respect. People notice him on
the street. Girls like him.
Sometimes,
losing is winning. And as Brown revealed, it’s out of his
hands anyways.
FCF
spoke with Brown as he returned from a training camp in Seattle,
Washington, where he was preparing for his upcoming fight with
Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88 in Atlanta, Georgia on September 6th.
Like his MMA coach, Rich Franklin, Brown has become a disciple
of AMC Pankration coach Matt Hume. Alongside Franklin, Chris
Leben, Jorge Gurgel, and Spencer Fisher, Brown says he’s
taken his game to the next level. With no full time job to impede
his training, Brown believes he’s in a good place to fight
with Kim.
FCF:
How was Seattle?
Brown:
I think Matt’s amazing. Amazing coach, obviously a great
fighter. Whether I win or lose this fight, either way, I’m
going to come out a better fighter.
FCF:
With this opponent, he’s no pushover. What do you think
about him?
Brown:
He’s just another fighter, man. I think he’s a little
bit overhyped. He’s 11-0, but he hasn’t really fought
anybody. My record’s 10-6; the 10 guys I’ve fought
are tougher than the 10 guys he’s beat. But he’s just
another fighter, he’s a tough match-up, being that he’s
a really tall southpaw.
FCF:
That was part of my next question. He’s a tall southpaw,
he’s got a big reach, and a big hook coming in. You tend
to come straight towards your opponents and want to bang. How
do you see this fight playing out?
Brown:
I plan on getting in his face and throwing punches. That’s
one thing his opponents haven’t really done to him. They’re
usually looking to take him down. The style of match-ups that
he’s been against is giving him the opportunity to use his
southpaw advantage, and all the advantages he has have been brought
out more because of the match-ups that he’s had. I plan
on exposing his weaknesses rather than playing into his game
like everyone else has.
FCF:
But do you think coming straight at him is a good idea seeing
as most people have come straight at him?
Brown:
Well, it may not be straight at him. Hopefully, I can cut an
angle or something. (laughs) I’m definitely going to be
in his face, I’m not going to change that. He’s a southpaw.
You have to get your left foot to the outside. You don’t
want to step straight in. The guys fighting him were looking
for takedowns, they weren’t throwing straight punches, they
weren’t throwing kicks, and they weren’t confident
in the Thai clinch situation. Even if I come straight at him,
I don’t care. I’ll trade him punch for punch. The other
guys he fought, they didn’t want to fight, they just want
to take him down. I don’t want to take anything away from
him, but they looked like pushovers to me. Maybe Kim has a lot
more than what he’s shown in his fights, but considering
the level of opponent, it didn’t impress me too much. When
it comes down to it, a fight’s a fight. Whatever he brings,
I’m going to try to bring it a little harder.
FCF:
Do you think this next fight is going to be your toughest yet?
Brown:
Definitely. I’ve fought some pretty tough guys, so you never
really know. But this guy, stylistically, I think it’s the
toughest match-up of all. He’s never really shown that he
has a willingness to stand and bang, or take a hard shot, but
he can fight through hard times. My skills have to be on their
A game to win this fight.
FCF:
What would you like to accomplish in the next year?
Brown:
I really don’t look that far ahead. I look to do everything
in my power to win my next fight. What happens in a year will
take care of itself, as long as I win every fight. It’s
out of my control, so I don’t even think about it.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
FUTURE
BOUT BETWEEN SILVA AND FILHO POSSIBLE
by Tom Hamlin
Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White recently
opened the door to shuttering the middleweight and light heavyweight
divisions of World Extreme Cagefighting, bolstering the UFC’s
185-pound and 205-pound ranks with some of the displaced fighters.
Strong speculation has even indicated that the switch could begin
following WEC’s Sept. 10, but the heads of both Zuffa-owned
organizations have yet to confirm that.
The
change brings rise to a pressing issue – what is the fate
of WEC middleweight champ Paulo Filho? As MMAWeekly.com’s
No. 2 ranked fighter in the middleweight division, he only has
one man looking above him, that being longtime training partner
and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. In previous interviews,
Silva has stated that he would never fight his friend.
In
a recent interview with MMAWeekly Radio, however, Ed Soares,
manager for both Filho and Silva, said it would be an uphill
battle to convince his clients to take the fight, but said it
was a possibility if MMA fans wanted it.
“If
that’s the fight that the world wants to see, then I guess
we’re going to have to sit back and talk about it,”
Soares said. “I think that’s going to be a hard one
to get across to both sides. They’re friends, they’ve
been together. But at the end of the day, it’s a business,
and sometimes you’ve gotta go in there, and you shake hands.
They’ve been on each other for free in training. I can just
tell you that it would really have to be something that makes
sense for both guys.”
If
history is any indication in fight negotiations, it’s sense
of the dollar variety. Soares says the fight is not even on Filho’s
horizon at this point; his first obligation is to fighting Chael
Sonnen on Sept. 10 at WEC 36.
The
champion came inches away from losing his first title defense
against Sonnen at WEC 31, and dropped out of a scheduled re-match
at WEC 34 due to a stint in a Brazilian rehabilitation center.
Filho had reportedly suffered from depression and an unknown
chemical dependence prior to his admittance. According to Soares,
Filho knows his reputation is on the line.
“He’s
doing great right now,” Soares said. “He had a little
bit of turmoil in his life and worked through that. Right now
he’s training really hard. He’s in Brazil in a secluded
place outside the city right now. He’s actually training
with Andre Galvao. He’s very focused; he’s very determined.
“He
hasn’t been very happy with his last two performances in
the WEC. He’s had time off, and he’s let some little
injuries heal up, and I think you’re going to see a different
Paulo Filho. From what I understand talking to him, his spirits
are high, and he really wants to prove why he’s the No.
2 ranked guy in the world in the middleweight division.”
But
No. 1, that’s going to take time, and a lot of convincing.
It’s not out of the question, but Soares asks fans not to
hold their breath.
“We’ve
talked to the UFC and WEC about it, and right now, nothing’s
for sure,” Soares said. “So we’ll cross that bridge
when it comes.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Lyoto
predicts fast fight against Thiago
By Guilherme Cruz
At
UFC 89, two unbeatable fighters will colide on the duel that
will put one of them to meet a loss for the first time. With
13 win in a perfect card, Thiago Silva won 11 by knockout, and
that’s why Lyoto Machida predicts a fast fight against him
at UFC 88. “I believe this fight won’t go to decision…
Thiago likes to fight aggressively, me too, he has good MMA techniques,
so I believe this fight might finish before the third round”,
said Lyoto, that is training hard. “I’m training a
lot, actually I hadn’t stop training since my last fight.
Now I’m doing a specifically training focused on Thiago,
preparing my strategies and working on the physical preparation…
I’m very focused”, said the athlete to TATAME.com.
Source: Tatame
|
Trigg
Dispels Rumors; Confirms Upcoming Fight
By Jagjit Sidhu
MMAJunkie.com is reporting that Frank Trigg will fight in his
already proposed Oct. 3 Strikeforce bout with Falaniko Vitale.
Trigg is coming off a victory over Olympic gold medalist Makoto
Takimoto at this past weekend's Sengoku 4 event. Less than seven
weeks separates the Sengoku fight from his upcoming Strikeforce
bout. To further complicate matters Trigg's wife is expecting
to give birth any day now.
Despite
the short training camp Trigg says the fight will go on as planned.
"I'm more tired than anything," Trigg said regarding
his fight with Takimoto. "My ear is a little torn up. He
caught me with a good right hook early. It just bled a lot, but
it wasn't really hurt or anything."
Trigg
also spoke to MMA Junkie about future match ups that his Strikeforce
deal might provide for him.
"Which
one of the two do I want to fight first?" Trigg replied
when asked of possible fights against Cung Le and Frank Shamrock.
"If both are in my future, who cares? It doesn't make much
of a difference."
However,
the most probable match up in Triggs future is a rematch between
fellow Sengoku and Strikeforce fighter, Kazuo Misaki. Trigg out
wrestled Misaki to a unanimous decision victory last February.
Since than Misaki has been vocal about a possible rematch.
"If
he wants to go again, that's fine," Trigg said. "I'll
be happy to beat him again."
Source: Fight Line
|
Pros,
Cons of The Olympics
Michael Huckaby
CATEGORIES:
MMA, Boxing, Wrestling, International, Kick Boxing, Muay Thai,
Martial Arts, Olympic Sports
I
know many of you are not fans of other sports so I was told to
keep this more or less to combat sports such as wrestling, judo
and taekwondo. Adam Morgan and I are massive Olympic fans and
we watch every event we possibly can. I’ll throw in more
but I’ll try to keep this mainly in that fighting form even
though that’s still not MMA and people will still yell at
me. I DVR’d like 20 hours of Olympics per day and saw everything
outside of my fast forwarding of rowing, handball, equestrian
and other nonsense.
CON:
MMA in the Olympics. Who is dumb enough to think this is possible?
Where do I start? Okay, so (a) you think it’s possible that
Matt Hughes would fight Jake Shields, Georges St. Pierre and
Karo Parisyan in one week? (b) Companies like the UFC would be
okay with losing any big money MMA fights like Rampage vs. Liddell
for some Olympic semi-final on NBC? This isn’t even mentioning
the brutality of the sport and the injury risk. MMA in the Olympics
would never work…. how about we work on BJJ in the Olympics?
That is possible and worth fighting for…. MMA is not.
CON:
That taekwondo guy that kicked the ref in the face. I don’t
really need to comment, right? That’s bad, I think that’s
universal. Pulling an Yvel in the Olympics is actually worse
because it’s a worldwide stage. Get a hold of yourself.
PRO:
Jim Lampley. He gave the best quote of the entire Olympics about
the above event and it was fantastic. “The first rule of
taekwondo: you can’t kick the referee in the head.”
I’m not making that up, I saw it. If that’s the first
rule, what is the second rule? Don’t kick him in the groin?
Is that the fourth rule? Sixth? What about stabbing your opponent?
Is the first rule of taekwondo really that you can’t kick
the referee in the head, specifically? I’ve looked at 7
sets of taekwondo rules on Google and I’ve yet to see anything
about it. I love you Jim Lampley and your ramblings.
CON:
Jim Lampley. “Philosophically he was a psychology major.”
You are the dumbest person in the world. Bob Costas was on 12
hours a day and I never saw him say anything half as bad as you
said on a daily basis.
CON:
The dumbest event of the games. This is always up for debate
and it’s really hard to determine. Rowing is stupid and
horrible to watch but I can atleast understand it’s difficult
and people train for years to be great at it. This leaves me
with two, trampoline and steeplechase. Trampoline is probably
the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen as there is actually an
Olympic sport where people just do gymnastics on a trampoline.
Why? BJJ can’t be an Olympic sport but jumping on a trampoline
can? “STAY ON THE X AND DON’T GO OUTSIDE THE LINE!”
Steeplechase made sense in 1341 but now it’s just track
with hurdles and water puddles. I really don’t see the point
at this year in time. Morgan and I agree it is trampoline….
ladies and gentlemen your official dumbest Olympic sport.
PRO:
Henry Cejudo. One of, if not the best, story of the games. The
21-year-old became the youngest American gold medal winning wrestler
in history. If you haven’t heard his story you should Google
him. The son of illegal immigrants, he moved over 50 times as
a child with all of his brothers and sisters. He grew up in South
Central LA until the family was moved because his father was
about to get out of prison. You know you lived a life when you
could have a legitimate biography about yourself at the age when
you can buy your first beer.
PRO:
Ara Abrahamian dropping his medal. A Swedish wrestler just quit
after feeling screwed by the terrible referees and just threw
his medal to the ground and stormed off. Nice job by the IOC
stripping him of the medal he didn’t want. “I QUIT!”
“NO, YOU’RE FIRED!” Well played Olympics, you’re
like a crappy CVS assistant manager.
PRO:
Beach volleyball. Can you possibly watch this and not think it’s
fun as hell? I want to go play beach volleyball right now. I
can dig and spike, I’m ready to go. I’ll add another
pro that Kerri Walsh’s ass is fantastic. Argue with me,
I dare you. Seriously though, do three of you want to play with
me? I don’t get out of my mom’s basement much.
CON:
Standing 8s in boxing with no knockdowns. Guys get hit three
times, with headgear on, and the ref hops in and gives a standing
eight and basically ruins any rhythm. THEY’RE BOXERS, let
them fight. If they were gymnasts boxing I could see the point.
They’re not fifteen years old they’re adults fighting
in the Olympics, we don’t need standing eight counts when
you don’t fall down. I won’t even start with the terrible
scoring system of amateur boxing.
CON:
Women’s shotput. This is Gong Lijiao. OH DEAR GOD. This
is a Chinese shot put superstar. People make jokes about softball
players being lesbians but I don’t care what my daughter
does so long as she doesn’t get involved in the world of
women’s shot put.
PRO:
Mongolia’s first gold. Tuvshee Naidan knocked out Mongolia’s
first gold medal ever in the form of Judo and you can see how
they celebrated right here. Note the use of the word “vodka”
three times. “OMG WE WON A MEDAL LET’S GET CRAZY DRUNK
ON VODKA!” Apparently there were fireworks and a guy saying,
“I can’t help but jump up and down!” I have it
on good authority this still won’t make Mongolia a top tourist
destination.
CON:
Why can I score as well as the judges? I don’t care if it’s
diving, gymnastics, synchronized swimming or equestrian why is
it when I go, “that’s about a 7.5? that every single
judge scores it about a 7.5? I have no idea what I’m doing,
why am I scoring it the same way as you are every single time?
And China might have won the most gold medals but over 50% of
them were in judged events and not result events. Well done,
home town advantage. That aside, I want to know why I can judge
an 8.4 as well as an official judge. They’re over there
looking at video and taking off tenths and I’m in my underwear
on the couch. Something isn’t right.
CON:
Olympic freakshow boxing. People rip Japan for wanting freakshow
MMA fights but the same happened in the super-heavyweight boxing
finals in Beijing. Italian Roberto Cammarelle defeated Chinese
fighter Zhang Zhilei in a ridiculously entertaining fight. Cammarelle
beat the ungodly crap out of Zhilei with perfect shots to the
face over and over again. Zheilei is 6'7 and towering over him
but was completely overmatched and got absolutely destroyed.
The ref finally felt sorry for him and stopped the bout 19 seconds
into the fourth round. It was pathetic but truly entertaining.
CON:
Somjit Jongjohor over Andris Hernandez. After this boxing match
the announcer said, “anytime you beat a Cuban” it’s
a good fight. I assume he meant because Cubans are strong fighters
and not because the announcer specifically likes watching Cubans
get beat up.
PRO:
Water polo is Hungary’s national sport. Now you know….
how stupid Hungary’s national sport is. Did they make that
the national sport because they were good at it or are they good
at it because it’s the national sport? Kudos to the American
team for competing with Serbia, Hungary, Montenegro and the rest
of the area that’s any good at water polo.
CON:
Randoms…. (a) Volleyball receivers always win over the servers,
(b) equestrian “individual dressage,” which is apparently
the name of when people make horses prance around like dogs and
hop back and forth, (c) you dedicated your life to table tennis,
(d) 12-year-old Chinese gymnasts, (e) baseball’s mercy rule
like it’s little league, (f) batons for Olympic track relays….
can’t they just tag each other or something, why do they
have to hand off a stupid prop to one another? (g) Stupid swimming
suits. How about they swim naked? I realize we can’t put
that on TV but I’m tired of the newest suits winning all-time
records. Just let them swim with everything flopping that flops
or doesn’t. You know swimmers from decades ago curse every
time their records are broken because of the newest speedo invention.
PRO:
Randoms…. (a) My new respect for synchronized swimming,
that crap looks hard, (b) Shawn Johnson’s little face, (c)
in soccer celebrations they can all jump on each other and do
ridiculous victory celebrations yet in the NFL they can’t
even spike the ball. (d) Phelps and the awesome 4×100 relay,
(e) no more baseball or softball. Our best players can’t
play and neither can the world’s best when our season is
going on so why have it be an Olympic sport? I don’t buy
that “Olympics should be for amateurs” crap either.
The Olympics are about the best athletes in the world, why would
you have to be an amateur?
TOP
PRO: People that do nothing else having jobs. We have a badminton
expert, we have a rhythmic gymnastics expert and we have a weightlifting
expert. They all have jobs for two weeks as they need someone
to explain crap to us. Good for you, you’re making some
money. When else can you hear, “oh man, I expect more from
Gavrilov from Belgium!?”. What do you do for money the rest
of your life? Thank God these people can make some scratch once
every four years. I mean is there a badminton expert hired by
ESPN7 or do they just sit around for 3 years and 50 weeks between
Olympic games?
TOP
CON: Lack of “cock.” Shuttlecock. As I watched badminton
they kept calling the shuttlecock the “shuttle.” Where
did the cock go? It was called a shuttlecock the last time I
saw it and that’s what we called it when I was forced to
play in high school gym class. You can’t just suddenly call
it a “shuttle” because you feel like it. Did they seriously
change it’s name just because people snickered when they
said it? The only thing worse than the name is changing it because
it sounds bad. Official announcement: on an airplane it’s
no longer the cockpit, it’s just The Pit. We’ll also
need to come up with a new term for tilting your head to the
side and don’t get me started on the poor male chickens.
I
can’t wait four more years for the next games. I say this
because the Winter Olympics only count for Sweden and Norway.
Source: The Fight Network
|
Cro
Cop to fight at Dream 6
Croatian recovered from injury
Not having fought since March, when he defeated Tatsuya Mizuno
at his Dream debut, Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic should return to
the ring on September 23rd. The fighter himself confirmed his
participation at Dream 6 in an interview with website Index.hr.
“My knee is great. I have no problems and I’m ready
for my next fight,” declared the Pride Open Weight GP 2006
champion.
His
adversary has not yet been defined, but Cro Cop already has a
preferred name in mind. “I would like to fight Alistair
Overeem. I really don’t why he would say all those things
about me (Overeem publicly criticized Cro Cop and said the Croatian
chose his opponents). I never choose my opponents. This type
of talk is not my style, but I would like to tell him to save
his strength for the ring, and not to talk. I want this fight
a lot,” said Cro Cop in finishing.
Hired
by the UFC shortly after Pride came to an end, Cro Cop did not
meet expectations in the octagon, after being knocked out by
Gabriel Napao and defeated by Cheik Kongo, he was released to
return to Japan to find his old form. For the mean time, the
endeavor has been a success…
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Quote
of the Day
“Be
miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's
always your choice.”
Wayne Dyer, American Psychotherapist/Author/Lecturer
|
Palolo
District Park Boxing
Our next
boxing show will be on Sat. Sept. 20, 2008 at the Palolo District
Park Gym at 6 p.m.
10- 12 bouts scheduled.
If you have any questions feel free to email me back.
Thanks, Bruce |
BJ
PENN WILLING TO WAIT FOR GSP SUPER FIGHT
UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn will have to wait just a little
longer to face Georges St. Pierre, the man he’s set in his
sights since conquering the 155-pound division. But it won’t
be too long; manager J.D. Penn tells MMAWeekly.com that UFC president
Dana White has named Jan. 31 as D-Day for B.J.’s next incursion
into the 170-pound division. Penn and company had originally
anticipated a showdown with St. Pierre at UFC 92 on Dec. 27 in
Las Vegas.
“He’s
staying strong and focused,” J.D. says. “Jan. 31 gives
him an extra month to train.”
In
a recent interview with MMAWeekly.com, B.J. said he’s pulling
out all the stops in preparation for the fight. It’s not
just an issue of avenging a loss – he dropped a split decision
to St. Pierre at UFC 58 in his second go-around as a UFC welterweight
– but advancing the sport to a higher level.
“St.
Pierre, he’s got his Canadian fans, his American fans, his
fans all over the world,” B.J. said. “I could see in
one night that fight jumping the sport of mixed martial arts
leaps and bounds. It could be maybe the Joe Frazier/Muhammad
Ali type fight that the sport is looking for right now.”
The
UFC’s Super Bowl weekend cards have taken on increased importance
since the sport’s meteoric rise in visibility. With Penn
and St. Pierre coming off extremely impressive performances at
UFC 84 and UFC 87, respectively, the event has the potential
to splash black ink across Zuffa’s first quarter balance
sheet for 2009.
UFC
president Dana White recently told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports
that the company was having a retreat this week to figure out
the marquee fights for the four yet to be announced cards, starting
with UFC 91 on Nov. 15 in Portland, Ore.
As
of yet, no other fights have been rumored or confirmed for the
Jan. 31 card in Las Vegas.
Source: MMA Weekly |
QUINTON
JACKSON CHARGED WITH TWO FELONIES
The Orange County District Attorney’s office has formally
charged former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage”
Jackson for a July 15 hit-and-run melee that landed the popular
fighter in jail.
In
a press release issued on Monday, Jackson is accused of sideswiping
two cars and subsequently fleeing Costa Mesa police officers
as they attempted to stop him. In the short chase, Jackson allegedly
damaged another car and nearly hit several pedestrians at a bus
stop. His left front tire shredded, he eventually surrendered
to police officers in nearby Newport Beach.
The
30-year-old Jackson has been charged with one felony count of
evading while driving recklessly, one felony count of evading
a peace officer and driving against traffic, three misdemeanor
counts of hit and run with property damage, and one misdemeanor
count of reckless driving.
His
arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 28. Deputy District
Attorney Keith Bogardus will request a $25,000 bail for the fighter.
Notably
absent were charges related to Holli Griggs, a passenger in one
of the cars that Jackson sideswiped. Griggs was 16 weeks pregnant
with a boy when she miscarried two weeks after the incident.
Orange County DA spokeswoman Farrah Emami told MMAWeekly.com
that a subsequent investigation of the miscarriage did not implicate
Jackson.
“We
reviewed all the medical records and spoke with the victim’s
physician, and the evidence showed that the loss of the fetus
was not related to or a result of the crash caused by the defendant,”
Emami said.
Jackson
re-emerged in the public eye at UFC 87 following a long period
of silence. At a pre-fight press conference for “Seek and
Destroy,” he appeared to be in good spirits, a far cry from
the man who was placed under mental observation by police officers
shortly after the chase. The charismatic light heavyweight said
he was back on track and thanked UFC president Dana White for
getting him there.
“I’m
already training, so my next opponent better watch out,”
he said. “But that was the worst mistake I ever made, I
got Dana over my back all the time. ‘Did you eat? Did you
sleep? Drink your water?’ It’s like I’m two years
old, but it’s all good,” he continued.
If
convicted, Jackson could face up to three years in prison. He
and UFC representatives were unavailable for comment.
Source: MMA Weekly |
RADACH
READY FOR NINJA AND ELITEXC ON CBS
It was only a week ago that MMAWeekly.com spoke to Benji Radach
as a free agent ready to sign on with a new promotion.
Now,
the former Ultimate Fighting Championship and International Fight
League fighter has indeed signed on with a new organization.
He will compete for EliteXC, making his debut on Oct. 4 against
former middleweight champion Murilo “Ninja” Rua.
“It’s
going to be a battle,” said Radach in an interview with
MMAWeekly.com on Monday. “I’m a little nervous. It’s
short notice and I wasn’t really training at all, so I have
six weeks to kick my own ass and to get in shape.”
The
decision to sign with EliteXC came at the expense of the Affliction
promotion who was also vying for the middleweight, but according
to Radach, rumors circulated that they were unwilling to match
offers similar to other former IFL fighters such as Chris Horodecki
and Jay Hieron.
Instead,
Radach signs on with EliteXC where he will step into possibly
the deepest weight class in the promotion and has the chance
to fight on network TV for the first time ever.
“That’s
a huge thing going on and it’s a big opportunity,”
Radach commented about fighting on CBS. “A lot of people
are going to watch that. I don’t care what’s going
on that night, people are going to be watching that fight. It’s
a good chance to get out there and hopefully kick some ass.”
Fighting
Rua, the former EliteXC 185-pound divisional champion, Radach
will have a big test after a 10-month layoff from competition,
but it’s exactly what he wanted.
“If
you’re to the point where you’re fighting the best
guys, there’s no need to go back and fight a tune-up fight,”
he stated. “If I’m going to be in shape and fight,
might as well fight the best and that’s what I want to do.”
The
fight with Rua could put Radach right back in the middle of a
title race as champion Robbie Lawler is still awaiting his next
match-up.
Radach
has confidence that his style and technique will out do Rua and
put him right back in the mix of the middleweight elite.
“I
think I match up pretty well. I think my stand-up is good enough
and I think I’ll be able to give him hell as far as wrestling
goes too. My wrestling I think is better, I should really control
the fight more than he can.”
Source: MMA Weekly |
AFFLICTION
GOES NASCAR RACING THIS WEEKEND
Affliction Entertainment teams up with NASCAR's Michael Waltrip
Racing for this weekend's Pepsi 500 at the Auto Club Speedway
in San Bernardino County, Calif. for a one-race deal to sponsor
the No. 00 car driven by Mike Skinner.
The
Affliction "Day of Reckoning" sponsored Toyota will
be "fully wrapped" with graphics promoting the upcoming
Oct. 11 pay-per-view event at the Thomas & Mack Center in
Las Vegas. Top 5 ranked heavyweights and former Ultimate Fighting
Championship titleholders Josh Barnett and Andrei Arlovski headline
Affliction’s sophomore effort.
"Affliction
is proud to make racing history as the first MMA organization
to sponsor a car in NASCAR," said Tom Atencio, vice president
of Affliction Entertainment. "NASCAR fans are huge supporters
of MMA and this is a great collaboration for both sports."
"It's
great to have Affliction Entertainment as a Michael Waltrip Racing
partner," said Michael Waltrip, driver of the No. 55 NAPA
AUTO PARTS Toyota and founder of Michael Waltrip Racing. "Our
partnership with Affliction and MMA allows us to connect with
millions of fans in a unique way."
In
addition to Affliction's sponsorship of the Michael Waltrip Racing
No. 00 entry, the company will work with Auto Club Speedway to
promote "Day of Reckoning" to the multitude of fans
who attend the events planned at the speedway this Labor Day
weekend. Utilizing the venue's multiple promotional opportunities,
Affliction and Auto Club Speedway have packaged a mixture of
promotional opportunities to make the fans aware of Affliction's
upcoming event.
The
No. 00 Toyota is 37th in owner points in stockcar racing's premier
division, the Sprint Cup Series. The top 35 in owner points are
guaranteed a starting position in the race, although only 44
cars are attempting to make the 43-car field.
If
qualifying is canceled due to rain, the Affliction sponsored
car will be on the starting grid. The only way it will not make
the race is if Johnny Sauter, Patrick Carpentier, Marcos Ambrose,
Kyle Petty, Tony Raines, Joe Nemecheck, A.J. Almendinger and
Brad Coleman all post faster qualifying speeds.
"We're
bringing together the excitement of NASCAR racing at Auto Club
Speedway and the full contact action of Affliction Entertainment
MMA Events," said Gillian Zucker, president of Auto Club
Speedway. "We're thrilled to host the debut of Affliction
in motorsports."
The
250-lap event will start at 5 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, Aug. 31
from Auto Club Speedway in San Bernardino County, Calif. and
will be shown on ABC TV via ESPN-ABC Sports.
Source: MMA Weekly |
STRIKEFORCE
ANNOUNCES OCT. 3 HEAVYWEIGHTS
Stirkeforce on Sunday announced the addition of K-1 veterans
Patrick Barry and Andre Walker in an Oct. 3 heavyweight battle.
The fight is part of the undercard for the promotion’s debut
in the Denver-area at the 6,000 to7,500-seat Broomfield Events
Center.
Both
having strong pasts in kickboxing, neither Barry nor Walker has
a load of MMA experience.
“I
started off in kickboxing with the goal of being the world’s
best kickboxer and, now, moving into MMA, I want to be the world’s
best kickboxer in MMA,” said Barry of his new undertaking.
“MMA is turning into kickboxing in the cage, pretty much.
That’s just the way the sport has evolved.”
Last
year, Barry turned in his most active year with K-1. During the
organization’s “Grand Prix” tournament in Honolulu,
Hawaii on April 28, 2007, he finished legendary puncher, “Big
Daddy” Gary Goodridge, with a left round kick to the head
at 1:07 of the opening round. Four months later, he stopped Rickard
Nordstrand with an onslaught of low kicks in the second round
of their meeting in Las Vegas.
A
native of New Orleans, Barry lost a grandmother and his family
home when Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005. He has since
found refuge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the birthplace of his mentor,
four-time world Muay Thai champion, Jeff “Duke” Roufus.
With the help of MMA star, Eric Schafer, a trainer at The Duke
Roufus Kickboxing, Mixed Martial Arts, and Boxing Academy, Barry
has tackled the grappling aspect of his new occupation.
“I
like it a lot,” said Barry of his wrestling and Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu training . “I’ve been kickboxing for six
or seven years, so this is something different. I like it because
it’s not easy and, if we want to train to be fighters, we’ve
got to be ready for any kind of fight, any time, on all different
terrains.”
Walker’s
start will be his first since February 16, 2007, when he was
stopped by Carpaccio Owens at the same arena where he will meet
Barry.
“I’m
going all the way this time. I’m 100% better than I used
to be and committed to becoming a champion,” said the 36-year-old
Walker. According to the heavyweight, he took a much needed hiatus
in order to strengthen his skill set.
Despite
only five professional MMA appearances, Walker brings to the
cage a rich history in combat sports. During the late ‘90’s,
the Denver native was a student of Sabaki Karate under Clarence
Thatch and, later, he went on an unbeaten, 5-0 run in “Toughman”
competition.
“The
Sabaki helps my stand-up (skills) in MMA a lot,” explained
Walker. “I’m able to swing my opponent and knock him
off balance. It’s using his own weight against him.”
Walker
made his greatest impression in the fight world to date on August
11, 2001 when he stopped Carter Williams in the second round
of their K-1 matchup at Las Vegas’ Bellagio Hotel and Casino.
Williams went on to capture the K-1 North America tournament
championship two years later.
A
recent victor at Sengoku 4 in Japan, Frank Trigg will face off
with Hawaiian star Falaniko “Niko” Vitale in the main
event of Strikeforce “Payback” in Broomfield.
World Muay Thai champion and local favorite Duane “Bang”
Ludwig will attempt to avenge a previous defeat at the hands
of “The Ultimate Fighter” season three veteran Sam
Morgan in the co-main event.
Also
back in action at Strikeforce “Payback” will be UFC
veterans Phil Baroni and Pete Spratt. Opponents for Baroni and
Spratt have not been confirmed yet.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
“The
aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things,
but their inward significance.”
Aristotle, 384-322 B.C., Greek Philosopher
|
UFC
expansion not without risks
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship will increase international activity
in the next few months, with plans to open up new markets .
“In
the spring of 2009, we plan to have two (international) events
outside of the United Kingdom,” said Marshall Zaleznik,
the company’s U.K. division president, who is working heavily
with co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta in the company’s worldwide
expansion plans. “We’re looking at Italy, Sweden, Australia
and the Philippines. We want to go to Germany (in 2009) but we
haven’t launched television.”
That’s
only the first wave of planned expansion. Fertitta leaving his
post as the highest-paid casino executive in Las Vegas to work
full-time for UFC was with the goal of trying to duplicate the
company’s U.S. success on a worldwide basis. There are even
serious talks of running a regular schedule of events in Japan,
now that the company has a television deal, although that is
more on the long-term radar.
With
expansion comes major questions. Parent company Zuffa LLC will
promote 19 shows this year under the UFC brand name, and another
six under the WEC banner. With a finite number of stars and real
main event fighters, it becomes a balancing act of how many shows
you can produce without watering down the lineups, and thus weakening
the brand.
There
were already problems at times this year, which largely came
from the injury bug hitting, but that’s an inevitable part
of the game. The June show in London had a weak pay-per-view
main event of Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves after injuries felled
the planned Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
match. The show drew well live because the arena was already
almost sold out when Liddell tore his hamstring, but it was the
weakest drawing pay-per-view of the year.
A
July Spike TV special was hastily put together, largely to combat
the debut of the Affliction group on pay-per-view. With many
top stars not wanting to fight on short notice, Anderson Silva
saved the show by agreeing to compete in the main event.
They’ve
struggled to find a main event for the Nov. 15 show in Portland,
Ore., with Joe Stevenson vs. Kenny Florian close to final and
Brock Lesnar vs. Cheick Kongo in the talking stages.
In
2009, you’re probably talking 23-25 UFC events and eight
WEC cards. The company is fortunate that none of its competitors
have gained a real foothold, because a group like Affliction,
with far less talent depth, if only running three or four shows
per year, has the ability to put on stronger lineups.
Zuffa’s
full-scale push into the U.K. started with UFC 70 on April 21,
2007, which ended with the stunning Gabriel Gonzaga knockout
of Mirko Cro Cop. The company has set several major arena live
gate and merchandise sales records in that country’s biggest
indoor venues. They are currently preparing an Oct. 18 show in
Birmingham, England, which will air on Spike TV on tape delay
in the U.S., headlined by Liverpool’s Ultimate Fighter season
three champion Michael Bisping (17-1) against Chris Leben (18-4).
UFC
ran once in the U.K. in 2002, but pulled out of the market due
to company president Dana White not liking the terms of the company’s
television deal. Like in the U.S., the popularity took off in
2005 when the U.K. version of Bravo aired season one of the Ultimate
Fighter. The company also embarked on a huge marketing campaign
in early 2007 to build the brand name.
“I
think Lorenzo (Fertitta) says it best, were we going to launch
with a standard marketing plan or did we want to reach, as Dana
White said, every sheepherder in the country?,” said Zaleznik.
“He decided, let’s just spend to be sure. What we realized
after two events is that we didn’t have to spend as much.
Once we got to London (for the third U.K. show Sept. 8, 2007
show) we realized the UFC was bigger than we anticipated.”
Zaleznik
felt the branding campaign wasn’t needed for the core fan
base in the country, but for the general public he’s noticed
a huge difference.
“You
used to say `UFC,’ and people would say, ‘Huh?.’”
he said. “Now, say UFC, and every cab driver knows exactly
what you’re talking about.”
Zaleznik
estimated they have cut back 80 percent in spending to market
the recent shows. A Standard & Poor’s credit review
of the company, which downgraded the company last year because
of international expansion losses due to the marketing campaign,
noted in an upgrade that U.K. operations are now profitable.
The
company recently made a tough decision to move away from Bravo,
which is the equivalent of a cable station in the U.S., to Setanta
Sports, which is a premium sports package network, but reaches
far fewer casual viewers. The move was made for a number of reasons.
“A
big reason was to get all the shows airing live,” said Zaleznik.
“Our diehard fans will stay up until 4 a.m. to watch it
live. There may only be 10,000 to 15,000 of them, but we have
to present it as a sport where people see the events live.”
Another
reason was Setanta agreed to put more money into marketing, which
has allowed UFC to cut back its own marketing budget. Part was
a perception issue, as Zaleznik felt in the long-term, it’s
important UFC is considered a major sport, and on Bravo it would
be seen more as entertainment.
With
the expansion comes questions. Zaleznik makes no bones about
the company modeling its expansion goals after the success of
World Wrestling Entertainment, which in its last quarter derived
40 percent of its profits from outside North America.
In
fact, one of the company’s key factors in deciding on locations
to expand into first are markets the WWE has had success in.
But the most important factor is where UFC itself has established
a core television audience.
“We
do believe in the matriculation of WWE fans to UFC,” said
Zaleznik.
“We
look at places where WWE has had five years of success. After
three to five years of following WWE, many fans are ready to
graduate to the UFC.”
Another
similarity they’ve found is that you don’t need a native
superstar to be successful.
“Bisping
has made it a bit easier, but the people want to see the UFC
fighters they’ve seen on television,” said Zaleznik.
“We saw that In Belfast with the reactions to Rich Franklin
and Forrest Griffin. Bisping is great, but they want to see the
television stars. If Bisping doesn’t win Ultimate Fighter
3, we’d still be successful.”
Still,
Zaleznik noted the type of event to take the sport to the next
level in that country, running a 50,000-seat stadium like boxing
native stars Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe have headlined, would
probably not be considered unless Bisping can challenge Anderson
Silva for the middleweight title.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Lopez
takes fight to taekwondo federation
BEIJING
– With taekwondo already rumored to be on the brink of Olympic
elimination, the sport was doing everything it could to avoid
even the slightest shock of controversy.
On
Friday, it was struck by lightning.
In
a chaotic episode that might ultimately prove to be the tipping
point to Olympic doom, American two-time defending gold medalist
Steven Lopez was eliminated from gold-medal contention on a controversial
referee’s decision. Lopez would go on to win bronze in the
80-kilogram weight class, but not until after his team leader,
Herb Perez, had filed a protest and then ripped the World Taekwondo
Federation (WTF) for intimidation and gross mismanagement of
the sport’s rules and oversight.
“When
(poor judging) happens to you, you’re told to shut up and
not say anything because of what will happen to you, or what
will happen to the sport,” Perez said. “If this is
truly what taekwondo is about, maybe taekwondo shouldn’t
be in the Olympics. Maybe they should fix it.”
Perez
was furious after a string of events that began when Lopez –
who hadn’t lost a match since 2002 – was docked one
point in his quarterfinal match against Italy’s Mauro Sarmiento.
A referee determined Lopez had used a “cut kick,” which
is essentially kicking away an opponent’s blow below the
waist. Perez maintained that Lopez had merely raised his left
leg in defense on the foul, and Sarmiento had kicked into Lopez’s
leg in an attempt to draw a point deduction.
Lopez’s
lost point cut his 2-1 lead into a 1-1 tie in the third and final
period of the match. He eventually lost in sudden-death overtime.
What
came next had the WTF scrambling on the defensive as Perez came
out with some serious allegations. First, he said the protest
wasn’t properly handled – that the Olympic Competition
Supervisory Board didn’t respond for 45 minutes, well outside
of the allotted 15 minutes typically allowed. Second, Perez said
they were given little explanation as to why their protest had
been deemed “unacceptable.”
“Unacceptable
could mean anything from we didn’t file the papers properly
to we didn’t use the right color pencil,” Perez said.
“… Under the WTF competition rules, we should have
been notified about the decision, the criteria, the methodology
used, what evidence was presented,and what referees were reviewing
it. We were not.”
But
that wasn’t even the bombshell. Perez said that, in a June
taekwondo conference, the heads of the 25 teams which attended
were asked to sign an agreement not to file any protests at these
Olympic Games in hopes of avoiding a controversy that could further
put the sport’s Olympic future in jeopardy.
“We
were manhandled,” Perez said. “We were threatened not
to protest at this event. I think that needs to be said. We were
made to sign a document not to protest for the betterment of
taekwondo. It was a very big thing. There was a table, you went
up to the table, (and) you signed the document. You signed it
in front of the secretary general (of the WTF) and you gave him
the document.”
Perez
said he was approached again by WTF officials on Friday after
his protest was denied. This time, Perez said, they were asking
him not to speak to the press.
“I
was asked to compromise (again) five minutes ago,” he said.
“They said, ‘Don’t tell anyone.’ The head
of the WTF came to me and said, ‘Don’t speak to the
press.’ The secretary general said, ‘Don’t do
this.’ (Secretary General Jin Suk) Yang and (WTF president
Chungwon) Choue said, ‘Herbert, don’t do this. Think
about the future.’ ”
The
WTF’s director of public relations, Seok-Jae Kang, vehemently
denied coaches had signed a “no protest” pact, calling
the claim “nonsense.”
“It
is not an agreement. I would call it a resolution,” Kang
said. “A resolution on fair play. … It was ‘Do
your best to ensure fair play and judging.’ Appealing is
up to them. It’s their right and their rule. They can appeal.
“Ask
him the right wordings (on what he signed).”
Kang
said officials from the WTF were not prepared to respond on Friday
night, but pointed to a June release on the body’s Web site,
which touted “Participants in WTF Olympic Coach Seminar
Adopt Resolution on Fair Play.” The release lists some lines
from a document signed by coaches at the event, including an
agreement that signees would “respect and accept the judgment
and decisions of the refereeing and technical officials in all
taekwondo competitions.”
Clearly,
Perez believed that to mean that coaches were being leaned upon
not to protest at the Olympics. But Kang said that interpretation
was “a matter of opinion.” Another coach, Iran’s
Kiarash Bahri, didn’t attend the June meeting, but he said
he was never told explicitly not to protest.
“The
WTF wanted everybody to have more self-control, and if they want
to make a protest, take the correct procedure actually, not to
jump up and down and make a ruckus, raise a lot of noise,”
Bahri said. “Take the correct procedure to go about it,
file the complaint and then they’ll decide. But it wasn’t
like, ‘Don’t make a protest.’ ”
The
ugliness marred an otherwise positive story for taekwondo, which
had seen a generous amount of coverage as Lopez and his two siblings,
Mark and Diana, had captured medals in their respective weight
classes. Mark Lopez captured silver in the 68-kilogram division,
while Diana Lopez took bronze in the 57-kilogram weight class.
“(WTF
officials) don’t think about the repercussions until after
they make a mistake,” Steven Lopez said. “They know
the power we have as a family and bringing limelight to our sport.
By no means do I want to bring this sport down. I love this sport.
But sometimes in any sport there are judges, there are politics
involved. Unfortunately, there’s not supposed to be that
in any of the sports, but you see it all the time. Whether it
be gymnastics, boxing, it happens.
“There
are bad calls all the time. This is one of the times that it
happened to me. It normally doesn’t, but it happened. It
sucks.”
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Silva,
Dewees suspended for steroid use
Elite
XC heavyweight champion Antonio Silva and Affliction middleweight
Edwin Dewees were suspended for a year by the California Athletic
Commission on Thursday after each failed a post-fight urinalysis.
Silva,
who knocked out Justin Eilers in the second round on July 26
in Stockton, Calif., to win the inaugural EXC heavyweight belt,
tested positive for the anabolic steroid Boldenone, commission
spokesman Bill Douglas said.
Douglas
said Silva has been suspended until July 26, 2009, and fined
$2,500. He'll also likely be stripped of the Elite XC championship.
Dewees,
who was stopped in the first round by Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
on the July 19 Affliction card at the Honda Center in Anaheim,
Calif., tested positive for the anabolic steroid Nandrolone.
He
has been suspended until July 19, 2009, and fined $2,500.
The
commission also announced that Nogueria, heavyweights Fedor Emelianenko,
Tim Sylvia and Justin Eilers and Elite XC welterweight champion
Jake Shields all passed their drug tests.
William
Jacobsen, who fought on the Elite XC show on Aug. 15 in Friant,
Calif., failed to take his scheduled test for drugs of abuse
and was suspended indefinitely.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Avoiding
Conflict
KJ Noons may not be a coward, but he’s doing an awfully
good impression of one.
The
latest temper tantrum -- a pastime nearly as popular as the sport
itself -- to hit media sites has been between Noons’ employer,
EliteXC parent company ProElite, and Noons’ manager, Mark
Dion, who insists proposed opponent Nick Diaz isn’t a credible
contender for an Oct. 4 defense of Noons’ EliteXC lightweight
title on CBS.
(The
very same title he won against Diaz, a fact that incites a paradox
of Dion’s claim: If Diaz isn’t a worthy opponent, what
worth does Noons’ belt possess? Doc Brown warned us about
this kind of thing.)
This
stalemate was preceded earlier by Noons’ apathetic response
to pestering about his seemingly inevitable rematch with Diaz.
To paraphrase: I’ve beaten him once, so why do it again?
I’m in no rush.
But
you should be, Mr. Noons. You should be.
If
there’s one thing MMA can finally offer after 15 years of
its stubborn existence, it’s hindsight: If you don’t
do the money match now, it’s going to slip right through
your Ouano-laced fingers.
Back
in 2003, the UFC thought it could “build” to a marquee
match between Ken Shamrock and David "Tank" Abbott.
Unfortunately, both went virtually winless in the Octagon, and
the polished veneer of that fight chipped off like paint with
no primer.
But
it’s more than just the loss of a potentially incendiary
fight. Barely in diapers in his MMA career, Noons was being offered
the Holy Grail of anyone coveting mass exposure: a slot on primetime
network television. A fight on CBS, regardless of the result,
would give Noons an instant level of recognition that could be
parlayed into any number of opportunities: endorsements, sponsorships,
acting, seminars, etc.
Put
another way, product advertisers spend hundreds of thousands
of dollars securing pithy ad time on networks in an effort to
marinate viewer brains in their product. Dion’s product
is Noons, and instead of paying out the nose for the exposure,
ProElite would be paying him -- and so would sponsors eager to
get their logos captured by CBS’ high-definition cameras.
I’m
not a business major, but that doesn’t sound too bad.
In
a bit of morbidity ProElite isn’t likely to share, Dion
should also be mindful that this is the third of CBS’ four
contracted fights with the company. If ratings don’t rebound
from their last outing, their future on network television is
in doubt. Dion is playing Russian Roulette with the odds. Television
is relentlessly cruel to anything that underperforms.
“Take
the money and run” is a mercenary’s philosophy, but
hardly a dumb one.
There’s
also the issue of reciprocal behavior. Noons was knocked senseless
by Charles Bennett in his first ProElite outing. Perhaps owing
to a flimsy roster, they retained his services and allowed him
to eventually vie for a title. Petitioning him to defend said
title on free television isn’t exactly cruel and unusual
punishment. While Noons doesn’t “owe” ProElite
anything beyond owning up to a contracted title defense, I’d
imagine their earlier generosity would and should have some influence
on his plans.
Does
playing fiscal and managerial hardball help careers? It depends.
Tito Ortiz shunned Chuck Liddell until it absolutely couldn’t
be avoided -- when they finally fought, Ortiz had been defeated
by Randy Couture and the fight, while still anticipated, wasn’t
quite the battle of immovable objects it would’ve been just
a year prior.
More
recently, Dion client Brandon Vera was advised to play the freelance
market. He wound up sitting out the better part of a year and
then dragging in ring rust to drop two losses in a row, along
with one underwhelming decision victory.
I’m
no particular fan of promoters. Their risk is financial, not
physical, and bank account wounds heal better than tissue trauma.
But in being evasive with ProElite, Noons and Dion run the risk
of damaging a company that’s only trying to establish its
brand -- a brand that can, in turn, help Noons establish his.
Source: Sherdog
|
Florian
Won’t Wait for Penn; Stevenson Next
Kenny Florian was back in the gym two days after he became the
first person to beat Roger Huertain the Octagon. For the multi-faceted
32-year-old, now is not the time to sit back and relish his accomplishments.
Almost
immediately after he recorded the unanimous decision win over
Huerta at UFC 87 on Aug. 9, Florian (10-3) made it known he wanted
to fight again before the year was out. The UFC had framed the
Huerta fight as a number one contender match, but 155-pound kingpin
B.J. Penn will move up in weight to face welterweight titleholder
Georges St. Pierre in January. Florian will not let Penn’s
plans stop him from getting more cage time.
He
expected to be offered either Frankie Edgar or Joe Stevenson
when he requested another fight and immediately accepted an offer
to face the latter at UFC 91 on Nov. 15 in Portland, Ore.
“I’m
a fighter, and I want to stay busy; I want to fight all the best
people,” Florian said. “There are a lot of people who
think Joe Stevenson is still a top 10 fighter and I’m not.
I still have a lot to prove out there. For me, I just want to
fight the toughest guys. The title’s great. Of course I’d
be thrilled having a world title belt or whatever, but for me,
it’s about becoming a better fighter at the end of the day.”
Florian
respects Stevenson (29-8), who has won 14 of his last 16 fights.
“Joe
Stevenson is a tough fighter,” Florian said. “He’s
got a lot of experience. He presents a lot of problems. He’s
a short, stocky wrestler who’s also great on the ground
and has a solid boxing background. He’s similar to Sean
Sherk with actually probably better submissions. Maybe he’s
not as good with the takedowns, but he has great jiu-jitsu, great
submissions. He’s catching a lot of people left and right.”
Stevenson
-- who like Florian burst onto the UFC scene through “The
Ultimate Fighter” reality show and shines mostly in jiu-jitsu
-- will enter the bout with momentum. He became the first man
to submit American Top Team’s Gleison Tibau when he locked
in a guillotine choke at UFC 86 in July. The 26-year-old’s
still in the process of bouncing back from a loss in his first
UFC title fight -- a gusty but bloody defeat to Penn at UFC 80
in January.
Detractors
have criticized Florian’s performance against Huerta, chiding
him for lack of aggression after he executed a very technical
game plan. Florian claims he was also hard on himself after the
fight but felt better about his performance after watching tape
of the match. Despite snapping Huerta’s 17-bout unbeaten
streak, Florian was not surprised to read the thoughts of fans
who doubt his ability to reach the top of the lightweight class.
“I
wouldn’t be surprised if I went out there and knocked out
Joe Stevenson in the first 10 seconds and they were like, ‘Kenny
got lucky, and he still has to prove himself; he’ll never
beat Sean Sherk or B.J. Penn, and Tyson Griffin’s a better
fighter,’” Florian said. “For whatever reason,
people are still doubting me. It’s normal.”
Sherk
and Griffin will face off in their own high-stakes bout at UFC
90 on Oct. 25 in Chicago. Florian might have to take on the winner
before he gets another crack at the 155-pound title. Having rattled
off five straight wins since his five-round decision loss to
Sherk in 2006, Florian seems content to approach each challenge
with the same zeal, whether he fights for a belt or not.
“Everyone
thinks the title fight … that’s really going to bring
in more [money],” he said. “I get the same amount of
money if I fight for a title than if I fight Joe Stevenson or
Wayne Weems from season five of ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’
My contract is set. Sure, there’s more prestige or whatever
[with the title], but as far as making money … in boxing,
you want the title fight because that guarantees you the big
money.
“In
the UFC, your contact really stays the same. The prestige comes
with winning the belt, not the motivation of the money. I assume
after this, then I’ll be fighting for the title. But again,
I’m not sure. I’ve learned to take it one fight at
a time, and any promises that are made can change very quickly.”
Source: Sherdog
|
Radach
to Fight ‘Ninja’ at EliteXC-CBS Event
Benji Radach will fight Murilo “Ninja” Rua on the Oct.
4 EliteXC card, Radach has told Sherdog.com.
The
bout bolsters a lineup packed with star power. Kimbo Slice and
Gina Carano, in addition to Jake Shields’ title defense
against Paul Daley (Pictures), will headline the event, which
will air live on CBS from the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise,
Fla.
“I
expect to do well,” said Radach, whose scrap against Rua
(16-8-1) will be the first on his three-fight deal with EliteXC.
“I hope to win this fight and prepare myself better for
the next couple of fights.”
Radach,
a UFC veteran known for having heavy hands, has taken the middleweight
bout against the Brazilian on shorter notice than usual. He also
has not fought since late December 2007, when he was knocked
out by Matt Horwich (Pictures) in an IFL title bout.
At
18-4, the promising 29-year-old is excited to get back in the
ring after the IFL’s demise.
“My
plan is to make as big of an impact as I did in the IFL,”
he said of his future with EliteXC.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Quote
of the Day
“I've
learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.”
Tom Landry, 1924-2000, American Football Player and Coach
|
Fighters'
Club TV Tonight
Channel
52
NEW TIME of 8:00 PM!
A new episode
that features the Pac Sub tournament at the MMA Expo.
We
talk to the pound for pound best fighter in the world, BJ Penn.
East
coast to Guam transplant and technical wizard, Mike Fowler shows
off his leopard print hair and explains how he got his BJJ black
belt in only 4 years!
K-
Team and Relson Gracie competitor supreme, Brad Scott talks shop.
Last,
but certainly not the least, the lovely, but fierce Mrs. Bjjtek
expounds her roll as the enforcer of the Hawaii Ground better
known as the HG.
If
you are not on the Onzuka.com Hawaii Ground forum, you are missing
the latest news from upcoming events, get to rub elbows with
numerous promoters and fighters, and get to voice your opinion
on any subject you can dream up. Hit the links above to sign
up for a free account and start posting away!
|
Liddell
far from calling it quits
American wants to fight at least two more years
The
life of a high-level fighter is no walk in the park. Training
is tough, the aches and pains, fatigue, all is part of the routine.
Thus, one can expect that as age comes, with it comes speculation
about the decision to retire. In Chuck Liddell’s case, hanging
up the gloves will be a little while coming yet. Even at 38 years
of age, and having lost two of his last three fights, the former
UFC light heavyweight champion guarantees he will remain in the
mix, at least for the time being.
“I
still have two to four years left in me, depending on how my
body is doing. I hope that in two years I’ll still be able
to say ‘two to four years.’ I see myself fighting and
my body still working,” said the “Iceman” in an
interview on Tagg Radio.
Leaving
the UFC is another something the American is not taking into
consideration. “The UFC has been good to me. I don’t
see myself fighting anywhere else. At the moment they have all
the best fighters at my weight and that’s where I want to
be. I want to prove I’m the best at what I do,” he
continued.
The
scrapper with the Mohican hairdo’s next challenge will be
on September 6th, when he will face Rashad Evans in the main
event at UFC 88. Liddell believes he can win a shot at the title
should he triumph in Atlanta. “I believe I have a good chance.
I need to go out there and win, and to do that impressively.
Then fighting for the title would make sense,” he finished.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
What
does the future hold for MMA?
Modern
mixed martial arts is not quite 15 years old, so it’s still
a relatively young sport in terms of its development.
That
may seem like a long time to someone who fits into the sport’s
leading demographic age of 18-34, so it requires a little perspective
to understand that MMA is really still in its infancy.
Fifteen
years after the 1920 founding of the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles
and Washington Redskins were each less than three years old.
The Chicago Bears’ Bronko Nagurski was the sport’s
biggest star and Vince Lombardi was still a college student,
more two decades before he became Green Bay Packers coach.
The
game has changed dramatically in the 74 years since.
So,
it’s not unreasonable to expect MMA to similarly change
over time. The NFL didn’t really become the powerful entity
it is in the U.S. now until at least 1958 and perhaps not until
Super Bowl I in 1967.
That
bodes well for the future of MMA, though I’m not buying
UFC president Dana White’s prediction that the sport will
eventually become more popular than World Cup soccer.
It
doesn’t even have to come close to matching soccer’s
worldwide popularity, though, to be an enormously popular sport.
MMA
will be 25 in 2018, the age at which the majority of major league
sports have matured and stabilized their rule set, begun to build
their popularity and established the game as it is known today.
That
begs the question of how, if at all, MMA will be different in
10 years when it celebrates its silver anniversary.
It’s
obvious that international growth will head the list of changes.
The sport is based primarily in the U.S. and Japan now, but in
2018, regular MMA cards will be held on every continent.
The
UFC plans to promote a card in the Philippines within the next
year, as well as moving it to continental Europe. White has spoken
of staging a card in Brazil, while UFC chairman Lorenzo Fertitta
has had talks about locating on in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
The
UFC’s emphasis on international expansion will benefit the
sport as a whole and lead to promoters running shows around the
world on a regular basis within 10 years.
“I
put shows on in England eight, nine, 10 years ago and we were
lucky to get 700 people to come out,” said Monte Cox, one
of the sport’s leading manager and the man who has promoted
more shows than anyone in history. “Cage Rage came along
over there and they got a lot of people out, but that was just
the tip of the iceberg.
“The
UFC has been very successful with their shows over there and
I think it’s a matter of time before that starts mushrooming.
There is just as much interest in this sport internationally
as there is here and so it has this unbelievable growth potential.”
UFC
lightweight contender Kenny Florian agrees, because he believes
people are drawn to the fight game and they can understand it
more readily than sports such as American football.
The
NFL is far and away the dominant sports league in the U.S., but
its attempts to market the game worldwide largely have flopped.
Part of the reason for that is that fans simply don’t understand
the concept of the game.
Such
is not true in the fight game, Florian said.
“There
isn’t a lot of interpretation that needs to go into explaining
a fight,” Florian said. “It transcends cultural and
language barriers.”
The
sport’s expansion is going to lead, inevitably, to more
television coverage, both domestically and internationally. The
sport has largely thrived on in-arena ticket sales and pay-per-view
sales in its first 15 years, but in 10 years, expect that to
change dramatically.
The
sport was perceived as a barbaric, no holds barred free-for-all
when it debuted in the U.S. in 1993. But it’s evolved into
a highly regulated sport with a near-flawless safety record.
The
rules won’t change dramatically in the next decade, largely
because of that, said one of the sport’s top regulators.
“Let’s
be honest, it’s a dangerous sport, but the track record
when it comes to safety is so good that I don’t think you
could dare tinker with the rules in any meaningful way because
of that,” said Keith Kizer, the executive director of the
Nevada Athletic Commission. “Because of the great officiating
we have and the great set of rules we have, our serious injury
rate is so low.”
As
that point becomes more commonly known, there won’t be the
objection to MMA that there has been in its early years. That
will then lead to more television coverage, both on cable and
on network television.
Affliction
promoter Tom Atencio believes the television coverage will be
the most significant change in the next decade. The sport will
be available in more forms on more outlets than could ever have
been imagined when the UFC struck a deal with Spike TV in 2004
to air “The Ultimate Fighter.”
“I
think this is going to go the way of HBO and Showtime,”
Atencio said. “And it’s going to really be prevalent.
There will still be room for pay-per-view, but the entire business
isn’t going to be based around pay-per-view like it has
been.”
Affliction
has a pay-per-view show planned for Oct. 11 in Las Vegas, but
will broadcast its entire undercard on the cable channel HDNet.
While HDNet currently doesn’t have great clearance, Atencio
believes that in the next 10 years, both broadcast networks and
cable networks will embrace the sport.
Children
who watch a sport on television often try to compete in that
sport. And when televised boxing began to disappear from networks
and basic cable and became the domain of premium cable, fewer
and fewer children were starting to box.
The
added television coverage will fuel the next generation of MMA
fighters, who will be younger and more well-rounded than fighters
today.
Many
of today’s elite fighters are in their 30s and have gotten
into MMA after successful careers in other fighting disciplines
such as wrestling, judo or jiu-jitsu.
The
quality of the fighter will increase dramatically in the next
decade as young men begin to train in MMA from the start.
They’ll
be stronger, faster and better able to transition from one discipline
to the other. Atencio said the next generation of fighters will
be “a hundred fold better” and said more and more fighters
like UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre will emerge.
Photo
Even competing promoters agree UFC welterweight champ Georges
St. Pierre is the model for future mixed martial artists.
(AP)
St.
Pierre has black belts in both karate and jiu-jitsu, is a good
enough wrestler that he was considering trying out for the Canadian
Olympic wrestling team and has become a dangerous striker.
“GSP
is the perfect example of what you’ll see coming,”
Atencio said. “We’re not far away from the time when
you quit thinking of a guy as a wrestler or a jiu-jitsu guy and
you see them as mixed martial artists, because they’ll have
learned MMA from the start.”
Florian
concurred and said he already sees evidence of the change. There
are purely MMA gyms which are open now, which allows youngsters
to learn the sport as one instead of going to one gym to learn
to wrestle, a second to learn how to box, a third to learn jiu-jitsu
and a fourth to learn how to combine them all effectively.
The
disciplines are being taught in combination now, which wasn’t
the case on a large scale as recently as five years ago, and
the result will be that in 10 years there will be some amazingly
good fighters.
“You’ve
started to see these mixed martial arts gyms popping up over
the last five years and that will be the norm going forward,”
Florian said. “The kids are starting out much, much younger
than we started and they’re getting all of their information
and all of their techniques at one place.
“It’s
going to be better for them, because it’s very difficult
for someone who has worked in one sport for years and years and
years and has learned that sport’s fundamentals and has
its own way of doing things, to kind of pick up the other disciplines
that have very different techniques.”
A
wrestler, for example, tries to take an opponent down and control
him from the top. But a jiu-jitsu fighter is comfortable fighting
off his back.
“It’s
very new and very awkward for a wrestler after all those years
of those wrestling drills to feel comfortable fighting off of
his back,” Florian said. “It’s going to be new
and not natural to him. Learning the striking game is new. Throwing
punches and kicks. Just learning each different discipline is
a whole new idea.
“But
then there’s the whole idea of putting that into the whole
concept of mixed martial arts. So, it becomes, ‘Great, you
know how to wrestle now, but do you know how to take someone
down when they’re trying to hit you in the face? Do you
know how to time a kick? Do you know how to setup your takedowns
with a punch or a kick?’
“There
is a lot of adjusting and adapting you need to do with each art
and you really have to put it in the concept of mixed martial
arts,” he said. “That’s something a lot of fighters
still struggle with now, but when they learn this all from the
beginning, it’s going to be as natural as a shot is for
someone who is a trained wrestler.”
There
may be other minor adjustments to the sport, like the addition
of weight classes and changes to the way bouts are scored. Cox
would like to see the 10-point must system scrapped. Under that
system, the winner of a round gets 10 points while the loser
gets nine or less.
Cox
said it’s a fine system for a 10- or 12-round boxing match,
but it often leads to unfair results in a three-round MMA fight.
He suggested either going to a 20-point must or allowing judges
to give half points.
He
also said MMA fighters are going to be more in the mainstream
and expects to see them hyping the same kinds of products that
icons like Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning do now: Soft drinks,
watches, television and the like.
“I
remember a few years ago, when (ex-referee) Big John McCarthy
was on ‘Friends,’ that was a big deal for us in this
sport,” Cox said. “It’s pretty commonplace now,
but the next thing will be when Nike goes after one of our superstars
– and no, I don’t mean Kimbo (Slice) – and signs
him to a lucrative deal. I think that day is very quickly coming.”
There
will be a lot of minor changes to the sport in 2018, compared
to today, but it will all mean one thing:
There
will be better fights and more of them.
And
that just means I can’t wait until 2018 arrives.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Wagnney
Fabiano signs with WEC
Considered
one of the best lightweight fighters of the world, the IFL champion
Wagnney Fabiano signed with WEC, to fight in bantamweight division.
“My objetives is to grown in the event e get the title.
Let’s start with a tough and focused work. It won’t
chance anything in my life, I’m always serious and go to
any event to win. My goal is to fight for the belt and do my
best”, said the athlete, that analyzed the champion, Urijah
Faber.
“Faber
is the best of the world now. To beat him, I think you have to
be in a good shape. He’s an expert fighter and he has a
good gas, it’s complicated to beat a guy like him. You have
to set a good game plan and be calm and watch the elbows, because
if you hits you can chane a whole fight”, said the Nova
União athlete.
Source: Tatame
|
Wilson
Reis excited for titleshot
As
we first reported in na exclusive interview at August 8th, Wilson
Reis will fight for ElietXC’s bantamweight belt against
Bao Quach at September 26th edition, at Santa Ynez, California.
“I’m very happy with this opportunity. I’m training
hard here at Philadelphia for this fight. Mastar Roberto Godoi
came to my house and gave tips for this fight and will be at
my corner. This fight will be the most important of my career
and I wanna win the bantamweight title to ”, said Wilson
. “My last fight was very tough, I had good moments and
my opponent was better and others, but I put him down seven times
and controlled the whole fight on the ground, I won all three
rounds”, told TATAME.com.
“EliteXC
put me to fight for the belt against Bao Quach, from California
. I’m very happy. I have three victories at Elite and now
have a chance to fight for the belt, and I’m already training
to win this”, told Reis, that’s very happy with EliteXC’s
growth in. “EliteXC is growing a lot and has a lot of shows
already set, they’re strong and threat me very well. In
my opinion, EliteXC is only behind UFC, and has everything to
be the best MMA event of the world.
Source: Tatame |
Shogun
Rua eyes Rampage Jackson
Doing
some physiotherapy work in his knee, Mauricio Shogun Rua spoke
to TATAME about the rumors of his next fight in UFC. “I’m
back to training. I’m doing some Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu
stuff, and thanks God everything is fine now”, said the
athlete, that wants to come back fighting in December. “I’ll
be back in December… They said that I might fight with Quinton
Jackson, but nothing has been signed yet. They (UFC) called me
ad offered a fight with him and I accepted, but they didn’t
say anything else more”, told us the Universidade da Luta
leader, that believes the issue problems with Rampage might be
a problem for him inside the octagon. “It surely can be
a problem, but I want him back in December and against me, and
I believe he can be back”, said Shogun.
Source: Tatame
|
Thales
Leites analyzes fight with Reljic
With
four victories in a row, Thales Leites will have a tough opponent
at UFC 90. After a huge unanimous decision victory over Nate
Marquardt, Leites faces now Goran Reljic, that won his eight
bouts at light-heavyweight division and now debuts at 185’s.
“I’m expecting a great fight, everything is fine. I’m
training hard and the only different detail is that he’s
left-handed, but the reat is all the same”, said the Nova
União’s athlete, that doesn’t believes it’ll
be a problem.
“I
never fought a left handed before, but it won’t be a problem.
I’m well trained, I saw some videos and I’m doing my
preparation with left-handed athletes… The sad thing is
that we (right-handed) don’t usually train with left-handed
athletes”, said the athlete, that bet at the middleweight
decision between Anderson Silva and Patrick Cote.
“I
think it’ll be a huge fight, but I think Anderson will take
it… If Patrick wants to do a game on feet he won’t
make it, Anderson is taller, more technical and is left-handed.
But it’s a fight and everything can happen”, bet Leites,
that wants to win another fight to get a titleshot. “Obviously
I wanna win the title… If any fighter says he doesn’t
wants to fight for the belt, he’s crazy or a liar. But my
main focus is to keep winning and if they call me I’ll be
ready”, said the athlete.
Source: Tatame
|
Quote
of the Day
“It
is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that
prevents us from living freely and nobly.”
Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970, British Philosopher/Mathematician/Essayist
|
Fighters'
Club Radio Mondays!
FIGHTERS
CLUB RADIO
MONDAY MAY 19
9AM-10AM
RIGHT AFTER LEAHEY & LEAHEY
AM
1500 RADIO
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LINE: 296-1500
THANKS
TO OUR SPONSORS:
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|
ANDERSON
SILVA WANTS SUPER FIGHTS
Since making his debut in the Octagon, UFC middleweight champion
Anderson Silva has never hand picked an opponent. He has never
turned down a fight. He even moved up a weight class to be a
part of a main event for a special live televised event. And
after facing Patrick Cote at UFC 90 in Chicago, Silva is looking
for the biggest fights possible.
Being
considered among the best pound for pound fighters on the planet
always puts Silva’s name in the hat when fans and journalists
alike start matchmaking the dream fights, pitting the Brazilian
against everyone from Georges St. Pierre to Chuck Liddell.
His
manager, Ed Soares, spoke to MMAWeekly Radio recently and feels
that Anderson Silva will be a part of many of the biggest fights
fans will ever see.
“I
think he wants to fight those big mega fights because that’s
the kind of fight we want to be involved with right now,”
he said about Silva’s future fights. “I think it’s
a combination of seeing what the potential opponent is and also
seeing what the UFC wants to do. At the end of the day, this
is a business, and they need to sell fights. They need to sell
a lot of pay-per-views, and they need to sell tickets. So, we
want to be involved with those types of fights.”
One
name in particular that has been rumored for months is former
UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell, who is arguably
the most well known fighter in the sport today. While Silva’s
focus is solely on Patrick Cote, a fight with Liddell is one
he would accept.
“We’re
not looking past Patrick Cote, but I think we’ll take one
step at a time and see what happens. But yeah, if a Chuck Liddell
fight came up, we’d take it,” stated Soares. “Whoever
the UFC wants to put in front of us, he wants to fight the best,
and whoever that may be at the time, that’s who he wants
to fight.”
The
timing for a year-end super fight involving Silva may work out
as well. As Soares explained, he was originally going to fight
Yushin Okami at UFC 88 in Atlanta, but an injury forced the Japanese
fighter off the card.
This
latest match-up with Cote will take place towards the end of
October, but barring any injuries, the “Spider” won’t
close the door for the possibility of another fight in 2008.
“If
the right fight was to come up for the New Year’s fight,
maybe we would take it,” said Soares. “Right now it’s
really hard to say, we’re pretty much just focused with
Anderson on the Oct. 25 fight.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
GOMI
PULLS OUT HARD FOUGHT WIN OVER BANG
Takanori
Gomi, who was considered the best lightweight in the world for
the past few years, pulled out a close decision victory over
Seung Hwan Bang, in the fourth ever Sengoku event held by World
Victory Road in Japan.
The
fight was supposed to be Gomi’s return to dominance and
showcase to the lightweights competing to face the former Pride
champion in the Grand Prix tournament format, what exactly he
is made of.
Instead,
Gomi struggled with his opponent and while victorious, looked
far away from the best lightweight in the world.
Using
a counter punching strategy for the biggest part of the fight,
Gomi says he was hoping his opponent’s gameplan would play
into his hand, but for the majority of the fight it did not.
"Hwan
is the champion of Deep and he has beat other Japanese fighters
and I think other fighters are happy with the fight,” said
Gomi following the bout. “I think we both fought a good
fight, but to be honest I was hoping that he’d be more aggressive."
In
the end, Gomi was able to force his opponent to eat a steady
diet of leg kicks and after a hard fought battle, the “Fireball
Kid” came out on top.
Gomi
commented that he was unaware going into the fight that the tournament
on the same night would crown an opponent for him and a championship
title would be on the line. That extra motivation helped push
him in the fight with Bang.
"Seeing
the belt for the first time yesterday, I found out that if I
won I would fight against the winner of the tournament,”
Gomi commented. “So I realized that it was a fight I couldn’t
lose. It was a source of motivation. Until now I was wondering
how the tournament worked."
The
former Pride fighter said he was impressed with the level of
competition in the lightweight tournament and looked forward
to fighting the winner in a fight sometime during 2009.
“I
think they were of the same quality as those of the Bushido fights.
They are so good I could retire and leave fighting to the next
generation of fighters. But I will continue to fight a little
longer,” Gomi said with a laugh.
Gomi
expects to fight at least one more time this year, possibly in
November, and then he will await the winner of the tournament
to crown the first ever Sengoku lightweight champion.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Hendo
analyzes Touquinho
Californian believes the fight will be decided by takedowns.
Dan
Henderson is at a critical moment in his career. At 37, he is
coming off two losses in a row (Quinton Jackson and Anderson
Silva) and has not yet managed to carve out a place for himself
in the UFC, the organization he left for after Pride’s demise.
On the coming 6th, the wrestler will face off against Rousimar
Toquinho, in one of the main events at UFC 88. And Hendo feels
he has an idea where the fight will be decided.
“I’m
going to be the guy that’s a lot more dangerous on my feet
and it’s somewhere he doesn’t want to be with me. So
it’s going to be his task to get me into his world on the
ground. I’m not the easiest guy to take down, you know—so
the determining factor of the fight is who can defend takedowns,
who can get their takedown and if I can knock him out coming
in or whatever. [Pretty] much all Palhares has is submissions,”
said Henderson to UFC.com.
The
American believes the knockout will be his way to getting back
on track. “I just see myself knocking him out. I was pretty
pissed at my last performance and I’m probably going to
be a little bit pissed when I go out there and fight this guy.
I’m ready to do a 15-minute grappling match with him if
I have to, but I’m not going to lose,” he stated.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
It’s
No-Gi Pan time
Sign-ups for event open
Coming
up is yet another opportunity for Jiu-Jitsu competitors looking
to shine on the international stage to show their mettle. Set
for October 4th, in New York City, the first No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu
Pan-American Championship is open for sign-ups.
As
is the case with the Worlds’ (with and without the gi) and
the JJ Pan with the gi, sign-ups for the competition are to be
performed online, and there are no qualifiers of any kind to
secure a spot. Another similarity to the other competitions is
that there is a discount provided to those who sign-up within
certain deadlines pre-established by the International Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu Federation.
That
being the case, whosoever guarantees their place by the 30th
of August shall pay the discount rate of US$ 92. The price for
signing up between the 1st and 17th of September is US$ 102,
and those who leave it till between the 18th and 27th of September
will have to shell out US$ 117.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
MIKE
PATT READY FOR BOETSCH AT UFC 88
Sometimes the most unexpected things become the best things of
all.
Such
was it when shortly after returning home from his most recent
fight, Michael Patt got the unexpected call for the breakthrough
of his career; a chance to participate in the Ultimate Fighting
Championship.
“I
just fought Friday night (August 15), got back into town Saturday
evening, and Sunday my manager gave me a call saying I could
be going to the UFC,” said Mike of his unexpected opportunity.
“After
that I stayed up in bed for a few hours kind of in shock, wondering
if it was a dream or if it really did just happen.”
Patt’s
UFC 88 on September 6 comes at the expense of James Lee, who
suffered and injury in training, moving Mike into a bout against
Tim Boetsch.
While
this chance of a lifetime came in a manor he had not anticipated,
Mike feels that it would have happened eventually.
“I’ve
been on the cusp for a while now, and it was just a matter of
right place, right time and being ready to go,” he stated.
“I’m physically in shape and was ready to go at it
with just a couple weeks notice.”
Boetsch
himself made an impressive debut at UFC 81, taking out David
Heath in stunning fashion. It’s the kind of debut that Patt
hopes to duplicate, this time against Tim, in Atlanta.
“He’s
an aggressive guy with heavy hands,” Mike said of Boetsch.
“He’s a good wrestler, but not really slick on the
ground.
“I’ve
fought plenty of guys with heavy hands and knockout power. He’s
strong, but he’s not a really technical striker; but I definitely
feel I match up well with him.”
Patt
further commented, “I have heavy hands myself. I have a
good jab and plan to utilize that a lot. If I keep the pressure
on him and keep my hands in his face, I think he’ll fold.”
Having
built a solid career for himself so far in various promotions,
building a 12-2 record, Mike now virtually starts over in the
UFC, a spot that he doesn’t mind being in.
“It
would be nice to pick opponents, but I’ll fight whoever
they decide to get me,” he stated. “I’m a new
guy in the UFC, so I don’t get that luxury
“Getting
on a six, seven or eight fight winning streak and start going
after titles, that’s the whole plan; but for right now,
it’s just ‘shut up and fight.’”
Sometimes
the biggest breaks in our lives come at the least expected moment,
but when it does we have to be ready to take advantage of them.
Such as Mike Patt, who now looks to take the next step in his
MMA career, any way he can get it.
“I’d
like to thank Rumble Sports Management, Denaro Sports, Keith
MacCallum, Team George Gurgel, my strength and conditioning coach
Eric Ramsey, and everybody at BCMA Training Center in Dayton,
Ohio,” he closed out.
“To
all the fans; don’t blink or you’ll miss it. I have
a reputation for finishing things in the first round very quickly.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
JEREMY
HORN'S FIGHT NIGHT LIGHTS UP SALT LAKE
Salt Lake City, Utah felt the rumble of Jeremy Horn's "Elite
Fight Night" at the Sandy South Town Expo Center Saturday
night.
The
night started off with a bang as Chris Julkunen stunned the crowd
with an amazing bout defeating Josh Siyavon with a rear naked
choke in the first round. Dayne Aristizabal & Nic Buschman
left their mark with outstanding performances as well. One of
the surprise's of the night came when the hometown favorite Ben
Fuimaono was defeated by Ty Lee in the first round by TKO.
ELITE
FIGHT NIGHT RESULTS:
Ty
Lee def Ben Fuimaono by TKO(Strikes) at 3:08 R1
Brock Jardine def Lee Doss by submission(guillotine choke) at
1:20 R2
Nic Buschman def Jeffrey Willingham by TKO(smothering strikes)
at 2:03 R2
Dayne Aristizabal def Dustin Collins by TKO(strikes) at 3:31
R1
Greg Carpenter def Brad McRae by submission(rear naked choke)
at 1:12 R1
David Castillo def Eduardo Rivera by TKO(strikes and blows) at
1:09 R1
David Kleuskens def Francisco Alcantra by Volcanic Eruption &
Doctor Stoppage R2
Chris Julkunen def Josh Siyavon by submission(rear naked choke)
at 1:34 R1
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
"Success
does not consist in never making mistakes but in
never making the same one a second time."
George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish Playwright
|
Lightweights
advance to semifinals at 'Sengoku 4'
All four Japanese fighters were victorious in the first round
of the Lightweight Grand Prix Sunday at "Sengoku 4"
at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
Satoru Kitaoka, a training partner of DREAM GP runner-up Shinya
Aoki, needed only 31 seconds to tap out King of the Cage lightweight
champion Clay French with an ankle lock.
Eiji
Mitsuoka submitted the highly touted Rodrigo Damm with a rear-naked
choke at 3:13 of the first round.
Former
DEEP lightweight champ Kazunori Yokota won a unanimous decision
over Bojan Kosednar after three rounds.
Cage
Force lightweight champion Mizuto Hirota knocked out the IFL
lightweight champion Ryan Schultz with a Superman punch at 4:25
of the second round.
Kitaoka,
Mitsuoka, Yokota and Hirota move on to the same-night semifinals/finals
at "Sengoku 6" in November. The tournament winner earns
a shot at Takanori Gomi to crown the promotion's first ever lightweight
champion.
Non-Tournament
Bouts
Gomi
was in action winning all three rounds to earn the unanimous
decision over DEEP champion Bang Seung Hwan in the main event
of the night.
The
two Olympic Gold Medalists in Judo both fell short. 1996 winner
Pawel Nastula, coming out of retirement, was the recipient of
two low blows in the first round that led to a TKO loss in the
second when he couldn't continue, while 2000 winner Makoto Takimoto
lost a three-round decision to Frank Trigg.
Moise
Rimbon of France toppled kickboxer Peter Graham with an overhand
and followed with punches. Once Graham gave up his back, Rimbon
secured a rear-naked choke for the submission win at 42 seconds
of the second round.
Valentijin
Overeem, the older brother of Strikeforce heavyweight champion
Alistair Overeem, knocked out Pancrase veteran Kazuo Takahashi
with a flying knee at 2:42 of the second round.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Kauai's
Eben Kaneshiro
in main event of Rise Fighting Championship "Bragging Rights
II"
Eugene, Oregon. Rise Fighting Championship will be holding it's
fourth mixed martial arts event on Sept. 13 at the Lane County
Fairgrounds in Eugene, OR. Bragging Rights II will feature top
local fighters from Salem, Portland, and Eugene. The main event
will feature undefeated (5-0) professional fighter, Evan Dunham
(Eugene, OR), facing off against Brazillian Jiu Jitsu black belt
Eben Kaneshiro
(Kauai, HI).
Dunham is a rising local star. In his last fight, Dunham submitted
highly-reguarded Brazillian Jiu Jitsu black belt Cleber Luciano.
Kaneshiro holds a 9(w)-5(l) record and has faced elite competition,
including the number 1 ranked featherweight, Urijah Faber. Also
on the fight card is Mike Dolce from Portland. Dolce was recently
a participant on Spike TV's wildly popular The Ultimate Fighter
show. There will be a total of 10 matches on the Bragging Rights
II card, with a fight in each weight division. For more info
please visit http://www.risefc.com
Source: Shane Kido
|
UFCs
scheduled through January
Check out the calendar of events
With
the ever-greater growth of the American public, the UFC decided
to accelerate its events’ schedule. Thus Dana White has
planned all the chapters through to January, 2009. The news about
the calendar was confirmed by the UFC president himself. On November
15th the octagon will be set up in Portland, in NBA team Trailblazers’
gymnasium. Now on January 31st the destination will be Las Vegas.
The
event in the world capital of gambling is the one meant to take
on the Superbowl in the fight for the American public’s
interest on the weekend of next year.
Check
out the updated UFC schedule and stay tuned to GRACIEMAG.com
for further news from all around the world of MMA.
UFC
88 – September 6 - Atlanta
UFC Fight Night 15 - September 17 - Omaha
UFC 89 – October 18 - Birmingham (England)
UFC 90 - October 25 - Chicago
UFC 91 – November 15 - Portland
The Ultimate Fighter 8 Final – December 13 - Las Vegas
UFC 92 - December 27 - Las Vegas
UFC 93 – January 31 - Las Vegas
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
SHIELDS
READY FOR DALEY, SAYS AOKI DECLINED
by Damon Martin
EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields is ready to defend
his title for the first time, as he steps into the cage to face
British heavy hitter Paul “Semtex” Daley on Oct. 4
as a part of the latest edition of CBS-EliteXC Saturday Night
Fights.
Shields’
list of potential opponents has bounced around from everyone
including John Alessio to Shinya Aoki and now finally settling
on Daley.
“I
think it’s a good fight,” he said in an interview with
MMAWeekly.com. “He’s got great stand-up. I actually
haven’t seen that many of his fights. I’ve got to start
watching him fight. He’s a young kid, tough, so obviously
I’m going to take him serious, start watching tapes and
figure it out from there.”
Previous
to this announcement, Shields had been waiting on an answer from
EliteXC to take a fight at 185 pounds for Affliction, but that
option was declined and he was brought on board for the Oct.
4 card instead.
“I
really wanted to fight (Matt) Lindland, but maybe that one can
be put on in the future,” Shields commented. “Right
now, I’m looking at Daley, getting this win… He’s
a legit opponent.”
Daley
is the current Cage Rage world welterweight champion. Cage Rage
is EliteXC’s sister promotion in the U.K. ProElite, Inc.
owns both promotions.
“I
was very disappointed, but at this point all you can do is move
on and get through the fight in front of you. I was a little
disappointed I didn’t get to do the (Lindland) fight, but
at least Elite is treating me really good and you know, they
didn’t give me that fight, but they put me on CBS, gave
me another good fight and I hear they’re trying to get me
(Shinya) Aoki.”
Hearing
Shinya Aoki’s name will likely spark up matchmaking conversation
for every fan of the colorful Japanese fighter, but according
to Shields, he doesn’t think the current Dream lightweight
will accept the bout.
“I
guess they were trying to get Aoki, but he’s got no bushido,”
Shields said. “I don’t think Aoki wants to fight me.
He’s got no warrior spirit. He’s from Japan, who’d
have thought?”
With
all the other potential opponents now behind him, Shields will
focus solely on Daley. While many fighters love to try and match
their opponent’s strengths going into a big fight, Shields
will keep things simple.
“I’d
like to take him down and submit him,” he commented. “I’m
definitely not going to try and knock him out, but anything’s
possible. I’m going to throw some punches.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Mike
Swick to return to action by Nov. or Dec.
UFC welterweight Mike Swick, who underwent elbow surgery in July
to remove bone fragments that had been limiting his arm movement,
would like to return sometime in November or December.
"The Ultimate Fighter" season one contestant left a
message on the Underground Forum at MixedMartialArts.com early
Wednesday morning to shoot down rumors of him fighting on the
Oct. 25 UFC 90: Silva vs. Cote card in Chicago.
"I
am healing from surgery and will not be 100% for a few more weeks.
I am fighting in December at latest, maybe November if I heal
fast enough...
Thanks
for the support! ;) Don't worry you guys will see plenty of energy
in my next fight. I have 2 bad fights and everyone thinks I am
a changed fighter. I am not changed at all and I am the same
mean ass fighter I use to be now. I am finally getting my body
healthy so I will get back to knocking people out so you guys
can say how cool I am again! ;)"
Swick
(12-2) is 7-1 in the UFC with his one loss against middleweight
title contender Yushin Okami. After the loss Swick moved down
to welterweight and won decisions against Josh Burkman and Marcus
Davis.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Olympic
Gold Medalist Challenges Fedor
Adam Morgan
Dave
Meltzer of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Japanese Olympic gold
medalist in judo, Satoshi Ishii, challenged Fedor Emelianenko
this past week after winning his medal:
In
Beijing, China, after winning the gold medal in the superheavyweight
division in judo this past week, Japan’s Satoshi Ishii said
he wanted to fight “Emelianenko Fedor,” as the legendary
Russian fighter is known in Japan.
With
Ishii becoming a national hero in Japan and the sport fading
in popularity, such a match would draw the kind of interest that
Emelianenko against a top fighter could never do.
With
the way that Japanese fans love their freakshow MMA fights it’s
very possible that this fight could be put together for New Year’s
Eve. As long as Fedor’s hand is ready to go it’s probably
a sure thing that he will be fighting on New Year’s Eve
in Japan but the opponent is not yet known. As of two weeks ago,
it was reported that Fedor would either fight a “judo legend
or a sumo wrestler” on New Year’s Eve. Ishii fits the
bill for that description especially now that he’s locked
up the gold medal at this year’s Olympic games. Judokas
who win gold medals are national heroes in Japan and a fight
with Fedor, who is also adored in Japan, is a big time money
fight for the Japanese.
Ishii
has never fought in MMA and would likely be in for a serious
beating but if a struggling promotion like DREAM could put this
fight on it would go a long way towards helping them survive
through the end of 2008.
Source: The Fight Network
|
The
Man Behind the Beef
by Jason Probst
Call him rotund. Portly. Or fat, if you’re out of arm’s
reach, or just feeling especially lucky.
But
however you want to describe Roy Nelson (Pictures), there’s
little doubt that the Las Vegas-based heavyweight can fight.
After
years of being a highly respected, behind-the-scenes grappling
whiz who trained other fighters, Nelson is now knocking on the
door and hoping to bust into the upper echelon of the big boys.
Recently signed to Affliction, he debuts Oct. 11 against veteran
Paul Buentello (Pictures), whose dangerous standup is just another
hurdle that “Country” (or “Big Country”)
figures he can get over.
“When
I started in MMA in 2004 and 2005, after everybody kind of got
wind of my name, they knew me from a grappling standpoint,”
Nelson said. “So I used to have to get fights on my name
alone. People were like, ‘Roy Nelson (Pictures)? I’ll
fight him.’ Then they’re like, ‘Is that Big Country?
… Yeah, our guy doesn’t want to fight him.’ I
couldn’t get a fight if my life depended on it. Then MMA
exploded in 2006. Everybody and their momma wanted to be a fight
promoter. I started fighting in smaller shows.”
After
coming out of nowhere to place second in the Abu Dhabi North
American qualifiers in 2002, Nelson, who’d been on the submission
grappling circuit for a mere two years, forged a reputation as
an ideal combination of big-man size, small-guy quickness and
technical wizardry.
His
physique -- broad shoulders, ham-like hands and long limbs, topped
off with a robust belly/beard combo -- cuts the figure of a wronged
farmer showing up to get his money back on a cattle swindle.
Except for the fact that he’s usually quicker, slicker and
smarter than the other guy once it hits the ground. And he can
take a punch as well as give one.
He’s
from Las Vegas, to boot. At 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, he looks
like he could cut down to 220 or so without excess trouble. But
like a select few athletes, Nelson seems to get results in spite
of appearances.
And
the nickname’s stuck.
Photo by Matthew Kaplowitz
Roy Nelson poses for a network
television camera following
his knockout of Fabiano Scherner
on Feb. 29, 2008 in Las Vegas.
“It
came from (super heavyweight) Eric Pele (Pictures), from the
MMA circuit. We were at John Lewis (Pictures)’ school. I
was doing takedowns,” Nelson said. “He thought I was
from Iowa or Nebraska because I was taking everybody down.”
With
a ledger of 13-2, Nelson’s most notable fight came in the
IFL last April when he battled “Big” Ben Rothwell (Pictures)
to a split decision loss. Few outside the industry knew Nelson,
and conventional wisdom suggested that he would be best served
by making it a ground fight. Instead, he slugged it out in a
rousing scrap, taking Rothwell’s best shots and landing
plenty of his own.
It
was an overdue coming-out party of sorts for Nelson, who had
spent years as a coach and training partner with a who’s
who of the sport, including Chuck Liddell (Pictures), Tito Ortiz
(Pictures), Ricco Rodriguez (Pictures) and Maurice Smith (Pictures).
“I
transitioned into the sport because being a sparring partner
doesn’t pay the bills,” Nelson said. “So I decided
to go for it. If they’re not gonna pay me, I’m just
gonna take it from them.”
The
do-it-yourself mentality has carried over into his present training
regimen. Working out of his home, which he dubs the “Big
Country Lion’s Den,” Nelson brings in fellow fighters
and grapplers to work with on mats he’s laid down. It’s
easier than going other places, he explains. He also trains standup
with former welterweight boxer Skipper Kelp.
“It’s
basically my guys I’ve groomed, from the tournament circuit,
from other schools I used to teach at. I just basically have
guys that beat me up with my own jits,” he said. “I
used to go to other gyms to try and teach, but I did more teaching
than actually working. You need to put your work and your time
in.”
Turning
pro in 2004, Nelson did it in typical “Country” style,
with an extra helping of scraps. He fought two opponents on the
same night, taking a pair of three-round decisions over Jerry
Vrbanovic (Pictures) and Bo Cantrell (Pictures) despite the fact
that they’d had 14 bouts between them.
Five
years later, against Buentello, Nelson will go up against a potent
standup stylist in “The Headhunter,” but one whose
ground game might be a weakness he can exploit. That’s because
Nelson’s adept at overpowering people with wrestling, but
like many ex-wrestlers, he has an excellent sense of tactics
and strategy even when on his back. And despite the appearance
of a guy who isn’t in shape compared to most heavies, he
can transition into submissions or pull off a textbook sweep
with deceptive quickness.
But
regardless, Nelson has heard the talk -- offhanded, lighthearted
comments from people that while he’s talented, there’s
more to marketing a guy than talent. With the body aesthetic
in MMA a big factor in marketing fighters -- smoothed, ripped
abs, slab-like pectorals defined to the seeming point of narcissism
-- he figures if he keeps kicking butt, it won’t matter
what he looks like.
“Back
in 2002, when I did the Abu Dhabi qualifier, when UFC was really
looking, they had (champ) Ricco Rodriguez (Pictures),” he
said. “I heard it from (then-coach) Marc Laimon and (UFC
matchmaker) Joe Silva. It was the whole Josh Barnett (Pictures)
thing. They were like, ‘You need to lose some of that fat.
We need that fighter look. We can’t push you unless you
fit the mold.’ I was like, ‘Ahh, we’ll see. As
long as you win, that’s what matters.’ They were basically
just shooting the s---. It was a buddy type of thing. But it’s
also one of those things that turns you off, when you’re
like, ‘Dude, all I do is train.’”
He
figures the proof comes at crunch time, as it did during the
last half of the Rothwell brawl, when he ate big shots and kept
pressing, bombing back even though it was the wrong game plan
on paper.
“I
think it’s a little genetics. My dad’s built the same
way. I’m one of those God-blessed athletic guys, those fat
guys that can dunk, do a back flip. Fat guys that can move. Kind
of like a Samoan,” Nelson said. “If I cut off my leg,
I could make 205. But if I put somebody though the gauntlet with
myself, and we could do some type of physical test, I’m
sure I would outdo them.”
The
heavyweight crop in Affliction is especially promising, with
champ Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) at the top, along with top
contenders Andrei Arlovski (Pictures) and Josh Barnett (Pictures)
(who square off in the Oct. 11 main event).
“The
first time I saw Fedor live when he fought Mark Coleman (Pictures),
I wasn’t impressed at all. I was like, ‘He beat up
Coleman, that’s not a big deal.’ Then especially when
he fought (Hong Man) Choi, I was like, ‘He’s 8-foot
tall, and Fedor fell underneath him.’ When he beat the crap
out of Tim, I was like, ‘He’s legit.’ Watching
all his other fights, he’s legit anyways. He’s the
complete package. He earned 10 times more respect for that alone.”
Arlovski-Barnett
will determine Emelianenko’s next challenger. Nelson offered
his thoughts on that match as well: “I’m afraid it
might be a boring fight. The reason why is Andrei tends to be
very tentative when he’s afraid of a guy that can take him
down, or a guy that’s gonna knock his block off. Like when
Ben fought Arlovski, if he’d come out guns blazing. But
Ben knew he had been already beat before he stepped out there.
But I don’t think Josh is gonna be tentative. Josh is a
gamer. He’s been in there with the best. It might be exciting.
Or Andrei might be a little tentative.”
All
in all, Affliction’s heavyweight division is a big step
up for Nelson, but what else is new?
“Affliction
made the most sense. I always believed the fastest way is a straight
line,” he said. “They have Fedor. I kinda had to get
pushed a little faster than I wanted, but the opportunity arose,
and I had to jump on it.”
Belly
and all.
Source: Sherdog
|
Elite
XC's Lappen Responds to Silva Suspension
By FCF Staff
In
response to news that the California State Athletic Commission
has suspended Elite XC heavyweight champ Antonio Silva for one
year and fined the fighter $2,500, for allegedly testing positive
for Boldenone, the promotion has released a statement commenting
on the situation. In the release, Head of Elite XC Fight Operations
Jeremy Lappen stated;
“We
respect the California commission and the job they do. We always
enjoy working with them and work very well together. The illegal
use of steroids is a problem in all major sports, including mixed
martial arts. We certainly do not condone the use of steroids.”
“But
we also support, trust and have confidence in our fighter, Antonio
Silva, who has denied ever taken any illegal substance, including
steroids, and is prepared to challenge the results of the California
Commission.”
“So
until all the facts are known and a final decision is rendered,
EliteXC will reserve making any further comments at this time.’’
The
Elite XC release also alluded to a statement that was made this
afternoon by Silva’s co-manager Alexis Davis, which denied
the fighter was using any illegal substances.
Silva
(11-1) is coming off a second round stoppage of Justin Eilers
at Elite XC's "Unfinished Business" card on July 26th.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Thales
and Werdum together at Canada
By Guilherme Cruz
Thales
Leites and Fabrício Werdum will be together at UFC 90,
but next week they’ll travel to to do some seminars. Invited
by Kimura Wear, the fighters will do seminars at Kombat Arts,
in Ontario . “I’ll go with Werdum today (yesterday)
to and by Tuesday I’ll be back to train for my fight”,
said Thales, that will do a seminar at August 23th, meanwhile
Werdum will take place at the gym the day after.
Source: Tatame
|
Quote
of the Day
"The
best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at
a time."
Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865, 16th President of the United States
|
Hawaii
Training Center
Home of
Evolution Boxing Club Tonight!
Presents
a Match Event @ Hawaii Training Center
Aug. 23, 2008 @ 7pm
Aug. 24 @ 1pm
Waipio Industrial Court
94-547 Ukee St., Suite #209
Waipahu, Hawaii 96797
$10.00
at the door
"
Boxers under 16 yrs. old (One parent free admission)
" 2 Coaches per participating club (free admission)
STREET
PARKING ONLY
"
WE WILL BE USING THE NORTH SIDE ENTRANCE
(TOWARDS REVTEK, OZONE GLASS TINTING, TAIRA'S AUTO REPAIR)
"
Please have your boxer ready to go as soon as the prior bout
is completed.
"
We want to keep this show running smoothly & on time.
"
Bring your own music for your entrance during your
Introduction into the Boxing ring.
(no vulgar, inappropriate, degrading language allowed)
If boxer does not bring music, any song will be played.
"
No Outside food/drinks allowed in boxing event.
" Small coolers allowed with ice & water ONLY.
o Participating clubs only.
o Coolers will be checked at the door.
"
Waipio Industrial Court is a private facility.
Keep parking lot area clean.
Please respect other tenants & neighbors.
Please keep the restrooms clean.
No alcohol on premises.
Smoking allowed near driveway entrance only.
"
Kindly pass the above information to those attending this event.
" Thank you for participating in this boxing event.
|
Rani
in upcoming WEC
Danillo Índio, Paulão and Jose Aldo also on card
Yet
another Brazilian was confirmed on the official card for the
September 10 WEC event. Black belt Rani Yahya will face off against
Pancrase featherweight champion Yoshihiro Maeda. This will be
the Brazilian’s first fight in 2008, and the third for the
American organization. Against the Japanese fighter Rani will
try to avoid his third loss in a row, as he was overcome by Chase
Beebe in September and Norifumi Yamamoto last December.
One
of the WEC’s main attractions will be the middleweight title
dispute between champion Paulao Filho and challenger Chael Sonnen.
On the same night Danillo Indio will face Team Takedown’s
Jake Rosholt. Another Brazilian who should who should show up
is Nova Uniao’s Jose Aldo, against New York based Bomb Squad’s
John Franchi.
Check
out the card below:
Urijah
Faber vs Mike Brown
Paulo Filho vs Chael Sonnen
Jens Pulver vs Leonard Garcia
Danillo Villefort vs Jake Rosholt
Rob McCullough vs Donald Cerrone
Rani Yahya vs Yoshiro Maeda
David Avellan vs Tim McKenzie
Johny Hendricks vs Alex Serdyukov
Ed Ratcliff vs Danny Castillo
José Aldo vs Jonathan Brookins
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
SCHOENAUER
STEPS IN TO FACE STEINBEISS IN WEC
by Damon Martin
A replacement has been found to step in and face Steve Steinbeiss
at the World Extreme Cagefighting event on Sept. 10. Former “Ultimate
Fighter” Season 1 cast member Alex Schoenauer has been tapped
to replace Mark Munoz, who was forced off the card with a knee
injury.
The
fight was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the
situation on Thursday.
Since
exiting the UFC, Schoenauer has spent the majority of his time
fighting for the now defunct International Fight League in the
light heavyweight division. During his time with the promotion,
he amassed a 5-5 record with his most notable wins coming against
fighters such as Travis Wiuff and Allen Goes.
Now
he steps in to face Steinbeiss who comes into the bout riding
a three-fight win streak, looking to make an impact in the WEC
205-pound weight class before a its rumored melding into the
UFC.
No
official announcement has been made from the WEC regarding the
match-up so it is still unclear if the bout will be featured
on the main card televised on Versus or the untelevised portion
of undercard.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Pulver
vs. Garcia confirmed for WEC 36
The WEC confirmed today that former UFC lightweight champion
Jens Pulver will take on Leonard Garcia on Sept. 10 at the Seminole
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
This featherweight bout will air on the Versus-televised card
alongside the featherweight title bout between champ Urijah Faber
and Mike Brown, and the middleweight title rematch between champ
Paulo Filho and Chael Sonnen.
Pulver
(22-9-1) left the UFC after a loss to BJ Penn at the coach vs.
coach at "The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale" in June 2007
and joined the WEC in December with a 35-second submission win
over Cub Swanson. One win in the WEC was enough for management
to set up a much for a title shot for the Miletich fighter against
poster boy Faber on June 1 at WEC 34, where Pulver lost a hard-fought
five-round unanimous decision.
Garcia
(11-3) needed only 91 seconds to knock out top ranked Hiroyuki
Takaya in February. However, Garcia living up to his "Bad
Boy" nickname, was arrested in March for his alleged connection
in a drug trafficking ring. Garcia maintained his innocence,
explaining that it was his poor choice of involving himself with
the wrong people that linked him to the drug bust. With the charges
dropped in July due to lack of evidence, Garcia will look to
put the arrest behind him with a fight that could put him next
in line for Faber's belt.
WEC
36: Faber vs. Brown
Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL
145
lbs. | Urijah Faber vs. Mike Brown
185 lbs. | Paulo Filho vs. Chael Sonnen
145 lbs. | Jens Pulver vs. Leonard Garcia
185 lbs. | Jake Rosholt vs. Danillo Villefort
155 lbs. | "Razor" Rob McCullough vs. Donald Cerrone
145 lbs. | Rani Yayha vs. Yoshiro Maeda
185 lbs. | David Avellan vs. Tim McKenzie
170 lbs. | Johny Hendricks vs. Alex Serdyukov
155 lbs. | Danny Castillo vs. Ed Ratcliff
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Antonio
Silva and Edwin Dewees Test Positive
By Steven Marrocco
In
an email released to media today, California State Athletic Commission
Assistant Executive Director Bill Douglas has released the final
drug test results for Elite XC's "Saturday Night Fights"
show on July 26th as well as Affliction's "Banned"
on July 19th.
Elite
XC heavyweight champion Antonio Silva, who defeated Justin Eilers
at the show on the 26th, has allegedly tested positive for Boldenone,
a veterinary steroid that is often abused by athletes. The level
of drug in his system was not provided.
Affliction
light heavyweight Edwin Dewees has allegedly tested positive
for Nandrolone, the same steroid that former UFC lightweight
champion Sean Sherk was flagged for in July of 2007, as well
as Royce Gracie one month earlier. Markedly different, though,
was the amount of Nandrolone found in Dewees' system. The Lion's
Den fighter showed a 499ng/mL level of the steroid in his blood,
almost double the level found in Gracie's system, and over 40
times the amount found in Sherk's.
Both
fighter’s samples were tested twice, at the Quest Diagnostics
lab in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the World Anti Doping Agency certified
Laboratoire De Controle Du Dopage in Montreal, Canada.
Dewees
and Silva have been suspended for one year retroactive to their
respective bouts, and fined $2500. The fighters and their camps
did not return phone calls for comment.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Shinsuke
Shoji retires, leaves Pancrase title bout
Less than a week before he is scheduled to fight for the King
of Pancrase lightweight crown, Shinsuke Shoji has retired from
mixed martial arts competition.
Shoji, out of the KILLER BEE team with Norifumi "KID"
Yamamoto, cited personal reasons in a letter to Pancrase. The
28-year-old was scheduled to face Koji Oishi in the main event
of the August 27 Pancrase event at the Korakuen Hall in Toyko,
Japan.
Shoji,
a Greco-Roman wrestling champion in college and the 2005 Pancrase
Neo Blood welterweight tournament winner, closes his career with
a mixed martial arts record of 6-3-2.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Silva,
Manager Respond to Positive Drug Test
Sam Caplan
Alex
Davis, the manager for suspended EliteXC heavyweight champion
Antonio Silva, recently issued a statement on behalf of Silva
via the Underground forum at MixedMartialArts.com in which Silva
proclaims his innocence.
“Dear
Family, Friends, Fans and Public, I did not use the steroid Boldenone,
or any other steroid of prohibited substance,” Silva’s
statement began. “I don’t agree and never have agreed
with the use of this kind of product in order to win, for this
is cheating. I will go to the full extent of my power and the
law to prove my innocence in this matter.”
Boldenone
is an anabolic steroid primarily used by veterinarian’s
on animals. In response to followups responses written by those
who read Silva’s statement, Davis maintained Silva’s
innocence but was unsure why the test came out positive.
“My
friends, Antonio is one of the hardest working, most serious
athletes I know,” wrote Davis. “He also is a man that
holds high his principles. We dont know at this point how he
tested positive for a horse steroid, but what we do know is that
he doesn’t make use of these kind of products. However,
we will find out or die trying. We are allways reading about
guys getting caught and declaring (their) innocence, and it is
always met with a degree of skepticism, but the (truth) is that
career hurting mistakes are being made and it is high time the
we find out how and why they happen. We are extremely sure of
ourselves in this matter and are willing to go to the very gates
of hell to prove that we are being wronged. Hopefully, this will
not only clear Antonio, but also help clear other peolple that
have had the same thing happen to them.”
Source: The Fight Network
|
Maynard-Clementi
Slated for UFC 90
by Mike Sloan
Promising lightweight contender Gray Maynard (Pictures) has verbally
agreed to meet Rich Clementi (Pictures) in a lightweight bout
at UFC 90 “Silva vs. Cote” on Oct. 25 at the Allstate
Arena in Rosemont, Ill. The undefeated 29-year-old confirmed
the agreement to Sherdog.com on Thursday.
Headlined
by a middleweight title fight between champion Anderson Silva
(Pictures) and Canadian challenger Patrick Cote (Pictures), UFC
90 also includes a pivotal welterweight showdown pairing Diego
Sanchez (Pictures) with American Top Team’s Thiago Alves
(Pictures).
“That
card is stacked,” Maynard said. “I’m just pumped
to finally get back into it.”
A
product of season five of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality
series, Maynard’s stock rose significantly following his
unanimous decision victory over the highly regarded Frankie Edgar
at UFC Fight Night 13 in April. He injured his right wrist in
the three-round bout and spent several weeks resting and rehabilitating
the injury. Once Maynard was cleared to fight, speculation swirled
as to whom “The Bully” might face next.
“I
talked to [UFC vice president] Joe Silva after I got cleared
to fight,” he said. “I told him I wanted to fight [Sean]
Sherk, but obviously that didn’t happen. I knew that [Roger]
Huerta and Kenny Florian (Pictures) were already taken, so I
told him I wanted to fight a tough guy. Clementi was available,
so I took [the fight].”
His
career given new life by his appearance on the fourth installment
of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Clementi (32-12-1) has been
on a roll of late, as he has put together a streak of six consecutive
wins. Like Maynard, his climb up the lightweight ranks has been
steady.
“He’s
got a ton of fights under his belt, and he’s a good, all-around
fighter who doesn’t make many mistakes,” Maynard said.
“He’s got good striking, and his [jiu-jitsu] is very
dangerous. It should be a good fight. I can’t wait for it.”
Though
he has not yet received his fight contract from the UFC, Maynard
(5-0) does not foresee anything standing in the way of the bout.
“Oh,
it’s set up,” he said with a chuckle. “I just
haven’t actually gotten my contract yet, but it’s going
to happen.”
Becoming
a big fish in one of the UFC’s deepest division, Maynard
seems content to wait his turn in the lightweight title picture.
A three-time All-American wrestler at Michigan State University,
the Xtreme Couture product understands there is no shortage of
viable contenders at 155 pounds.
“I
just gotta stay low and keep beating up people,” he said.
“There’s tons of good guys [at lightweight]. All I
gotta do is keep winning and beating top guys, and [the title
shot] will come.”
Source: Sherdog
|
If
Noons Refuses Fight, He
Should Be Stripped
Sam Caplan
The
recent controversy surrounding K.J. Noons and his camp’s refusal to respond to offers
for him to defend his EliteXC lightweight title vs. Nick Diaz
on Oct. 4 is rather perplexing for two reasons.
First,
the lack of communication from Noons just doesn’t sound
like him. From a journalistic standpoint, my experience in covering
Noons has always been extremely positive. In fact, he’s
been one of the best fighters I have dealt with, which says a
lot, because few fighters in this industry are tough to work
with. But in the past, Noons has always been accessible, responsive,
candid, and polite. For there to be a media silence at a time
like this is just dumbfounding. That’s not to say that Noons’
camp hasn’t been responsive to the media in this instance,
they just aren’t going on the record right now.
I
didn’t want to write this opinion piece without getting
Noons’ side because I know for a fact that there is more
to the story. Unfortunately, they aren’t ready to speak
out right now. The problem is, EliteXC is getting its side of
the story out and it is not favorable to Noons’ image. In
fact, Noons is being portrayed as someone who is ducking Diaz.
I
don’t for a second believe Noons is ducking Diaz but I can’t
blame those who are reading the situation as such. And if that
perception is correct, it only adds to my confusion. I saw the
first fight between the two last November and the Diaz camp can
spin the fight however they want, but Noons dominated him. It
wasn’t even close. The fight didn’t end because of
a cut — it ended because of three cuts! A fighter never
likes to have someone else decide their fate, but the doctor
in question should have lost his license to practice medicine
had he not stopped the fight.
If
there was a rematch, I see a similar outcome. Noons has worked
hard to become a complete fighter but his skills on the ground
are very unproven. In talking to those who have trained with
him, his ground game has been described as solid but far from
spectacular. But his ground game has yet to come into question
because Noons has developed a solid sprawl that has allowed him
to keep his fights standing. And when it comes to his standup,
he has Gomi-like skills on his feet. I’m sure some people
will dispute that last statement but the facts are that Noons
is extremely underrated and is one of the heaviest hitters around
at lightweight.
Diaz
is a good combination puncher but Noons is a good combination
puncher with power. His body shots really hurt Diaz in their
first meeting and Noons’ hand speed and foot work allowed
him to counter Diaz’s reach advantage to a point where Diaz
took too much damage to be allowed to continue. If Diaz can’t
get Noons off his feet, he can’t win. From a tactical perspective,
Noons has no reason not to take the rematch against Diaz. If
you disagree with that statement then you need to wake up and
watch their first fight over again.
Noons
has had a lot of trouble living down his devastating knockout
loss against Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett during EliteXC’s
first-ever show in February of 2007. He was promoted heavily
at the time by Gary Shaw and SHOWTIME and resentment from hardcore
fans was created when he failed to deliver. But since that time
he’s been dominant in wins over Diaz, Edson Berto, and Yves
Edwards. While Noons may not be a top-ten lightweight, he has
the talent to one day earn such a designation within one of the
sport’s deepest divisions.
In
addition to the loss to Bennet, I think a lot of resentment exists
because of his looks and his demeanor. He’s a nice guy who
doesn’t have a particularly rugged look. I think to judge
him based on such trivial nonsense is ridiculous and I don’t
for a second believe that Noons is scared of anyone. This is
a guy who has trained in martial arts since he was a child and
has fought tough opponents since turning to MMA. As a professional
boxer, he’s 8-1. Noons is a true competitor and has a fighter’s
heart. In fact, fighting is in his blood, as his father was a
competitive kickboxer. However, action speaks louder than words
and the decision by Noons’ camp not to address the situation
publicly or even privately, speaks volumes.
Noons
is squandering a tremendous opportunity. If this is a money play,
then his camp is employing an ill-advised strategy. It’s
hard for an employer to meet your demands if you’re not
clearly laying those demands out for them. It’s also hard
to increase your market value as a fighter if the UFC is not
interested in you. A lot of people were surprised when they found
out that EliteXC is paying Antonio Silva $200,000 per fight but
that was the price that had to be paid in order to retain him.
Silva re-signed with EliteXC soon after Joe Silva issued favorable
comments regarding “Big Foot” during a public Q&A
prior to the UFC’s event in the UK this past January. Once
it was established that the UFC was a realistic option for Silva,
EliteXC had to pay a premium to keep him.
I
believe Noons is good enough to compete in the UFC at 155 lbs.
but the UFC has a lot of depth at lightweight and the promotion
would be unlikely to offer him a great deal of money if he were
to suddenly become available. It’s hard to negotiate with
the UFC if you don’t have leverage. That’s a statement
that can apply to any situation, but it especially applies to
the UFC. In many cases, their offers are issued in a take it
or leave it manner. The fighters who have been able to come in
with good deals were the ones who had multiple options.
Noons’
options would increase if he successfully defended his title
against Diaz on national television. If he fights on SHOWTIME,
anywhere between 150,000-350,000 people will see him fight. On
CBS, that number could be anywhere between 2 million to 6 million
people. Such exposure can only help his market value and if Noons
wants to command more money, he needs to go on CBS and create
more leverage for himself.
Rarely
do I side with a company when it comes to a dispute with a fighter
because I believe fighters make incredible sacrifices and only
have so much time to make money. Fighters don’t get medical
insurance and they don’t have a 401K. Their shelf-like is
limited so they need to earn as much as they can while they can.
However, EliteXC has invested a lot of promotional money and
time behind Noons. And Noons vs. Diaz II is a feud that has gotten
a lot of people excited. It’s a depserate time for EliteXC
and they need the fight to happen on Oct. 4 when they go head-to-head
against college football on ABC and the Major League Baseball
playoffs on FOX. Unless something major happens soon regarding
EliteXC’s financial fortunes, Oct. 4 could be Noons’
last chance to fight on primetime network television.
I
consider the real number one contender to the EliteXC lightweight
title to be Eddie Alvarez. Perhaps Noons’ camp feels the
same way. The thing is, EliteXC has named Diaz its number one
contender. Fighters and fans do not get a say when it comes to
promotional rankings. As a champion, Noons needs to answer the
call and defend his title against the number one contender as
determined by the promotion. If he refuses to defend his title
then EliteXC needs to give some serious consideration towards
stripping him of the title and having Diaz fight another opponent
for the vacant belt. If Noons doesn’t want to take the Diaz
fight, maybe Alvarez will. Alvarez is getting married this month
and wants to take time off. However, if there was a title on
the line and it was worth his while to come back sooner than
expected, perhaps he’d be willing to change his plans?
Source: The Fight Network
|
Quote
of the Day
"If
you shut your door to all errors, truth will be shut out."
Rabindranath Tagore, 1861-1941, Bengali Poet and Writer
|
Hawaii
Training Center
Home of
Evolution Boxing Club
Tommorrow!
Presents
a Match Event @ Hawaii Training Center
Aug. 23, 2008 @ 7pm
Aug. 24 @ 1pm
Waipio Industrial Court
94-547 Ukee St., Suite #209
Waipahu, Hawaii 96797
$10.00
at the door
"
Boxers under 16 yrs. old (One parent free admission)
" 2 Coaches per participating club (free admission)
STREET
PARKING ONLY
"
WE WILL BE USING THE NORTH SIDE ENTRANCE
(TOWARDS REVTEK, OZONE GLASS TINTING, TAIRA'S AUTO REPAIR)
"
Please have your boxer ready to go as soon as the prior bout
is completed.
"
We want to keep this show running smoothly & on time.
"
Bring your own music for your entrance during your
Introduction into the Boxing ring.
(no vulgar, inappropriate, degrading language allowed)
If boxer does not bring music, any song will be played.
"
No Outside food/drinks allowed in boxing event.
" Small coolers allowed with ice & water ONLY.
o Participating clubs only.
o Coolers will be checked at the door.
"
Waipio Industrial Court is a private facility.
Keep parking lot area clean.
Please respect other tenants & neighbors.
Please keep the restrooms clean.
No alcohol on premises.
Smoking allowed near driveway entrance only.
"
Kindly pass the above information to those attending this event.
" Thank you for participating in this boxing event.
|
Full
cast announced for 'The Ultimate Fighter 8'
Spike TV revealed today the 32 cast members for the eight season
of its UFC reality TV series, "The Ultimate Fighter: Team
Mir vs. Team Nogueira," which premieres Wednesday, Sept.
17 at 10pm ET/PT.
UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and
former champion Frank Mir serve as opposing coaches guiding 8
lightweights and 8 light-heavyweights as the contestants battle
through a single-elimination tournament to be crowned the season's
division champs.
Sticking with the opening "twist" that began last season,
all 32 fighters will compete on the first two episodes (airing
Sept. 17 and 24) to narrow the field of fighters down to 16.
The two finalists from each division will battle Saturday, Dec.
13 at the live finale on Spike TV for the six-figure UFC contracts.
Lightweights
Jose
Aguilar
Age: 25
MMA Record: 17-3-0
Trains With: Grapplers Edge
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Fernando
Bernstein
Age: 25
MMA Record: 2-0-0
Location: San Clemente, CA
Marcus
Brimage
Age: 22
MMA Record: 1-0-0
Location: Birmingham, AL
Junie
Allen Browning
Age: 22
MMA Record: 2-0-0
Trains With: Four Seasons Martial Arts
Location: Lexington, KY
Rolando
Delgado
Age: 26
MMA Record: 7-3-1
Trains With: Westside Fight Team
Location: North Little Rock, AR
Joseph
Duarte
Age: 24
MMA Record: 3-0
Trains With: Unleashed Training Facility/ Alliance MMA
Location: San Diego, CA
Efrain
Escudero
Age: 22
MMA Record: 10-0-0
Trains With: Southwest Martial Arts
Location: Tempe, AZ
Brandon
Garner
Age: 26
MMA Record: 4-1-0
Trains With: Team ROC
Location: Raleigh, NC
David
Kaplan
Age: 28
MMA Record: 3-1-0
Trains With: Lloyd Irvin Team
Location: Camp Springs, MD
Brian
McLaughlin
Age: 23
MMA Record: 5-0-0
Trains With: Team Gracie Tampa
Location: Tampa, FL
Wesley
Murch
Age: 25
MMA Record: 4-2-0
Trains With: Trojan Gym
Location: Bristol, UK
Shane
Nelson
Age: 24
MMA Record: 11-3-0
Trains With: BJ Penn’s MMA
Location: Hilo, HI
Phillipe
Nover
Age: 24
MMA Record: 5-0-1
Trains With: Team Renzo Gracie
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Ido
Pariente
Age: 30
MMA Record: 13-4-0
Trains With:
Location: Tel Avis, Israel
John
Polakowski
Age: 26
MMA Record: 3-1-0
Trains With: The Pit
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
George
Roop
Age: 26
MMA Record: 7-3-0
Trains With: Ultima MMA
Location: Tucson, AZ
Light
Heavyweights
Ryan
Bader
Age: 24
MMA Record: 7-0-0
Trains With: Arizona Combat Sports
Location: Chandler, AZ
Antwain
Britt
Age: 29
MMA Record: 4-0-0
Trains With: Bombsquad MMA
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Jules
Bruchez
Age: 30
MMA Record: 3-2-0
Trains With: Ronan Dojo
Location: Lafayette, LA
Lance
Evans
Age: 30
MMA Record: 4-2-0
Trains With: TKO MMA
Location: Niagara Falls, NY
Karen
Grigoryan
Age: 26
MMA Record: 5-0-0
Trains With: RusFighters Sport Club
Location: Russia
Jason
Guida
Age: 30
MMA Record: 26-13-0
Trains With: Hellhouse Gym
Location: Chicago, IL
Ryan
Jimmo
Age: 26
MMA Record: 6-1-0
Trains With: Titans MMA
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Kyle
Kingsbury
Age: 26
MMA Record: 7-1-1
Trains With: American Kickboxing Academy
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Tom
Lawlor
Age: 24
MMA Record: 4-1
Trains With: American Top Team
Location: Oviedo, FL
Ryan
Lopez
Age: 25
MMA Record: 5-3-0
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Vinicius
Magalhaes
Age: 23
MMA Record: 2-2-0
Trains With: Team Quest
Location: Temecula, CA
Eliot
Marshall
Age: 27
MMA Record: 5-1-0
Trains With: Eastern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Location: Boulder, CO
Tom
Matijacic
Age: 31
MMA Record: 4-0-1
Trains With:
Location: Tigard, OR
Sean
O’Connell
Age: 24
MMA Record: 1-0-0
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Shane
Primm
Age: 23
MMA Record: 1-0-0
Trains With: Team Gracie Tampa
Location: Tampa, FL
Krzysztof
Soszynski
Age: 30
MMA Record: 16-8-1
Trains With: Team Quest
Location: Temecula, CA
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Couture
among most read
Book on NY Times best-seller list
Not only in Brazil do books about personalities from the world
of fighting find success. While the book about the life of Carlos
Gracie, written by daughter Reila, remains at the top of the
list of better selling literature, Randy Couture’s biography
“Becoming the Natural,” debuted this week on the list
of best sellers in the New York Times.
Written
in partnership with Loretta Hunt, Randy Duane Couture’s
book on the saga of the American wrestler born in 1963 is being
held in high regard.
While
he enjoys literary success, Couture fights in the courts to free
himself of his contract with the UFC. Unhappy with his inability
to face Fedor Emelianenko and with the purses paid to new-comers
to the organization, Couture broke from his commitment to the
folks from the famous octagon, and has been left without a fight
since last August, when he defeated Gabriel “Napao”
by TKO, thus retaining his heavyweight belt.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
UFC
PRES CONFIRMS OREGON, FLORIAN VS STEVENSON
Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White on Thursday
confirmed that the promotion will head to Portland, Ore. on Nov.
15 with a bout between top lightweight contenders Kenny Florian
and Joe Stevenson in tow, as MMAWeekly.com reported on Tuesday.
White confirmed the news to Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports.
The
Nov. 15 event will be the UFC’s first in Oregon as the company
looks to expand its brand across the nation and the world. It
will take place in the 20,000-seat Rose Garden Arena.
Although
there was much speculation that a rematch between current welterweight
champion Georges St. Pierre and lightweight titleholder B.J. Penn would take place at
UFC 92 on Dec. 27, White told Iole that the bout would now be
moved to the UFC’s Super Bowl weekend event on Jan. 31.
The
bout between St. Pierre and Penn will see the lightweight champion
retain his belt for a later defense, but he will go up in weight
to 170 pounds for the rematch.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
SPENCER
FISHER
Fisher Talks Upcoming Fight with Guillard
By Steven Marrocco
Spencer
“The King” Fisher recently confirmed with FCF his fight
with Melvin Guillard at UFC 90 in Chicago, Illinois on October
25th.
The
popular lightweight fighter spoke to FCF after a trip to Florida,
where he helped a friend open a new MMA gym. He had some words
of wisdom for the young hopefuls who lined up to train with him.
But before that, he busted their asses.
“First
thing I always look for is their work ethic,” Fisher says.
“If they’re willing to push the extra step. Before
practice I always make them get out and run. When I came here
I asked them who wanted to be a fighter, and they raised their
hands. I said, ‘alright guys, get running.’ And they
couldn’t believe that. So I made them do sprints immediately.
So it really weeds out people, but they came back next day. A
few didn’t show up, but you find out immediately who wants
to do it.”
Fisher’s
work ethic has been forged in the hallowed halls of Miletich
Fighting Systems, a gym that’s cranked out champion after
champion. It’s the work ethic, Miletich’s alums say.
Besides, there’s nothing else to do in Bettendorf, Iowa.
“Secondly,
I tell them it’s not an overnight thing,” Fisher continues.
“You have to put your time in, and if you don’t have
the technique, you’ve got to put in the hard work, so if
all else fails, you’ll be able to outwork the guy.”
A
25-fight veteran of mixed martial arts, Fisher knows about putting
his time in. After fighting his way through Middle America for
the first three years of his career, Fisher’s star rose
quickly after his battle with Sam Stout at UFC 58. As a welterweight,
he was one of only two men to hand contender Thiago Alves a loss.
He’s not perfect inside the Octagon -- in nine fights, he’s
dropped three and fallen off the cusp of a lightweight title
shot -- but if anything, he’s the type of fighter who outworks
his opponents. UFC president Dana White reportedly loves the
way he fights, and that’s never bad for a fighter’s
future.
Fisher
recently reversed a unanimous decision loss to Frankie Edgar
at UFC 78 with a unanimous decision win over former training
partner Jeremy Stephens at the Ultimate Fighter Season 7 Finale.
A fight with Guillard isn’t necessarily upwardly mobile,
as Guillard has dropped nearly half of his fights in the UFC.
But now, maybe more than ever, Fisher feels he needs to take
care of his family, critics be damned.
“Melvin’s
a tough guy,” Fisher reasons. “He’s coming off
a win and he’s a seasoned guy as well. I don’t pick
my fights. My manager and the UFC pick them. Who ever they put
in front of me is the guy I’m going to beat up. If it helps
me get closer to being champion, or gets me more money, I’m
all about it. I’ve got to take care of my family first.”
That
means more exposure to fights that might not go his way. Still,
Fisher feels confident that he’s in a different league than
Guillard.
“I
think I’m going to impose the same problems that Rich [Clementi]
did,” Fisher says. “I think I’m better in every
area than Melvin is. He’s a great athlete, though.
“I’ve
got to be in good shape, that’s all. The rest will take
care of itself.”
At
this point, much of Fisher’s skill is rooted in muscle memory,
like most fighters who’ve been around the game long enough.
But Fisher is trying something new for his game plan against
Guillard.
“I
hope to go out to Seattle to [Matt] Hume, and that will be for
a particular fight strategy and game plan going for this fight,”
Fisher says. “Right now everybody’s really busy at
Pat’s, and I’m just trying to stay focused and make
sure I have a coach, and make sure I have the right game plan
for this fight.”
Fisher
says the key to keeping things fresh is to stay a student of
the game. Hume is a departure from his home in Bettendorf, but
he’s committed to learning new things. Endorsements from
Jorge Gurgel, Rich Franklin, and manager Monte Cox can’t
be wrong. There are certainly more things to do in Hume’s
home of Seattle, Washington.
One
thing is certain: this time, it will be Fisher doing the wind
sprints.
Source: Full Contact Fighter
|
Brock
Lesnar may fight at UFC 91 in Portland
Brock Lesnar's next fight could happen at UFC 91 in November.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota, Lesnar
found out this week that the UFC is interested in having him
compete in November, which would most likely be in reference
to the planned UFC 91 card on the 15th at the Rose Garden Arena
in Portland, Oregon.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Noons
Has a Few Hours to Accept Diaz Fight
Ariel Shnerer
EliteXC
160-pound champion K.J. Noons (7-2) now faces a 24-hour deadline
to accept a rematch against Nick Diaz (18-7).
MMAJunkie.com
reported the news on Wednesday after speaking with EliteXC vice
president Jared Shaw.
Noons
reportedly has until 5 p.m. on Thursday to accept the matchup
or he will face public opinion. The Hawaii-native may be unhappy
with his current contract or salary with ProElite, which could
be the reason for his refusal to accept the fight.
At
EliteXC: Renegade in November, Noons was awarded the vacant lightweight
title in his bout with Diaz after the fight was stopped due to
cuts. Diaz suffered a deep gash early in the first round, and
the action was halted at the 5:00 mark. Since beating Diaz, Noons
successfully retained the strap against good friend Yves Edwards
with a resounding first-round TKO win at EliteXC: Return of the
King in June.
EliteXC
was hoping to add the lightweight grudge match to the Oct. 4
CBS card, also featuring Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley for the
welterweight title, Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobald, plus Kimbo
Slice against a yet-to-be-named opponent.
UPDATE:
FightLine.com previously reported that Kevin "Kimbo Slice"
Ferguson is officially set to take on Brett Rogers on the Oct.
4 EliteXC: Saturday Night Fights card on CBS. However, Jared
Shaw has since denied that any opponent is officially set, and
said the search for someone to oppose the former street brawler
is ongoing.
Source: The Fight Network
|
The
Man Behind the Beef
by Jason
Probst
Call him rotund. Portly. Or fat, if you’re out of arm’s
reach, or just feeling especially lucky.
But
however you want to describe Roy Nelson (Pictures), there’s
little doubt that the Las Vegas-based heavyweight can fight.
After
years of being a highly respected, behind-the-scenes grappling
whiz who trained other fighters, Nelson is now knocking on the
door and hoping to bust into the upper echelon of the big boys.
Recently signed to Affliction, he debuts Oct. 11 against veteran
Paul Buentello (Pictures), whose dangerous standup is just another
hurdle that “Country” (or “Big Country”)
figures he can get over.
“When
I started in MMA in 2004 and 2005, after everybody kind of got
wind of my name, they knew me from a grappling standpoint,”
Nelson said. “So I used to have to get fights on my name
alone. People were like, ‘Roy Nelson (Pictures)? I’ll
fight him.’ Then they’re like, ‘Is that Big Country?
… Yeah, our guy doesn’t want to fight him.’ I
couldn’t get a fight if my life depended on it. Then MMA
exploded in 2006. Everybody and their momma wanted to be a fight
promoter. I started fighting in smaller shows.”
After
coming out of nowhere to place second in the Abu Dhabi North
American qualifiers in 2002, Nelson, who’d been on the submission
grappling circuit for a mere two years, forged a reputation as
an ideal combination of big-man size, small-guy quickness and
technical wizardry.
His
physique -- broad shoulders, ham-like hands and long limbs, topped
off with a robust belly/beard combo -- cuts the figure of a wronged
farmer showing up to get his money back on a cattle swindle.
Except for the fact that he’s usually quicker, slicker and
smarter than the other guy once it hits the ground. And he can
take a punch as well as give one.
He’s
from Las Vegas, to boot. At 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, he looks
like he could cut down to 220 or so without excess trouble. But
like a select few athletes, Nelson seems to get results in spite
of appearances.
And
the nickname’s stuck.
Photo by Matthew Kaplowitz
Roy Nelson poses for a network
television camera following
his knockout of Fabiano Scherner
on Feb. 29, 2008 in Las Vegas.
“It
came from (super heavyweight) Eric Pele (Pictures), from the
MMA circuit. We were at John Lewis (Pictures)’ school. I
was doing takedowns,” Nelson said. “He thought I was
from Iowa or Nebraska because I was taking everybody down.”
With
a ledger of 13-2, Nelson’s most notable fight came in the
IFL last April when he battled “Big” Ben Rothwell (Pictures)
to a split decision loss. Few outside the industry knew Nelson,
and conventional wisdom suggested that he would be best served
by making it a ground fight. Instead, he slugged it out in a
rousing scrap, taking Rothwell’s best shots and landing
plenty of his own.
It
was an overdue coming-out party of sorts for Nelson, who had
spent years as a coach and training partner with a who’s
who of the sport, including Chuck Liddell (Pictures), Tito Ortiz
(Pictures), Ricco Rodriguez (Pictures) and Maurice Smith (Pictures).
“I
transitioned into the sport because being a sparring partner
doesn’t pay the bills,” Nelson said. “So I decided
to go for it. If they’re not gonna pay me, I’m just
gonna take it from them.”
The
do-it-yourself mentality has carried over into his present training
regimen. Working out of his home, which he dubs the “Big
Country Lion’s Den,” Nelson brings in fellow fighters
and grapplers to work with on mats he’s laid down. It’s
easier than going other places, he explains. He also trains standup
with former welterweight boxer Skipper Kelp.
“It’s
basically my guys I’ve groomed, from the tournament circuit,
from other schools I used to teach at. I just basically have
guys that beat me up with my own jits,” he said. “I
used to go to other gyms to try and teach, but I did more teaching
than actually working. You need to put your work and your time
in.”
Turning
pro in 2004, Nelson did it in typical “Country” style,
with an extra helping of scraps. He fought two opponents on the
same night, taking a pair of three-round decisions over Jerry
Vrbanovic (Pictures) and Bo Cantrell (Pictures) despite the fact
that they’d had 14 bouts between them.
Five
years later, against Buentello, Nelson will go up against a potent
standup stylist in “The Headhunter,” but one whose
ground game might be a weakness he can exploit. That’s because
Nelson’s adept at overpowering people with wrestling, but
like many ex-wrestlers, he has an excellent sense of tactics
and strategy even when on his back. And despite the appearance
of a guy who isn’t in shape compared to most heavies, he
can transition into submissions or pull off a textbook sweep
with deceptive quickness.
But
regardless, Nelson has heard the talk -- offhanded, lighthearted
comments from people that while he’s talented, there’s
more to marketing a guy than talent. With the body aesthetic
in MMA a big factor in marketing fighters -- smoothed, ripped
abs, slab-like pectorals defined to the seeming point of narcissism
-- he figures if he keeps kicking butt, it won’t matter
what he looks like.
“Back
in 2002, when I did the Abu Dhabi qualifier, when UFC was really
looking, they had (champ) Ricco Rodriguez (Pictures),” he
said. “I heard it from (then-coach) Marc Laimon and (UFC
matchmaker) Joe Silva. It was the whole Josh Barnett (Pictures)
thing. They were like, ‘You need to lose some of that fat.
We need that fighter look. We can’t push you unless you
fit the mold.’ I was like, ‘Ahh, we’ll see. As
long as you win, that’s what matters.’ They were basically
just shooting the s---. It was a buddy type of thing. But it’s
also one of those things that turns you off, when you’re
like, ‘Dude, all I do is train.’”
He
figures the proof comes at crunch time, as it did during the
last half of the Rothwell brawl, when he ate big shots and kept
pressing, bombing back even though it was the wrong game plan
on paper.
“I
think it’s a little genetics. My dad’s built the same
way. I’m one of those God-blessed athletic guys, those fat
guys that can dunk, do a back flip. Fat guys that can move. Kind
of like a Samoan,” Nelson said. “If I cut off my leg,
I could make 205. But if I put somebody though the gauntlet with
myself, and we could do some type of physical test, I’m
sure I would outdo them.”
The
heavyweight crop in Affliction is especially promising, with
champ Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) at the top, along with top
contenders Andrei Arlovski (Pictures) and Josh Barnett (Pictures)
(who square off in the Oct. 11 main event).
“The
first time I saw Fedor live when he fought Mark Coleman (Pictures),
I wasn’t impressed at all. I was like, ‘He beat up
Coleman, that’s not a big deal.’ Then especially when
he fought (Hong Man) Choi, I was like, ‘He’s 8-foot
tall, and Fedor fell underneath him.’ When he beat the crap
out of Tim, I was like, ‘He’s legit.’ Watching
all his other fights, he’s legit anyways. He’s the
complete package. He earned 10 times more respect for that alone.”
Arlovski-Barnett
will determine Emelianenko’s next challenger. Nelson offered
his thoughts on that match as well: “I’m afraid it
might be a boring fight. The reason why is Andrei tends to be
very tentative when he’s afraid of a guy that can take him
down, or a guy that’s gonna knock his block off. Like when
Ben fought Arlovski, if he’d come out guns blazing. But
Ben knew he had been already beat before he stepped out there.
But I don’t think Josh is gonna be tentative. Josh is a
gamer. He’s been in there with the best. It might be exciting.
Or Andrei might be a little tentative.”
All
in all, Affliction’s heavyweight division is a big step
up for Nelson, but what else is new?
“Affliction
made the most sense. I always believed the fastest way is a straight
line,” he said. “They have Fedor. I kinda had to get
pushed a little faster than I wanted, but the opportunity arose,
and I had to jump on it.”
Belly
and all.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Tito
Ortiz still without a contract
Fighter had announced agreement with Affliction
Tito Ortiz is considered to be one of the main characters in
the American MMA scene. However, finding a new home has not been
the simplest of tasks for the former UFC star. According to information
arising on specialized sites in the USA, Ortiz has been negotiating
with all the biggest organizations, but has reached an accord
with none of them up until now.
The
fighter’s indecision doesn’t bother the executives
involved. “I don’t know if we are really negotiating
or whether we are just helping Ortiz inflate his enormous ego,”
declared an unidentified bigwig to the Dayton Daily News.
The
uncertainty over Tito’s future is so great that besides
speaking with Affliction, with whom he had even announced sealing
the greatest deal of all times – something that has not
been fulfilled until now – the Bad Boy is in touch with
EliteXC, the AFL, and even with the UFC, where he had left at
arms with president Dana White.
Ortiz
last fought in May, when he was overcome by Lyoto Machida at
UFC 84.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Sin
City Sentinel: Eastman Draws Kang, Tyson Comeback Squashed
by Mike Sloan
Las Vegas’ own Marvin Eastman (Pictures) is finally set
to return to action. The veteran of King of the Cage, the WFA
and the UFC, as well as dozens of muay Thai and K-1 fights is
scheduled to tackle Denis Kang (Pictures) at RAW Combat on Oct.
25 in Alberta, Canada.
Eastman
(15-8-1) last fought at the “The Ultimate Fighter 7”
finale on June 21, where he was stopped in just 68 seconds with
a barrage of strikes from Drew McFedries. A prison corrections
officer by day, Eastman also suffered a torn retina in the melee.
The eye has since fully healed and the former UNLV running back
has been training vigorously for his next bout.
“Mentally
I feel fine, physically I feel great,” said Eastman. “I
caught a tough break in my last fight and I’m just trying
to rebound. That’s just the game. [McFedries] got me in
the eye and I couldn’t see and my man won the fight. It
was fair -- no excuses. True champions dust themselves off and
come back harder and make the corrections.”
Considered
a gold prospect following an impressive run in Pride Bushido,
American Top Team’s Kang (29-10-1) has dropped three of
his last four bouts. The Canadian-raised Korean was submitted
via a triangle choke by Gegard Mousasi (Pictures) at Dream 2
in April, effectively knocking Kang out of the promotion’s
coveted middleweight grand prix tournament.
“I
don’t really know him at all,” Eastman said of Kang.
“I met him up at the Bodog show in Costa Rica and I think
my manager did some pad work for him, but other than that I don’t
really know too much about him. I do know that he has a lot of
wins over in Canada and Japan and he’s a ranked opponent.
He lost a couple in a row, I lost one and I know we both gotta
come in and step up to the plate and see who the better man is
on October 25. I don’t plan on losing to him at all and
that’s no disrespect to him because he also ain’t planning
on losing to me either.”
Eastman
isn’t the only one who believes an upset is in the works.
“Marvin
is feeling and looking great,” said Skip Kelp, a former
professional boxer and long-time trainer to Eastman and a host
of other fighters. “But like I always say, it’s all
in how Marvin fights. We all know how talented he is but it’s
just a matter of getting him to follow his game plan.
“Sometimes
he gets too aggressive or stubborn and wanders off the path,”
Kelp added. “Kang is a great fighter but I know he’s
beatable and I know Marvin can do it. As long as he sticks to
the game plan, he should -- I won’t say easily -- but he
should beat Kang.”
Eastman
is grateful to be fighting again after the imposed hiatus. While
he openly admitted his love for the UFC, he was discouraged after
getting shelved for long periods of time where he couldn’t
fight as much as he’d have liked. With his UFC contract
expired, Eastman said he can focus on competing more frequently,
and might add some muay Thai bouts into the mix as well.
“That
loss was a blessing in disguise for me,” said Eastman. “The
fight with Kang is a great opportunity for me to prove that I
have what it takes to get back to the top. A great win over someone
like him will put me right back in the thick of things.”
Tyson,
reps finally squash fight talk
Mike
Tyson (right) and Mark
Coleman attend an Aug. 26,
2006 press conference in
Los Angeles, Calif.Former undisputed boxing heavyweight champion
Mike Tyson will not be making any sort of comeback in the ring
-- or the cage for that matter. Rumors have been flying around
Vegas for quite some time that Tyson might come out of retirement
to try his hand at MMA instead of boxing.
“Iron”
Mike has been spotted attending a few boxing events in Las Vegas
recently and Sherdog.com asked the 42-year-old of his future
plans at a Kevin Kelley-headlined card at the Las Vegas Hilton.
“No,
I’m finished with fighting. I’m done,” he answered
quickly.
A
source close to the future Hall of Fame boxer also dismissed
the rumors of him training for a comeback, stating that Tyson
had been in the gym trying to stay fit and nothing else.
While
Tyson’s well-documented financial difficulties might be
incentive enough to jump back into the fight game, it doesn’t
appear that a once-rumored “Kimbo Slice” showdown is
in the boxer’s future.
In
September 2007, Tyson pleaded guilty to narcotics possession
and driving under the influence. An Arizona court sentenced “the
Baddest Man on the Planet” to 360 hours of community service
and a 3-year probation.
‘Cobra’
gets HOF nod
Karate
champion, decorated kickboxer, professional boxer, record label
CEO, mixed martial artist. Dewey Cooper (Pictures) can now add
Hall of Famer to his list of monikers.
The
loquacious “Black Cobra” was inducted into the Masters
Hall of Fame last Saturday for his “long-standing commitment
to the martial arts” and his many years of excellence within
the various fight sports.
“It
was surreal,” said Cooper of the nod. “When I got the
call I thought it was a joke until I got a certified letter saying
that the Masters Hall of Fame had nominated me as a potential
Hall of Famer for 2008. It was then that I knew it was real.
It was weird because I’m still competing and training and
then I receive something as honorable as this.”
But
looking at all of Cooper’s achievements, he truly has accomplished
more in the fight game than most, pro or amateur.
“For
me, people don’t know that I did a lot of karate tournaments
back in the day,” he said. “It’s also from all
the kickboxing that I’ve done, all the boxing and now MMA.
Also for training Jessica Rackozy and having her win three world
[boxing] titles. I think it was my tutelage of her that really
set the tone for my induction. I’ve won 25 karate tournaments.
I’m the only guy in the karate world who is not only a fifth
degree black belt in Chinese Kenpo, but also is a K-1 veteran
and has boxing and MMA experience as well as a trainer and coach.”
Cooper,
2-1 in MMA, doesn’t plan on stopping either. At press time,
the veteran fighter was set to box Thursday in Lemoore, Calif.,
for the vacant WBC Intercontinental cruiserweight title. Another
MMA bout doesn’t seem far off as well.
“Oh
man, I’m going to be doing MMA again real soon,” he
revealed with a grin. “It all depends on how my [boxing]
fight turns out. If everything is fine and I don’t get hurt,
Strikeforce has contacted me and I might fight on their Playboy
Mansion show next month. If not, I’ll almost definitely
be doing an MMA fight in October.”
Quick
hits
•
Popular local organization Tuff-N-Uff held an extraordinary event
on Aug. 8 inside the Orleans Hotel’s Mardi Gras Ballroom.
Though it was only an amateur event, the event was a complete
sellout, highlighted by a superb armbar submission from Xtreme
Couture’s Justin Linn over Team Mad Beatings’ Tony
Martinez. Sixteen fights topped the card and to say it was one
of the more action-packed cards of the year would be an understatement.
Tuff-N-Uff’s
presence in the minor leagues, so to speak, of MMA is critical
and though the promotion does deliver professional events from
time to time, it seems like their inexpensive amateur program
is their bread and butter. Barry Meyer, the mastermind behind
the organization, told Sherdog.com that another all-amateur showcase
will be held on Oct. 17 at the Orleans Arena. Meyer also plans
on having an all-pro card either in November or December, probably
at the same location.
Source: Sherdog
|
Quote
of the Day
"Life
must be lived and curiosity kept alive. One must never, for whatever
reason, turn his back on life."
Eleanor
Roosevelt, 1884-1962, American Humanitarian and Former First
Lady of the United States
|
|
SHERK
VS GRIFFIN OFFICIAL FOR UFC 90 IN CHICAGO
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship on Wednesday announced that former
lightweight champion Sean Sherk would be facing Tyson Griffin
at UFC 90 on Oct. 25 in Chicago. MMAWeekly.com first confirmed
the match-up on Aug. 5.
The
fight is Sherk’s first since falling short against B.J.
Penn at UFC 84 in May. Sherk held the lightweight title for a
year following a victory over Kenny Florian at UFC 64, but was
stripped of the belt after the California State Athletic Commission
upheld his suspension arising from a positive test for Norandrolone
at UFC 73. In an interview with MMAWeekly.com at the International
Mixed Martial Arts Expo earlier this month, Sherk expressed his
desire to stay at the top of the division.
“I
don’t want to fight up-and-coming guys,” he said. “You
start fighting up-and-coming guys and you have to fight more
guys to make your way up to the top. I want to fight the best
of the best, and that’s what I’m doing with this upcoming
fight.”
Xtreme
Couture fighter Griffin appears to fit that bill. At 5-1 in his
UFC career, Griffin has shown himself to be a relentless competitor
inside the Octagon. Riding high off a decision win against Marcus
Aurelio at UFC 86, Griffin will look to land within striking
distance of a future title shot.
Griffin
and Sherk were unavailable for comment at the time of this writing.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
ELITEXC
TITLE BOUT HEADS SEPT. 26 SHOXC
ProElite, Inc. on Wednesday announced its Sept. 26 ShoXC event
at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, Calif. The main portion
of the fight card will air on the subscription-based Showtime
cable network.
The
official announcement included bouts featuring Shane Del Rosario
vs. Jon Murphy and Erik Apple vs. Matt Makowski.
With
the cancellation of EliteXC’s Sept. 20 event at The Pit
in Albuquerque, N.M., several fighters have been left to wonder
when their next bouts will be. Not so for Wilson Reis and Bao
Quach.
The
two were originally going to be tapped for EliteXC’s first
ever 140-pound title fight on the Albuquerque event. EliteXC
vice president Jared Shaw, however, confirmed to MMAWeekly.com
that the bout would now take place on the Sept. 26 event on Showtime.
The
bout will be classified as EliteXC’s bantamweight championship.
ShoXC:
Sept. 26
-Wilson Reis vs. Bao Quach
-Shane Del Rosario vs. Jon Murphy
-Erik Apple vs. Matt Makowski
Source:
MMA Weekly |
BUD
LIGHT PICKS UP UFC'S SILVA & LIDDELL
When Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White announced
that the leading mixed martial arts promotion had struck a sponsorship
deal with Anheuser-Busch, he was ecstatic about the partnership
and optimistic about the possibilities.
“This
is a historical moment for the company,” he said at a press
conference in Columbus, Ohio on Feb. 28, announcing the deal.
“I can’t express to you enough how excited I am.”
Anheuser-Busch
is stepping up its involvement in MMA by making UFC middleweight
champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva and former UFC
light heavyweight titleholder Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell
spokesmen for the Bud Light brand.
Silva's
manager, Ed Soares, told MMAWeekly Radio, "We just finalized
a deal with Anheuser-Busch. Him (Silva) and Chuck Liddell are
going to be spokespeople for Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch here
in the U.S."
When
reached for comment, Liddell told MMAWeekly, "It's great.
It's really nice that these companies are getting behind MMA.
Bud Light's been around a long time. I think it's a great sponsor
to have."
The
campaign is set to hit 4,000 convenience stores throughout the
country immediately as well as include billboards and television
commercial appearances.
Anheuser-Busch’s
Bud Light brand has a three-year deal with Zuffa, LLC, (the parent
company of the UFC and World Extreme Cagefighting) and is the
exclusive beer sponsor of the UFC and WEC. The Bud Light logo
took over the center position on the canvas of the Octagon at
UFC 84 in Las Vegas on May 24.
“Landing
Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light is huge for us, our fighters and
especially our fans,” said White at the time of the announcement
in February. “We’ve got the No. 1 selling beer in the
world and one of the top marketers in all of sports as our sponsor.
If our TV ratings, pay-per-view buys and venue sell-outs weren’t
enough, this definitely cements UFC as a major player in sports
business.”
Source:
MMA Weekly |
OZZY
OSBOURNE GOES MMA
Las Vegas – Heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne will perform
live at Affliction “Day of Reckoning” on Saturday,
Oct. 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center. Presented by Roy Englebrecht
Events, Donald J. Trump, Affliction Entertainment in association
with Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, the mixed martial
arts event will be the first Affliction show in the Las Vegas
area.
“To
bring the ‘Godfather of Heavy Metal’ to our event is
a dream come true,” said Tom Atencio, vice president of
Affliction Entertainment. “An incredible fight card combined
with Ozzy’s live performance, our fight in Las Vegas will
be an unforgettable event.”
With
a career spanning for more than 37 years, Ozzy has entertained
in front of millions worldwide. The Grammy Award-winning rocker
has released more than 20 solo albums including his first solo
record, the multi-platinum Blizzard of Ozz to 2007’s success
of Black Rain. Ozzy has continuously released chart-topping hits
including “Dreamer,” “No More Tears” and
“Mamma I’m Coming Home.” In 2002, Ozzy and his
family gained national appeal with their record-breaking reality
show “The Osbournes” on MTV. From singing sensation
to reality star, Ozzy Osbourne epitomizes the free artistic expression
that transcends true rock culture around the globe.
“Every
performance needs a little blood,” said Ozzy Osbourne. “I
look forward to seeing the fighters get roughed up a bit. Performing
in Las Vegas is always a good time.”
Coming
off the success of its inaugural fight card, “Affliction
Banned,” Roy Englebrecht Events in association with Affliction
Entertainment presents Affliction “Day of Reckoning”
featuring the WAMMA Heavyweight elimination match between Andrei
Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett.
Other
fighters stepping into the ring that evening will include Matt
Lindland, a native of Oregon City, Oregon; International Fight
League light heavyweight champion Vladimir Matyushenko taking
on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira; Mike “Quicksand” Pyle
battling with Jason High and Las Vegas native Roy “Big Country”
Nelson against Paul "The Headhunter" Buentello.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
BENJI
RADACH A FREE AGENT, READY TO RETURN
Considered one of the top comeback stories of all 2007, former
International Fight League middleweight Benji Radach is officially
a free agent. He’s healthy and ready to get back into action
this year.
Picked
as the favorite to win the first ever IFL middleweight Grand
Prix tournament, Radach suffered a loss to Matt Horwich in the
finals. Soon after, he re-injured his neck, which was a problem
that he had dealt with in the past, but now he’s ready to
get back to full time competition.
“It’s
doing good. I don’t really feel any problems with it,”
said Radach about his neck injury. “I’m going live.
I’m definitely going to get another MRI and stuff done.
Back then, the doctors said I just needed to take it easy and
I pretty much took it easy for about five months. It should be
healed up.”
The
down time allowed him some much needed rest and relaxation after
a grueling IFL schedule kept him busy for six fights during 2007.
The
schedule and great number of fights could have helped contribute
to the disappointing performance Radach suffered in his last
fight. He plans to use that lesson as he moves forward in his
career.
“My
main goal is to not get too many fights going. That’s kind
of one of the things I blame for the loss with (Matt) Horwich,”
he stated. “I just wasn’t hungry. I was kind of burnt
out, and I fought so much that year, and trained so hard, twice
a day, and just kind of ran myself ragged. I just didn’t
have the fire when I went into that fight.”
The
fire has returned to Radach and his training. The former IFL
and UFC fighter has begun working with coaches such as Erik Paulson
and Josh Barnett, while also working at camps with Tito Ortiz
and Michael Bisping.
He
is currently looking to return, most likely, in “October,
November” and he has a number of suitors that could gain
his services.
“I’m
a free agent and I have a couple options so maybe, possibly the
Affliction show, and then also possibly EliteXC.”
Source:
MMA Weekly |
SHIELDS
TO DEFEND ELITEXC TITLE AGAINST DALEY
Following weeks of back and forth chatter in the media about
some of the fights that may or may not happen on the Oct. 4 CBS-EliteXC
Saturday Night Fights event, at least one fight is nearly settled.
EliteXC vice president Jared Shaw informed MMAWeekly.com that
the promotion’s welterweight champion, Jake Shields, and
Cage Rage world welterweight champion Paul Daley have agreed
to fight.
Cage
Rage is a sister promotion to EliteXC; both are owned by ProElite,
Inc.
“Jake
Shields and Paul Daley have a date on Oct. 4,” quipped Shaw.
“Both fighters have verbally agreed. Bout agreements are
out and we’re just waiting for them to come back in.
“Unlike
some others, these are two guys that I trust their word,”
he said of the verbal commitments from Shields and Daley.
Shaw
was obviously taking a jab at the camp of K.J. Noons, EliteXC’s
160-pound divisional champion. The promotion has taken its pressure
public to try and get Noons to agree to a rematch with No. 1
contender Nick Diaz on Oct. 4.
“We
faxed over a contract to Noons’ people and he has until
5 p.m. Pacific Time (on Thursday) to sign it and get it back
to us, or they’ll be forcing our hand,” stated Shaw.
Asked
what he meant by his “forcing our hand” comment, the
EliteXC executive said that if Noons and his camp decline the
fight, it is within the promotion’s right to extend the
term of his contract.
Another
huge question mark surrounding the pivotal Oct. 4 event on CBS
is the opponent for the already announced Kevin “Kimbo Slice”
Ferguson. Most speculation has centered on Brett Rogers and Ken
Shamrock.
Shaw,
however, was non-committal on the bout, saying that they have
been talking with several possible opponents, but still have
not made a final determination. The one rumor that he would squash
was the recent talk of a match-up with Sean Gannon, the fighter
that Slice built much of his underground fighting sensationalism
off of.
“There
are several options we’re considering right now. Gannon
is not the guy,” he said firmly.
With
the addition of the title bout between Shields and Daley, and
Shaw’s confirmation that bout agreements have also gone
out to the promotion’s female centerpiece, Gina Carano,
and her planned opponent, Kelly Kobald, that still leaves a lot
of work for the matchmaking team at EliteXC with only six and
a half weeks to go.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
St.
Pierre wants a rest
Canadian may only fight again in 2009
Current
king of the UFC welterweights, Georges St-Pierre has been working
hard in 2008. Unlike the organization’s other big names,
who tend to only fight twice or thrice a year, the Canadian has
already appeared four times over the last 12 months, he has had
four wins in a row and the feeling his body could use a rest.
“I need a rest. I like the life I lead, but sometimes you
need a rest,” wrote St-Pierre on French-Canadian blog RDS.ca.
The
words of the champion may give the public a hint that his much-anticipated
bout with BJ Penn, lightweight champion, may be put off till
2009. “I believe he (Penn) deserves a chance at my title.
But we will see about that in the weeks to come,” he stated,
stating thereafter that he needs a break: “It is not the
fight itself that is tiring. It’s preparing for it. I have
made many sacrifices to prepare myself. During training camps,
I practically do not live. That is why it is more in the psychological
field that I need to recharge.”
Source:
Gracie Magazine |
Roger
at Sengoku 5
Gracie to fight September 28
Besides
the announcements of Xande Ribeiro and Evangelista Cyborg being
present at Sengoku 5, the Japanese organization confirmed Roger
Gracie on the card for the September 28 event, in Saitama. This
will be the black belt’s third appearance in MMA. So far
he has had two wins in two fights, the last being at his Sengoku
debut, when he submitted experienced Yuki Kondo.
The
opponents to face Xande, Roger and Cyborg have not yet been defined.
The
organizers took the opportunity to confirm the official Sengoku
4 card for this coming Sunday.
Takanori
Gomi vs Bang Seung Hwan
Makoto Takimoto vs Frank Trigg
Clay French vs Satoru Kitaoka*
Rodrigo Damm vs Eiji Mitsuoka*
Bojan Kosednar vs Kazunori Yokota*
Mizuto Hirota vs Ryan Schultz*
Pawel Nastula vs Yang Dong Yi
Peter Graham vs Moise Rimbon
Valentijn Overeem vs Kazuo Takahashi
*Lighweight
GP
Source:
Gracie Magazine |
UFC
90 nearly sold out
Dana White dreams of MMA in the Olympics
UFC
88 has not even taken place yet and tickets for UFC 90 are nearly
sold out. The impressive number of advance ticket sales for the
event that will only be held on October 25, near Chicago, made
headlines on specialized websites. According to the Chicago Sun
Times, more than 80% of the seats have been sold, and the sum
collected is already over US$ 2 million.
Perhaps
overcome with excitement for seeing the business become ever-more
prosperous, Dana White declared his dream of seeing MMA become
part of the Olympic program. “I hope I’m alive to see
it. I don’t thing it will happen in the near future, but
I also thought it would take a bit longer for us to get to where
we are today… There is much work to be done, but seeing
MMA in the Olympic Games would be incredible. If you combine
judo, boxing and wrestling what do you get? That’s what
MMA is,” declared the UFC top dog on the site Fanhouse.com.
Check
out the card for UFC 90 as it is so far
Anderson
Silva vs. Patrick Cote
Thiago Alves vs Diego Sanchez
Tyson Griffin vs Sean Sherk
Fabricio Werdum vs a definir
Thales Leites vs Goran Reljic
Mike Swick vs to be defined
Hermes França vs Gleison Tibau
Ricardo Almeida vs Matt Horwich
Josh Burkman vs Pete Sell
Source:
Gracie Magazine |
Tito
Ortiz still without a contract
Fighter had announced agreement with Affliction
Tito
Ortiz is considered to be one of the main characters in the American
MMA scene. However, finding a new home has not been the simplest
of tasks for the former UFC star. According to information arising
on specialized sites in the USA, Ortiz has been negotiating with
all the biggest organizations, but has reached an accord with
none of them up until now.
The
fighter’s indecision doesn’t bother the executives
involved. “I don’t know if we are really negotiating
or whether we are just helping Ortiz inflate his enormous ego,”
declared an unidentified bigwig to the Dayton Daily News.
The
uncertainty over Tito’s future is so great that besides
speaking with Affliction, with whom he had even announced sealing
the greatest deal of all times – something that has not
been fulfilled until now – the Bad Boy is in touch with
EliteXC, the AFL, and even with the UFC, where he had left at
arms with president Dana White.
Ortiz
last fought in May, when he was overcome by Lyoto Machida at
UFC 84.
Source:
Gracie Magazine |
|
Notes:
Olympian challenges Fedor; Noons-Diaz off
It
is common in the U.S. after an athlete has just won the biggest
event of his life, to say that he’s going to Disneyland.
Would
the opposite of going to Disneyland, billed as the happiest place
on Earth, be getting in the ring with Fedor Emelianenko, who
may be the real world’s most dangerous human?
In
Beijing, China, after winning the gold medal in the superheavyweight
division in judo this past week, Japan’s Satoshi Ishii said
he wanted to fight “Emelianenko Fedor,” as the legendary
Russian fighter is known in Japan.
Ishii,
21, has never fought MMA style. The idea of the match may sound
laughable to MMA aficionados, but New Year’s Eve in Japan
is traditional for gimmick performers, whether they be Japanese
entertainment personalities, giants, or athletes who were successful
in other sports, doing fights. With Ishii becoming a national
hero in Japan and the sport fading in popularity, such a match
would draw the kind of interest that Emelianenko against a top
fighter could never do.
Ishii
would be the third Japanese judo gold medalist to go into MMA
if he’s serious. The first, Hidehiko Yoshida, was one of
the key people in the high point of the Pride promotion. But
Yoshida was 33, and a decade past winning his medal at 172 pounds
when he started in the sport. Ishii is younger and a true heavyweight,
but success in judo hardly guarantees top-level fighting ability
in MMA.
Emelianenko
in a gimmick match on network television is almost a New Year’s
Eve tradition. If his hand injury heals and allows him to go
this year, it will make the sixth year he’s fought on that
date. With the exception of a win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira,
the other matches have been against a popular pro wrestler, a
6-5, 400 pound tub of goo with turtle-like reflexes, a kickboxing
star with little MMA experience, and a 7-2, 367-pound South Korean
giant who only had one MMA fight.
Noons-Diaz
rematch falls apart
After
an in-ring skirmish on June 14, a potential K.J. Noons (7-2)
vs.
Nick
Diaz (18-7) lightweight title match became Elite XC’s most-anticipated
rematch.
The
promotion earmarked the bout for its Oct. 4 CBS show from the
BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, FL. But not only have they been
unable to make the match, the promotion claims they can’t
even find their lightweight champion to find out why.
“I’m
drinking milk and looking on the carton and see a picture of
K.J.
Noons,”
joked Elite XC matchmaker Jared Shaw, when noting the problem.
“Nick
Diaz is the No. 1 contender. The people want to see this fight.”
Shaw
put the onus of blame on Noons’ management team, saying
haven’t even been able to directly talk with Noons.
“His
management won’t even return our calls,” said Shaw,
who was still hopeful the fight could be salvaged on the show.
“It’s
money,” he said. “It’s always about money.”
The
crux of the issue appears to be the contract Noons signed before
he won the championship, beating Diaz to become the first champion
on Nov.
10
in Corpus Christi when the match was stopped at the end of the
first round due to cuts on Diaz’s forehead. Noons, a professional
boxer, showed more skill than Diaz in the stand-up in winning
the first round, opening the cuts that led to the stoppage.
Noons’
contract calls for $23,000 for the fight, while Diaz, the challenger,
earned $60,000 in his most recent fight on July 26 in Stockton,
Calif., beating Thomas Denny. But Diaz was a bigger star than
Noons at the time both joined the promotion.
Shaw
noted that Noons has a valid contract, and as champion, owes
it to the title to defend against the top contender. He said
Elite XC stood by Noons when he was knocked out by Charles “Krazy
Horse” Bennett in 2007 on the company’s first show.
Because the fight would be on CBS, and on a show expected to
do substantial ratings with Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano as headliners,
Shaw noted that the exposure would be the best thing for his
career, and that he’d also have the opportunity to make
far more in sponsorship money than on a Showtime event.
Noons
turned down appearing on the first CBS show because Elite XC
tried to tie-in his appearing with him signing a long-term contract.
Noons
had retained his title in a 48-second win over Yves Edwards on
June 14, in Honolulu, where he grew up. Diaz, who defeated Muhsin Corbbrey
earlier in the show, was brought into the cage for a face-off
to build the anticipated match. It turned into a free-for-all
with both camps, including Karl Noons Sr., K.J.’s father,
a kickboxer in the 70s, going after Diaz, who he thought was
disrespectful, and having to be pulled off. Diaz and younger
brother Nate Diaz, a UFC star, got out of the cage and flipped
off the Noons family.
An
email sent to Noons’ representatives on Wednesday seeking
comment was not immediately returned.
Source:
Yahoo Sports |
Fighters'
Club TV Tuesdays
Channel
52
NEW TIME of 8:00 PM!
A new episode
that features the Pac Sub tournament at the MMA Expo.
We
talk to the pound for pound best fighter in the world, BJ Penn.
East
coast to Guam transplant and technical wizard, Mike Fowler shows
off his leopard print hair and explains how he got his BJJ black
belt in only 4 years!
K-
Team and Relson Gracie competitor supreme, Brad Scott talks shop.
Last,
but certainly not the least, the lovely, but fierce Mrs. Bjjtek
expounds her roll as the enforcer of the Hawaii Ground better
known as the HG.
If
you are not on the Onzuka.com Hawaii Ground forum, you are missing
the latest news from upcoming events, get to rub elbows with
numerous promoters and fighters, and get to voice your opinion
on any subject you can dream up. Hit the links above to sign
up for a free account and start posting away!
|
Fighters'
Club Radio Mondays!
FIGHTERS
CLUB RADIO
MONDAY MAY 19
9AM-10AM
RIGHT AFTER LEAHEY & LEAHEY
AM
1500 RADIO
"THE TEAM, HAWAII'S SPORTING NEWS"
FAN
LINE: 296-1500
THANKS
TO OUR SPONSORS:
- OTM "ON THE MAT" ON BERETANIA
- GLACEAU VITAMIN ENERGY
- EN FUEGO GRILL AND POKE
- MUSCLE MILK
- BRIT'S AUTO BODY
|
2008
Samahan Filipino Martial Arts Tournament
September 7,2008 @ Pearl City High School Gymnasium
On behalf of the Del Mar School of Filipino Martial Arts, I would
like to invite you to the 2008 Samahan Filipino Martial Arts
Tournament. This is the first tournament of its kind and will
happen on September 7,2008 @ Pearl City High School Gymnasium.
It features an electronic scoring system, FIRST on in Hawaii
(possibly the WORLD) to utilize this system in an FMA (Filipino
Martial Arts) tourmanet. There will be Forms, Fighting, Masters
Demonstrations, Vendors, and Entertainment. Attached is a flyer
of the event and for more information you can visit www.myspace.com/fma_samahan.com.
Our goal is to unite Philippine Martial Arts groups and individuals
that will strengthen our community's cultural awareness.
TOURNAMENT
DETAILS
________________________________
Sunday,
September 7, 2008
Pearl City High School Gymnasium
2100 Hookiekie St Pearl City, HI 96782
REGISTRATION
FEES: Forms-$30, Padded stick fighting-$40, Both events-$50
*Download
the form and check out the pre-registration fees*
SAMAHAN
Registration Forms
SAMAHAN Official Rule Book
REGISTRATION
BEGINS: 9:00 A.M.
FIGHTERS BRIEFING: 9:45 A.M.
ALL
SCHOOLS WELCOME
Caranza-Forms Divisions
PADDED STICK FIGHTING DIVISIONS UTILIZING
AN ELECTRONIC SCORING SYSTEM
________________________________
Event
Sponsors
*Explosivehands.com*
*New Image Graphics Inc.*
*Tint Doctor*
*Young Guns*
*Lighting Services, Inc.*
*American Window Cleaning*
*Oahu Tae Kwon Do Center*
Respectfully,
Roderick Baranda
Del Mar School of Filipino Martial Arts
|
Dan
Inosanto Two Day Semi-Private Training Event!
On Saturday,
September 6th and Sunday September 7th, Burton Richardson and
JKD Unlimited will host Tuhon Dan Inosanto for a special semi-private
training event here in Honolulu. Tuhon Inosanto is considered
the most knowledgeable martial artist that the world has ever
known, as he has researched every system and style possible over
the last 50 years. He is best known for being Bruce Lee's number
one student and training partner, but is also famous for his
work in bringing previously unknown systems into the limelight.
From the Filipino Martial Arts to Muay Thai to Pentjak Silat
to French Savate and Burmese Bando, Inosanto's never-ending quest
is to make more martial arts available to students everywhere.
He is also a great example to follow, as this legendary martial
artist strapped on a white belt and took up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
at the age of 60!
He is now a black belt under the Machado brothers. This will
be a very special seminar, as it will be semi-private. No more
that 20 participants will be enrolled. This will allow each attendee
to submit a particular question or request to be covered by Tuhon
Inosanto over the weekend. It will also mean that participants
will get more one on one interaction with this amazing instructor.
In addition, each participant will be invited to attend a dinner
with Tuhon Inosanto, to talk story with this legend. Ten will
go on Saturday's dinner, the other ten on Sunday's dinner.
The cost for this special weekend is only $500 per person. $250
is required to reserve your spot to be one of the twenty. Please
call 864-1620 for more information and to arrange for payment.
This will be a weekend to remember.
Aloha, Burton Richardson
|
Local
Boy Eric
Moon's
Ironheart Crown Event In Chicago, IL Is Back!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
IRONHEART CROWN XII: RESURRECTION
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2008
525 S. RACINE: UIC PAVILION – CHICAGO, IL
DOORS OPEN AT 6PM; FIGHTS START AT 7PM
CHICAGO, IL - Wake up, Fight Fans! This is the moment you’ve
been waiting for! Following two years of inactivity and a seven
year exile in Hammond, Indiana, the Ironheart Crown is finally
returning to its home in Chicago! After being driven across the
border in 2001, the Ironheart Crown is being welcomed back into
the Windy City with open arms after recent legislation was passed
to legalize mixed martial arts (MMA) in the State of Illinois.
The
Ironheart Crown is Chicago’s oldest mixed martial arts production
and remains the area’s leading arena for professional competition.
Long recognized as a definitive proving ground for Midwestern
fighters, the Crown has produced a number of local heroes including
WEC World Champion, Miguel Torres and UFC standout, Stephan Bonnar.
On Saturday, November 8 the legend continues as the Ironheart
Crown steps up production with a move back to Chicago and into
a much larger downtown venue, the UIC Pavilion. Headlining the
card will be a long anticipated match between UFC veteran Gideon
“the Gladiator” Ray and the Miguel Torres’s undefeated
protégé, Juan de Dios Magana.
The November 8 show will be the first local production to host
an all-pro card within the city limits under the State’s
new sanctioning policies. Ironheart promoter Eric Moon is excited
about the move back home.
“It’s an absolute thrill to be right on the forefront
of Chicago’s MMA Renaissance,” Moon explains, “We’re
helping to rebuild the local MMA scene. We’ve always been
one of the area’s better shows, but with our move back home
we’re revamping every aspect of our production! The new
venue is incredible, and we have a very deep pool of local talent,
old as well as new.”
Beaming like a proud father as he speaks, Moon continues, “I’ve
put a lot into this, and it may not all come back to me, but
I plan to have fun with it regardless of the outcome. We’ve
booked all of Crobar’s go-go dancer’s to accentuate
the production and we’ll local club DJ, Adrie Marie spinning
her tunes under nightclub-inspired lighting and effects. This
is going to be an incredible event that Chicago’s fight
community will never forget. I’m really hoping that this
show will change the face of our local MMA community.”
The notoriety of the Ironheart Crown is much greater than a local
phenomenon. Ten of the eleven shows have been featured in national
magazines, and the Ironheart Crown has even been aired on Comcast
Sportsnet in Chicago as well as on SkyTV in Japan. With nearly
a decade of proven excellence, the Ironheart Crown has demonstrated
its resilience and passed the test of time.
This kind of merit simply can’t go unnoticed, and as a direct
result of the show’s integrity, the Crown was recently signed
as the primary Midwestern affiliate for the up and coming American
Fight League (AFL), a national organization that is quickly gaining
recognition. AFL CEO, BJ Santiago holds Eric Moon & his show
in high regard and had nothing but good things to say about the
Chicago promoter and his show.
“We knew we were bringing a motivated promoter in as soon
as we talked with Eric,” Santiago says, “He's a guy
with a big vision… the Ironheart Crown has an impeccable
reputation as one of the best organizations out there and it
is a perfect addition to the AFL team. “
While still being fine-tuned, the undercard is shaping up to
be a “who’s who” of Chicago area fighters, stacked
from the top to the bottom with heavy hitters and high-end talent.
Featured competitors will include the likes of Tommy Lee, Matt
Fiordirosa, Christian Uflacker, Eddie Wineland, Chris Albandia,
Louis Taylor, Mark Vives, Adril Villa, Mustafa Hussaini, and
more. Full details will be posted on the event website in the
next few days and announced in future press releases.
“I know the UFC will be here in October,” Moon comments,
“But I honestly believe that our show has the potential
to be every bit as exciting, and we are definitely going be the
next big thing to hit the city. This is a very exciting time
for us, and its an exciting time for Chicago’s fight community
as well.”
The Ironheart Crown will be held on Saturday, November 8 at the
UIC Pavilion, located at 525 S. Racine Avenue in Chicago. Tickets
are on sale now and a limited number of ringside and VIP seats
are available. Exclusive ringside seats will include complimentary
cocktails and appetizers. Tickets may be purchased directly from
the promoter, or online at Ticketmaster. For more information
on this event, visit the official website at www.ironheart.com
or contact the event’s promoter at 773-793-6555.
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