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(All events on Oahu, unless noted)
2013
11/23/13
Aloha
State Championship
(BJJ
& Sub Grappling)
(Pearl City H.S. Gym)
11/8/13
Reuben "Cobrinha" Charles Seminar
(O2 Martial Arts Academy)
11/4-8/13
Reuben "Cobrinha" Charles Week Long Winter Camp
(Team HK Jiu-Jitsu)
10/19/13
Mad Skillz
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom)
10/19-20/13
NAGA
Hawaiian Grappling Championship
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(tba)
10/5-6/13
Senior
Master World Championships
(BJJ)
(The Pyramid, Cal State Unversity at Long Beach, Long Beach,
CA)
9/28/13
Maui
Open Championship
(Lahaina Civic Center)
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
9/21/13
Amateur Boxing
(Boxing)
(Momilani Community Center)
9/14/13
Mad Skillz
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom)
9/7/13
The Quest for Champions 2013 Tournament
(Pearl City High School Gym)
(Featuring Sport Pankration, Submission Grappling, Continuous
Sparring)
8/24-25/13
Amateur Boxing
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
8/24/13
DESTINY:Proving Grounds II
(MMA)
(Aloha Tower Pier 10)
Battle At The Bay
(BJJ)
(Hilo Armory, Hilo)
8/23/13
Man Up Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom)
August
Maui
Open Championship
(BJJ
& Sub Grappling)
(tba)
7/27/13
State
of Hawaii Championship
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Pearl Cityh H.S. Gym)
7/13/13
Amateur Boxing
(Boxing)
(Momilani Community Center)
6/22/13
Amateur Boxing
(Boxing)
(Kalakaua District Park Gym)
6/8/13
King of the Cage
(MMA)
(Maui)
5/30/13 - 6/2/13
World
BJJ Championships
(BJJ)
(The Pyramid, University of California at Long Beach)
5/25-26/13
NAGA:
Pacific Grappling Championships
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Radford H.S. Gym)
5/19/13
Amateur Boxing Event this (Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
5/4/13
Mad Skillz
(Triple Threat)
(Waipahu Filcom)
4/27/13
Star Elite Cagefighting: The Foundation
(Kickboxing)
(Aloha Tower Waterfront)
4/13/13
Hawaiian
Open Championship
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
Denny Prokopos
Eddie Bravo Black Belt Seminar
9AM-11AM
$50
@ O2 Martial Arts Academy
3/23/13
Man Up Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom)
3/20-24/13
Pan
Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
(Irvine, CA)
3/20/13
David Kama Seminar
Rickson Gracie Black Belt
8-10PM
$50
@ O2 Martial Arts Academy
2/23/13
Got Skills
(MMA, Kickboxing, Triple Threat)
(Waipahu Filcom)
2/16/13
Mayhem At The Mansion
Kauai Cage Match 14
(MMA)
(Kilohana Carriage House, Lihue, Kauai)
Boxing Event
(Boxing)
(Palolo Gym District Park Gym)
Uncle Frank Ordonez’s Birthday Tournament
(Palama Settlement Gym)
(Grappling, Sport-Pankration and Continuous sparring)
2/3/13
Diego Moraes Semainr
(BJJ)
(O2MAA)
2/2/13
World
Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship: Hawaii Trials
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(McKinley H.S. Gym)
2/1/13
IBJJF Referee Clinic
(O2MAA)
1/19/13
Destiny
Na Koa 2
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
Just Scrap
(MMA)
(Hilo Civic Center, Hilo)
1/12/13
Reuben "Cobrinha" Charles Seminar
4-7PM
(Ku Lokahi Wrestling Club)
|
|
October
2013 News Part 1
|
O2 Martial Arts Academy
provides 7 days a week training! Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu classes
taught by Black Belts Kaleo Hosaka and Chris & Mike Onzuka
We are also offering Kali-Escrima (stick fighting) on Monday
nights with Ian Beltran & Erwin Legaspi.
Kickboxing Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with PJ Dean &
Chris Slavens!
Wrestling program (Folk Style) taught by Cedric Yogi on Wednesdays
and Thursdays.
Kids Classes are also
available!
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the Onzuka brothers in a family-like environment! |
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Your Complete Martial Arts School!
Click here for pricing and more
information!
O2 Martial Arts features Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu taught by Relson
Gracie Black Belts Chris and Mike Onzuka and Kaleo Hosaka as
well as a number of brown and purple belts.
We also offer Boxing and Kickboxing classes with a staff that
is unmatched. Boxing, Kickboxing, and MMA competitor PJ Dean
as well as master boxing instructor Chris Slavens provide incredibly
detailed instruction of the sweet science.
To top it off, Ian Beltran & Erwin Legaspi heads our Kali-Escrima
classes (Filipino Knife & Stickfighting) who were directly
trained under the legendary Snookie Sanchez.
Our wrestling program is headed by Cedric Yogi who was previously
the head coach of the Pearl City High School Wrestling Team.
Just a beginner with no background? Perfect! We teach you from
the ground up!
Experienced martial artist that wants to fine tune your skill?
Our school is for you!
Mix and match your classes so you can try all the martial arts
classes offered at O2!
If you want to learn martial arts by masters of their trade in
a friendly and family environment, O2 Martial Arts Academy is
the place for you!
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Want to Contact
Us? Shoot us an email by Clicking Here!
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Dana
White Nixes Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixeira for UFC 169 Super Bowl
Fight Card
by Ken
Pishna
Despite
putting out an official announcement last week, Jon Jones vs.
Glover Teixeira will not be headlining the UFC 169 fight card
on Super Bowl weekend after all.
UFC
president Dana White on Monday said that Jones vs. Teixeira on
Feb. 1 was “never, ever a done deal.”
It’s
not that the fight won’t happen, it just won’t happen
that weekend.
“That’s going to be later. That was never a done deal,”
he continued. “Our people put it out, but they shouldn’t
have.”
He
went on to say that Jones and Teixeira would likely fight sometime
around March, about the same time that Alexander Gustafsson is
likely to fight again in either London or Sweden.
If
Jones defeats Teixeira and Gustafsson wins his fight, we can
expect to see a rematch of Jones and Gustafsson’s epic UFC
165 battle in Toronto. White said it was “100 percent”
guaranteed that Jones and Gustafsson would rematch if each man
wins his next fight.
UFC
officials last week initially announced the UFC 169 fight card
for Feb. 1 in Newark, N.J., with Jones vs. Teixeira headlining.
A heavyweight bout pitting former champion Frank Mir against
Alistair Overeem was moved from the UFC 167 card in November
to the Super Bowl weekend event.
As
it stands, there are no details on a date or location for Jones
vs. Teixeira, leaving Mir vs. Overeem as the only bout announced
for UFC 169.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
10
OCTOBER TUSSLES WORTH WATCHING
BY BRIAN
KNAPP
Shinya
Aoki sports 18 first-round finishes on his resume. | Photo: Taro
Irei/Sherdog.com
Editor’s
note: In an effort to bring more attention to the global stage
of mixed martial arts, this list does not focus on North American-based
major promotions such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship,
Bellator MMA and World Series of Fighting.
Shinya
Aoki has decided to chart a new course.
The
reigning One Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder will
downshift to 145 pounds at One FC 11 “Total Domination,”
as he locks horns with Cody Stevens on Oct. 18 at Singapore Indoor
Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. The main card will be available
via Internet pay-per-view, while the prelims will stream live
and free to Sherdog.com.
One
of MMA’s most feared grapplers, Aoki has delivered 22 of
his 33 career victories by submission. The 30-year-old former
Dream and Shooto champion last fought at One FC 8 in April, when
he coaxed a tapout from Kotetsu Boku with a second-round rear-naked
choke. Aoki, who holds the rank of black belt in judo and Brazilian
jiu-jitsu, has posted 10 wins in his past 11 appearances, losing
only to onetime Bellator lightweight boss Eddie Alvarez. Wins
over Satoru Kitaoka, “Razor” Rob McCullough, Joachim
Hansen (twice), Tatsuya Kawajiri and Gesias Cavalcante anchor
his lengthy resume.
Stevens
has spent much of his career traversing the regional MMA circuit
in America. The 31-year-old Ohioan last competed at a Revelation
Fight Organization event in August, when he earned a unanimous
decision over “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 14 graduate
Dustin Neace at the Richland County Fairgrounds in Mansfield,
Ohio. Stevens has been finished only once in 17 professional
appearances, and he has never been submitted.
The
Aoki-Stevens scrap is but one under-the-radar matchup worth monitoring
during the month of October. Here are nine more:
Henry
Cejudo vs. Ryan Hollis
Legacy Fighting Championship 24
Oct. 11 | Dallas
Olympic
medals lend a certain amount of credibility to athletes transitioning
from amateur wrestling to mixed martial arts. The youngest American
wrestler ever to strike gold at the Olympics, Cejudo has hit
the ground running in MMA, finishing his first four opponents
inside the first round. The 26-year-old last appeared under the
Gladiator Challenge banner in May, when he needed less than two
minutes to dispatch Miguelito Marti with punches. Hollis, 24,
will enter the cage on the strength of a four-fight winning streak.
Josh
Sampo vs. Sam Thao
Championship Fighting Alliance 12
Oct. 12 | Coral Gables, Fla.
Sampo
has emerged as one of the top flyweights not currently under
contract with the UFC. The 29-year-old “Gremlin” captured
the Championship Fighting Alliance’s 125-pound crown in
January, when he utilized a fifth-round guillotine choke to become
the first man to finish American Top Team’s Villa. Sampo
has won six of his past seven bouts and will defend his title
for the first time when he squares off with Thao at CFA 12. Thao
has rattled off four straight wins and owns a pair of victories
over Roufusport’s Omar Choudhury.
Yui
Chul Nam vs. Takasuke Kume
Road Fighting Championship 13
Oct. 12 | Gumi, South Korea
Nam
and Kume will duke it out for the Road Fighting Championship
lightweight title, as they collide for the second time in six
months. Nam edged his Japanese counterpart via controversial
decision in the Road FC lightweight grand prix final in April.
Kume now has an opportunity to avenge the defeat, which snapped
his career-best nine-fight winning streak. Nicknamed “The
Korean Bulldozer,” Nam has yet to lose in six outings for
the Road FC organization.
Photo:
T. Irei/Sherdog.com
Fernandes
is on a roll.
Bibiano
Fernandes vs. Soo Chul Kim
One FC 11 “Total Domination”
Oct. 18 | Kallang, Singapore
Unification
bouts wield an energy all their own. Reigning One FC bantamweight
champion Kim will clash with interim titleholder Fernandes in
the One FC 11 main event, unifying their 135-pound straps in
the process. Fernandes, who has won 13 of 14 fights since suffering
back-to-back defeats to Urijah Faber and Norifumi Yamamoto, captured
his interim championship with a unanimous verdict over Koetsu
Okazaki in May. Kim, 21, won the inaugural One FC 135-pound title
with a violent technical knockout against Leandro Issa a year
ago. He has not fought since.
Scott
Holtzman vs. Roger Carroll
XFC 26 “Night of Champions 3”
Oct. 18 | Nashville
One
of the top lightweights in the Southeast, Holtzman will defend
his Xtreme Fighting Championships title against Carroll at XFC
26. The undefeated 30-year-old won the promotion’s 155-pound
championship with a second-round TKO against John Mahlow in June.
The well-traveled Carroll has already tested himself against
high-caliber opposition, including former Ring of Combat champion
Uriah Hall, “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 17 alum Clint
Hester and UFC veteran Nissen Osterneck.
Dan
Hornbuckle vs. Ryo Chonan
Deep “Tribe Tokyo Fight”
Oct. 20 | Tokyo
Chonan
-- immortalized by his flying scissor heel hook submission of
Anderson Silva in Pride Fighting Championships nine years ago
-- will call it a career after he challenges Bellator Season
2 welterweight tournament finalist Hornbuckle in Tokyo. The 36-year-old
“Piranha” has compiled a solid 6-3 mark since being
released by the UFC after his unsuccessful stint in the Octagon
concluded with a split decision defeat to T.J. Grant in April
2009. Hornbuckle, the current Deep welterweight champion, saw
his modest two-fight winning streak halted when he was outpointed
by Dennis Hallman on Aug. 30.
Tim
Sylvia vs. Ruslan Magomedov
Fight Nights “Battle of Moscow 13”
Oct. 26 | Moscow
A
two-time UFC heavyweight champion, Sylvia will try to avoid the
second three-fight losing streak of his career when he travels
to Russia to tackle the once-beaten Magomedov. Now 37, “The
Maine-iac” has become something of a vagabond since exiting
the UFC in February 2008, as he has suited up for 11 different
promotions. The 6-foot-8 Sylvia last fought in May, when he was
on the wrong side of a doctor’s stoppage against American
Kickboxing Academy export Tony Johnson at a One FC show in the
Philippines. Magomedov already holds a victory over one former
UFC heavyweight champion, having downed Ricco Rodriguez in March
2012.
Lukasz
Sajewski vs. Wesley Murch
MMA Attack 4
Oct. 26 | Gdansk, Poland
Sajewski
made a splash on the international scene in 2010, when he handed
fellow Polish prodigy Marcin Held his first career defeat. While
Held has since branched out to Bellator, the “Wookie”
continues to ply his trade in his native Poland. The undefeated
22-year-old Sajewski will have a go at Murch in his first appearance
with the MMA Attack promotion. All six of Murch’s losses
have come by submission.
Charlie
Brenneman vs. Kyle Baker
Cage Fury Fighting Championship 28
Oct. 28 | Atlantic City, N.J.
The
vacant Cage Fury Fighting Championships lightweight crown will
be up for grabs when AMA Fight Club’s Brenneman tackles
Baker at CFFC 28. The 32-year-old Brenneman holds a perfect 3-0
record since being released by the UFC following consecutive
losses to Erick Silva and Kyle Noke, having successfully downshifted
to 155 pounds. Known for a punishing and relentless clinch game,
Baker, 32, has not tasted victory in more than two years. Brenneman
and the “Alley Cat” were originally scheduled to face
one another in August, but an injury forced Baker to withdraw.
Source: Sherdog
|
Mike
Ricci believes return to lightweight improperly shifted tactics
and approach
By Luke
Thomas
Mike Ricci isn't necessarily surprised he was cut following his
most recent loss to Myles Jury at UFC 165. It was a close fight,
sure, but a dreadful one. Knowing that all of his fights in the
UFC, win or lose, had been lackluster affairs, the Tri-Star lightweight
can't say he's overly surprised the organization let him go.
"I
don't disagree with the UFC and their decision," Ricci told
Ariel Helwani on Monday's The MMA Hour. "I understand the
circumstances and they have to make decisions, tough decisions.
I feel like coming out of TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) they had
some expectations for me. They gave me some big fights and they
didn't really work out the way they wanted it to, so that was
the decision they made."
Ricci's
short-lived UFC run wasn't bad, exactly. He lost to Colton Smith
in the TUF 15 season finale, but that was at welterweight, an
unnatural weight class. The Canadian then rebounded with a win
over Colin Fletcher at UFC 158 in March. But then the loss to
Jury happened. And while that bout was close, the familiar trend
over Ricci's fights is that they were unremarkable and often
tedious. Win or lose, he wasn't showing much to inspire confidence.
That
assessment doesn't just come from UFC brass, who informed Ricci's
manager last week the prospect had been let go. Ricci himself
acknowledges as much. In his mind, the change from fighting larger
opponents at welterweight and moving back down to lightweight
altered his tactical approach to fighting for the worse.
"In all honesty, the fans are getting more educated. Hopefully
this can further educate them," Ricci explains. "The
fight really takes place months before it actually happens. Me
and Myles, our training happened months prior to that, and the
fight happened over a thousand times in the gym. I think the
way he trained for the fight and the way I trained for the fight,
he really wanted to counter a lot of the things I did. They knew
what I was going to do. I knew what they were going to do and
I was trying to counter him. I think it just created a stalemate.
"That's
what happens. Guys train a certain way. On fight night, it's
going to show in the fight and the fight is a direct product
of training. I think me and Myles just kind of canceled each
other out."
Ricci
admits he heard the crowd boo in Toronto when he Jury were engaged
in their lackluster non-battle. It almost enticed him to abandon
what he was doing and attack aggressively, but ultimately Ricci
realized that, too, was a bridge to nowhere. If you don't fight
the way you train, don't fight at all.
"I
could've done that and gotten knocked out or finished and really
been in a bad spot," he says. "Regardless, the fights
are a direct product of the training and coming out of the TUF
house, that was the issue. I think we fought with a sense of
urgency considering everyone was a lot larger than me were. And
when I got out of that house, I felt all the advantages I gave
up physically - reach and size and all this stuff - I gained
back at lightweight. So, I felt like there wasn't enough urgency.
I can play my game and try to pick guys apart and take my time.
I felt like I wasn't in as much danger as I was at welterweight."
As
Ricci sees it, he had to fight harder and more proactively at
welterweight because of all the disadvantages he was facing.
When he returned to lightweight and realized those disadvantages
were no longer there, he admits he wrongly believed he could
work slowly and methodically en route to victory. Looking back,
however, Ricci says this isn't the way he normally fights. Yes,
he fought aggressively at welterweight, but he believes he wins
fights - no matter the weight class - when he's moving forward
and pushing the pace.
"No
one's ever tried to scrap with me and beat me up. You watch all
seven of those fights and everyone backs up fighting me. So,
I think I should've taken advantage of that coming to lightweight.
I should've imposed myself a little more, but instead I tried
to play not necessarily safe, but I tried to play the game a
little more.
"Everyone
saw me on TUF. Everyone has seen the way I fight. I come to fight,"
Ricci declares. "I have fun fighting like that regardless
of weight: welterweight or lightweight. I like to move forward,
I like to fight. I'm not scared of anybody. I'm not intimidated
by anybody. That's what I'm here to do: go back to the gym and
work on the things that I need to work on as a fighter there
to improve."
Ricci
says he and his coaches are going to 'revamp everything'. He's
not moving back to welterweight, however, but is going to mimic
the way he competed at welterweight against the 155-pound opposition.
He
also's not necessarily worried about returning to the UFC. The
money was nice and so were the opportunities, but Ricci is adamant
he needs to fix what's wrong with him first. He's quick to note
his issues aren't mental, but tactical. In the process of reshaping
his offense, he's confident he can return to the UFC when he's
ready to fight like a version of himself he recognizes.
"I'm
here to become a world champion. I'm not going to lie. I'm not
going to say 'I'm here to have a few fights in the UFC and chill
out and retire.' I'm here for a title. I'm here for a belt. The
only way to do that is to figure out what works for me.
"I'm
not worried," he continues. "The UFC isn't going anywhere,
in my opinion. This is my opportunity to fix my problems. Would
I have liked to fix them and put on these performances for the
UFC? Of course. But that's not the case, so I'm going to go out
there and take as many fights as I'd ike to take - two, three,
four - whatever it takes for me to figure out my system."
The
Canadian claims he's ready to get to work. There's no fight lined
up just yet, but that day is likely soon coming. What he's also
seemingly certain about - and ready to declare - isn't just his
intention to eventually win a world title some day down the road.
He wants to make it known his path back to the UFC will be one
no one can discount. That's not simply because he plans on winning,
but fighting the way he likes to fight and doing what he believes
he's been capable of all along.
"I
do know that every fight that takes place here on in until I
get back to the UFC is going to be a finish. I'm going to go
on the record and say it," he contends. "I'm going
to beat everyone and I'm going to finish everyone as well."
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Honeymoon
over: Officials, inspectors, insiders turning on California State
Athletic Commission
By Zach
Arnold
Behind-the-scenes
in California, Saturday night’s fight between Julio Cesar
Chavez Jr. and Bryan Vera became a turning point for Andy Foster,
the Executive Officer of the Consumer Affairs-controlled California
State Athletic Commission. It’s close to a year since he
took over the job of Sacramento’s regulatory body. The MMA
industry was excited to see his arrival. The boxing types had
no clue what to expect and were stunned at DCA’s selection.
A year later, the book from MMA insiders is that they like Andy
Foster. The book from boxing insiders is that he’s naive,
can be easily manipulated, and doesn’t know what he is doing.
In a state where boxing revenue eclipses MMA revenue, the opinion
of those in the boxing scene matters.
There is no way to skirt around what happened on Saturday night
with judges Gwen Adair, Marty Denkin, and Carla Caiz of the Caiz
clan. It was a total disaster. Bryan Vera won the fight. He didn’t
lose it. The worst-case scenario should have been a draw. Instead,
Chavez was selected as the winner via unanimous decision. On
the surface, Carla’s scorecard could be justified…
except she scored the last six rounds in favor of JCC. This pissed
off people in the boxing scene big time. It spurred one of our
favorite Twitter personalities to produce this graphic:
It’s
hard to score a round when you’re spotted on camera not
watching the action. Virgil Hunter said he saw suspicious people
hanging around the judges at ringside.
When the scores were announced, I wrote the following passage:
Andy Foster has his first major image crisis on his hands here.
Should Andre Ward get past Edwin Rodriguez in November (in Ontario,
California), it would appear that HBO will help set up Ward vs.
JCC… and that fight will likely happen in California in
2014 — which makes the events that transpired tonight look
even worse than they appear to be on the surface. Bet the conversations
between Danny Goossen and Bob Arum will be fun for that meeting.
It
appears that the plan could happen in 2014. As it turns out,
Bob Arum got exactly the kind of outcome he wanted on Saturday
night with JCC/Vera — hunger for a rematch. Surely with
the friendly outcome in California, Top Rank would love to host
the rematch in California and pay back the commission… right?
Bob Arum told the press that the rematch ain’t happening
in California.
“Texas. Texas. Texas. I want to do it right in Vera’s
home town. At 168 (pounds). I mean, here’s another crazy
thing. I just mean so kooky. The guy says, ‘I’ll make
the sacrifice and go down to 160.’ What, is he going to
cut his arm off? I mean he’s a big kid, how he’s going
to make 160?
“Definitely
Vera wants the rematch, obviously, and so does Chavez. I don’t
care what he said after the fight. That was then… today
is today. He wants to do the rematch.”
Thanks,
Marty! This was the equivalent of Bob yelling, “So long,
suckers!” at Andy Foster. Despite JCC only drawing 5,200
at Home Depot/StubHub Center, California judges gave Arum an
outcome ripe to make money with and now he’s running to
Texas to reap the rewards. No state income tax, Vera’s home
turf, and a rather pliant athletic commission.
The outcome has left Andy Foster holding the bag. It’s an
uncomfortable spot to be in.
No good, negative response
The avalanche of anger started pouring in. Bryan Vera’s
camp was so incensed about what happened that they planned on
filing a protest with the commission to get the result overturned
or to get a hearing regarding the judges involved in the fight.
The response was clear — the commission thought nothing
was wrong with the result of the fight. They believed JCC won
the fight. So, no overturning of the result. Furthermore, no
disciplining of the judges or hauling them in front of the commission
next week in Los Angeles and having them suspended or reprimanded.
None of that.
The reaction to the non-action from the Executive Officer has
been blistering behind the scenes. Many of the new enemies he
has made are using this incident as proof to try to convince
others to join their side and turn on him politically. Some of
Andy Foster’s biggest supporters are nervous and are on-the-fence
right now as to whether or not it is the right move to keep backing
him in terms of his judgment.
One top Southern California inspector summed it up this way.
“Andy is too dumb to discipline Gwen (Adair) and (Marty)
Denkin because of the Hall of Famers baloney.”
When I heard that Sacramento saw no problem with JCC winning
Saturday’s fight, I knew it was going to be trouble. These
kinds of scandals aren’t simply blips on the radar. They
linger. They metastasize. They become a benchmark for competency.
To not suspend or fire the judges involved is a reaction of tone-deafness.
If the people who are sacrificing the most to help regulate &
promote shows in the industry think action is needed, then action
should be taken. To not respond and show proactive strength simply
hardens the polarization on the ground. The morale on the ground
matters. The attitude amongst many of the top Southern California
inspectors & officials who work many of the big boxing shows
has turned in a hurry against Andy.
As for Bob Arum, he has a lot of reasons to be thankful for Gwen
Adair, Marty Denkin, Carla Caiz, and Andy Foster.
Thanks
to our friends at FightHubTV.com, Arum elaborated the trials
& tribulations of dealing with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and
the decision win he was gifted.
“He won the fight. I don’t give a shit what they (say)…
I was brought up in the era where if the fighters are exchanging
punches and the punches aren’t doing any damage and one
guy belts the other and that punch does damage, he gets the round.
He gets the round. Everything else is bullshit. That’s how
they used to score and that’s the way they scored. That’s
the way they scored this fight. So, yeah, I mean 8-to-2 (Gwen
Adair) is sort of little crazy. I thought Chavez could have gotten
6-to-4 or could have been a draw and look at the HBO score. They
had Vera leading 5-to-4 going into the 10th round. And Chavez
won the 10th round, they gave it to Vera. So, you know, it could
have been 6-4 either way I thought and you know they gave it
to Chavez because his punches were the most authoritative. It
was not a robbery. The one score 8-to-2 was a little crazy. Even
Marty Denkin’s 7-3 wasn’t crazy. A little bit of a
stretch but, you know, I could see where he was coming from.
But 6-4? Yeah. If Vera won 6-4, OK too.
“So,
hopefully there will be a rematch and we’ll do the rematch
in December and we’re talking now to HBO about the rematch
and if HBO is unable to do it because of financing and so forth,
I’ll just put it on PPV because the fight, Chavez fight
(was) the highest-rated boxing event of the entire year by far,
this last one. Why? Because Chavez has a constituency that wants
to see him and even though we know that from time-to-time he
becomes a fuck up, it’s like a reality show. You know? People
are always looking, you know, and the guy that taught everybody
that most and really made it because of it was Mayweather! Mayweather
became a reality show, right? So whatever bad he said, whatever
he was saying, people wanted to tune in to see it. People are
curious. People don’t want the ordinary stuff and they don’t
want the bullshit about ‘he throws a good left hook, a left
jab and this…’ Bullshit! They don’t care about
that, they want to be entertained. They want something that really
catches their imagination and Chavez, for whatever reason, does.
“Listen,
the guy can have all the potential in the world. He can be a
natural. If he’s a fuck-up, he’s a fuck-up. The potential
never shows. How good is Chavez could he be if he wasn’t
a fuck-up? I don’t know. I don’t know. I never saw
a fighter train for a fight in his living room. Whatever I say
to him, he agrees to. What does that mean? Tomorrow, he’ll
still be the same fuck-up.”
A
lot of people, after Saturday night, not only believe JCC is
a screw up but so are the people working for the California State
Athletic Commission. The image problem is real.
While JCC/Vera was happening Saturday night at StubHub Center,
there was a Don Chargin fight at Cache Creek Resort & Casino
about 45 minutes north of Sacramento. It was a five-fight card
that featured two curious bookings. The main event featured then
13-2-1 Paul Mendez (24 year old local fighter) versus then 9-10
fighter Rahman Yusubov. Yusubov ended up with a ruptured ear
drum. On the same card, then 1-0 local fighter Darwin Price faced
a then 2-19-4 fighter named Johnny Frazier from Las Vegas. There
were people at the show who were floored that this fight was
approved on the card and expressed concern that the booking should
have never happened. Needless to say, Mr. Frazier’s record
went to 2-20-4 after the fight. After his loss, Frazier was given
a two day mandatory rest suspension by the commission.
Bottom line? The fights shouldn’t have been approved by
the front office, but they were.
The irony of all ironies? Che Guevara, the former Chief Athletic
Inspector who lost his job resigned due to not fulfilling his
job responsibilities, was reportedly in attendance at the event.
(He’s relocating to Los Angeles.)
Miserable morale between Sacramento & inspectors, officials
Since the departure of George Dodd and the arrival of Andy Foster,
one word best describes what is happening with the grunts on
the ground: turmoil.
There is a new wave, a flood if you will, of fresh-faced 20-somethings
who are largely inexperienced and ready to take over for many
of the more seasoned, knowledgeable athletic inspectors that
were either working the B-shows or weren’t getting booked
at all due to ignorance or politics. In addition to the purge
of various inspectors, there are issues such as not paying full-time
state employees time-and-a-half (only a couple will now get this
benefit) and refusing to pay travel expenses. California is a
big state to travel. If you won’t pay for travel expenses,
then it means you’re going to have work shortages. It’s
a ‘you get what you pay for’ scenario playing out.
Filling in the gaps now are newbies who are working on a volunteer
basis.
On top of that, quietly a stunning admission is being made by
the front office. For nearly 18 months, we’ve written articles
about Che Guevara not properly training athletic inspectors when
it comes to calculating box offices. It cost the state a whole
lot of cash. So, the next solution was to teach lead inspectors
on how to use an Excel spreadsheet so that the box offices could
be calculated on a computer. Apparently that wasn’t a good
enough measure because now state workers who have little-to-no
fight experience or fandom are being brought in to work shows
as inspectors. They will not handle fight-related duties. They
will handle the paperwork. Meaning, if a crisis appears from
skinned gloves, illegal hand wraps, drug usage, or other kinds
of locker room issues… the new state inspectors won’t
know what to do in those situations or will have to rely on others
to help out.
Like drug testing.
It’s no secret that Andy Foster is not a hard-ass when it
comes to doping in combat sports. He and I are on complete opposite
ends of the spectrum on this issue. He has sympathy towards fighters
and what they go through in training since he was a fighter.
It was not his call to temporarily halt testosterone hall passes
in California — that was the call of Consumer Affairs lawyer
Michael Santiago. Regardless of that edict, there have been fighters
who have used testosterone (with permission) and some who have
not. One person who did not have permission was Lavar Johnson.
When Johnson tested positive, he was given a choice: accept a
reduced suspension or take your chances in front of the commission
at a hearing in Los Angeles. He accepted a reduced suspension.
Only now is the press discussing this:
In
this matter, there’s only one person giving out suspensions
— Andy Foster. It’s his call. There is nobody else
making that call. Nobody else is involved unless a fighter appeals.
So, don’t expect announcements to be issued on matters of
this nature unless fighters discuss their situations publicly
at a commission meeting.
The decision-making process from Sacramento has rubbed some of
the top athletic inspectors & officials the wrong way in
the state. I’ve heard plenty of complaints from the grunts
but nobody wants their name attached to quotes. The irony, of
course, is that the fight business attracts some of the biggest
cowards who won’t put up a fight when they’re getting
wronged. The athletic inspectors had a chance to unionize and
they couldn’t agree on how to organize a vote. Unionizing
in California is not exactly the hardest thing in the world to
accomplish. The inspectors had a chance to sue the state for
issues relating to travel pay & time-and-a-half pay and that
has gone nowhere because some of the inspectors only care about
themselves and have neglected others. So, it is entirely fair
to ask why should anyone care about their opinions. The reason
is simple: they’re the ones working the shows and see all
the ugly details up close and in person.
What changed Saturday night? It wasn’t the volume of internal
reaction I received. It was who the reaction came from. It came
from some names that I haven’t talked with before. Names
of people who are both pro-Andy Foster and anti-Andy Foster.
One new contact in particular was adamant about why the officials
are concerned about what is happening in the state.
“[Andy Foster] knows nothing about boxing, refuses to learn
and has no one on his staff with knowledge of boxing in one of
the biggest boxing jurisdictions in the world. What is wrong
with this picture? If he knows nothing about boxing, then why
is he here in California? California is boxing crazy. This makes
no sense.
“They
are assigning incompetent inspectors and officials to fights.
They are making huge mistakes and no one is overseeing their
actions, therefore, they are committing the same mistakes over
and over again.
“They
are breaking every rule and policy in the book, from approving
mismatches to improperly assigning officials. There are rules
in place to how many officials should be assigned to a championship
fight or high profile event which have many bouts & rounds
on the card so that there are fresh officials for the co-main
and main events. Instead, they are assigning fewer officials
than usual requiring the championship or main event officials
to have to work numerous rounds on the undercard as well. There
has always been a separate crew of officials for championship
bouts and this rule has recently been ignored and consistently
broken. Their reasoning is they want to entice promoters to come
to California by eliminating the much needed extra officials
to save the promoters money. CSAC has been approving fights that
we as inspectors just cringe when we walk in the dressing room
with these fighters as many of them can barely carry a conversation
or walk a straight line. They are hurt, beaten and regularly
outclassed fighters and the last place they should be is in the
ring or cage with quality fighters who can seriously hurt them
permanently or worse. No amount of new promotions coming to [California]
is worth someone’s life. Not only are these fighters in
danger but imagine the liability to the state.”
The
source finished with this sentiment.
“This is not [Andy Foster's] first real crisis. He is facing
many. Several qualified inspectors who were unhappy resigned,
many are considering or currently in the process of resigning
and many of us are ready to revolt against this incompetent individual.
There are boxing and MMA officials, ringside doctors and time
keepers that are also extremely upset and ready to act against
him.
“Inspectors,
doctors, ring officials and even timekeepers are afraid to speak
up because they have seen how [Andy] Foster, [John] Frierson
and [Martha] Shen Urquidez have retaliated against those who
have dared to speak up. They have put everyone on notice that
you do not ask questions or you do not complain because you will
not work and your license might be pulled.”
And
my response to that claim is simple — you’re giving
Andy Foster what he wants. If he didn’t hire you, then chances
are you aren’t going to last much longer. The sooner you
quit, the easier you’re making his job. If you believe so
passionately in helping protect fighters and that the replacements
he’s bringing in to fill the regulator jobs will endanger
fighters, wouldn’t quitting now mean the fighters are being
placed in a more precarious position for health & safety?
As for threats of retaliation, hey, John Frierson mistook a person
in a parking lot last year in El Monte, California as being yours
truly and tried to pick a fight with the poor guy.
Bottom line right now? The grunts working the shows for Andy
Foster & the California State Athletic Commission fear him
but don’t respect him. Going forward, that’s going
to become a bigger problem for Sacramento. He’s having a
difficult time reading the temperature of his show crews and
needs to come up with a new strategy before he gets politically
undermined sooner rather than later.
Source: Fight Opinion
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Bellator
Bantamweight Champ Eduardo Dantas Injured, Fight Postponed to
Early 2014
Bellator
bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas has suffered an ankle injury
that will sideline him until after the new year.
Undefeated
at 5-0 inside the Bellator cage, Dantas will now recover and
prepare to face Bellator tournament winner Rafael Silva in 2014,
with the winner of Joe Warren vs. Travis Marx next in line for
a Bellator bantamweight title shot against the winner.
Only
24, Dantas stormed through his first Bellator tournament with
victories over Wilson Reis, Ed West and Alexis Vila, and eventually
collected gold with his dominating finish over then champion
Zach Makovsky before defending the title against Marcos Galvao.
“Eduardo
Dantas is one of the most explosive Champions in MMA, and while
this injury is a setback, we all expect Eduardo back, better
than ever in 2014,” said Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn
Rebney.
Source: MMA Weekly
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Dana
White says 'doctors are very positive' about Matt Grice's recovery
By Shaun
Al-Shatti
Matt Grice's future, which was once so bleak, is looking more
optimistic by the day.
A
UFC featherweight veteran, Grice was hospitalized with traumatic
brain injuries on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2013 after being involved
in a devastating automobile accident. Grice underwent life-saving
brain surgery that same night, then began responding to verbal
cues and displaying limb movement a few weeks later.
According
to UFC President Dana White, Grice's situation has since continued
to improve.
"His
wife sent me a text telling me that he's getting better,"
White told MMAFighting.com on Monday.
"First
they were talking about real bad things could happen. Then it
was like, he might never walk again and he might never work again.
Now the doctors are very positive."
Grice
(15-5) was slated to fight Jeremy Larsen at UFC 166 before his
car was struck from behind at a red light in Shawnee, OK.
A
donation fund set up by Grice's family has thus far raised $22,000
of its $30,000 goal.
"The
whole tone has changed," White said. "He's got a lot
of work ahead of him, a lot of hard work ahead of him, but it's
looking like he might be able to pull through and get his life
back."
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Lyoto
Machida accepted Mark Munoz fight so he wouldn't disappoint UFC
By Guilherme
Cruz
Lyoto Machida was set to face Tim Kennedy in his middleweight
debut at UFC Fight For The Troops 3, but he decided to accept
the UFC’s offer and replace Michael Bisping against Mark
Muñoz at UFC Fight Night 30 on Oct. 26.
Kennedy
is 1-0 in the UFC with a unanimous decision victory over Roger
Gracie, while Munoz looks for his ninth win inside the Octagon.
A better opportunity to climb the rankings is one of the reasons
why Machida decided to change opponents.
"I
thought for a while about it (when UFC offered the change), but
I didn’t want to disappoint and frustrate the UFC,"
Machida told MMAFighting.com. "The date wasn’t that
bad. I was already training hard for my fight, so I decided to
take it. They were both main events, but this is a better one
because Mark Munoz is better ranked and it’s not a (Fight
For The Troops) card."
Munoz
has one submission and six knockouts on his record, while Kennedy
finished eight of his 16 wins by submission. However, Machida
sees some similarities in their games.
"They’re
not that different," he said. "They both have similar
styles, but Tim Kennedy likes to go for the takedown from the
body lock and Munoz moves more. But they basically have similar
styles."
One
advantage against Munoz, which Machida wouldn’t have over
Kennedy, is the fact that they used to train together.
"We
were training together so that’s a little complicated, but
that’s inevitable here in California," he said. "We
always look for better training so we ended up training together.
It’s complicated, but it’s tough for both of us. I’ve
learned some things from his game, but he did too.
"Mark
Munoz was always very friendly, gave me tips during trainings,"
he continued. "We helped each other a lot. But we were training
together, it’s not like he was teaching me. You test yourself
a lot during sparring."
Following
a frustrating and controversial unanimous decision loss to Phil
Davis at UFC 163 in Rio de Janeiro, "The Dragon" wants
to leave no doubts in Manchester.
"I
always go to win decisively," he said. "I had a (foot)
injury and couldn’t show what I wanted in my last fight,
but I’ll be different this time."
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Stefan
Struve’s Heart Condition Improves, Giving
It has
been eight weeks since UFC heavyweight Stefan Struve was diagnosed
with a leaking aortic valve, as well as an enlarged heart, and
began taking medication to see if the condition could be improved
without surgery.
“So
the news is that my heart has decreased in size and because of
that the aortic valve leakage has gone from medium severe to
minimal!” Struve wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
It’s
a positive turn of events for Struve, especially considering
that the condition threatened to end his fighting career.
Struve’s manager, Lex McMahon, provided further details
on his client’s condition in a statement to MMAFighting.com.
He said that because the heart, while reduced in size, is still
enlarged, they have diagnosed Struve’s condition as “Athletic
Heart Syndrome,” which is common among athletes that undergo
a strict training regimen.
“Stefan’s
doctors have cleared him to return to training so they can evaluate
how he responds over the next several months,” McMahon said
in his statement.
“At
this time the doctors are suggesting that he continue with the
medicine and do not recommend surgery. The general prognosis
for Stefan’s health is very positive. Stefan is focused
on returning to the Octagon as soon as he can do so safely.”
Struve
(25-6) has been fighting in the UFC heavyweight division since
early 2009. He is 9-4 under the UFC banner, winning numerous
post-fight bonuses along the way.
Struve
last fought in March, losing via knockout to Mark Hunt.
Source: MMA Weekly
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