|
October 2004 News
Part 2
Wednesday
night and Sunday classes (w/ a kids' class) now offered!
Tuesdays at 8:30PM on
Olelo Channel 52
New Time! |
Quote
of the Day
"If you put a small value upon youself, rest assured that
the world will not raise your price."
Unknown
|
Sorry
about the page!
As many of you could tell, Onzuka.com had some technical difficulties.
Hopefully they are all fixed now and we will get back on track,
keeping everyone up to date of the latest news in Hawaii.
Sometimes
computers are kooky. This was one of those times.
We apologize for the inconvenience. Thanks for the emails of
concern and letting us know that the page was down!
|
Ring
of Honor Heads to Kauai!
On November 27, Ring of Honor will host its debut event on the
Garden Isle. The event will be held at Waimea High School Gym.
ROH is looking for amatuers and Pros for that card. All amatuers
have to fly themselves to Kauai, but hotel and tansportation
will be provided.
Fighters interested in kickboxing or MMA can email Kai at kai@808ff.com.
This will be the continuation of Island Pride: Oahu vs. Kauai.
On a side note, what a great coincidence, Kendall Goo is hosting
the Grapplers' Paradise BJJ tournament on the same day. Compete
in grappling during the day and see the fights that night!
Source: Event Promoter |
KICKIN
IT 2004 "THE SEQUEL"
AMATEUR KICKBOXING CHAMPIONSHIPS
THE KICKIN IT 2004 KICKBOXING CHAMPIONSHIPS WILL MAKE ITS SECOND
APPEARANCE IN DECEMBER 2004. THIS EVENT IS HELD ONCE A YEAR.
FIGHTERS MUST HAVE PARTICIPATED IN AT LEAST THREE FIGHTS ON THE
KICKIN IT 2004 AND/OR 2003 CARDS TO QUALIFY TO COMPETE ON THIS
CHAMPIONSHIP CARD. FIGHTERS FROM THE KICKIN IT 2004 CARDS WILL
BE CHOSEN FIRST. THE TWO FIGHTERS WITH THE BEST RECORDS FROM
EACH DIVISION WILL FACE OFF TO MAKE THEIR CLAIM AS CHAMPION.
IF AN OPPONENT PULLS OUT, THE NEXT FIGHTER WITH THE NEXT BEST
RECORD WILL FILL IN REGARDLESS IF THEY HAVE LESS THAN THREE FIGHTS,
FOR NO REAL CHAMPION WANTS TO EXCEPT A WIN BY WALK OVER. AS MUCH
AS POSSIBLE NO ONE WILL BE CLAIMED AS A PAPER CHAMPION DUE TO
A WALK OVER. BUT SOMETIMES WHEN YOU'RE THE BEST, WALK OVERS WILL
HAPPEN.
THERE WILL ALSO BE AN OPEN (SEMI PRO) DIVISION MEANING FIGHTERS
WHO HAVE ALREADY COMPETED FOR MONEY WILL FACE OFF WITH EACH OTHER
FOR A BELT. THEY WILL HAVE THE OPTION TO USE OR NOT TO USE HEADGEAR
AND/OR FOOT PADS. THEY WILL NO LONGER BE CONSIDERED AMATEURS.
IN THESE BOUTS IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO HAVE THREE FIGHTS ON THE
KICKIN IT CARDS. IF EVERYTHING GOES AS PLANNED, THERE WILL BE
ABOUT 12 BOUTS FOR BELTS THAT NIGHT.
7 YEAR-OLD 55# CHAMPIONSHIP
DAHWEN BRIGHT VS. KILI
9 YEAR-OLD 65# CHAMPIONSHIP
DIDO RODRIGUES VS. ABE REINHARDT
10 -12 YEAR OLD 105# CHAMPIONSHIP
SAGE YOSHIDA VS. SHAUN AHLO
WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
JUSTIN DANO (140-146#) KAIPO GONZALES
3-0 (SEMI PRO)
MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
NICK GEGA (154-159#) NICK CORREA
3-0 2-1
SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
DAVID BALICAO (135-139#) RYAN LEE
4-1 (SEMI-PRO)
SUPER FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
CHAD PAVAO (125-129#) TAVIS KAGAWA
3-0 2-2
SUPER BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
TONY PERERA (118-121#) KOICHI TANJI
3-0 1-1
SUPER HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
BOB ATISANOE (210-OVER) TBA
3-0
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
BEN RODRIGUES (167-174#) TBA
3-1
OPEN MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
KALEO KWON (160-166#) ZACH ILAZARRO
SEMI PRO
OPEN SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
P.J. DEAN (154-159#) TBA
SEMI PRO
ALL MATCHES MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Source: Event Promoter |
HOOKnSHOOT
"Evolution" Takes A Hit(s)
Local Girl
needs an Opponent!
After
a weekend as Euphoria Entertainment's MIXED FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP
commentator, Jeff Osborne walked into his home and was mauled
with bad news.
The
HOOKnSHOOT promoter had just lost three of his ten women's fights.
"I had finally purchased all the airline tickets on Monday
and was relieved and now the stress level is brutal" says
Osborne.
The
first match to go was Julie Kedzie, a local fighter who HnS fans
fell in love with at the last show, lost her opponent due to
"closing on a house." Keri Crothers emailed the news
but regardless, the fight many were looking forward to seeing
was off.
The
next email was sent by Alberto Crane:
THERE
ARE SOME PROBLEMS WITH SARAH (Boyd), SHE HASN'T BEEN TRAINING
TOO MUCH, SHE LIVES ABOUT AN HOUR AWAY AND HASN'T HAD A CAR BECAUSE
HER CAR BROKE DOWN SO I'VE KEPT ON HER BUT SHE STILL HAS NOT
BEEN TRAINING. I WAS HOPING SHE WOULD START COMING IN THIS WEEK,
BUT SHE STILL HAS NOT. NOW I FEEL LIKE SHE WON'T BE READY SO
I DO NOT WANT HER TO GET HURT AND NOT REPRESENT ME WELL, SO I
REGRETFULLY WANT TO PULL HER FROM THE COMPETITION. THANKS AND
TAKE CARE
ALBERTO CRANE
Molly
Helsel, whom Osborne told "the card is full", asked
if she could fly herself in to fight and is now left without
an opponent. "I feel horrible! I'm going to bust my ass
to find Molly a new opponent but the email from Alberto hurts"
says Osborne.
The
latest cancellation comes from Ceasar Gracie fighter Heather
Soderquist. Soderquist came down with a serious staph infection
that spread to her face and mouth. She tried to ride the infection
out and keep training but it wasn't working and she was forced
to pull out of her bout with Jennifer Howe.
"While
I question some of the dropouts, I don't question Heather's.
She's stayed in touch with me and even tried to book flights
for Jennifer Howe and Jeremy Horn" continues Osborne.
Ticket
sales are WAY above average and over 99% of the tickets sold
are to local, hardcore HnS fans and they don't know the difference
in "name" fighters.
Now
that worse news, a UK production company was set to start shooting
a documentary-based TV show on the women of MMA. The original
plan was a 13-week stint on UK TV but they have now backed out.
HnS
had worked for nearly 18 months on the project trying to prove
there were enough women MMA fighters to warrant a series but
they claim the number of women fighters (who are legitimate)
is the monkey wrench.
Regardless
of the news, HOOKnSHOOT marches on! The show will still happen
and anyone interested in filling in the spots, should contact
HOOKnSHOOT immediately at hooknshoot@aol.com.
11/6/04
HOOKnSHOOT "Evolution" Women's MMA
11/7/04 LAST WOMAN STANDING GRAPPLING TOURNAMENT
Source:
FCF
|
Wanderlei:
'I am going to cave Jackson's Head In!'
Wanderlei
Silva is in the final phase of preparation for Pride 28, where
he will defend his title against Quinton “Rampage”
Jackson. The champion tells us what he intends to do with the
American in the ring...
How´s
your preparation to face Jackson? 'I'm fine. I finished an intensive
session with Master Rudimar, and right now I´ve got a real
strong punch , it's like stone. He will have a real bad time.
I´m coming to blast him. I will run over him, I will punch
him and if he thinks he will beat me he is totally wrong. I will
hit his head real hard, I´m coming for all or nothing,
to throw him to the floor and throw my punches. It will be a
very aggressive fight.
He
said in an interview he will bring you to the ground. What do
you think about this? He cant throw me to the ground, how will
he do that? No one knows (laughs). When he gets a bit closer,
he will slacken, since I will hit him least once to the face
and that will define the fight. I believe that, like when someone
gets into Minotauro´s guard if you do not pay attention
he catches you. If he does it with Silva and if Silva´s
punch hits him, he will awaken in the checkroom. And if he comes
and steps in front of me I will cave his head in with a stomp.
I´m going to a war so I´m ready for anything.
Mauricio
Shogun will be at the Pride Bushido 5. How´s he going?
He´s at 98kg (216lbs), very fast standing, very well on
the ground, he´s like a streak! I usually say that MMA
has fights and fights, it´s like in soccer, once a while
there´s a classic match, the same happens with my fight
against Jackson, Minotauro against Fedor was a classic, as soon
as the classic match comes out to Shogun, when he faces a renowned
fighter, I´m sure he would surprise whoever would be. We´re
preparing him to face anyone, from any weight.
Is
that true that you have given a phone number for your fans to
call you back? Yes it is. I got another cell phone and I started
using the old one to talk to my fans. Besides, there´s
something real cool happening, which is the people calling me
and leaving me messages, that´s pretty nice. I check the
phone numbers and there are phone calls from all over the country.
I´m not always with the phone but I listen the notes and
check out the messages. But as soon as I get the phone on my
hand it rings and I answer. So, everybody can talk with Silva,
exchange some ideas with him. For those who wants to call me,
that´s my number: 55-41-9193-5363.
By
the end of the year we might be watching you fighting in the
heavyweights? By the end of the year I will go to 106kg (233lbs)
and I will fight at 99kg (218lbs), which is the weight that Tyson
was at during his prime to knockdown his opponents.
Source: ADCC |
Pancrase
Event Complete Results 10/12/04
PANCRASE
2004 BRAVE TOUR
Tuesday, October 12th, 2004
Korakuen Hall (Tokyo,Japan)
live gate: 2,150
COMPLETE
RESULTS:
Amateur
Bout#1 Pancrase Gate lightweight tournament 2x5 min rounds
KAZUYA HIROSE (IMN Grappling) def. MASATO ONODERA (A-3) by 3-0-0
unanimous judges decision at full time limit
Amateur
Bout#2 Pancrase Gate lightweight tournament 2x5 min rounds
HIROYUKI OTA (Team P.O.D.) def. TAKU ARAMAKI (P's LAB Yokohama)
by 3-0-0 unanimous judges decision at full time limit
Pro-Bout#1
featherweight 2x5 min rounds
MIKI SHIDA (P's LAB Tokyo) def. MASAYUKI DEMISE (Wajutsu Keishukai
GODS) by front choke at 2R 0:43
Pro-Bout#2
lightweight 2x5 min rounds
NUKINPO! (P's LAB Tokyo) def. KAZUHIRO INOUE (Impress) by knee
bar at 2R 2:51
Pro-Bout#3
catchwrestling rules lightweight 2x5 min rounds
TAKUMI YANO (Ugokai) def. TAKUO MIYATA (Nagoya Brazilian Jiu
Jitsu Club) by knee lock at 1R 4:59
Pro-Bout#4
middleweight 2x5 min rounds
HIKARU SATO (PANCRASEism) drew KYOSUKE SASAKI (U-FILE CAMP.com)
by 0-0-3 draw judges decision at full time limit
Pro-Bout#5
middleweight 2x5 min rounds
OSAMI SHIBUYA (middleweight 10th ranked/PANCRASEism) def. KIM
SEONG HEE (Korea/NeoFight) by referee stop TKO(mount punch) at
1R 0:31
Pro-Bout#6
welterweight 3x5 min rounds
HIDETAKA MONMA (A-3) def. TAKAFUMI ITO (welterweight 3rd ranked/PANCRASEism)
by triangle choke at 1R 1:34
Semifinal
welterweight 3x5 min rounds
HIDEHIKO HASEGAWA (SK Absolute) def. KOJI OISHI (welterweight
1st ranked/PANCRASEism) by referee stop TKO(ankle lock) at 2R
5:00
Main
Event middleweight 3x5 min rounds
YUSHIN OKAMI (Wajutsu Keishukai Tokyo Hombu) def. EIJI ISHIKAWA
(middleweight 4th ranked/Pancrase GRABAKA) by 3-0-0 unanimous
judges decision at full time limit
Source: ADCC |
THE
SHOOTO AMERICAS TITLE SCENE CONTINUES TO UNFOLD AT SHOOTO'S LEADING
AMERICAN VENUE IN HAMMOND, INDIANA
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2004 - HAMMOND CIVIC CENTER
Just 30 Minutes from Downtown Chicago!
Doors
open at 5:00 PM; Show begins at 7:00 PM
As
has been seen all to often in the past, this upcoming card for
November's Ironheart Crown has been plagued with injuries and
dropouts. However, once again the Midwest's leading MMA promotion
remains on track and rallies to bring together more top stars
from across the US and around the world. After losing Stephan
Bonnar and Bobby Southworth to the UFC's upcoming reality TV
show, the card continued to suffered when main event Jeff Curran
suffered an injury in his own XFO show. He was forced to withdraw
from the card leaving Canada's Antonio Carvalho of Shah Franco's
Martial Arts without a fight. This bout was of particular importance
in the road to crowning the first ever Shooto regional champions
in the Americas Division (North and South America).
Undaunted
by these setbacks, the show must and will go on. In typical IHC
fashion, promoter Braulio Corral and the Shooto Commissioner
Rich Santoro scrambled to maintain the integrity of the card,
ensuring that the loyal IHC fans will be treated to the quality
match-ups as has become expected from this stalwart promotion.
While a few surprises are still in the works, what follows makes
up the backbone of the card.
Continuing
on the path to the Shooto Americas Championship for the 167 lbs
Shooto division, KEITH WISNIEWSKI (Shooto 1-1, 18-6-1 overall)
will meet DERRICK NOBLE (Shooto1-1, 11-5 overall). These are
some of the Midwest's most promising and talked about fighters,
who have put together big wins on the Shooto circuit. Both men
possess a heavily stocked arsenal of striking skills and ground
technique. This long-awaited match in the making, promises to
keep the fans on edge. One of these fighters will proceed to
the semifinals his pursuit for the Shooto belt.
RYAN
ACKERMAN (Shooto 4-3-1, 11-6-1 overall) vs. SHANE RICE (Shooto
debut, 1-2 overall) - tentative - : Ryan Ackerman has become
a household name in Midwest MMA competition and is the most active
American on the Shooto scene holding a place in the World rankings
as well as being the Number 1 ranker in the Americas division.
Rice hails from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and while his record may
not seem impressive at first glance, he is fresh off of a recent
victory over Mark Hominick in Canada, crowning him the new TKO
Super Light-Weight Champion. This was a defining win for Rice,
proving him a worthy opponent for Ackerman.
BART
PALASZEWSKI (Shooto 2-0, 12-5 overall) vs. GESIAS CAVALCANTI
(Shooto 2-1, 7-1 overall): Bart Palaszewski is a staple on any
Midwest card, and is on the verge of really breaking out after
logging victories in both the US and Japan. His opponent, Gesias
Cavalcanti, hails from Brazil by way of Fort Lauderdale, Florida
where he is a member of the American Top Team. His training lineage
itself speaks volumes, and his fight record confirms his abilities.
He holds Shooto wins in both the USA and Europe and has faced
the best in the business after losing a close decision to Shooto's
former world champion. Now he has a chance to assert himself
back in the US in seeking the 154 lbs belt. Only Palazewski stands
in his way to the title bout against long-time MMA veteran Phil
Johns who already logged a victory on the other side of the bracket.
MIGUEL
TORRES (Shooto 1-1, 32-1) vs. ALEX KHANBABIAN
(Shooto 0-1, 3-1 overall): Miguel Torres has become synonymous
with the Ironheart Crown name as a key participant in the most
exciting matches in all of our recent cards. While less experienced
in the Mixed Martial Arts, Alex Khanbabian combines a long history
of Muay Thai competition with a black belt ranking under Ralph
Gracie in San Francisco, California. Alex teaches the kickboxing
curriculum at Ralph's Academy and has all of the tools to handle
Miguel's standing skills. In addition to this, he already boasts
a victory over Miguel in sport jiu-jitsu competition making this
an exciting grudge match that should provide fireworks for the
crowd. Despite the qualifications of his opponent, Torres is
anxiously awaiting this bout which promises to produce the smoke
and fire that Miguel's matches are known for. He can then set
his eyes on another rematch in Ryan Ackerman… to settle
the score of his loss last November and get in line to vie for
the 132 lbs Shooto Americas title.
JAY
ESTRADA (Shooto 2-0, 7-2 overall) vs. JOE PIERSON (Shooto debut,
6-2-1 overall): Jay Estrada is yet another Chicago favorite who
appeared on the scene two years ago and quickly established himself
as a dominant contender in his weight division. With a huge following
of adamant fans, he shows up to please everyone in attendance.
His 2-0 record in the Shooto circuit opens up his claim to challenge
for the 143 lbs title since the loss of Curran leaves that title
picture hanging in the balance. His opponent, Joe Pierson hails
from the Miletich camp, a brand name synonymous with utmost skill.
He emerges for his Shooto debut after having submitted top Shooto
performer, Tommy Lee, in a match-up outside of the Shooto circuit.
The opportiunities are ripe for these two men.
EDDIE
WINELAND (Shooto 0-2, 3-3-1 overall) vs. JOAO “PITBULL”
JUNIOR (Shooto debut, 2-0 overall): Eddie Wineland of Duneland
Valetudo in Portage Indiana is looking forward to returning to
the local arena. His opponent, “the Pitbull” arrives
from Rio de Janeiro by way of Indianapolis, Indiana where he
represents team Monteiro and the De La Riva Team. While not much
is known about Joao, he comes highly recommended as an explosive
lightweight powerhouse with a solid jiu-jitsu game. The little
guys are known for puttig on a fast paced display of skill…
we have seen it from Wineland in Shooto before, and this match
should produce similarly exciting results.
ALEX
TRUJILLO (Shooto debut, 2-0) vs. KYLE WATSON (Shooto debut, 3-2):
Alex Trujillo left his home in Illinois to train with Team Oyama
in California. After two years in training with the likes of
Tito Ortiz and Quentin Jackson, he returns home as a seasoned
fighter who has yet to lose. His opponent stands ready: Kyle
Watson, a long time disciple of Jack McVickers in Champagne,
Illinois. He brings a well-balanced game to the ring, which is
a must in the Shooto world. Both men will be laying it on the
line for this confrontation.
While
the card is still undergoing repairs after a myriad of injuries,
pullouts, and cancellations, five other matches are in the works,
and the promoters promise to continue the Ironheart's tradition
of producing top-flight entertainment. These bouts are just the
beginning… the remaining matches will be announced as they
are confirmed… While these matches alone promise an exciting
night of fights, be prepared to savor some surprises that are
currently in the works.
The
show will take place at it's the IHC's traditional home in The
Hammond Civic Center in Hammond, IN. Doors will open its doors
once again at 5:00 PM on November 30, 2004. Fights are scheduled
to begin promptly at 7:00 PM.
TICKETS
ARE ON SALE NOW! A limited number of tables and ringside seats
are available. These always sell out fast, so call now to reserve
yours. To purchase tickets in the Chicagoland area, call 773-793-6555.
To purchase tickets in Northwest Indiana, call 219-688-7363.
Tickets are also available online at www.ironheartcrown.net
Source: ADCC |
WHY
RULON GARDNER CHOSE REAL PRO WRESTLING AND TOBY WILLIS OVER WWE
AND VINCE MCMAHON (Part Two)
While Rulon Gardner was about as ebullient about the prospects
for success for Real Pro Wrestling as I was, and as most of the
people who witnessed the tapings of their first season of shows
were, he remained much more diplomatic that I would have been
when explaining why he chose this group over the so-called WWE.
Words and phrases like steroid freaks, porn for kids, con men,
drug addicts, fake wrestling, psychopaths, and other such characterizations
earned by this bunch were absent from his comments.
Gardner
explained why he was sticking with Real Pro Wrestling, and rejecting
an offer from WWE, right after the first of two days of television
tapings for Real Pro Wrestling's first season of shows. We spoke
on Oct. 8 at the L.A. Center Studios.
'Kurt
Angle called me up and said we'd like to possibly talk to you,'
said Gardner, referring to his fellow Olympic gold medalist wrestler
who later joined WWE. 'And I know there was interest from Kurt.
I had an opportunity to sit down and talk to him at length with
him about it. I had an opportunity to go down there and look
at what professional wrestlers were. And the thing what they
said, 'We're sports entertainment. We're not wrestlers. We're
not doing this like Olympic athletes.' And they made that distinction
right there.'
Gardner
went on, 'But I think the mass public in America still sees them
as being wrestling, and we're out there to show them this is
real, professional wrestling, and not the actors out there acting
like wrestlers. We're out there wrestling like wrestlers.'
He
was given an overview of what WWE does: 'They brought me in.
I went in and looked at their production, looked at the action,
looked at all that stuff. I was absolutely impressed with it.
These guys are phenomenal athletes, and it's a lot different
than what you see on TV and what you see in person.'
After
seeing how they operate, however, he decided to stay with real
wrestling.
'But
it's a pretty amazing experience and I'm happy to be back here
part of Real Pro Wrestling, and hopefully taking wrestling to
the next level. And that's what I'm looking forward to making
this, Real Pro Wrestling, and the U.S. Olympic Greco and freestyle
team, hopefully the best it can be here in the future years,'
he said.
Gardner
also explained that WWE wanted to sign him, but that it was his
decision not to do that.
'Well,
realistically they said they were definitely interested in talking
figures,' said Gardner. 'And I kind of came back and just said,
'You know, I really want to pursue my dreams and continuing with
the amateur wrestling aspect of it.' And that's why I'm back
here helping out with Real Pro Wrestling, because I believe in
what [Real Pro Wrestling co-founder] Toby [Willis] is doing.
I believe in their organization that he's putting forth. And
I think that with all the sponsors and all the support that we
have, and all the great wrestlers around the United States, I
know that they can be here supporting and following these wrestlers.
Because so many of these athletes are out doing clinics every
day. And hopefully they have that impact on these youth wrestlers
and that opportunity to give back and get more youth wrestlers
involved in the sport that will be our future and our Olympic
champions.'
Asked
if the image of WWE, which is widely viewed as negative and not
appropriate for youth, whose futures are so important to Gardner,
was a factor in his decision, he replied, 'I look at what they
do as entertainment. For me, at this time it's not exactly what
I want. I'm enjoying the opportunity to come back and see all
my fellow wrestlers here in Real Pro Wrestling, being able to
be part of the amateur wrestling still. To go and see Kurt Angle,
I'm glad he's doing it.'
Gardner
elaborated, 'I don't know if I'm the type of person who wants
to go out there and do some of the things that they do. And I
even talked to Vince McMahon about it, and I told him those are
some of my concerns. And he understood the concerns I had. It
just eventually came down to, I'm happy where I'm at. I love
amateur wrestling. I love what we're doing here. And I look forward
to Real Pro Wrestling coming out and hopefully bringing this
to the next level, and then also building international wrestling
in America, so we can go out there and kick every country's tail
in wrestling like we should be, because we're Americans. I think
we can be the best, because we believe that we're the best.'
To
be continued.
Source: ADCC |
Quote
of the Day
"Every morning you are handed 24 golden hours. They are
one of the few things in this world that you get free of charge.
If you had all the money in the world, you couldn't buy an extra
hour. What will you do with this priceless treasure? Remember,
you must use it, as it is given only once. Once wasted you cannot
get it back."
Unknown
|
Miller
vs. Jhun
Jason Miller and Ronald Jhun comment on their welterweight title
fight scheduled for this Saturday at Super Brawl
By Joe Hall
A
bit after the fact, but still good reading, especially his last
comment about being jumped by a bunch of mad Hawaiians. I guess
he asked for it. Kidding of course. heh heh.
They're
very different, yet similar. One is brash and loud, the other
courteous and quiet. One will shock you, offend you, and then
make you laugh, sometimes in just one sentence. The other will
make you feel like an old friend, sometimes in just one greeting.
Both
are tough welterweights on the fringes of the UFC. One fought
there in August, the other was supposed to in June. On Saturday,
Ronald Jhun and Jason Miller will meet in Hawaii for the Super
Brawl welterweight championship. In addition to the title, both
are fighting for a higher rung on the welterweight ladder, a
position one step closer to a debut or a return to the UFC.
FCF
spoke with both fighters on Wednesday:
FCF
actually caught Jason "Mayhem" Miller on the, um...
john. He insisted he could do the interview, however, and after
a brief pause and the sound of a flushing toilet, the interview
began. To capture best how the following conversation went, imagine
him laughing loudly every three for four sentences.
FCF:
Who have you been training with for this fight?
Jason Miller: I trained for a couple weeks in Atlanta, Georgia,
with the guys at Velocity Kickboxing. There are some really tough
standup guys over there and, also, I had the chance to train
with Rory Singer from Athens. He came down and helped me train.
When I was in Vegas, I trained with Marc Laimon and the guys
from Cobra Kai. I literally have the best, in America, the best
submission wrestling room I've ever seen in my life. It's definitely
up there. We have the best grapplers I've ever seen. I get depressed
sometimes because the guys are so good. I'm used to being a big
fish in a small pond, being able to beat everybody's ass. In
there, man, a lot of times I just get my ass kicked. It's a humbling
experience. It keeps me hungry to train all the time.
What
is your impression of Ronald Jhun?
He's a rockheaded Hawaiian, bro. He's a tough, tough guy. That's
why I'm so excited about this fight. You put two rockheads in
the ring together, and there's going to be some sparks. It's
going to be one of those fights that afterward I'll be like,
Damn that was fun. It's not going to be one of those fights where
the guy gives up. It's going to be something that my body remembers.
What's
your biggest advantage going into this fight?
I think I'm a much more technical fighter. I think I'm a little
more slick than he is. He's a straightforward fighter. I think
that I'm really going to beat him on being smooth about the way
I fight. He's going to slip up, and I'm going to catch him.
Will
this be a tougher match than your fight against Egan Inoue?
Yeah, yeah. I think so. I think he's more hungry than Inoue,
and I think coming off his loss (at UFC 49), I think he's really
going to be hungry. He's going to come after me; I'm expecting
him to bring it to me. Inoue is really tough and strong, and
he was definitely a tough opponent, but I'm expecting an a lot
angrier Hawaiian out of Jhun.
I
read that you pretty much called out Hawaii after your win over
Inoue.
Oh, hell yeah. Jhun was the referee for the (fight against Inoue).
I don't know who the referee is going to be this time, but I'll
probably have to fight him next. I think there's somewhere here
in Honolulu where you can take a number, and it says on it, "Fight
Mayhem." So everybody has a number and eventually they're
going to get around to the damn grandmas over here.
Jhun
refereed your fight against Inoue?
Yeah, he was the referee. First I fight the guy, then I fight
the referee, and next I'm going to be fighting the judges. You
know who I wouldn't mind fighting is T.J. Thompson, the promoter.
He put me up in this roach motel, man. Sink doesn't work, and
my bed is a couple of phonebooks stacked with towels. This is
a joke, bro. And it's right next to a construction site. I don't
think they're done building this hotel, and they put me in it.
I'd like to slap ‘em.
You
executed a good game plan against Inoue by weathering the storm
early and rallying late. What should we expect this time, as
far as strategy goes?
Expect me to wow out. I'm bringing a different personality to
this fight. I gotta bring Mayhem right to this one. Actually,
I'm angry enough at this whole Hawaii experience this time that
all three of my personalities are going to come out and jump
on Jhun. I just want to bring the fight to him really fast. No
weathering the storm because Jhun doesn't have a storm. He's
consistent the whole damn fight. I'm ready to jump on him.
How
is he going to try to fight you? What will his game plan be?
Jhun's kind of a basic guy. I think he's thinking, Punch ...
Mayhem's ... face. Punch his face. That's how he fights; I'm
expecting that. I don't think he's going to jump into a flying
armbar on me.
What
does a win do for you?
Of course it furthers my stock. We're not doing figure skating,
you know? This is the kind of sport that you gotta take someone's
stuff from them; you gotta take someone's chips. You put your
chips up, and you gotta take his chips from him. It's not personal,
but hey, I have to do what's best for me and that's to kick his
ass.
A
while back you were scheduled to be in the UFC, but you ran into
some legal problems. Have you spoken with the UFC and is the
door still open with them?
Yeah. They could have been saying that just to be nice, but honestly,
yeah, they never slammed the door in my face. I'm sure they will
if I get my block rocked. But that's business. I just gotta keep
my chin down and my hands up and get the ‘W' on Saturday.
And then I'll think about the UFC. I'll think about my future
then. Right now I have tunnel vision; all I can see is this fight
on Saturday.
Two
hours after the fight, what will you be doing?
Hahahahaaaa. Hahaaaaaa! I'll be catchin' new charges or catchin'
new diseases from these Hawaiian girls. Hahaaaa!
Oh
my god. Will the fight leave you pretty beat up, though?
I'm expecting to feel like I got jumped by a mob of angry Hawaiians....
Hopefully that doesn't happen if I can leave the arena after
the fight real quick.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FCF:
What's your impression of Jason Miller's skills in the ring?
Ronald Jhun: I saw him fight against Egan. I was refereeing that
match. He showed a lot of heart. Talented, talented fighter.
I respect him a lot, but I don't think he's going to beat me
(laughs). I think he's taking me lightly.
What
are his biggest strengths?
He's a fighter that never gives up. His ground game is pretty
good. Last time I saw him in Super Brawl, he fought against one
of Egan Inoue's students and triangled him. His standup is questionable.
I'm going to try to keep the fight standing. If it goes to the
ground, I'm going to just watch myself on the ground and be cautious
of his submissions.
He's
known to be pretty brash. What's your impression of him outside
the ring?
A lot of guys in this sport kind of promote themselves. I don't
really take it personal as far as what he's saying about me and
that stuff. I just do my talking in the ring. I respect everybody,
everybody that's in the sport and fighting, as athletes and human
beings. I don't really know Jason Miller personally. But I'll
be meeting him shortly, so we can probably do an interview after
the fight and I'll let you know (laughs again).
How
will this fight unfold?
All I can say is I know it's going to be an exciting fight. He
does all kinds of wild stuff, and I pretty much react to the
fight. If he starts getting crazy, I might start doing some crazy
stuff. I can't really say what I'm going to do, but I know this
fight is going to end the night with a bang. I'm going to go
out there and try to take his head off, try to finish the fight
as fast as I can, but with the exception that I'm not going in
there recklessly and try to make mistakes. I'm just going to
press the fight, and if I see an opening, I'm going to attack.
Is
it an advantage that you're fighting in Hawaii?
Oh yeah. Most definite. That's why I'm feeling kind of confident
for this fight. He's coming into my hometown. I know it's going
to be a tough fight, but I feel that I'm going to come out on
top.
What
does a win over Miller do for your career?
I'm just out to prove I'm one of the best 170 pounders right
now. I know he's judging me off of my last fight in the UFC,
and he's kind of taking me lightly, saying that I didn't belong
in there, he's going to run through me and everything. It's more
of a fight to prove to myself and prove to the world that I am
one of the best 170 pounders out there. I think a win over him
should answer that question.
You
finally got a shot in the UFC back in August. [Jhun lost to Chris
Lytle.] What did fighting in the UFC mean to you?
It was like a dream come true. I think I had so much adrenaline
running through me, I guess just (from) being out there ... I
was walking on cloud nine coming out to the cage. I don't think
I was in the right state of mind. I think I lost focus of the
whole thing. I didn't realize until a couple days later what
had just happened there. I'm really hoping to do well and get
another shot back in the UFC and really show the world what I'm
capable of doing.
Does
a win over Miller put you in position to be brought back to the
UFC?
Most definite. I know the UFC is looking at Jason Miller, and
I know at one time he was supposed to be fighting St. Pierre.
I know that with this win, it should definitely put (me) back
in Dana White and Joe Silva's mind, and I should be back in the
UFC.
How
much longer do you plan on fighting?
It seems like my goal was to get in the UFC. It seems now I want
to get back in the UFC and be successful in there. Until I get
back in the UFC and do a lot better than I did the first time,
I think I'll still be around. I'd say I'll be around another
five more years.
Source: FCF |
MEZGER
INJURED; COTE TO FIGHT ORTIZ IN MAIN EVENT OF UFC 50: WAR OF
O4,
OCT. 22,
AT BOARDWALK HALL IN ATLANTIC CITY
Lutter To Meet Eastman in Light Heavyweight Bout;
Fryklund To Replace Prangley In Middleweight Action
‘Ultimate Fighting Championship' Special To Air This Sunday,
Oct. 17 On FSN
LAS
VEGAS, NEV., October 15, 2004.... A training injury has sidelined
light heavyweight contender Guy Mezger, so undefeated Canadian
Patrick Cote (5-0-0 in mixed martial arts) from Rimouski, Quebec,
gets the opportunity to fight one of mixed martial arts' top
fighters, Tito Ortiz (11-4-0) from Huntington Beach, Calif.,
in the main event of Ultimate Fighting Championship® 50:
War Of 04 next Friday, Oct. 22, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic
City, NJ. Cote originally was scheduled to fight Marvin Eastman
(7-3-0) from Las Vegas, Nev.
Eastman
will now fight UFC newcomer Travis Lutter (6-1-0) from Dallas,
Tex., in the pay-per-view card's other light heavyweight match.
In
another card change, Middleweight Trevor Prangley has been forced
to withdraw due to injury and will be replaced by Tony Fryklund
(11-3-0) from Las Vegas, Nev., in his scheduled match against
Ivan Salaverry (8-3-1) from Seattle, Wash. UFC officials also
announced that the heavyweight fight between Tra Telligman (15-4-1)
from Ft. Worth, Tex., and John Marsh (12-4-0) from Redondo Beach,
Calif., has been dropped from the card.
The
feature bout on the seven-fight card will be for the welterweight
title as former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes (37-4-0)
from Hillsboro, Ill., attempts to regain the belt against undefeated
Georges St. Pierre (7-0-0) from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The
main event now pits Cote, a power puncher with a knockout reputation,
against Ortiz, the former UFC light heavyweight champion who
dominates opponents with a devastating grappling and ground/pound
style. It did not take long for the war of words to start.
"Tito
has no chin and I have already knocked out the two fighters with
the best chins in Canada with one punch each. If he thinks Chuck
Liddell hit him hard, he will realize he hasn't seen anything
yet," Cote said.
"Big
words for a little man," Ortiz responds. "Sounds like
he needs to learn some respect, which will happen next Friday.
Stand up or on the ground, he gets a beating."
The
Fryklund-Salaverry bout now matches two well-rounded fighters
with excellent stand-up and ground fighting skills. Although
he now fights out of Las Vegas, Fryklund is part of the Miletich
Fighting Systems team from Davenport, Iowa, one of the top MMA
clubs in the world. But, Salaverry also is a world-class fighter
who always puts on an exciting show.
Lutter
is an excellent grappler and submission fighter who has earned
a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under the tutelage of legend
Carlos Machado. But, he will get a real introduction to the UFC
from the veteran Eastman, a quick striker with an extensive wrestling
background. In his UFC debut, Eastman stepped up at UFC 43: Meltdown
and took on former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort.
But, with that loss now a distant memory, Eastman looks to position
himself in the incredibly talent-laden weight division.
UFC
On FSN, 5 p.m. Local Time, This Sunday, Oct. 17
The
first of four, one-hour UFC® fight show specials on FSN (Fox
Sports Network) will air at 5 p.m., local time, this Sunday,
Oct. 17. "Ultimate Fighting Championship" will re-live
the epic battle between top light heavyweight contenders Liddell
and Ortiz, and the action-packed welterweight battle between
Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler at UFC 47: It's On! from the Mandalay
Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Future fight shows will be announced.
"Ultimate
Fighting Championship" will air quarterly during the next
year following a recent agreement signed between the UFC and
FSN.
UFC
50: War Of 04 will be available LIVE on pay-per-view at 10 p.m.
EDT on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network, Echostar, Bell ExpressVu
and Viewers Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $29.95.
Tickets
in all price ranges, $350, $250, $150, $75 and $35, are available
at the Boardwalk Hall box office in Atlantic City, at all Ticketmaster
locations, http://www.ticketmaster.com/ or by calling 1-800-736-1420.
For general information, call 609-348-7000. Tickets are subject
to transaction fees. Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino, Trump Marina
and Trump Taj Mahal are hosts of the event.
Source: FCF |
Eight
Men In:
EUPHORIA Victors Advance In Tournament Action
By Loretta Hunt
For those that missed EUPHORIA MFC's opening round of lightweight
and heavyweight tournament offerings, a chance was lost to see
the borders' impeding international crossover action temporarily
fade and make way for a gripping night of action.
Keeping
their word to import a slew of foreign characters rarely seen
in the U.S., EUPHORIA promoters paid a great service to the sport
with their efforts, and an estimated attendance of 2,000 plus
seemed to be in full agreement.
There
were no big surprises for tonight's results, although the evening
had its share of intrigues performance nonetheless. Advancing
on to the next round for the lightweights: Yves Edwards, Joachim
Hansen, Rich Clementi, and Hermes Franca. In the heavyweight
brackets, Travis Wiuff, Kerry Schall, Jeff Monson, and Antoine
Jaoude.
To kick off the first of the four lightweight brackets, Rich
Clementi rang in a commanding performance over a game, but overmatched
Henry Matamoros. Matamoros seemed in trouble early on when Clementi
landed some solid shots, and had to scramble to save himself
with some dives for takedowns, but even on the ground, Clementi's
superior positioning kept him in the lead on the judge's cards.
Landing continuous body kicks that Matamoros couldn't defend
fast enough and even catching the Costa Rican fighter in a triangle
choke at one point of the bout, Clementi scored a well-deserved
unanimous decision over the under-prepared Matamoros.
The
formidable Brazilian Top Team was out in full force to support
newest addition Hermes Franca in all his 47 seconds of glory
over an out-classed Phil Johns. Surprising some by immediately
going for a single-leg takedown, Franca hopped from guard to
mount and before Johns knew it, had his back for the rear naked
choke.
Strong, scrappy, yet skilled Norwegian Joachim Hansen showed
excellent ring control as he steamrolled a tentative Red Devil
Sergei Goliaev on the ground for his rear naked choke win. Goliaev,
who impressed all with a tight stand-up demonstration at the
last EUPHORIA event, never got the chance to land a single punch
tonight, and was easily taken down by the well-rounded fighter
who will give whoever his next opponent may be a worthy challenge.
Yves
Edwards' signature move -- the very high right kick -- again
sealed the deal for him tonight in his victory over ground specialist
and ZST rep Naoyuki Kotani. Kotani surprised a bit by trying
to stand with Edwards, which only seemed to charge the Texan
more to unleash some fancy hand work in the form of uppercut-fueled
combos. For the brief stint on the ground, Kotani could do nothing
to slow down his adversary, who emerges the favorite in this
stacked lightweight tournament.
At the top of the heavyweight list, Minnesotan wrestler Travis
Wiuff has shown marked improvement in his four years on the circuit
with his unanimous decision victory tonight over a tough Ibragim
Magomedov of the Red Devil team A main event mainstay for various
small to mid-size shows across the country since losing to Vladimir
Matyushenko back at UFC 40, Wiuff has quietly amassed a 17-fight
winning streak in the last year and a half, including his most
well-rounded performance to date tonight that even saw the usually
striking-light fighter connect with a powerful right straight.
Magomedov made Wiuff work for it, though, thwarting numerous
takedown attempts early on with sheer strength and persistence,
while almost catching Wiuff with a guillotine in one of their
corner exchanges. In all three rounds, Wiuff secured full mount,
but Magomedov fended off punches enough from the bottom until
the last when he gave his back and Wiuff was just seconds shy
of a rear naked choke as the bell sounded.
American Top Team rep Jeff Monson secured a definitive win over
local Philadelphia fighter and fellow wrestler Pat Stano. Stano,
a last-minute replacement for Team Quest's Brian Stromberg, faired
better than expected with a nice reversal and scramble off of
Monson's first takedown attempt, but the match-up slowed considerably
for the majority of both rounds, as the men were in a virtual
clinching stalemate along the ropes. Monson eventually landed
a knee to the body that sent Stano down for the stoppage.
In
a down-and-out slugfest, Canada's Ulisses Castro showed a tough
chin and punching power as he gave and took all the experienced
Kerry Schall could handle. The two duked it out full-throttle
on at least three separate occasions, one of which Castro was
deducted a point for a low blow on a knee that temporarily stopped
the action. Taking part of his requisite five minutes to recover,
both men finished the round strong with continued shots. Castro's
right eye was swollen and closed by round two, while Schall was
showing the first signs of fatigue, yet just 20 seconds in, Castro
landed a second questionable low blow, a solid kick that sent
Schall to the mat in agony. Canadian referee Yves Lavigne disqualified
Castro for the illegal shots, and Schall will move on to the
second round.
In
the final heavyweight match-up of the evening, Antoine Jaoude
proved gamer than his four fight record let on in his dominating
performance over Red Devil returnee Roman Zentsov. It was expected
that the recent Olympic participant would take boxer Zentsov
done fairly easily, which he did, but Jaoude impressed by keeping
busy when he stood and backed out, and then jumping into guard
with a powerful punch and eventually passing to side control
and then mount. However, from there Zentsov successfully tied
up Jaoude's arms and stalled any action, to the point where referee
Lavigne had to stand the two. Complaining of rib pain, Zentsov
forfeited the rest of the contest when he could not to continue.
In
preliminary action, Team Quest lightweight Ryan Schultz proved
too much for visiting Spaniard David Gaona of the S.H.O.O.T Spain
team. Schultz held a superior command of the stand-up over counter-striker
Gaona who always seemed a swing behind in his efforts to connect.
From a flooring straight cross, Schultz easily got mount and
pummeled an overwhelmed and profusely bleeding Gaona for a referee
stoppage that was a good minute too late.
In
the heavyweight alternate bout, recent Miletich addition Ben
Rothwell fended off a sloppy Jonathan Wiezorek's charging attempts
to land a few distinct punches to his opponent. Wiezorek did
little to block the shots, and was quickly stopped with two (almost)
consecutive uppercuts that buckled his knees and had him in obvious
trouble. The referee jumped in just as Rothwell landed an unintentional,
but illegal blow to the back of Wiezorek's head as he began to
crumble to the mat.
EUPHORIA
"The Road to the Titles" Results
Opening
Round: 8-Man Lightweight Championship Tournament
Rich Clementi (Team Extreme, USA) def. Henry Matamoros (Pedro
Sauer Jiu-Jitsu, USA)- Unanimous Decision [26-30, 27-30, 27-30]
Hermes Franca (Brazilian Top Team, Brazil ) def. Phil Johns (Silverbacks,
USA)- Rear Naked Choke :47 Rd 1
Yves Edwards (Third Column, USA ) def. Naoyuki Kotani (Rodeo
Style, Japan)-
Joachim Hansen (Team Scandinavia, Norway) def. Sergei Goliaev
(Red Devil, Russia)- Rear Naked Choke 3:24 Rd 1
Lightweight Alternate Bout:
Ryan Schultz (Team Quest, USA) def. David Gaona (S.H.O.O.T. Spain,
Spain)- TKO referee stoppage (strikes) 2:17 Rd 1
Opening
Round: 8-Man Heavyweight Championship Tournament
Kerry Schall (Team Extreme, USA) def. Ulisses Castro (Freelance,
Canada)- Disqualification (low blow) :20 Rd 2
Travis Wiuff (Team Extreme, USA) def. Ibragim Magomedov (Red
Devil, Russia)- Unanimous decision (30-27 all)
Jeff Monson (American Top Team, USA) def. Pat Stano (CORE Martial
Arts, USA)- TKO referee stoppage (knee to body) 3:11 Rd 2
Antoine
Jaoude (Ruas Vale Tudo, Brazil) def. Roman Zentsov (Red Devil,
Russia)- TKO referee stoppage (Zentsov could not continue due
to rib injury) 3:30 Rd 1
Heavyweight
Alternate Bout:
Ben Rothwell (Team Extreme, USA) def. Jonathan Wiezorek (Valdosta
Academy, USA)- TKO referee stoppage (strikes) 1:09 Rd 1
Source: FCF |
Euphoria
MFC - 'ROAD to the TITLES' Results!
Euphoria MFC 'ROAD to the TITLES'
October 15th, 2004
TROPICANA CASINO, Atlantic CIty, NJ
'I
can't believe what I just saw' states happy Euphoria matchmaker
Miguel Iturrate. 'The ROAD to the TITLES now has it's first round
in the books, and we can begin to lay the groundwork for our
December and February shows. I have heard it said there were
no surprises, and I guess that may be true, but that is a little
bit insulting to the athletes. Being around the show, every fighter
came to kill, and I thank them all for that - they left it in
the ring!'
'For
December we have the LIGHTHEAVYWEIGHT tournament, and our Heavyweight
tournament continues. Joachim Hansen is signed for a SHOOTO match
in December, so we will have to work out the exact details of
his return and opponent in February.' states Iturrate. 'Needless
to say, the lightweight tournament of Hansen along with Yves
Edwards, Rich Clementi and Hermes Franca is very appealing. We
are also in the final stages of our negotiations for Jeremy Horn
to be a part of the Lightheavyweight tourney. I think everyone
is happy with the deal, and we are just waiting on the lawyers!'
quips Iturrate. 'I think that Ryan Schultz is a force also at
155, and if he continues winning, he will be the first challenge
for the tournament winner' reveals Iturrate.
COMPLETE
RESULTS:
(all matches 3 rounds of 5 minutes)
FIGHT
#1: WEIGHT: 155 LBS (ALTERNATE BOUT)
RYAN SCHULTZ (TEAM QUEST, PORTLAND, OR) v. DAVID GAONA (SHOOT
SPAIN, Valencia, Spain): Schultz by Ref Stoppage, 2:17, RD 1.
FIGHT
#2: WEIGHT: HEAVYWEIGHTS (ALTERNATE BOUT)
JOHNATHAN WIEZOREK (Valdosta Karate, Valdsota, Georgia) v. BEN
ROTHWELL (Miletich Fighting Systems, Bettendorf, IA.): Rothwell
by KO, 1:09 in RD 1.
FIGHT
#3: WEIGHT: 155 LBS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
HENRY MATAMOROS (Pedro Sauer JJ< Milwaukee, WI.) v. RICH CLEMENTI
(TEAM EXTREME, New Orleans, LA): Clementi by Unanimous Decision.
FIGHT
#4: WEIGHT: 155 LBS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
HERMES FRANCA (ATT, Ft Lauderdale, FL) v. PHIL JOHNS (Silverbacks,
Canton IL): Franca by Rear Naked Choke, :47 seconds in RD 1.
FIGHT
#5: WEIGHT: HEAVYWEIGHTS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
TRAVIS WIUFF (Team Extreme, Minneapolis, MN) v. IBRAGIM MAGOMEDOV
(Red Devil, St Petersburg, Russia): Wiuff by Unanimous Decision.
FIGHT
#6: WEIGHT: HEAVYWEIGHTS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
ULISSES CASTRO (CANADA) v. Kerry 'Meat Truck' Schall (Team EXTREME,
Cinncinnati, OH): Schall by DQ (Groin Shots) 0:20, RD 2.
FIGHT
#7: WEIGHT: 155 LBS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
SERGEI GOLYAEV (RED DEVIL, St Petersburg, Russia) V. JOACHIM
HANSEN (Team Scandinavia, Oslo, Norway): Hansen by Rear Naked
Choke, 3:24 in RD 1.
FIGHT
#8: WEIGHT: 155 LBS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
NAOYUKI KOTANI (Rodeo Style, Tokyo, Japan) v. YVES EDWARDS (Thugjitsu,
Houston, TX): Edwrds by KO, 3:10 in RD 1.
FIGHT
#9: WEIGHT: HEAVYWEIGHTS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
JEFF MONSON (ATT, Ft Lauderdale, FL) v. PAT STANO (CORE Martial
Arts, Voorhees, New Jersey): Monson by TKO, knees, 3:11 in RD
2.
FIGHT
#10: WEIGHT: HEAVYWEIGHTS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
ROMAN ZENTSOV (Red Devil, St Petersburg, Russia) v. ANTOINE JOAUDE
(Ruas Vale Tudo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil): Joaude by medical stoppage
(rib injury), 3:33 in RD 1.
Source: ADCC |
U.S.
Open IX Registration Absolute Deadline, Monday, October 18th,
Midnight PST.
You
have until Midnight on Monday, October 18th to register at www.register4tournament.com
Unsure if anyone is going to be in your division? Well, register
and we'll put your name on the competitor list so that everyone
can see that there IS someone in your category to fight. Want
to see an updated competitor list? Go to www.claudiofrancabjj.com
, click on U.S. Open Banner, then click on Competitors List.
If
you have registered already, be sure to check and make sure all
your information is correct: Belt, Weight, Age, etc.
Corrections,
call (831) 476-7650 or email blackbelt@claudiofrancabjj.com
Don't
hesitate! Do it now! Especially if you're looking to fill your
division. The sooner you get your name on the list, the better.
Professional
Divisions at the U.S. Open, heating up. $1,000 prizes on the
line!
So
far, we have the following competitors lined up the men's light
and heavy weight pro divisions and the women's pro challenge.
We are still accepting resumes for these divisions. Any qualified
individual interested in competing in a professional division
should contact us immediately at (831) 476-7650, or email us
at blackbelt@claudiofrancabjj.com
Men's
Black Belt Light Weight Professional; $1,000 prize
Paulo
'G.L.' Gaze, Huntington Beach Jiu-Jitsu Club
Frederico Sabbatini, Fight Factory
Shawn Williams, Renzo Gracie
Men's
Black Belt Heavy Weight Professional; $1,000 prize
Rafael
'Gordinho' Correa, Barra Gracie
Rafael Lavato Jr., Lavato's Jiu-Jitsu Academy
Walter Vital, Machado Las Vegas
Cassio Werneck, Top Team/Werneck's World Class Jiu-Jitsu
Eduardo Telles, Valante Academy/Top Team
Women's
Professional Brown and Black Belt Open Division; $1,000 prize
Siggy
Schoen, Solis Martial Arts, Brown Belt
Mariana Coelho, Las Vegas Combat Club, Black Belt
Men's
Black Belt Master's Divisions, for fun!
Waldomiro
Peres Jr., Middle Weight, Black Belt, Huntington Beach Jiu-Jitsu
Club is looking for other masters to join him at the U.S. Open.
Anyone interested in competing should contact us immediately.
Upcoming
Seminars at Claudio Franca Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
This
Sunday!!!! Everyone is welcome to attend; clarify your under
standing of the rules and win more matches.
Rules
and Referee's Seminar, all belts welcome, with Professor Alvaro
Mansor, 4th degree Black Belt, of the International Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu Federation. Sunday, October 17th, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm;
Intermission; 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm. Certification upon completion
of the course. CFBJJ Dojo, Santa Cruz.
Price: $50.00
Master
Francisco Mansor, 9th Degree Red Belt, Thursday, October 21st,
6:30 - 9:30 PM. CFBJJ Dojo, Santa Cruz
Price: $50.00
Master
Francisco Mansor, 9th Degree Red Belt, Thursday, October 26st,
6:30 - 9:30 PM. CFBJJ Dojo, San Jose
Price: $50.00
All
Women's BJJ Seminar, D.C. Maxwell, Black Belt, Friday October
22nd, 6:00 - 9:00 PM. Louden Nelson Center, Santa Cruz
Price: $50.00
Source: ADCC |
JAPAN
WINS WOMEN'S WORLD CUP OF WRESTLING
For the third time in the four-year history of this event, Japan
has won the team title at the Women's World Cup of freestyle
wrestling. Behind Japan were, in order of their finish, Canada,
China, Russia, the United States, and India.
This
year's edition of the Women's World Cup was held Friday, October
8, and Saturday, October 9, at the Komazawa Olympic Park Grand
Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
There
is much information in English online about this event. Below
we have a press release from USA Wrestling taken from the USOC
PressBox page which includes results and final team and individual
standings.
The
English-language page of the official web site of 2004 Women's
World Cup, which has results and much more, is at:
http://www5f.biglobe.ne.jp/~JWF2004/2004WWC/E/top.htm
The
English-language page of the Japanese Wrestling Federation site
also has reports from this event, at:
http://www5f.biglobe.ne.jp/~JWF2004/English/2004/000.htm
Wrestling
Canada Lutte has Canadian results at:
http://wrestling.ca/news/article.php?id=526
As
of Tuesday morning, results have still not been posted on the
web page of FILA, the hapless and mediaphobic international wrestling
federation.
from
USOC PressBox
USA
drops duals to Russia and Canada to finish fifth at Women's World
Cup in Japan
by Gary Abbott - USA Wrestling
With
dual meet losses to Russia and Canada on Saturday, the United
States finished with a 1-4 record and placed fifth as a team
at the Women's World Cup of freestyle wrestling, Saturday, October
9 in Tokyo, Japan.
The
losses on Saturday included a 14-12 loss to Russia and a 19-9
loss to Canada.
Host
Japan won the team title with a perfect 5-0 record. Canada was
second with a 4-1 record. China was third at 3-2, Russia fourth
at 2-3, the USA fifth at 1-4 and India in sixth at 0-5.
Japan's
team featured six athletes who have won past World gold medals,
including all four of their 2004 Olympic medalists. It was hailed
as Japan's 'Dream Team' in women's wrestling.
On
the first day on Friday, the U.S. defeated India, 23-6, to open
the tournament then was defeated by host Japan, 19-9 and China,
15-13.
The
U.S. team competed with just six of the seven weight classes
filled, after Toccara Montgomery (Cleveland, Ohio/New York AC)
did not make weight at 72 kg/158.5 lbs.
'I
talked to the women about how things have to change or we will
not change as a team,' said National Women's Coach Terry Steiner.
'There are two things that I see. The first is discipline all
the time. It has to be in every area of our lives and all year
long. We also need courage, by having the courage to open up
and use what we can do. The people who win are from disciplined
teams and those that have the courage to open up their technique.'
'We
have some new challenges ahead of us, and we have to get up on
that horse and go,' said Steiner. 'We have to use our frustration
and disappointment in the right direction.'
Against
Russia, the United States opened with three wins in the lighter
weights, then dropped the final three bouts as well as gave up
a forfeit at 72 kg.
Winning
matches against Russia were Clarissa Chun (Colorado Springs,
Colo./Gator WC) at 48 kg/105.5 lbs., 2001 World silver medalist
Stephanie Murata (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 51
kg/112.25 lbs. and 2004 Olympian Tela O'Donnell (Colorado Springs,
Colo./Dave Schultz WC) at 55 kg/121 lbs.
Chun
stopped Anna Trusova, 7-4. Murata scored a 6-0 victory over Ekaterina
Savelova. O'Donnell scored a pin over Natalia Karamchakova in
4:26. It was O’Donnell's second victory by
fall in the tournament.
A
key to the Russian victory were wins by sisters Evgenia Perepelkina
at 59 kg/130 lbs. and younger sister, Elena Perepelkina at 67
kg/147.5 lbs. Evgenia Perepelkina edged 2003 World bronze medalist
Sally Roberts (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC), 3-0 in overtime,
while Elena Perepelkina stopped 2001 World Cup champion Katie
Downing (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids), 4-1, by winning
a clinch position.
Against
Canada, the only winners for the U.S. were Murata and O'Donnell.
Murata stopped veteran Erica Sharp, 6-4, while O'Donnell notched
her third pin of the tournament, putting away Laura McDougall
in 57 seconds.
Canada
scored a pair of falls late in the match with Helen Hennick at
63 kg/138.75 lbs. and six-time World champion Christine Nordhagen
at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. Hennick pinned Alaina Berube (Escanaba, Mich./New
York AC) and Nordhagen pinned Downing.
Individual
medals were awarded at each weight class. The United States claimed
a pair of silver medals by Murata and O'Donnell. Placing fourth
in their weight divisions were Chun, Berube and Downing. Finishing
in fifth was Roberts.
Japan
had four of the individual gold medalists: Hitomi Sakamoto at
51 kg/112.25 lbs., Saori Yoshida at 55 kg/121 lbs., Kaori Icho
at 63 kg/138.75 lbs. and Kyoko Hamaguchi at 72 kg/158.5 lbs.
Yoshida ran her personal winning streak against non-Japanese
opponents to 79 straight international wins.
Other
individual champions were Deng Weichan of China at 48 kg/105.5
lbs., Su Lihui of China at 59 kg/130 lbs. and Elena Perepelkina
of Russia at 67 kg/147.5 lbs.
The
United States were the defending World Cup team champions, winning
the 2003 World Cup also held in Tokyo. Japan won the first two
World Cups held in 2001 and 2002.
Results,
stories and photos are posted on this web location:
http://www5f.biglobe.ne.jp/~JWF2004/English/2004/000.htm
FINAL
RANKINGS
1. Japan, 5 -0 record
2. Canada, 4-1 record
3. China, 3-2 record
4. Russia, 2-3 record
5. United States, 1-4 record
6. India, 0-5 record
DUAL
MEET RESULTS, DAY TWO
Russia
14, United States 12
48 - Clarissa Chun (USA) dec. Anna Trusova (RUS), 7-4
51 - Stephanie Murata (USA) dec. Ekaterina Savelova (RUS), 6-0
55 - Tela O'Donnell (USA) pin Natalia Karamchakova (RUS), 4:26
(12-2)
59 - Evgenia Perepelkina (RUS) dec. Sally Roberts (USA), 3-0,
OT 6:21
63 - Anna Polovneva (RUS) dec. Alaina Berube (USA), 7-2
67 - Elena Perepelkina (RUS) dec. Katie Downing (USA), 4-1
72 - Alena Starodubtseva (RUS) won by default
Canada
25, India 2
48 - Carol Hyuhn (CAN) dec. Shumel Khan (IND), 4-0
51 - Erica Sharp (CAN) pin Neha Rathi (IND), 4:08 (14-3)
55 - Laura McDougall (CAN) pin Sunita Sharmaa (IND), 4:58 (8-0)
59 - Emily Richardson (CAN) dec. Alka Tomar (IND), 7-3
63 - Helen Hennick (CAN) dec. Geetika Jakhar (IND), 7-6, 6:17
67 - Christine Nordhagen (CAN) pin Manju Shekhawar (IND), 2:00
(9-0)
72 - Akuffo Ohenewa (CAN) dec. Sonika Kaliraman (IND), 1:27 (4-0)
Japan
24, Russia 4
48 - Makiko Sakamoto (JPN) pin Anna Trusova (RUS), 1:12 (6-0)
51 - Hitomi Sakamoto (JPN) pin Ekaterina Savelova (RUS), 1:44
(7-0)
55 - Saori Yoshida (JPN) tech. fall Natalia Karamchakova (RUS),
14-1, 1:48
59 - Rena Iwama (JPN) pin Evgenia Perepelkina (RUS), 4:27 (8-1)
63 - Kaori Icho (JPN) pin Anna Polovneva (RUS), 2:26 (8-0)
67 - Elena Perepelkina (RUS) dec. Eri Sakamoto (JPN), 5-0
72 - Kyoko Hamaguchi (JPN) inj. dft. Alena Starodubtseva (RUS),
4:41 (6-0)
China
26, India 2
48 - Deng Weichan (CHN) pin Shumel Khan (IND) by fall, 0:19 (4-0)
51 - Tan Dongmei (CHN) tech. fall Neha Rathi (IND) by TF, 11-0,
4:13
55 - Sun Dongmei (CHN) pin Sunita Sharmaa (IND), 0:11 (3-0)
59 - Su Lihui (CHN) dec. Alka Tomar (IND), 6-2
63 - Jia Yafeng (CHN) dec. Geetika Jakhar (IND), 13-10
67 - Jing Ruixue (CHN) pin Manju Shekhavat (IND), 0:39 (3-0)
72 - Ma Bailing (CHN) pin Sonika Kaliraman (IND), 1:36 (6-0)
Canada
19, United States 9
48 - Carol Hyuhn (CAN) dec. Clarissa Chun (USA), 7-3
51 - Stephanie Murata (USA) dec. Erica Sharp (CAN), 6-4
55 - Tela O'Donnell (USA) pin Laura McDougall (CAN), 0:57 (7-0)
59 - Emily Richardson (CAN) dec. Sally Roberts (USA), 4-1, OT
8:32
63 - Helen Hennick (CAN) pin Alaina Berube (USA) by fall, 2:20
(4-1)
67 - Christine Nordhagen (CAN) pin Katie Downing (USA), 1:25
(7-2)
72 - Akuffo Ohenewa (CAN) won by default
Japan
23, China 4
48 - Chiharu Icho (JPN) dec. Deng Weichan (CHN), 3-2, OT 8:00
51 - Hitomi Sakamoto (JPN) dec. Tan Dongmei (CHN) by fall, 0:35
(4-0)
55 - Saori Yoshida (JPN) dec. Sun Dongmei (CHN) by fall, 4:55
(12-3)
59 - Seiko Yamamoto (JPN) dec. Su Lihui (CHN) by fall, 4:37 (3-1)
63 - Kaori Icho (JPN) dec. Jia Yafeng (CHN) by fall, 3:52 (9-0)
67 - Jing Ruixue (CHN) dec. Eri Sakamoto (JPN), 7-1
72 - Kyoko Hamaguchi (JPN) dec. Ma Bailing (CHN), 3-0
INDIVIDUAL
MEDALISTS
48
kg/105.5 lbs.
1st - Deng Weichan (CHN)
2nd - Chiharu Icho (JPN)
3rd - Carol Hyuhn (CAN)
4th - Clarissa
Chun (USA)
5th - Makiko Sakamoto (JPN)
6th - Anna Trusova (RUS)
7th - Shumel Khan (IND)
51
kg/112.25 lbs.
1st - Hitomi Sakamoto (JPN)
2nd - Stephanie
Murata (USA)
3rd - Erica Sharp (CAN)
4th - Tan Dongmei (CHN)
5th - Ekaterina Savelova (RUS)
6th - Ninako Hattori (JPN)
7th - Neha Rathi (IND)
55
kg/121 lbs.
1st - Saori Yoshida (JPN)
2nd- Tela
O'Donnell (USA)
3rd - Natalia Karamchakova (RUS)
4th - Sun Dongmei (CHN)
5th - Laura McDougall (CAN)
6th - Sunita Sharmaa (IND)
59
kg/130 lbs.
1st - Su Lihui (CHN)
2nd - Emily Richardson (CAN)
3rd - Seiko Yamamoto (JPN)
4th - Rena Iwama (JPN)
5th - Sally
Roberts (USA)
6th- Evgenia Perepelkina (RUS)
7th - Alka Tomar (IND)
63
kg/138.75 lbs.
1st - Kaori Icho (JPN)
2nd - Helen Hennick (CAN)
3rd - Anna Polovneva (RUS)
4th - Alaina
Berube (USA)
5th - Jia Yafeng (CHN)
6th - Hatsumi Nakanishi (JPN)
7th - Geetika Jakhar (IND)
67
kg/147.5 lbs.
1st - Elena Perepelkina (RUS)
2nd - Christine Nordhagen (CAN)
3rd - Jing Ruixue (CHN)
4th - Katie
Downing (USA)
5th - Eri Sakamoto (JPN)
6th - Norie Saito (JPN)
7th - Manju Shekhawar (IND)
72
kg/158.5 lbs.
1st - Kyoko Hamaguchi (JPN)
2nd- Ohenewa Akuffo (CAN)
3rd - Ma Bailing (CHN)
4th- Alena Starodubtseva (RUS)
5th - Sonika Kaliraman (IND)
6th - Ayako Murashima (JPN)
Source: ADCC |
Quote
of the Day
"Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge;
it is thinking that makes what we read ours."
John Locke, 1632-1704, British Philosopher |
Superbrawl
37 Results
October 17, 2004
Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park, Kapolei, Hawaii
by Michael J. Onzuka
Mike@onzuka.com
Superbrawl
37 went on the road to the west side of Oahu, specifically to
Kapolei (the second city), to try its hand at drawing the fight
fans from this side of the island. Usually these fight fans must
brave the long 30 minute drive to Honolulu (oh the agony) and
then another 30 minutes or so to actually get in to the Blaisdell
Arena parking lot (if it is not full by the time they get there).
The Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park hosted this Superbrawl and
the locals turned out in force to support local boy, Ron "The
Machine Gun" Jhun fight the dangerous Jason "Mayhem"
Miller for the brand new Superbrawl 170 lb championship.
The
night started off with some kickboxing matches which were very
well matched and got the crowd warmed up with numerous matches
going back and forth with heavy shots. After three kickboxing
matches, the MMA fights started and did not let the fans down.
There was a good hodge podge of referee stops from beat downs,
to submissions, to a spectacular knockout by head trainer of
the 808 Fight Factory, Kai Kamaka, himself. Kamaka, who has been
out of the ring for what it seemed like an eternity, seemed content
training his ever growing fight team and helping teammate and
brother-in-law, Ron Jhun, prepare against his top opponents.
This fight with the hard hitting Tony Espitia was supposed to
happen at least three other times, but somehow never came through.
Kai told me that he trained numerous times a day and took a month
off of work to train specifically for this fight and boy did
it pay off. Espitia dropped his right and Kamaka connected with
a beautiful left roundhouse kick to the head of Espitia that
dropped him like a bad habit. Other fights to note were Bryson
Kamaka, who has brought in by the Kamaka family and actually
changed his name to show his gratitude to the Kamakas, who got
back on track with a "W" by stopping Kamakuaina in
the first round. A couple of Bulls Pen fighters, Delima and Oshiro,
showed everyone that the Bulls Pen has some great ground fighting
as well as skilled stand up fighters and submitted both of their
opponents.
The
main event did not disappoint as well. "Mayhem" Miller
was not exactly a hometown favorite after he won against Hawaii
fan favorite Egan Inoue. Ron Jhun stepped up to the challenge
and Miller came down in weight to meet him at 170. Miller was
a Jiu-Jitsu machine on steroids. Mayhem went from a gogo plata
or an omo plata (shoulder lock) that put Jhun in trouble early.
Using his fine tuned Jiu-Jitsu skills he learned from the wizard,
Marc Laimon; Miller pushed the action and made it difficult for
Ron to hold a good position. "Mayhem" worked for position,
attempted some submissions, and threw some hard shots until he
was able to secure a head and arm choke that put Jhun to sleep
for the win. Right after the win, trainer and fighter, Kai Kamaka
ran in because it seemed like the referee did not notice that
Jhun was out and a little riot broke out with everyone jumping
in to the ring. Eventually, the crowd was separated and everyone
cooled down. One thing is for sure, "Mayhem" Miller
talks the talk, but he can definitely walk the walk. Trainer
Marc Laiman was also wearing a "Haole can scrap" t-shirt
(translated: Caucasian can fight for you haoles). After this
impressive showing, in this writer's eyes, he deserves another
shot to be in the UFC, especially at the star studded weight
of 170 pounds.
Main-Event
170lbs Title Fight
Ron "Machine Gun" Jhun (808 Fight Factory) vs Jason
"Mayhem" Miller (Cobra Kai Jiu-Jitsu)
Miller by head and arm choke from the mount in round 2 and wins
the Superbrawl 170 lb World Championship
Semi-Main Event
175lbs
Shawn Taylor (Freelance) vs. Anthony Torres (Grappling Unlimited)
Torres by referee stop at 2:09 of round 1
Semi-Main
Event
Kai Kamaka (808 Fight Factory) vs Tony Espitia (Kona Boxing)
Kamaka by knockout from a high left roundhouse kick to the head
at 13 seconds of round 1.
MMA
Undercard 3 x 3 Minute Rounds
145lbs
Kevin Delima (Bulls Pen) vs. Kaipo Gonzales (Eastsidaz)
Delima by reverse naked choke (mata leao) at 2:16 of round 2
135lbs
Gerald "G Money" Arevalo (808 Fight Factory) vs. Mark
Oshiro (Bulls Pen)
Oshiro by tapout from triangle/armbar at 2:56 of round 1
185lbs
Bryson Kamaka (808 Fight Factory) vs. Paulo Kamakuaina (Animal
House)
Kamaka by referee stop from punches from the mount at 1:03 of
round 2.
110lbs
Corey Ferriera (808 Fight Factory) vs. Rick Persaba (Kona Boxing
Club)
Ferriera by tapout from punches from the mount at 1:52 of round
1
Kickboxing
3 x 1:30 Rounds
170lbs
Harris Sarmiento (808 Fight Factory) vs. Kaleo Kwon (Eastsidaz)
Exhibition with leg kicks
Jumar
Dumaolao (808 Fight Factory) vs Chavin Mahuka (Hawaiian Self
Defense)
Exhibition
Tyson
Nam (Gee Yung) vs. Chad Pavao (Hawaiian Self Defense)
Pavao by majority decision (29-29),(29-28), (29-28)
|
BUSHIDO
RESULTS: SPOILERS!!
Since
the Pride Pay Per View is literally a month after the show, tonight's
results will be posted on this newspage.
If
you do not want to know what happens, stay off the newspage today.
PRIDE
FC: BUSHIDO VOLUME 5
Takanori
Gomi (Japan) vs. Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett (USA)
- 1st Round: Gomi won by Ref's Stop Kimura Lock
Hayato
“Mach” Sakurai (Japan) vs. Crosley Gracie (USA) - 2nd
Round : Crosley wins by Armbar
Igor
Vovchanchyn (Ukraine) vs. Shamoji Fuji (Japan) - 1st Round at
6:09: Igor wins by Ref's Stop due to strikes
Ikuhisa
“The Punk” Minowa (Japan) vs. Tatsunori Ueyama (Japan)
- Official Spilt Decision for Minowa
Ryo
Chonan (Japan) vs. Carlos Newton (Canada) - Official: Unanimous
Decision for Chonan 20-17 Chonan
Yasuhito
Namekawa (Japan) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (Brazil)
- 1st Round at 6:00 Shogun won by Ref's Stop TKO
Henry
“Sentoryu” Miller (USA) vs. Mal “Twin Tiger”
Foki (Australia) - 1st Round at :21 seconds Sentoryu wins by
KO due to Left Hook
Masakazu
Imanari (Japan) vs. Luis “Buscape” Firmino - Official
Unanimous Decision for Buscape 10-9 all three rounds.
For
more information on PRIDE FC, visit pridefc.com!
Source: MMA Weekly |
Joe
'Diesel' Riggs goes to WEC
Lemoore,
CA - according to UFC Vet Joe ¡°Diesel¡±
Riggs his opponent in WEC on October 21st is KOTC vet Brian Sleeman.
Riggs also states he is still in negotiation with Rumble On The
Rock for November 20th.
Former
Rage In The Cage Champion Riggs is coming off a win over Joe
Doerksen in UFC 49. He has a loss in WEC against Alex Steibling
after dominating that fight in WEC 9 and has gone 6-0 since then.
He fights out of Phoenix, AZ.
Sleeman
has fought some of the best in the business including former
KOTC Welterweight Champion and UFC vet Ronal Jhun, UFC vet Pete
Spratt, Pride vet and Abu Dhabi open class Champion Dean Lister,
numerous belt holder Chris Leben from Team Quest, and Gladiator
Challenge Welterweight Champion James Fanshier. He fights out
of Modesto, CA.
Source: ADCC |
KERRY
MCCOY:
KEEP REAL PRO WRESTLING IN MEDIA'S EYE
The
general buzz was that two-time Olympic freestyle wrestler Kerry
McCoy, the top American heavyweight for the past five years,
is through with competing on the mat after having finished seventh
at the 2004 Olympics, and will only be seen next to it in a coaching
capacity. He is officially retired from wrestling, I presumed,
as I talked with him last week in Los Angeles before the start
of the Real Pro Wrestling television tapings.
But
upon hearing this presumption McCoy just laughed, and then explained,
'Well, I didn't leave my shoes on the mat, so I guess it's not
official until I do that. But I don't have any plans to compete
any time soon.'
No,
he was not in Los Angeles to wrestle, that much we can reveal
about his involvement with Real Pro Wrestling. The public may
have to wait until Real Pro Wrestling's television series begins
airing in February 2005 to find out just what his role is.
We
also can say, of course, that he will be back as an assistant
wrestling coach with Lehigh this season. But don't expect him
to wrestle competitively any time soon, if ever at all, although
he did leave the door open to that just a wee, wee bit.
Overall
McCoy, commenting on Real Pro Wrestling's chances of success,
was optimistic. Asked about the likelihood of their success shortly
before the tapings began, he cautioned, 'It depends. 50-50. Either
it will or it won't.' But he definitely leaned to the positive
side: 'They've got the right people involved with it. They've
got the right people competing. They've got the right people
coaching. They've got the right people running the show. So I
think it's going to be a very strong chance to make it be something
big.'
Wrestling's
fan base seems to be growing in the U.S., with a sell-out at
Madison Square Garden for the 2003 World Freestyle Wrestling
Championships, a record high rating for the 2004 NCAA wrestling
championships on ESPN2, and continued fan interest in numerous
live tournaments and also online. Real Pro Wrestling wants to
appeal to that growing fan base as its core, another task McCoy
thinks is doable.
'Yeah,
I definitely think it is,' replied McCoy when asked if wrestling's
fan base is growing.
'One
of the great, best things about the sport of wrestling is the
fans,' he stressed. 'The fans are what really make this sport.
Obviously the athletes go out there and do it and put their time
and energy into it. But it's the fans that really help the sport
grow. And we've had a great following at all levels, and this
is just another chance to get out and support and promote the
sport. So hopefully that continues to go, and I think it's a
great opportunity to do that.'
McCoy
also is realistic and knows that Real Pro Wrestling still faces
obstacles before it can succeed. And any success for Real Pro
Wrestling can only take time.
'They
just have to continue to promote it and position it in the right
place,' he advised. 'They can't take anything for granted. They
have to make sure that every angle, every potential obstacle
is looked at, and just make sure that they keep it out there.
One of the biggest things is, if you say something's going to
be there, and two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, a month down,
it's not there, then people lose interest. So they have to make
sure it stays there, people know and continue to push it, because
that's the main thing. If you say, 'All right, this is going
to happen,' and it doesn't happen, then people are going to be
to asking questions. So they just have to push it and make sure
it stays out in the main media eye.'
That
is the type of thing which those of us who witnessed the tapings
of Real Pro Wrestling's first season of television shows are
doing, and must continue to do as well.
Source: ADCC |
Euphoric
Ambitions:
Russian Promoter Aims High With October 15th Tournament Event,
Fedor and Pulver to Support from Sidelines
By Loretta Hunt
If
everything goes as planned, it will be good vibrations all around
for fighters and fans tomorrow night from the Tropicana Resort
& Casino, where promoters EUPHORIA MFC (Mixed Fighting Championship)
launch the opening round of not one, but two internationally-charged
8-Man tournaments from the shores of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
With
world cross-over competition a main priority for EUPHORIA as
many of their promoting peers shy away from it, "The Road
to the Titles" hosts an assemblage of notables and up-and-comers
alike, including a diverse pool of heavyweight prospects culled
from Canada to Brazil to Russia. Among them, Minnesotan Travis
Wiuff leads the pack with his 16-fight winning streak in tow.
Canadian's number one heavyweight Ulisses Castro is also hoping
to make an impression, along with 2004 Athens Olympic Greco-Roman
competitor Antoine Jaoude. With the heavyweights a precious commodity
throughout the world, this tournament could speak volumes as
to who might emerge the next star onto the international scene.
However,
it's the lightweight brackets that pack the most punch with a
superior line-up—one of the strongest ever attempted in
America. Well-known stand-outs Texan "Thugjitsu" master
Yves Edwards and Brazilian Top Team's latest recruit Hermes Franca
are onboard, but it's a group of first-timers that should peak
hardcore fans' interests considerably. Former SHOOTO champion
Joachim Hansen is set to make his U.S. debut along with Japan's
ZST poster boy Naoyuki Kotani, while returning EUPHORIA competitors
and rivals Rich Clementi and Sergei Goliaev round out the roster.
The
event has also garnered the support of a few select fighters
outside the ring, who will lend their talents in various ways.
After taking Japan by storm, current PRIDE heavyweight champion
Fedor Emelianenko will be in attendance to meet and greet with
fans on his first visit to the States. Emelianenko will surely
be cheering on Red Devil Sports Club lightweight teammate Goliaev,
as well as heavyweights Roman Zentsov and Ibagrim Magomedov,
who will face Jaoude and Wiuff respectively. "EUPHORIA,
M-1, and Red Devil all have a comfortable relationship,"
comments matchmaker Miguel Itturate on the coup that was Fedor
and the trio of companies "foreign exchange" of players.
"Anything is possible," the cool 19-1 Russian annihilator
quietly answered from his hotel room last night as to the prospect
of competing in the States, possibly under the EUPHORIA flag.
Emelianenko added that he is intrigued by the promotion's internationally-friendly
intentions, and eager to see how the country clashing match-ups
play out.
As
part of the show taping for a future DVD release, former UFC
lightweight champion Jens Pulver will serve as co-commentator
alongside Jeff Osborne on play-by play detail, while Brazilian
TV personality Jorge Guimaraes will conduct backstage and post-fight
interviews. With his nationally-regarded HOOKnSHOOT promotion,
heavily-experienced fight analyst Osborne has also commentated
UFC events in the past. Guimaraes produces and also hosts the
weekly MMA show "Passing The Guard" in Brazil, along
with his involvement with the MECCA promotion. But, probably
the most noticeable of the three will be Pulver, who has reinvented
himself as a formidable contender in the 145-pound division since
relinquishing his UFC title almost four years ago over contract
disputes.
"I
think it's extremely important," says Pulver of the event's
international undertones. "It shows that Americans and Japanese
are not the only fighters. You have guys training all over the
world, and they need a place to fight too. I think it's a great
opportunity for American fans to [get a look at these fighters].
The biggest thing is, when you have an international show like
this, you can really say, ‘Man, I'm a world champion,' because
you're fighting the world's best. It's really great to know this
sport is blossoming everywhere."
Slated
to kick off at 8:30 PM, tickets are still available at www.ticketmaster.com.
With an outstanding card of characters from all corners of the
globe, this unique event is one not to be missed.
Source: FCF |
The
Brazilian Beat
Jungle Fight 3 news, Belfort's comeback to BTT on hold, Ninja
is a married man, Brazilian Challenger 2 coming up, HEAT FC to
return and more!
The
Brazilian Beat on the FCF Website!
Source: FCF |
OPPONENT
OFFERED TO TRA, BUT WILL HE SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE?
Tra Telligman reacts to opponent John Marsh being out of UFC
50.
MMAWeekly
SoundOff Radio continued it's sixteen fighters in sixteen days
and it's countdown to UFC 50 on Wednesday with featured guest
Tra Telligman. Tra was scheduled to fight John Marsh and found
out on the air that Marsh is out of the event. With Mike Whitehead
as the man who would replace Marsh, it's still unclear whether
Telligman will accept the fight.
The
story was broke yesterday morning and radio show host Ryan Bennett
and co-host Frank Trigg informed Telligman of the news. John
Marsh, Tra's opponent, is out of UFC 50 due to a hamstring injury
just nine days before the fight was to take place. Telligman
reacted, "Tell me you're kidding, because I haven't heard
anything about that yet." After getting the details, Tra
further responded, "Damn, I didn't know that...This is the
first I've heard of anything. I wish him the best and hope he
makes a recovery on that."
The
news didn't sit all that well with Tra. When asked how this changes
his focus, he said, "It really changes things for me because
I'm one of those guys that I like to focus on one person and
once I get that in my head, that's where I'm going. When you
shift gears like that, it throws everything out of whack and
a lot of times, they say, it's a disadvantage for the new guy
coming in because they didn't have enough time to train, which
is true but it's a disadvantage for everybody."
Tra
said he was really mentally focused for this fight and was "ready
to rock." The question was posed to him, would he accept
a fight with someone new on such a short notice? "Depends
on who that someone is. If it's a no name, probably not. If it's
a big name fighter then I'll take it. I want to fight someone
that's going to help my career, not something that's not going
to help my career and if they throw a no name at me, that they
called at the last minute, that can do nothing but hurt you.
You know? You go out there and destroy the guy, you were supposed
to. If the guy goes out there and lasts two rounds with you,
then they say, hey he's slipping or he should have taken this
guy out a lot sooner. It will depend on who they throw at me.
If it's a contender of a bigger name. I'm hoping there's a bigger
name out there that's been training for something else and maybe
he's able to step in. If that's the case, then we'll do it but
if it's a no name then I'll sit down and look at it and see what
we got," responded Telligman.
Tra
held nothing back when asked about his fellow Lion's Den teammate
Guy Mezger's co-main event fight with Tito Ortiz. When asked
what Mezger has to do to beat Ortiz, Telligman said, "It's
pretty simple, man. Guy has a great game plan and I think he's
going to shock everyone. Go back and watch their second fight.
Everyone acts like Tito whooped his ass but that fight was a
really close fight until Guy got tired at the end."
He
continued, "The only reason Guy got tired was, the whole
fight, he was never resting. He never paced himself. They'd go
to the ground and he'd be in a submission position trying to
finish it and burning himself up. They'd stand up and he'd be
throwing. It goes back to the ground and he's in a position,
Tito's resting and he wasn't. He got tired and that was the fight.
This time they fight, it's going to be totally different because
he's just going to go out there and whack Tito. Going to fight
him like Chuck would fight him and Tito's in for a world of hurt."
Further
commenting about Tito Ortiz, Telligman said, "Tito's not
all that. He's finally been exploited. He's lost his last two
fights and the reason he has, he's lost those two fights because
he's the guy who was always bigger and stronger in his division
and he had really good conditioning. He wasn't the best fighter.
He wasn't the best athlete but he was bigger, stronger, and had
great conditioning. So, when he was going in against smaller
guys, he'd end up dominating them. As soon as he goes in against
someone his own size, the last two fights, he got his ass kicked.
I'm not saying Tito's not a good fighter but he's not the great
fighter. He's not the best fighter."
Interestingly,
Telligman and Mezger have not trained together at all for their
fights at UFC 50. Tra is in Texas while Guy is training in California
so the focus of the camps can be more directed to each of them
individually rather than split between the two if they were at
the same camp. Ken Shamrock will be in both fighters corners
though.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return,
they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were."
Kahlil Gibran, 1883-1931, Lebanese Poet, Novelist
Don't keep checking to see if they are coming back by waiting
outside their window every night and following them to work either.
Mike Onzuka |
Mayhem
and the "The Machine Gun"!
Tonight
at the Hawaiian Waters!
October
16, 2004
Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park in Kapolei
Fights Start at 7:30 PM
Lawn seating so come early!
Super
Brawl will see a change of venue and a stellar main event Saturday
night October 16th. The first annual Super Brawl "West Side
Pa'ina" will be held outdoors at the Hawaiian Waters Adventure
Park in Kapolei, Oahu. Atlanta's Jason "Mayhem" Miller
will challenge Hawaii's own Ronald "The Machine Gun" Jhun in the Main Event.
Super Brawl Promoter T. Jay Thompson will be putting the 170lb
Title Belt on the line for this exciting bout. "We've only
had two championship titles in Super Brawl's nine year history...we
reserve titles for very special occassions. The Jhun - Miller
fight is certainly deserving of this."
Jhun,
one of Super Brawl's most popular fighters, will be looking to
show the Hawaii fans once again, that he is one of the most dangerous
fighters in the sport.
With
his cocky swagger, brash self-promotion, and scrappy style, Miller
may be the most hated athlete ever to compete for the Super Brawl
fans. But Miller is more than just talk as he is undefeated in
the Super Brawl ring, with his biggest success coming against
Egan Inoue in Super Brawl 32. "After punishing Egan (Inoue),
I told the Hawaiians that I'd fight their toughest guy. Anytime.
Anywhere. I'm not sure why their sending me Jhun. They may call
him the "Machine Gun," but after October 16 all he'll
be shooting is blanks," boasted the confdent Miller of his
October 16 date with the Jhun.
Jhun
saw the Milller - Inoue fight up close as he was the event's
referee. "Yeah, I heard Miller call out any Hawaii's fighter
after Egan lost to him. He didn't have to look far 'cause I was
standing right there..."
More
details about Super Brawl 37 at the Hawaiian Waters Adventure
Park on October 16 to follow...
Superbrawl
37 Fight Card
Card subject to change
Main-Event
170lbs Title Fight
Ron "Machine Gun" Jhun vs Jason "Mayhem"
Miller
(808 Fight Factory) (Cobra Kai Ju-Jitsu)
Semi-Main
Event
Kai Kamaka vs Tony Espitia
(808 Fight Factory) (Kona Boxing)
MMA
Undercard 3 x 3 Minute Rounds
175
Shawn Taylor vs. Anthony Torres
(Freelance) (Grappling Unlimited)
145lbs
Kevin Delima vs. Kaipo Gonzales
(Bulls Pen) (Eastsidaz)
135lbs
Gerald "G Money" Arevalo vs. Mark Oshiro
(808 Fight Factory) (Bulls Pen)
170lbs
Lee Peneku vs. Jeff Burnett
(808 Fight Factory) (HMC)
170lbs
Dean Lista vs. Kaleo Kwon
(HMC) (Eastsidaz)
110lbs
Corey Ferriera vs. Phillip Williams
(808 Fight Factory) (Kona Boxing)
185lbs
Bryson Kamaka vs. Paulo Kamakuaina
(808 Fight Factory) (Animal House)
Kickboxing
3 x 1:30 Rounds
Harris Sarmiento vs. Ty Brawner
Stephen Paling IV vs. Keith Kagigawa
Jumar Dumaolao vs Chavin Mahuka
Tyson Nam vs. Chad Pavao
|
Aloha
Martial Arts Festival 2004
|
K1
WORLD MAX RESULTS
Genki
Sudo defeated American Boxer Michael Lerma by TKO
K-1
WORLD MAX 2004
October 13,
Yoyogi Olympic Gymnasium,
Tokyo.
Genki
Sudo defeated
Michael Lerma by TKO at 2:09 in R2;
Buakaw
Por.Puramuk defeated Kozo Takeda by referee's decision;
Norifumi
Kid Yamamoto
defeated Jadamba Narantungalag by KO at 1:55 in R1;
Kazuya
Yasuhiro defeated Samir Berbachi by referee's decision;
Duane
Ludwig defeated
William Diender by referee's decision;
Takayuki
Kohiruimaki defeated Albert Kraus by referee's decision;
Márfio
Canoletti defeated Takashi Ohno by referee's decision
Mike
Zambidis defeated Kojiro by KO at 2:21 in R1.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
WWE
WANTS OUT OF SPIKE TV DEAL....
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR UFC?
It seems like a good news, bad news scenario for the UFC. The
WWE is looking to make a move when their contract expires in
September. This could be good for the UFC if Spike is looking
to fill programming and hopefully could set up a weekly fight
show for Zuffa.
The
bad news is, if the WWE does leave, which looks to be the case,
will that hurt the UFC as far as marketing to a new audience
in the professional wrestling crowd. Here's the article from
Hollywood Reporter yesterday.
WWE
shopping around for new cable partner
By Andrew Wallenstein
Wrestling
magnate Vince McMahon is searching for a new tag-team partner
in television.
McMahon's
World Wrestling Entertainment recently held preliminary discussions
with cable groups including Turner Broadcasting, NBC Universal
and FX Networks, according to sources, about relocating top-rated
weekly program "WWE Raw" and its other series from
Spike TV when their contract expires in September.
Ironically,
one of the front-runners to land the WWE is said to be NBC Uni's
USA Network, the WWE's cable home before Spike TV. Their split
sparked a bitter legal battle between USA Network and WWE in
early 2000 when USA was then controlled by Barry Diller's USA
Networks Inc.
Kurt
Schneider, executive vp marketing at WWE, confirmed the wrestling
empire might enter the ring with a different channel but characterized
the talks as pro forma.
"We
still have a mutually beneficial relationship with Spike TV,
and we're looking for a longer-term one with them," he said.
"But for us, we think we have an obligation as a public
company to our shareholders to seek the best deal out there that
we can get."
But
the uncertainty of the WWE's TV deal extends further than Spike
TV. It may also signal the beginning of the end of WWE's relationship
with Viacom, which signed a five-year strategic alliance in 2000
with WWE. That deal, announced hours after a Delaware judge threw
out USA's lawsuit against WWE seeking to block its move to Spike
TV (then known as TNN), was intended to cross-pollinate the companies'
vast content holdings. But it has yet to bear much fruit for
the WWE other than the wrestling TV programs and a handful of
WWE-related books for Viacom's Simon & Schuster unit.
What's
at stake for the WWE is 260 hours of programming delivered 52
weeks per year, most prominently in the two-hour "Raw"
block that airs Monday nights on Spike TV. Three additional hours
air each weekend: "Heat," "Velocity" and
"Experience."
Securing
the rights to the WWE's brand of bone-crunching entertainment
was seen as a make-or-break proposition for Viacom executives
when they were first plotting a new course for TNN, the former
Nashville Network that became part of the Viacom family of cable
outlets with Viacom's 2000 acquisition of CBS. But with wrestling
ratings declining and Spike TV propping up its primetime schedule
with expensive repeats of the CBS hit drama "CSI: Crime
Scene Investigation," industry observers say that both WWE
and Spike TV may be ready to go their separate ways.
The
WWE is "desperate to get out of there," said one executive
familiar with WWE's negotiations.
"WWE
is an important franchise for Spike TV," Jim Burns, senior
vp sports and specials, said in a statement.
Sources
say Spike TV pays WWE an annual license fee of about $28 million
for the entire package. WWE is said to be seeking a renewal at
a cost upward of $40 million. WWE also has two years remaining
on its separate pact with UPN for Thursday night's "WWE
SmackDown!" showcase, which had long been UPN's most-watched
show since its debut on the network in fall 1999, but last season
it fell to No. 2 behind the reality hit "America's Next
Top Model."
In
his new cable contract, McMahon will likely seek to retain control
over advertising sales, a responsibility he ceded to Viacom in
last year's renewal of "SmackDown," which is said to
cost UPN about $28 million per year. Negotiations regarding the
fate of "Raw" are already under way because WWE wants
to have a new channel nailed down before the cable upfront advertising
sales marketplace breaks in the spring.
On
the surface, Spike TV and WWE would seem to be a match made in
TV heaven. What better place could there be for wrestling than
a channel targeting young men? So it was hardly surprising that
"Raw" and other wrestling shows remained on the schedule
last year after MTV Networks mounted a major relaunch last summer
campaign to rechristen TNN as the guy's guy channel Spike TV.
With
a weekly audience of 3.5 million viewers, "Raw" has
been cable's most consistent top draw since the program's inception
in 1993. But since switching from USA Network in 2000, the audience
for "Raw" has aged dramatically -- the median age of
its viewership base has grown by seven years to 34. The aggregate
ratings for all of Spike's wrestling shows are less than half
of what they were four years ago.
WWE's
downturn hasn't helped Spike TV, which saw its primetime ratings
drop 14% in its target demographic, males 18-34, in the third
quarter compared with third quarter 2004, according to Nielsen
Media Research. Spike TV's median age for the quarter, 39.7,
has increased by more than two years.
Since
its rebranding, Spike TV has produced little breakout original
programming. It generated a little heat with its reality spoof
"The Joe Schmo Show" last year, but the second season
of "Schmo" flopped.
What
is working for Spike TV is off-network repeats of "CSI,"
which began running Monday-Friday in primetime last month. With
a pricey new foundation for its schedule, Spike TV has less use
for "Raw," which has long scared off blue-chip advertisers
with its violent and often racy content.
But
despite its downmarket image and sluggish ratings, no one considers
WWE down for a three-count: Many consider wrestling a cyclical
business that rises and falls on the comet-like emergence of
marquee champions. The arrival of another star on the order of
Hulk Hogan or the Rock could adrenalize the franchise again.
Still,
WWE will find a very different cable landscape than the last
time it had programming on the open market. The general entertainment
networks that once offered broad programming options have now
carefully cultivated their brands in ways that clash with wrestling's
smash-mouth sensibility. Its cheeseball charm probably wouldn't
mesh with the new high-end drama sheen of FX, nor does it fit
the genre-specific thrust of drama-heavy TNT and comedy-themed
TBS.
Despite
the legal wrangling of four years ago, USA Network is said to
be staying open-minded about a potential reunion with WWE, even
though USA's new owner, NBC Uni, has its own history with McMahon
and the short-lived XFL football league that NBC launched with
WWE in 2001. Wrestling historians will also recall that USA's
new president, Bonnie Hammer, was instrumental in rejuvenating
"Raw" during the WWE's last major slump in the early
1990s.
Meanwhile,
the grand plans for WWE's broader collaboration with various
Viacom divisions seems to have all but evaporated.
Viacom
sold back the small equity stake it had in WWE a few years after
buying it. A TV series development deal between WWE and UPN fizzled.
Two WWE-produced feature films in the works are being distributed
not by Paramount, but by Lions Gate Films and 20th Century Fox,
while Sony handles WWE's massive home video business. And MTV
recently declined to order another season of a sixth WWE series,
"Tough Enough."
If
the WWE does wind up in serious talks with USA Network, the irony
of that rapprochement could grow even richer. If WWE should decide
to bolt Spike TV for another network, Spike retains the right
to match whatever payday WWE manages to wrangle. A similar contractual
clause was the crux of the dispute between WWE and USA in 2000.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
PANCRASE
2004 BRAVE TOUR RESULTS
Tuesday, October 12,2004
Korakuen Hall (Tokyo,Japan)
live gate: 2,150
Amateur
Bout#1 Pancrase Gate lightweight tournament 2x5 min rounds
KAZUYA HIROSE(IMN Grappling) def. MASATO ONODERA(A-3) by 3-0-0
unanimous judges decision at
full time limit
Amateur
Bout#2 Pancrase Gate lightweight tournament 2x5 min rounds
HIROYUKI OTA(Team P.O.D.) def. TAKU ARAMAKI(P's LAB Yokohama)
by
3-0-0 unanimous judges
decision at full time limit
Pro-Bout#1
featherweight 2x5 min rounds
MIKI SHIDA(P's LAB Tokyo) def. MASAYUKI DEMISE(Wajutsu Keishukai
GODS) by front choke at 2R
0:43
Pro-Bout#2
lightweight 2x5 min rounds
NUKINPO!(P's LAB Tokyo) def. KAZUHIRO INOUE(Impress) by knee
bar at
2R 2:51
Pro-Bout#3
catchwrestling rules lightweight 2x5 min rounds
TAKUMI YANO(Ugokai) def. TAKUO MIYATA(Nagoya Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Club) by knee lock at 1R
4:59
Pro-Bout#4
middleweight 2x5 min rounds
HIKARU SATO(PANCRASEism) drew KYOSUKE SASAKI(U-FILE CAMP.com)
by
0-0-3 draw judges decision
at full time limit
Pro-Bout#5
middleweight 2x5 min rounds
OSAMI SHIBUYA(middleweight 10th ranked/PANCRASEism) def. KIM
SEONG
HEE(Korea/NeoFight) by
referee stop TKO(mount punch) at 1R 0:31
Pro-Bout#6
welterweight 3x5 min rounds
HIDETAKA MONMA(A-3) def. TAKAFUMI ITO(welterweight 3rd
ranked/PANCRASEism) by triangle
choke at 1R 1:34
Semifinal
welterweight 3x5 min rounds
HIDEHIKO HASEGAWA(SK Absolute) def. KOJI OISHI(welterweight 1st
ranked/PANCRASEism) by
referee stop TKO(ankle lock) at 2R 5:00
Main
Event middleweight 3x5 min rounds
YUSHIN OKAMI(Wajutsu Keishukai Tokyo Hombu) def. EIJI
ISHIKAWA(middleweight 4th ranked/
Pancrase GRABAKA) by 3-0-0 unanimous judges decision at full
time
limit
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UNKNOWN
FIGHTER CLAIMS HE
THOUGHT OF UFC TV SHOW
"its
real sad to think somebody like Dana would steal my dream right
out from under me like this"- Chris Champagne
Chris
Champagne, an unknown, low level MMA fighter is claiming that
the MMA reality TV show being produced by ZUFFA and SPIKE TV
is his intellectual property.
Here
is an excerpt from the allegation that Champagne made at the
Underground forum.
"My
name is Chris Champagne, IM a writer and producer that was recently
circumvented by Craig Piligian, Spike TV and the UFC (Ultimate
Fighting Championship).
I
wrote and registered my work with the WGA over a year and a half
ago and pitched my show idea to both the UFC as well as Spike
TV, I have as of recently heard the two have decided to produce
the show and air it on Jan 15th 2005. On top of protecting my
show idea by registering it with the WGA, I have also been in
communication with just about everybody in the mixed martial
arts community as well as the entertainment community in regards
to producing my show. I have emails from journalist, producers
and applicants interested in auditioning for my show."
Champagne
then provided evidence to support his claim, including interested
responses from some well known MMA promotions.
Champagne
added: "its real sad to think somebody like Dana would steal
my dream right out from under me like this "
Fightsport
24-7 will follow this story as it unfolds and keep you updated.
Source: Fight Sport |
Late
Update:
Things get heated at Super Brawl Weigh-ins!
Jason Miller was talking trash and seemed to get under the normally
cool Ron "The Machine Gun" Jhun's skin. Watch KHON 2 news at
10:00 PM
to see a very intense Ron Jhun.
Mayhem
and the "The Machine Gun"!
This Saturday
Night!
Get your Tickets Now!
October
16, 2004
Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park in Kapolei
Fights Start at 7:30 PM
Super
Brawl will see a change of venue and a stellar main event Saturday
night October 16th. The first annual Super Brawl "West Side
Pa'ina" will be held outdoors at the Hawaiian Waters Adventure
Park in Kapolei, Oahu. Atlanta's Jason "Mayhem" Miller
will challenge Hawaii's own Ronald "The Machine Gun" Jhun in the Main Event.
Super Brawl Promoter T. Jay Thompson will be putting the 170lb
Title Belt on the line for this exciting bout. "We've only
had two championship titles in Super Brawl's nine year history...we
reserve titles for very special occassions. The Jhun - Miller
fight is certainly deserving of this."
Jhun,
one of Super Brawl's most popular fighters, will be looking to
show the Hawaii fans once again, that he is one of the most dangerous
fighters in the sport.
With
his cocky swagger, brash self-promotion, and scrappy style, Miller
may be the most hated athlete ever to compete for the Super Brawl
fans. But Miller is more than just talk as he is undefeated in
the Super Brawl ring, with his biggest success coming against
Egan Inoue in Super Brawl 32. "After punishing Egan (Inoue),
I told the Hawaiians that I'd fight their toughest guy. Anytime.
Anywhere. I'm not sure why their sending me Jhun. They may call
him the "Machine Gun," but after October 16 all he'll
be shooting is blanks," boasted the confdent Miller of his
October 16 date with the Jhun.
Jhun
saw the Milller - Inoue fight up close as he was the event's
referee. "Yeah, I heard Miller call out any Hawaii's fighter
after Egan lost to him. He didn't have to look far 'cause I was
standing right there..."
More
details about Super Brawl 37 at the Hawaiian Waters Adventure
Park on October 16 to follow...
Superbrawl
37 Fight Card
Card subject to change
Main-Event
170lbs Title Fight
Ron "Machine Gun" Jhun vs Jason "Mayhem"
Miller
(808 Fight Factory) (Cobra Kai Ju-Jitsu)
Semi-Main
Event
Kai Kamaka vs Tony Espitia
(808 Fight Factory) (Kona Boxing)
MMA
Undercard 3 x 3 Minute Rounds
175
Shawn Taylor vs. Anthony Torres
(Freelance) (Grappling Unlimited)
145lbs
Kevin Delima vs. Kaipo Gonzales
(Bulls Pen) (Eastsidaz)
135lbs
Gerald "G Money" Arevalo vs. Mark Oshiro
(808 Fight Factory) (Bulls Pen)
170lbs
Lee Peneku vs. Jeff Burnett
(808 Fight Factory) (HMC)
170lbs
Dean Lista vs. Kaleo Kwon
(HMC) (Eastsidaz)
110lbs
Corey Ferriera vs. Phillip Williams
(808 Fight Factory) (Kona Boxing)
185lbs
Bryson Kamaka vs. Paulo Kamakuaina
(808 Fight Factory) (Animal House)
Kickboxing
3 x 1:30 Rounds
Harris Sarmiento vs. Ty Brawner
Stephen Paling IV vs. Keith Kagigawa
Jumar Dumaolao vs Chavin Mahuka
Tyson Nam vs. Chad Pavao
|
Quote
of the Day
"I have often been afraid, but I would not give in to it.
I made myself act as though I was not afraid and gradually my
fear disappeared."
Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919, Twenty-sixth President of the
USA
|
1998
Acura Integra GS-R For Sale
There comes a time when a man must part with one of his prized
possessions and this is that time. I am selling my baby, a 1998
Acura Integra GS-R, loaded with goodies for $15,000.00. I know
what you are thinking. That sounds high for a 98. Well, take
a look at the page below if you are interested and see why I
have bumped up the price to at least get a little back from all
my money that I invested in this lean mean white machine.
http://www.onzuka.com/acura1.html
The
ad will hit the Buy and Sell this Friday so Onzuka.com readers
will have first crack at scooping up my car.
I'm
upgrading my fun car so I must part with this one. Everything
works as good as new and all maintenance has been done on time.
There is only about 46,000 miles on this car because I rarely
drive it now.
Email me if you are interested. I would like
to get the car off my hands as quickly as possible (before the
tears begin to flow).
|
Punishment
in Paradise
East vs West
December 11, 2004
Kapolei High School
Fights start at 7:30 PM
Tentative match up:
Tommy
Pestana (808 Fight Factory/Pestana Boys) vs. Wayne Perrin III
(Team Big Dogs)
Kolo Koka (Team MMAD) vs PJ Dean (Bad Intentions)
Kaleo Kwon vs Dain Agbayani (808 Fight Factory)
Other
fighters that may be on the card:
Bryson
Kamaka (808 Fight Factory)
Mark Moreno (Bulls Pen)
Marcus Moreno (Bulls Pen)
Kaipo Gonzales (Eastsidaz)
Domi Lopez
Also there will be a heavyweight and a 170 lb kickboxing tournament.
Any fighters that are interested can contact the promoter at
696-8313.
|
GUY
MEZGER CONFIDENT OF VICTORY
Recently
FS 24-7 brought you the exclusive story about the problems Tito
Ortiz is experiencing in the lead up to his rubber match at UFC50
with Lions Den veteran, Guy Mezger.
Our
source who wishes to remain anonymous, is telling us that not
much has changed in the Tito camp. "He's still going out
and partying and rediscovering life as a single guy" said
the source.
"He
reminds me of Rocky Balboa in Rocky 3" he added. "Remember
when Rocky took Clubber Lang lightly and got his head knocked
off?, Im worried this fight could turn out like a real life MMA
version of that fight."
Unlike
Clubber Lang in the Rocky movie, Guy Mezger is not training alone.
He has been training exceptionally hard with Battalia Balamoundo,
Ken Shamrock and Erik Paulson in preparation for the fight with
Ortiz.
"You
can't take Tito for granted. He's an unbelievable athelete, so
you've got to train like an unbelievable athlete to beat him.
That's what we're doing." Mezger was quoted as saying in
a recent interview with Boxing Insider
Mezger
went on to say that he knows he is being used by ZUFFA because
they expect him to lose. However he feels this is a big mistake
on their part and he is confident of victory.
We
at FS 24-7 wish Guy Mezger every success.
Source: Fight Sport |
Approaching
Euphoria:
Yves Edwards Interview
On
October 15th at the Tropicana in Atlantic City Euphoria MFC holds
their second show, this time with the first rounds of tournaments
in the lightweight and heavyweight divisions. FCF readers are
probably already familiar with Loretta Hunt's in-depth reporting
on this show. Now we get to hear from lightweight competitor
Yves Edwards.
Yves
is Full Contact Fighter's #3 ranked lightweight, former HOOKnSHOOT
Welterweight Champion, and an eight-time UFC vet. Eight videos
are available in the FCF shop, including his fights in King Of
The Cage, SuperBrawl, Extreme Challenge, and HOOKnSHOOT as well
as some of his UFC fights. In this October show he faces ZST
vet Naoyuki Kotani.
FCF:
What do you think of Kotani?
YE: I think his stand-up is horrible. He comes in with his head
way up in the air, he can only move in straight lines, and his
takedowns are not that great. I don't know how good his ground
is going to be in this situation. I've been watching tapes of
him and studying him and he's been fighting in these girl fight
shows where there are no punches to the face and that changes
the world. It's easier for leglocks when they can't punch you
in the face. I'm going through a lot right now and I think I'm
going to release some aggression.
FCF:
I haven't seen tape of Kotani but Rich Clementi commented 'he
hits hard' while I think it was Alberto Crane mentioned his boxing
is underrated. Is he more than just a leglock on the ground specialist?
Did you see anything in his stand-up?
YE: I don't know but his stand-up looks horrible. I had to turn
the television off it was so bad, just ugly. I don't know if
they are being nice or just saying the guy hits hard and just
giving him credit for that. He looks like the Statue of Liberty.
His chin is up in the air, he's standing up straight, only moving
in straight lines…horrible. That is where I'm going to try
to keep the fight because I'm going to make him pay.
FCF:
You do have a reputation as being one of the fighters that studies
their opponents the most, knows the most about their opponents.
To me that seems like a huge advantage. How much time does that
take to study an opponent?
YE: Takes one good fight. One recent fight and you get a good
idea of what the guy is all about. Just one round even of one
good fight. I got a good idea of Josh Thomson from the first
round of his fight with Hermes (Franca). Then again that is just
the first round, you get a lot more information by the time the
guy goes the distance, get to see he's tired. Everybody is good,
everybody is strong the first round but as the fight goes on
things change and the best guys become guys that aren't that
strong. BJ Penn was awesome his first couple of fights until
Jens (Pulver) took him into the second, third, fourth, fifth
rounds. The world changed.
FCF:
Did studying Thomson for your fight with him have any affect
on the fact that was you're the first fight of yours that ended
in the first round in the last two years?
YE: No, more his style bringing it and I didn't like what he
was bringing so I figured I needed to shut this guy up. It's
just his style, he is an aggressive fighter so I had to stay
on my toes and constantly try to counter, make him pay for what
he was doing. When someone gets hurt the mentality changes, the
style changes, and I was trying to hurt him. He puts out a lot
of energy early and he was really really strong the first minute
or so of that fight but that really started to fade real quick.
I don't know if he tried to cut too much weight or if he is always
like that. I saw him fade a little with the Hermes fight but
not so fast. I don't know if it was because I was pushing the
pace back at him or trying to counter him as much as I could
or he cut too much weight, or our styles just lead to that kind
of fight for his body. It's not studying the tapes that made
the fight a quick fight, our styles clashed in that way and at
that point my style was the one that was going to win that day.
FCF:
As far as the balance between studying an opponent and feeling
them out in the first round how much do you rely on feeling them
out?
YE: The feeling out process is not something I think about. I
go out there and start fighting and of course I want to see 'what
is he going to do with this'. I ask him a bunch of questions
and see what answers he gives me. Depending on what answer he
gives me then it's like 'well, if you are going to do that I'm
going to do this'. It is a feeling out process but I'm not trying
to feel his strength, weakness, or speed…I'm trying to feel
his technique most of all, what is he going to do to stop my
offense. I'm trying to get a good feel for that and when I find
out what he plans on doing to stop my offense then I know what
I need to do to counter his counters or how I need to lead or
need to counter.
FCF:
To me the Thomson fight being your quickest in the last two years
doesn't mean much but we talked before about decisions. How do
you feel about it?
YE: A win is a win. There are not a lot of people that look at
my record and say 'he's 26-6-1, 15 in the first round, 12 in
the second round'…well that would make 27 but you know what
I'm saying. It's not a concern to me. I go out there to fight
and I fight to win. I train all the time. I prepare myself for
three hard rounds or whatever or for a UFC title it would be
five five-minute rounds but we all know how that story is playing
out. I just prepare for a long night. First round, that is just
a bonus. You train extra hard and you get less injuries to go
out and party afterwards.
FCF:
At the lower levels I wonder if a fighter did something different
in training that resulted in a faster fight but I don't think
that is the case with you. You are training the same as you always
have?
YE: Yeah. We always train pretty hard. I know I trained really
hard for Hermes Franca and trained probably just as hard for
Josh and I had a few things going on then. I probably missed
two or three more days of training than I did for Hermes but
at the same time because of the level of guys both those times
I felt 'I don't know if I'm ready, I wished I trained more'.
It wasn't like I took time off or was lazy or anything like that,
I trained pretty much every time I could and I have a lot of
time to train. When you get to that level of guy you just want
to make sure you are ready and it never seems like it is enough.
FCF:
As far as there are no elbows allowed in this show is that any
concern?
YE: No, I'm not big on throwing elbows. I like them if they are
there but that isn't one of my main tactics. I've thrown elbows
before and finished some fights with them but it's no concern.
I know the rules. I think I hit just as hard with an elbow as
with a fist. An elbow cuts more of course, that is fine. I don't
have to be so close to him to elbow him now.
FCF:
You came out of among others HOOKnSHOOT which used Shooto rules
and these are basically the same.
YE: Right. The lack of elbows isn't going to throw me off or
anything. It doesn't change my game much.
FCF:
Back when you crossed over to shows like UFC where you could
use elbows did that take any effort to add that to your arsenal?
YE: No, because defending elbows is just like defending anything
else. If your hands are right in the standup game you are going
to defend elbows just as well as punches. As long as your positioning
is correct and your hands are right then you aren't going to
be exposed to elbows. On the ground you tie people up at the
right time and do the right things and you won't expose yourself
to getting elbowed. It's the same as exposing yourself to getting
punched, you got to use your arms to punch. It all falls under
the same spectrum.
FCF:
This fight is in a ring with the four corners. Some fighters
have said it's easier to cut somebody off in a ring than in a
non-square cage. How do you view this?
YE: Yeah, but if you know how to cut somebody off you can cut
somebody off in a circle. If you know how to do it right you
can do it. I'm kind of glad to be fighting in a ring again. I
fought in a ring pretty much more than anywhere else. I know
how to use it the same as a cage. The only difference is it's
going to be harder to ground-and-pound somebody in a ring. You
can lay-and-pray but can't really ground-and-pound a guy that
has good ability to stand back to his feet. I'm looking forward
to that and think that is an advantage to me because guys are
going to want to put me on my back. There is probably one guy
in the tournament that doesn't want to put me on my back. I'm
not concerned with it being a ring, I'm actually pleased to see
how that will turn out.
FCF:
So far the public feedback is you are favored to win but I'm
wondering how much of that is they don't know the other fighters.
Hermes Franca, Rich Clementi, and maybe former Shooto Champion
Joakim Hansen. How do you feel about the later rounds of this
tournament?
YE: I think about ‘this guy might win this fight' or ‘this
guy might win that fight' but I'm not even thinking about who
I'm fighting next. I'm not impressed with Kotani's standup and
don't know how he is going to be able to handle getting punched
in the face on the ground but at the same time I'm not looking
past that guy. If he took a fight in this tournament he thinks
he can win. I just need to prove him wrong. When I take a step
back and look at this tournament as a fan of course I pick myself
to win my fight but all those guys are legit. The Russian [Golyaev]
is a good striker from what I hear. I've seen little clips of
his Clementi fight but he has no ground game so that stands against
him real strong. The other three guys I look at, Hermes, Rich,
and Joakim, are for real. I think the most dangerous one of the
three is probably Joakim. At the same time you can't count any
of those guys out, they are for real.
FCF:
Have you seen many of Joachim's fights?
YE: I've seen some clips of some of his fights and then we fought
on the same show in Japan when he fought Gomi so I saw that one.
He is real intense, super intense and violent. That is a good
thing. I like watching him fight and wish I could get more. Hopefully
I'll run into him in the tournament. I'll get a chance to study
him of course and after I study him and pick out my things that
I'm going to try to use against him and exploit on him then I'll
get a chance to sit back and watch his fights as a fan and enjoy
them. That guy is explosive and violent and that is fun to watch.
FCF:
For the fans that aren't familiar with him can you describe the
fight you saw, Shooto in August of last year, so the fans know
what to expect from this guy?
YE: I don't know if everybody knows what Joachim is all about.
I always thought he was going to be a striker just because he's
from Europe but his jiu-jitsu is phenomenal. He's a lanky fighter
like me but a little more wiry. With that comes some power. The
guy isn't afraid to do anything. I've seen him stand up with
Gomi and I know Gomi isn't the greatest as a fighter but is really
confident in the standup game. I've seen [Joachim] throw with
Gomi, saw some nice takedowns, and I've seen him work from the
top and his back on the ground. The guy is well-rounded all around.
Of course his ground game is stronger but I would not sleep on
his standup game at all, I would not step into the ring with
him thinking my standup is better. My standup is better but I'd
have to stay focused or this guy will hurt me. Joachim is one
of my favorite fighters at 155 pounds and probably one of my
favorite fighters in the world. I think after this tournament
they will have a better idea who he is and he is for real.
FCF:
This is a really packed card. How do you feel about this show
as a whole?
YE: Yeah, it is really. Ryan Schultz also. That guy is supposed
to be a monster. Unfortunately I'm going to be the last lightweight
that night so I don't get to really watch everybody else but
[matchmaker] Miguel is good about getting tapes to me so I'll
get a good shot at seeing it. Then the heavyweights…I don't
know much about heavyweights or like other weight classes. You
can ask me about just about any other 155 fighter and I'll know
who they are but I know like Nogueira, Jens, and Palling at 145…a
few of the guys in the UFC at all of the other weights and Pride
but that is about it. Like the UFC heavyweights, I don't even
know who those guys are. From what I hear about the heavyweight
tournament it is stacked. I just don't know much about heavyweights.
I'd rather watch the lighter weights, they are more exciting.
170 pounders, 155 pounders…I know a lot about those guys,
some of the 185 pounders.
FCF:
Is it my imagination or have we seen more opportunities for the
lightweights in the last couple of months? Soljah Fight Night
in Hawaii with Ribeiro a couple moths ago, Extreme Challenge/SuperBrawl
tournament series, WEC last I heard had two lightweight titles,
AFC of course where Marcus Aurelio originated…Is it my imagination?
YE: I don't think it's your imagination at all. People are starting
to come around, understand lightweights put on the best fights.
Even pro boxing. Take the heavyweight boxing card that has eight
heavyweights on it God knows when in the next couple of weeks.
Who wants to see that crap? It's garbage. I don't care what anybody
has to say, heavyweights are garbage. The best heavyweights in
the world are in Pride. Then you take Arlovski, he's probably
the best heavyweight in the UFC but everybody else is so one-dimensional
it's like you are watching a Toughman fight with guys with little
gloves on. It's too bad they try to force-feed you this crap
too.
FCF:
As far as whether the fans want only heavyweights case in point
is this tournament. With the Russians coming back and the UFC
vets all I see and hear people talking about is the lightweight
tournament.
YE: That's what they want to see. People don't want to see heavyweights,
they want to see knockouts and good fights. Basically they can't
fight, they land a good punch. The lightweights don't knock each
other out as much, not because they don't have the power but
they are more technical and are going to be more on point with
their game. Basically heavyweights suck. Take the heavyweights
I mentioned, that is about it. Everybody else, unless you are
an up-and-comer and aren't going yet you suck. I don't care what
you think about that.
FCF:
As far as your team you had Rocky Long in AFC and I think one
other fighter in AFC but not much is known about them. Does your
team have anything else coming up?
YE: Rocky Long and Carlo Prater just fought a few months ago
in FFC in Mississippi and won their respective weights. Carlo
Prater beat Spencer Fisher and Rocky beat Jarret Becks. Becks
was the champion at the time and Rocky beat him before in a very
close fight and this time Rocky just knocked him out in the very
first round, put that one to sleep. They have been working really
hard and coming along well. They have a few things on the table.
Carlo may be fighting in the next AFC show in Florida [note:
October 30th]. Rocky may have a fight in Guam at the end of the
month. I train with those guys of course. Timothy Credeur, his
jiu-jitsu is just off the chain. I think he's like 15-1. Then
there is an amateur guy named Todd Moore, a real good fighter.
He's going to be training hard, coming out and making a name
for himself soon too. [Note: for more on these fighters and Yves'
gym the Ultimate Training Center check out www.thugjitsu.com].
FCF:
You said you aren't looking past your opponent Kotani but as
far as a next fight but are you looking at a next fight in UFC
or the next round in this tournament?
YE: I would like to know there is something else out there. This
is my job so if I get to work I get to eat. UFC, it was possible
I would fight in the UFC in Japan but of course after beating
everybody the UFC put in front of me and not fighting for the
title and fighting the only other guy who qualified for the title
I still have to win my fight in the Euphoria tournament before
I come back to the UFC and fight. Now I don't know what is going
on with that because the fights in Japan aren't on. I would love
to go to Japan and fight Gomi in his show in December, you know
they have big cards in Japan in December and I would love to
go out there for one of those New Years shows. I would like to
fight Gomi out there. I'm not really looking forward to anything
else, I'm not looking past this fight but at the same time I
would love to have something else on the table. I love fighting
and this fight is the main course but you go to a good restaurant
and order a good meal, you eat that meal but that doesn't mean
you don't want desert. That is the way I look at it. The next
fight is the main course and the fight after is desert. If I
have something on the table I know I'm going to get to eat, going
to get to work. I'm definitely available up until the middle
of January.
Source: FCF
|
Prangley
Out, Fryklund in UFC 50
Ivan
Salaverry was told Monday that UFC 50 opponent Trevor Prangley
had separated a rib and would not be standing across from him
Oct. 22 in Atlantic City.
Instead,
Salaverry will be facing Tony Fryklund, a middleweight from the
Miletich camp. Fryklund last fought in the UFC in June 2002,
when he stopped Rodrigo Ruas in the second round. Since that
victory at UFC 37.5, he has won four of six fights outside the
octagon, including a loss by decision to Matt Lindland in May
and a win over Chris Myers on Sept. 5.
With
the change, the bout that was Phil Baroni vs. Trevor Prangley
has become Ivan Salaverry vs. Tony Fryklund. Salaverry was initially
added to UFC 50 as a light heavyweight replacement slated to
take on Patrick Cote. He was then dropped down to a middleweight
bout against Prangley, and will now fight Fryklund, his third
scheduled opponent.
"It
sucks, but what can I do?" he says. "It's part of fighting,
especially (MMA). A lot of guys get hurt prior to the fight,
and you just have to deal with it. It's a little annoying because
you prepare for one person, his style and certain situations,
and then they switch it up on you."
While
some fighters will say they train the same way regardless of
foe, Salaverry specializes his preparation. "You try as
much as possible to train specific to (your opponent), whatever
strengths or weaknesses that he has," he says.
Prangley's
greatest strength is wrestling, which Salaverry had been honing
a strategy to counter. Now that he's fighting Fryklund, though,
whose strength is on the feet, Salaverry will adjust his last
week of training to focus on striking. His game plan is to use
kickboxing to foil Fryklund's boxing prowess. "I'm going
to try to use my legs, try to use my kicks," says the 33-year-old,
who has been preparing with Maurice Smith and Josh Barnett among
others.
Compared
to Prangley, Salaverry feels his new opponent is better rounded.
However, he sees endurance as a potential weakness accompanying
Fryklund into the cage next weekend. Says Salaverry, "For
him to take a fight on 10 days notice, even though he said that
he was (already) training for another fight, that could be a
situation."
By
"situation," Salaverry means a soft spot in Fryklund's
game that he'll strive to rip into a gaping hole. The plan calls
for a fervent pace that challenges his foe's cardio. "Nowadays,"
he says, "you always try to come out strong and push the
pace of the game. We'll see who really has it in the third round,
you know? You push and push and push and say, let's see what
happens in the third round, (let's see) who's really got the
gas."
Source: FCF
|
PRIDE
ODDS BY SPORTSBOOK.COM
Our friends at Sportsbook.com have a few odds for the upcoming
High Octane card. Bookmaker Joey Odessa Fight Matchups @ sportsbook.com
>Wanderlei
Silva -155
>Quinton Rampage Jackson +125
That
means Silva is the favorite. -155 means you have to bet $155
to win $100 on Silva, while Jackson you would have to bet $100
to win $125 on the underdog. Odessa tells MMAWeekly.com that
"this bout opened Silva -145 and was immediately bet up,
so money is going on Silva" Odessa said.
>Mirko
CroCop Filipovic -125
>Josh Barnett -105
Cro
Cop is a slight favorite over Barnett. This fight is close to
a pickem.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
COUNTDOWN
TO UFC 50:
MARSH FEELS HE CAN BEAT TRA AND TAP MIR
MMAWeekly SoundOff Radio counts down to UFC 50 with sixteen fighters
in sixteen days. Remember the LIVE broadcast is absolutely free
at www.mmaweeklyradio.com
Yesterday,
Heavyweight John Marsh was the featured guest and talked about
his UFC debut fight against Tra Telligman coming up on October
22nd.
Marsh
is another one of those fighters like; Ronald Jhun or Chris Lytle, who work full time
jobs as well as fight. John works full time for Cingular Wireless
and has a nightclub job in the evenings. If you thought your
schedule was hectic, check this out.
"I
get up about five or five thirty. I usually run around six O'clock,
six thirty. I'm in the office by eight. I'm out of the office
by ten. I train for a couple of hours. I go back to work. I come
home, I train for a couple of hours and then take a break,"
said Marsh.
John
is a master at time management, working two hours and training
two hours in a revolving routine. When asked how he balances
such a schedule, Marsh replied, "I have a cool boss. He
gives me the leniency to be able to train. As long as I make
my quota, I'm cool."
John
Marsh is coming off a win over Wesley "Cabbage" Correira in Rumble
on the Rock
back in May. To get a win over "Cabbage" in Hawaii
is impressive in itself but Marsh won a unanimous decision which
shows just how dominate he was in that fight.
Looking
back on the match with Correira, John said it was his game plan
to stand with "Cabbage" the entire fight. After watching
Wesley's bout against Andrei Arlovski at UFC 47, Marsh focused
on, "getting off first and staying out of the way of his
[Correira's] big shot." The game plan worked perfectly.
In
his match-up with Tra, Marsh wants to, "just be strong no
matter where I'm at." John continued, "I'm not afraid
to stand up with him. I'm not afraid to bang with him. I'm not
afraid to go to the mat with him." He added, "I don't
want him to be comfortable in any position," and that he
doesn't think Tra can stop his shoot for a takedown.
Analyzing
Telligman, Marsh stated that Tra has a quick right hand, is aggressive
and not afraid to bang with his opponent right out of the gate.
John expanded on that a little bit by saying, "That's pretty
much all I see. I see he's fast. He's got fast hands. He's got
a big right hand and he likes to bring the pressure." John's
prediction for the fight was, "I don't think it will go
the distance. It's either going to be a knockout or a submission."
Having said that, Marsh made it clear that he would love to get
a knockout in this fight.
While
John was on the radio show, he was questioned about the UFC Heavyweight
Champion, Frank Mir. Marsh said, "I would very much like
to put my skills against his." He said that it was a surprise
to him that Frank Mir became the UFC champ. He commented, "I
didn't think he [Mir] had that tough of a road....I think he
had a semi-easy road to the top." If the two were to face
off, Marsh said, "If it hit the ground, it would be a chess
match and I'm confident that I'd come out with a submission."
Frank
Mir has some recovering to do and Marsh has some winning to do
before that fight will happen. John Marsh plans on doing his
end of it by beating Tra Telligman at UFC 50. His fight with
Tra could very easily be the fight of the night.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
MORE
BREAKING NEWS: MARSH OFFICIALLY OUT AND PRANGLEY OUT
MMAWeekly.com has just learned that John Marsh is out of UFC
50, as is Trevor Prangley. Both fighters have sustained injuries
and with just nine days to go, match maker Joe Silva has had
to scramble.
Prangley
tore cartlidge in his ribs from training. Not many people wanted
to face Ivan Salaverry on a week and a half notice as many fighters
were contacted, but didn't accept the fight. Marsh has a torn
hamstring.
Tony
Fryklund was one of the only fighters to take the fight on short
notice. Many fighters were contacted and only Fryklund would
step up.
Fryklund
steps up to take this fight on on nine days notice. Fryklund
makes his return to the Octagon from UFC 37.5 where he defeated
Rodrigo Ruas in Las Vegas.
John
Marsh, who got an MRI within the last 24 hours, tore a hamstring
and is now out. This short notice has put the UFC in a very tough
position. The Euphoria show has taken most of the top level heavyweight
fighters this weekend. Medicals come into play which is a huge
problem getting fighters cleared.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is
my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great
and noble."
Helen Keller {1880-1968 American Blind/Deaf Author & Lecturer}
|
The
new and revamped Gracie Camp!
Good
news: Gracie Camp is back… and better than ever! Thousands
of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu students around the World dream of, someday,
travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to improve their techniques
in the Capitol of BJJ . However, violence statistics and Portuguese
– the Country's native language are a big part of why many
dreamers stay away. Gracie Camp (www.graciecamp.net) was created to resolve
that.
Gracie
Camp was first opened in 2001. The goal of the camp was to give
complete assistance to travelers, from the airport to the academy,
including accommodations, private driver, food and, of course,
special Jiu-Jitsu teaching. Immediately, hundred of people became
interested in attending the Gracie Camp. But as quick as it appeared,
it closed its doors. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and ADCC World Champion
Marcio Feitosa, one of the founders of the camp, explains why:
‘We
had a problem with one of our partners. So we decided to halt
the service, wait enough time to break all ties with that person
and, only then, resume the Gracie Camp. Meanwhile, we have a
better structure to reopen 100% ready. That just happened! And
the best thing is that the new camp is now located in the city’s
best neighborhood and our academy is even better prepared to
receive foreigners. The whole service is awesome now! Everything
we had before is working again… just better,’ assures
Feitosa.
The
BJJ black belt thinks that the fact of being only five minutes
from Gracie Barra, where the guests attend at the group classes
(the techniques are taught in the mornings in the camp), makes
the new camp better. The first camp was located in a ranch outside
the town. ‘To be only 300 meters from the best beach of
Rio de Janeiro is very comfortable,’ says Feitosa. ‘It’s
is the best neighborhood of the city. Here, the guest can enjoy
the calm and the beauty of Rio de Janeiro, without being worried
about safety,’ finishes the teacher, pointing to the Hollywoodian
backyard of the house.
For
further information, e-mail Gracie Camp: graciec@centroin.com.br or log
on at www.graciecamp.net.
Source: ADCC |
For
One Night Only? The Return of Guy Mezger
"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in"
– Michael Corleone in Godfather III
Talk
about bad timing.
With
only one fight in the last two years, mixed martial arts veteran
Guy Mezger had peacefully settled into the life of an ex-fighter,
complete with a wife, a baby on the way, and several successful
business ventures. Needless to say, going through the rigorous
grind of training to face any one of the assorted tough guys
in one of the sport’s roughest divisions was the furthest
thought from his mind.
Then
the phone rang. October 22…Atlantic City…UFC…Tito
Ortiz?
All
of a sudden, Guy Mezger was an active fighter again.
"I’ve
been asking for an Ortiz fight for a number of years and they
give it to me right after I basically retire," chuckles
Mezger. "I should have retired five years ago and I would
have gotten the fight sooner."
Mezger
faces Ortiz in the main event of UFC 50 on October 22, and while
some see it as a tune-up fight for the former light heavyweight
champion after consecutive defeats at the hands of Chuck Liddell
and Randy Couture, Mezger sees the fight as a way to take care
of unfinished business, especially given that he and his opponent
split two previous fights in the late-90’s.
"I
basically faded out of the fight business," admits Mezger,
owner of a 44-13-6 record in mixed martial arts (4-1 in the UFC).
"Fighting over in Japan was great financially for me, but
it didn’t really do anything for me as far as putting a
mark on my career. This is just an opportunity for me. I just
faded out and that’s not really who Guy Mezger is, or at
least I believe that’s not who I am. This is going to give
me an opportunity to leave in a hail of bullets. And I’m
gonna either win big or lose big. There’s not going to be
anything in between. This is going to be the best fight of the
year, and I should live with it. I expect to win, but I’ve
got to live with it if I lose because this is gonna be my last
fight and I’m gonna give it everything I have. If for some
reason he does beat me, it might be the fact that I am 36 years
old. But we’re gonna find out, that’s for damn sure,
and I don’t expect to lose."
Mezger,
a former King of Pancrase in Japan, is one of those fighters
MMA historians may look at as being in the wrong place at the
wrong time. With solid all-around skills in the ring, a willingness
to fight all comers, and the looks that could launch a thousand
teenage girls’ dreams, Mezger made his bones in the sport
when the sport was basically being ignored by the mainstream
world. Granted, he did appear in UFC 4 and 5 in the mid-90’s,
but by the time he and Ortiz were exchanging unpleasantries in
1997 and 1999, MMA was a dirty word everywhere but in the Internet
chat rooms and message boards that kept the sport alive during
the lean years.
Left
with a dead scene here in the US, Mezger took his game back to
Japan to compete in Pride, where he compiled a 4-6 record but
was continually brought back for his willingness to scrap and
take on the likes of Liddell, Antonio Nogueira, and Wanderlei
Silva.
But
by the time Zuffa purchased the UFC, brought it back to cable
television and put some marketing muscle behind the sport, Mezger
was left behind, with Ortiz ironically becoming the fighter seen
as the face of Ultimate Fighting.
"I’m
not gonna kid you, it always kinda crossed my mind," said
Mezger when asked if he saw himself as missing out on being with
the "in" crowd when MMA started to get more mainstream
recognition. "But there’s always a rhyme and reason
for something, and I could spend my life thinking I was screwed
out of this or something, but to be honest, I’ve had such
an incredibly lucky life, and there’s probably a real good
reason why this happened this way, and that’s the way I
look at it."
If
you want to go for the fairy tale ending, Mezger returning to
defeat Ortiz next week would be the ideal scenario. But it’s
tough for any fighter to come back from a layoff, let alone against
one of the premier fighters in the sport. For Mezger, the job
gets even tougher when he factors in the time away from his family,
and having to put in the hours necessary to be at his best when
he steps into the Octagon.
"The
toughest part is that I have to be away from my family and friends,"
admits Mezger. "As generous as the UFC has been – and
I’m not gonna kid you, they’re paying me really good
to fight this fight - It’s still not more money than I make
in my other businesses. The thing about it that’s difficult
is - and a lot of people don’t get this until down the road
maybe and they kind of have an epiphany; every fighter likes
to believe that he’s a self-made man, and the reality is,
he’s not – you’re only as good as the people and
support system you have around you. And everybody has to sacrifice
for me to do this. For me to do this I have business partners
who have to pick up my slack; my wife is at the house, she’s
pregnant, we’re having our second kid, and she has to deal
with all that. People that work for me in my gyms and the other
businesses all have to pick up the slack. That’s really
kind of the toughest part, that while I’m out here busting
my ass, everybody else is busting their ass too."
Hard
work has never been an issue for Mezger, and at the very least,
when he battles Ortiz, he will be physically and mentally ready
to fight. Will he have the reflexes and game plan to compete
with the younger man though?
"I’ll
be honest, I’m not any slower," said the Texas native.
"Physically my reactions are good, I’m still physically
a strong guy, and what I don’t have in the physical side
of my life – because you do take a little toll at 36, and
I’ve been fighting for over 16 years; I’ve had over
145 pro fights. With a thing like that, you’ve got to stay
healthy. I look at it as just one more step – it’s
not that big a deal."
"I
always train, and I like to train," he continues. "I’ve
always liked to consider myself as a person who’s in shape
to get in shape. I’m not always in fight shape, but I’m
never really out of shape. It might just be my own vain ego sticking
out there – I want to look good."
In
his last bout, on December 6, 2003, Mezger made short work of
Daniel Bergman, stopping him in the second round. And while he
admits he trained only five days for the Bergman fight, the rubber
match with Ortiz is getting his complete attention, and he’s
ready to make a statement against the "Huntington Beach
Bad Boy". Does he need to get that respect as early as possible?
"I
don’t know whether I need to or not," said Mezger.
"I’m going to. I didn’t come here to lose. I’m
coming here and I’m gonna show him some bombs."
With
knockout power and the psychological edge that comes with having
beaten a man before, Mezger will look to capitalize on the blueprint
already set by Liddell and Couture, who left no doubt as to who
was the superior fighter in their given bouts with Ortiz, leaving
fight observers wondering whether the former champion was a one
trick pony with no backup plan, or just a young fighter going
through growing pains on a very public stage.
"He
tries to be the same fighter every time, and it works to a certain
degree because he’s had very good success with it,"
said Mezger of Ortiz. "But running into those guys (Couture
and Liddell), he ran into somebody who was a better wrestler
than him, and then somebody who could hit him pretty hard. He
obviously went into that fight a little intimidated by that.
So I’m gonna go in there and I’m gonna hit him really
hard so he can feel that intimidation all over again. And I’m
not an easy man to get down. Even if he does get me down, I’m
not an easy man to keep down. So he’s gonna have his hands
full."
With
Mezger being a heavy underdog and Ortiz knowing that a third
loss could pretty much kill his championship hopes, the odds
are stacked against the Texan come October 22. But everyone loves
a comeback story, a story of redemption and of beating the odds.
It’s the type of thing that Mezger could ride to an even
bigger payday if he beats Ortiz. Could he be enticed to make
another title run if he’s victorious?
"I
have to see how things go," he admits. "There are very
few definites in the world. Part of it is I’m not fighting
until my next baby. My wife is spending six to eight weeks by
herself while she’s pregnant, and she’s not going to
spend any more time in this pregnancy by herself. So I’ll
really kind of make these decisions after I have my child and
figure out where I go from there and exactly what it is that’s
going to motivate Guy Mezger to get back in the ring or not get
back in the ring."
All
that stuff could be debated on October 23 though. For now, the
only thing Guy Mezger is thinking about is the Friday night when
he and Tito Ortiz throw hands for a third time. It’s the
chance to put an exclamation point on a long career, and to seal
a storied trilogy once and for all.
"I’m
really not fighting for money on this issue," he said. "This
one’s just for Guy Mezger to get back in the ring one last
time, put it all together, and have a last hurrah."
Source: Maxfighting |
Tito
Ortiz: Countdown to Destruction
On October 22nd at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, it will
be “The War of ‘04” when the punishing ‘Huntington
Beach Bad Boy’ Tito Ortiz takes on archrival and seasoned
veteran Guy Mezger.
Ortiz
is on his road back to the belt, and now he revisits the path
he took the first time as he faces Mezger for the third time
in his seven-year career. Both have a win over each other and
this will be the rubber match that will surely be the most brutal
meeting of the two.
In
1997, the young Ortiz faced Mezger at ‘UFC 13 - The Ultimate
Force’ and suffered the first defeat of his career in round
one when Mezger administered a guillotine choke that sent the
future UFC superstar into submission.
Three
fights later Ortiz got his revenge on Mezger at ‘UFC XIX
- Ultimate Young Guns’ when he put a hurting on Guy that
ended the bout in round one with a TKO via strikes.
This
time it is personal, and after Ortiz lost his last two bouts
he is more than determined to show the UFC world that Tito Ortiz
is not finished, he isn’t a loser, he means business, and
that this time he is hungry and will take his fighting abilities
to the next level.
Benny
Henderson Jr. - How has your training been going?
Tito
Ortiz - It is going really really good. It has been going on
now almost three months and it is nonstop training; just getting
in shape and fine-tuning all of my tools. These last couple of
weeks have just been fine-tuning everything. I am in great shape,
like always; I always come in great shape. My cardio is like
always and really good. Wrestling has been good and my boxing
has actually been a lot better with my kickboxing mixed in. I
have been really pushing myself so I can get the best out of
it.
BH
- Give us some of your thoughts on your upcoming opponent Guy
Mezger.
TO
- It is really going to be a tough bout. I think it is going
to be a hard match because Guy is a seasoned fighter. He is a
person who trains all the time and he always gives tough fights
to everybody he has ever fought. He has always fought the top
guys in the world and it seems like he really is a tough opponent
for me. A lot of people say, “Yah, you got a gimme fight.”
It is never a gimme fight; I still have to go in there and win,
and more than anything I have to stick to my game plan, make
sure that I fight to the tempo that I always do and try to push
him through each and every round and see if he can handle Tito
Ortiz.
BH
- What is your training regimen?
TO
- I go three times a day. I train at twelve o’clock in the
afternoon and once again at seven o’clock at night, and
then I finish up my last training in cardio around ten o’clock
at night. I have pretty much anywhere from six to eight hours
six days a week of pushing myself. I just try to get myself in
the best possible shape I can be in.
BH
- You lost your last two UFC bouts; does that put more pressure
on you mentally going into this bout?
TO
- I think it puts a lot of pressure on me but I always fight
well under pressure. Whenever I do fight under pressure it brings
out the best out of me. More than anything, having my last two
losses were just like, I don’t know - I don’t think
I was as focused as I normally am. I think if I have the focus
like I do now, I should do really, really well just because of
how hard I pushed myself in the gym. I haven’t had any injuries
- my last couple of fights I had my back injury and of course
my knee was kind of bothering me a little bit. But now it is
like everything is kept to a T and training has gone really,
really well, and for once I am injury free.
BH
- Out of all your wins, is there one that is your most favorite
or most significant to you?
TO
- Actually there are a couple of them. One I always like to look
over and was real happy with myself for doing it was when I fought
Wanderlei Silva and I beat him for the belt. I stuck to my game
plan and won by sticking to my game plan. And the next fight
that I think showed all my skills and showed all my weapons was
when I fought Ken Shamrock. I pretty much let everything go and
didn’t hesitate on anything. I let my hands go and my knees
go, my elbows, takedowns - I pretty much did what I wanted to
do when I did it. I hope in this match I will do the same thing
too. It just seems like when I am focused like I usually am I
do well, and in this matchup I am really focused.
BH
- What are your disciplines?
TO
- I came from a wrestling background; I wrestled in college.
And then as I got into this I started learning Jiu-Jitsu, and
then kickboxing and boxing were the next two that I started learning.
And of course cardio weight training was a must. In this sport
you have to be really well rounded; you have to be kind of like
a Rubik’s Cube. I have to make sure that all of my colors
are in the match when it is time to fight.
BH
- What inspired you to get into this sport?
TO
- I’d say the competition. I love to compete and it was
a sport that I could possibly be good at because I had wrestling
abilities. I have always been into new challenges and it seemed
like the more I pushed myself in Ultimate Fighting the better
I became, and in a year and a half I became a world champion.
It seems like someone gave me a gift and I have to thank God
for that, because God gave me a gift and I have to use it to
its full capacity. It seems like in every person’s trail
in life you have trial and error. And my last couple of losses
were my errors and I have to prove myself as the kind of champion
I am in coming back and get my belt back.
BH
- Fighting these battles, they are hellish wars. You just tear
each other up in the octagon. Do you ever make it personal?
TO
- It never used to be personal, but now it is personal. I look
in there, it is competition yes, but at the same time I am fighting
for my life. I have a little boy who is two, and I am making
sure that he has everything that I never had in life. So it just
seems like I am fighting for my family now, fighting for myself,
and for all of my fans. There is a lot of pressure on my shoulders
but more that anything I try to succeed to the fullest and push
myself in practice each and every day, waking up every morning
and wanting to train. I have that hunger that I once had and
I have to keep my mind focused, and then training is not a problem
and fighting is fun.
BH
- What do you feel your best quality is as a fighter?
TO
- Has to be my heart, man. I have one of the biggest hearts I
think in the sport besides a couple of other fighters. And I
never forget to learn; I keep my mind open and I’m never
ignorant to any other martial arts and I’m willing to learn
to improve myself.
BH
- If somebody came up to you and said “Yo Tito, I am thinking
about getting into the UFC,” what advice would you give
them?
TO
- Make sure you train really really hard. Look into each and
every sport as in boxing, Jiu-Jitsu, kickboxing and collegiate
wrestling. I think one of the main things in Ultimate Fighting
is collegiate wrestling. I think that is one of the basics you
have to have. Work hard and never quit and always reach for your
dreams.
BH
- I know you stay focused on one opponent at a time. But after
this fight, is there anybody in particular you want to step in
to octagon with?
TO
- Well Ken Shamrock has been opening his mouth. I heard him on
the Best Damn Sports Show talking about that he would like to
have a rematch with me and this and that. And after he fought
Kimo at the press conference he kept opening his mouth and saying
that he would give me a beating. So I would like to see a Tito
Ortiz versus Ken Shamrock II. That would be great or possibly
Tito Ortiz versus Vitor Belfort. It really doesn’t matter
to me; I just want to fight. I’m sick of waiting. It has
been April since I fought and I’m sick of being on the burner
waiting to fight. I just want to get some fights over with and
I want to be active in the UFC and let my fans see the best of
Tito Ortiz.
BH
- What do you feel the future holds for Tito Ortiz?
TO
- It has to be winning my world title back. That title belongs
around my waist and it seems like I have a little test in front
of me. I want to see how much better I have gotten and how much
more I need to improve to become the world champion once again.
BH
- Anything you want to add to this interview or say to the fans?
TO
- I want to thank all the fans for giving me support with the
last couple of losses and I will be back on top once again. It
is just a matter of time. I keep my head up and I’m still
working hard. I have the hunger back once again to compete and
become the world champion once again.
Source: Maxfighting |
Quinton
Jackson: Fighting and His new Found Faith
Pride fighter and warrior of the ring Quinton Jackson, known
to the fans and his opponents simply as "Rampage",
has felt the thrill of victory, the pain of defeat and now he
has felt the touch of God.
The
twenty-six year-old who captivated the MMA world with his shoot
from the hip straight talking attitude along with his massive
fighting ability, may be a changed man at heart, but in battle
he still has the killer instinct that propelled him in to the
top of the light heavyweight division.
Since
his debut back in 1999 in an ISCF event, the power slamming Jackson
has compiled a 21-4 career record with 10 stoppages by knockout,
seven by submission and four by decision. Almost a year ago he
suffered his fourth loss at the hands of Wanderlei Silva at the
Pride-Final Conflict event on the same night he defeated Chuck
Liddell. On October 31st he will get his chance for revenge against
Silva for the Pride FC middleweight championship on the event
titled "High Octane".
But
revenge isn’t what is on Jackson’s mind - just being
the best he can be for God is his new mission and he will do
his best to accomplish it. The born again Christian hasn’t
lost his fighting edge or his ability to open up a can of hurt
on his opponents, but he has gained peace and a sense of reasoning
in his life that he has never felt before that he believes he
can use towards raising his son and competing in the sport.
So,
will we see the old Quinton Jackson that lived his life on the
edge with no regard for what could happen to him? No, that man
is dead and a new creation has been born. But in the ring, you
will still witness the bold-fisted fighter that pummeled his
opponents into defeat. And this time he has God on his side and
he isn’t ashamed to tell the world. In a phone interview
conducted by Max Fighting, Quinton talked about his newfound
faith and gave some thoughts on his upcoming bout.
Benny
Henderson Jr. - What are your thoughts on your rematch against
Wanderlei Silva and how will you approach this fight differently
than before?
Quinton
Jackson - What I’ll be doing different in this fight? I’ll
be fighting for the Lord. That’s the only thing I’ll
be doing different.
BH
- How much different are you since you become a born again Christian?
QJ
- I am a new person
BH
- Do people treat you differently?
QJ
- Oh yes, some people treat me different. Some of my friends
don’t understand because they have different religions -
some that I have never heard of. Some of my friends treat me
different, and I lost a few friends but not many. Some friends
are kind of like getting interested in the whole Christian and
Jesus Christ stuff because they see me and they knew how I was.
They seen that I used to have sex with all these different girls
and said bad words all the time and would go out drinking in
the clubs and all that stuff - they seen that. Now they see me
and I talk about Jesus Christ and God and stuff. At first they
thought that I have gone crazy because the same day I was touched
with the Holy Ghost I had to go train, and when he touches you
it is so powerful you want to tell everybody about it. It is
like that Cheerios commercial when the guy was telling everybody
about lowering his cholesterol; it’s like that you want
to tell everybody, even people you don’t even know. It was
like that for three days and then after that I came down. I was
so happy and I looked at all my friends and I was hoping he would
change all my friends liked he changed me but he didn’t,
so then I got sad about my friends because I know what I inherited
and I know what my friends are missing out on. So I am real happy
and my friends see this.
BH
- How will being a Christian play a part in your career now,
how will you incorporate it into your career?
QJ
- Like I tell people man, I always have been a Christian. People
misunderstand Christianity, ok, that’s why it is so confusing.
People will see a Christian still sinning and cussing - I was
a Christian but that was my religion. I practiced Christianity
but now since I am born again God has touched me and Jesus lives
in my heart. So now I know, even though I was a Christian I didn’t
know 100% what was out there or if there was a God or if Jesus
really existed. That was what I was taught all my life growing
up. But now since he touched me I know, so now that I know I
am going to watch what I do. Think about all the times I sinned
and I thought I was by myself - God was watching. Think about
all the bad deeds I did with my girlfriend, all the bad sex and
all the bad things - my God was watching me. So now since I am
born again I am going to watch what I do. I don’t want to
do anything that defiles him or makes him angry.
BH
- What do you hope to accomplish in MMA and in life?
QJ
- I just hope to accomplish being the best servant to God that
I can be and if he can use me in MMA and reach out so everybody
can see how he has changed my life. He has helped me out a great
deal since I was born again. My goal is to be the best servant
to the Lord that I can be. Whatever he wants me to do, that’s
what I want to do - if it’s God’s will for me to be
the best fighter in the world that’s what I am going to
do. I want to do his will.
BH
- How important is it to get this win back from Wanderlei Silva?
QJ
- It’s not that important at all right now; that’s
the least important thing to me right now. The most important
thing to me is that I serve God. Fighting is my job right?
BH
- Yes sir.
QJ
- The bible says that if we are working don’t work like
we are working for our bosses but work like we are doing it straight
for God. So I am to glorify him in every way that I can so I
am working for him. God is watching me himself. He is my boss
so I am gong to give him 120%. If it is God’s will for me
to win and be champion, that’s what is going to happen.
BH
- What about your training regime, how do you train for fights?
QJ
- It is hard training. You have to train in three different arts.
You have to have good cardio and eat right. It’s not like
boxing where you go in there and spar and jump rope, hit pads
and stuff. You have to grapple and do grappling drills and do
wrestling and wrestling drills, do jiu-jitsu and jiu-jitsu drills,
Muay Thai kickboxing and Muay Thai kickboxing drills and you
have to run and eat right, so it is hard training. I train six
days a week and two times a day.
BH
- What are your disciplines?
QJ
- I am a wrestler and in Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu.
BH
- There is a lot of punishment in your business and a lot of
guys could get hurt easily, do you ever think about the lasting
effects of your sport? Do you [Breaks into question]
QJ
- Let me cut you off right now man. That’s a misunderstanding,
man. Actually more people easily get hurt in boxing than in my
sport. My sport is the safest full contact sport out there. It
is safer than kickboxing and boxing because in boxing they will
go twelve rounds and get punched in the head. Count up all those
punches to the head they might get hit a few hundred times in
the head in a fight. In some of my fights I might get hit in
the head once or twice. People don’t even punch as hard
in my sport as they do in boxing. There are a lot of deaths due
to boxing and they don’t even tell you about that. And I
don’t care what anybody says, the reason that Muhammad Ali
is the way he is now is because of the rope a dope and because
he is a boxer. All these boxers talking slow and stuff like that;
boxing is dangerous. In my sport if something goes wrong you
can tap out anytime and the referee will stop the fight. There
isn’t no shame in stopping the fight in our sport. Boxing,
they get knocked down and they count to eight and they get back
up and start getting punched again and there is a reason why
they got knocked down - their brain is in trauma. Everybody tries
to say that our sport is dangerous because somebody may get beat
up or be put in an arm bar or get choked. I would rather get
my arm broke than get brain damage any day. Which one you want?
BH
- Didn’t you slam one of your opponents and knock him out
recently in a fight?
QJ
– Yeah.
BH
- What about the lasting effects of that? I mean that could hurt
somebody too you believe?
QJ
- Yeah, but that guy got knocked out by one slam; he didn’t
get knocked out by several punches to the head. Think about it.
BH
- That’s cool, I am just trying to make a good interview.
QJ
- I know, I know. I’m just throwing it out there too. Don’t
misunderstand me, I’m not getting upset or angry in any
way. I’m just giving you an interview.
BH
- I appreciate your time; it means a lot.
QJ
- All right, just don’t misunderstand me. Write it down
just like I said.
BH
- What about after Silva, is there anybody you want to battle
with?
QJ
- No, don’t misunderstand. It’s just my job, I don’t
go out there and choose whom I fight; they send them to me and
I fight them.
BH
- If somebody came up to you and said that they wanted to get
into MMA like you, what would you tell them?
QJ
- At first I would ask them whom they were fighting for; if you
want to fight who are you fighting for? People don’t know;
a lot of people are going to think I am crazy when I say this
but those are the people who are brainwashed. But people have
been taught all their lives good and bad - there’s good
and bad in this world. God is good and the devil is bad, so who
you fighting for? Before, I was fighting for the devil. I was
doing all this cussing and doing all those bad things. If you
want to fight and make all this money, who you fighting for?
If you are fighting for God you are always going to be on top
and have a good life, but if you are fighting for the devil you
aren’t going to last long. Who are you fighting for - good
or bad? That’s the first thing you need to know. If you
are fighting for God he is going to make a way for you to train
and put you in all the right situations. The devil isn’t
going to take care of you; he is going to lie to you and make
you spend all of your money. Look at Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson is
fighting for the wrong team; that’s my point right there,
who you fighting for? It doesn’t matter what you have to
learn or what you’ve got to but whom you’re fighting
for.
BH
- Where do you see the future of your sport, do you feel it will
be more mainstream than boxing or stay where it is?
QJ
- I know it is going to get more mainstream because boxing is
so corrupt. There isn’t no telling what’s going on
in boxing and it’s already getting boring. So I see our
sport getting mainstream pretty soon, hopefully in my career
time so I can come out there and touch a lot of people so they
can see my style. God gave me a different style because he didn’t
give anybody a style like me. So hopefully we can get more mainstream
so I can show the world what is up and what is real.
BH
- Looking at yourself now, do you feel that it is important to
be a good role model for the kids?
QJ
- Yes, look at all those role models out there like 50 Cent or
even Tupac and Eminem or whoever is out there. Those are some
negative role models and kids have the wrong role models; they
need to know that that stuff there isn’t going to last.
They are living large with the big houses and cars but you can’t
take it with you and it isn’t going to last. God made us
last for eternity and the world’s possessions aren’t
going to last. Jesus, I want to go to his kingdom and he told
us plain as day his kingdom is not of this world.
BH
- Is there anything you want to add to this interview?
QJ
– Yes, there is something I want to say to the fans. I want
to let everybody know that I am still the same person. God has
made me what he wanted me to be. I still have the same personality
and joke around with my friends and laugh. I love to laugh. I
still do the same things. Who is the person who thinks that living
for God is a weakness? It is the biggest strength that I have
ever discovered. People think because you are a Christian you
are weak, but I have strength. I have no fear of dying now and
I don’t care what anybody says to me, everybody can be brainwashed
by the world and with what the television shows you and from
what you hear on the radio. You can be brainwashed by this world
and the devil and be in all the evil stuff of this world; I look
around and I all I see is evil. I was brainwashed and I got tired
of it, but God heard my cries and was with me before I was born
again. I was on the plane with my coach and I told him I was
tired of being brainwashed and I knew I was brainwashed. Let
the world read this. Go ahead and be foolish and say bad things
about me just because I want to live right for my son, do good
and be happy and be good to people. Would people be more satisfied
if I came out and said that I worshiped the devil now and doing
bad things and I don’t love the fans anymore? I’m telling
all the fans that I love all of ya’ll and I am here for
ya’ll. That’s why I put my phone number out there.
That’s why I am the way I am for the fans. Now the fans
want to talk bad about me because I went to the Lord? Some fans
still support me but a lot of the fans became haters. They are
haters, but I am a lover. If you don’t like me because I
turned to Christ and because I was born again and I’m God’s
soldier, you’re a hater and I’m a lover.
Source: Maxfighting |
PART
II OF INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK:
DANA WHITE
If you missed yesterday's Part I of the interview with Dana White,
then check it out on Monday's newspage. Here's Part II of the
interview with the UFC President.
MMAWeekly:
Why did you choose the Ortiz/Liddell fight for the Fox Sport
Net when Tito loses badly, just five days before Tito is a headliner
at UFC 50?
Dana:
Good point. Because what we're doing is, basically the fight,
UFC 50, is the return of Tito Ortiz and Robbie Lawler. You know,
to see if these guys can come back. Guys lose. That's part of
the game. Guys lose. The storyline is, are these guys going to
come back. Obviously it's the rubber match between Guy Mezger
and Tito but if Tito loses this fight, that's three loses in
a row for Tito.
MMAWeekly:
Where would that leave him with you guys?
Dana:
He's still under contract with us. We'd still have Tito for one
more fight.
MMAWeekly:
I know there was some talk before this whole Japan thing, but
would you still set up a Vitor verses Tito fight?
Dana:
Probably, yeah.
MMAWeekly:
Dana, let me ask you about Japan. What happened in Japan?
Dana:
Frank Mir was in a motorcycle accident and our partners in Japan
had to have a, had to have a title fight. A heavyweight title
fight and obviously he couldn't fight and I called Ken Shamrock
and I was going to do an interim title with him and Arlovski.
Ken's guys turned the fight down.
MMAWeekly:
Really?
Dana:
Yeah.
MMAWeekly:
Wow, that's interesting.
Dana:
Ken didn't turn the fight down, Ken's manager turned the fight
down. It put me in a bad position and, you know, I couldn't do
it.
MMAWeekly:
Bottom line, they wanted a heavyweight. It wasn't like you could
just go to one of the other weight classes.
Dana:
I would have done an interim title with Ken and Andrei and the
winner would have fought Frank Mir when he was healthy.
MMAWeekly:
Let's talk about Frank Mir. It was a devastating injury for him
and just a crazy thing with the motorcycle accident. What is
the time table or is there a time table? When do you think he
will even fight again or will he fight again?
Dana:
I've actually been calling him for a few days. I haven't been
able to get a hold of him but the word is, is that he's already
walking on his leg. He's a healthy, strong, young kid, so I think
he'll bounce back quick from it.
MMAWeekly:
Does this whole situation with Japan, does it, it had to be different
for you because you had to work through other promotions probably
to get some of the Japanese fighters right?
Dana:
No, not really. No, we didn't work with any of the Japanese promotions.
MMAWeekly:
Oh, OK. So you had direct link with all these guys. I mean, a
lot of people were saying, well one of the reasons that they
probably canceled it, is probably because there where too many
people involved. That wasn't the case?
Dana:
No, no, no, no. We have one guy that we deal with over in Japan
who's going to help co-promote this thing and that's it.
MMAWeekly:
Let me ask you, will you go back to Japan?
Dana:
Yeah, we will go back to Japan. We postponed it, we didn't cancel
it. We postponed it. We're looking at like June now.
MMAWeekly:
OK, good deal. Genki Sudo, speaking of Japan, said he wants to
fight for the 155 title. There was some talk a while back that
maybe Sudo and Edwards, there could be a fight. What do you think
about that? Is it one of those things that we've still got to
wait until we get on a weekly TV before there's a title at 155?
Dana:
I don't know. I'd have to talk that over with my crew and figure
out what we wanted to do with that. But, you know, the thing
that bums me out is that Yves Edwards has been in this for so
long and worked so hard but not to have an opportunity at a title
just kills me. You know what I mean? We'll figure it out.
MMAWeekly.
What do you think about Anderson Silva? Have you ever talked
to him? He seems like he's one of the best at 185 right now.
Dana:
We have had talks with him. We had him a contract at one time
and he ended up fighting over in Pride instead. I think we had
him under contract and he walked out on a contract and ended
up fighting with Pride. A deal with Pride where they owed me
one and that is how we ended up with Carlos Newton.
MMAWeekly:
Phil Baroni, are we going to see him back in the UFC?
Dana:
Yeah, actually Phil emailed me the other day. He's been recovering
from his injuries and once he's ready to train, he'll start training.
He'll definitely be back.
MMAWeekly:
You talked about an interim heavyweight title. Are you still
thinking about doing that maybe with some of the other guys?
Dana:
We were talking about doing that because of the situation we
were in for Japan. I think we'll wait for Frank Mir to come back.
Make it the actual title shot; especially if, it is in June.
If he is ready to go by June.
MMAWeekly:
Here's your problem, you've got so many guys who are banged up.
I mean, Tim Sylvia, another guy with a major surgery. Have you
heard about how Tim's doing and when do you expect him to fight?
Dana:
He's doing great and he's expecting himself to be able to fight
by February. I don't know if that's true but I know he's training.
He's training right now.
MMAWeekly:
A lot of fans want to know a time table for a title for the guys
at 185.
Dana:
I think we're about a show away. I think we could probably have
a title fight in February.
MMAWeekly:
Are there two guys who stand above the others in your opinion,
at 185?
Dana:
Obviously David Terrell skyrocketed himself to the top of that,
you know, the division. Evan Tanner obviously. I'd say those
two right now.
MMAWeekly:
So is that a possibility, those two for the title in February?
Dana:
Don't know. Could be. Depends on what happens with him and Robbie
Lawler.
MMAWeekly:
True. The rest of the heavyweight picture, why did you get rid
of Ricco Rodriguez and Pedro Rizzo?
Dana:
Well, Pedro Rizzo, at the time that Pedro Rizzo left, Pedro was
in a, you know, he wasn't letting his legs and hands go. I just
think mentally, Pedro was in a bad place. I love Pedro Rizzo.
He's a great guy. He's one of my favorite fighters. I don't think
he's mentally, you know, I hear rumblings that he's going to
pop up in Japan, but I would bring Pedro Rizzo back at anytime.
He had some issues he was working on mentally with his game.
Who else did you ask me about?
MMAWeekly:
Ricco.
Dana:
Yeah, Ricco. Yeah, I don't really know what Ricco is up to. I
have no clue what Ricco Rodriguez is doing.
MMAWeekly:
Same thing with him, he's coming off a loss, that's the reason
why you guys let him go?
Dana:
Yeah. His contract had expired and we never went forward. We
never went forward after that.
MMAWeekly:
Sean Sherk, will he ever be back in the UFC?
Dana:
I don't know. It's possible that everybody could be back in the
UFC. Right off the top of my head, who knows. Sean Sherk could
definitely be back.
MMAWeekly:
Dana, UFC 50, let's talk about that. Up coming here in a couple
of weeks, Atlantic City, you're going back to Atlantic City.
Talk about the situation there. How's things going? How's ticket
sales been going and you guys are finally going back to the East
Coast, your impressions about that.
Dana:
It's been a while since we've been back in New Jersey. Ticket
sales are great. Yeah, everything's fine. We're moving right
along.
MMAWeekly:
You mentioned this is kind of a card to showcase Tito coming
back, Robbie Lawler coming back. Let's talk a little bit about...
Dana:
Matt Hughes too. If Matt Hughes can win his title back. George
St.Pierre is so talented. That kid is so talented.
MMAWeekly:
Yeah, he's one of the young guys, definitely, that could make
a statement, especially this up coming fight. With that situation,
with Hughes winning the title, if he does win the title for whatever
time he's defended it now, where does that leave you guys as
far as the future goes? Does the Charuto/Trigg fight, I know
Trigg probably wants to know about this. Is that maybe the next
match up for Matt Hughes?
Dana:
That's a big fight. Absolutely, that's a huge fight. I'm very
interested in that fight.
MMAWeekly:
If Trigg wins, does he get a title shot?
Dana:
More than likely yeah.
MMAWeekly:
Don't screw it up Trigg. [laughs].
Dana:
You guys have played up the whole Frank Trigg gets in trouble
too much thing. What, is he trying to be the Dennis Rodman of
MMA? He doesn't get in trouble that much.
MMAWeekly:
Yeah, that's true. He's got to stop flipping off his opponent
when he wins but he's following in Tito's foot steps I guess.
Dana:
There's nothing wrong with that. When your emotions are running
and you're fighting a guy that you really wanted to beat. At
least, that's what I thought the case was. [laughs]
MMAWeekly:
Dana, Atlantic City is the next coming venue. We were going to
go to Japan but it didn't work out. February, do we have a location
for that yet?
Dana:
Yeah, it's February in Vegas. It's Super Saturday.
MMAWeekly:
Oh, OK. So it's going to be that Super Bowl weekend?
Dana:
Yep.
MMAWeekly:
Very nice. Do we know the location yet?
Dana:
Mandalay Bay.
MMAWeekly:
Hey Dana, talk about Las Vegas. They really raised this sport.
When you go to Vegas now, you know, we've got taxi cab drivers
talking about it. People, it's always been a buzz. It's always
been a hot bed. You guys always continue to sellout every time
you go to Las Vegas. Do you feel like Las Vegas, it's kinda become
our second home, but is there another area you guys want to explore
to try to get to that point where Las Vegas is right now?
Dana:
There's nothing like Vegas. Vegas is the best. It's good to go
to the East Coast. New Jersey's been good. There's some hiccups
with New Jersey but I really love Mohegan Sun too. Mohegan's
been great for us. Over the last couple of years, Mohegan, Atlantic
City and Vegas and that's it. And we spend the majority of the
time in Vegas.
MMAWeekly:
I know you set goals for what you want to accomplish. Now that
you've got the Fox Sports Network deal- four fight deal- take
me through 2005. This will actually be the last show of 2004.
What do you expect for 2005? What do you want to try and accomplish
this up coming year?
Dana:
I've been talking about it for the last three and a half years;
my five year plan that I had. Man I've done everything, I've
done everything that I wanted to do in the first five years.
Now, let's make these two TV shows as successful as we can and
hopefully parlay them into a, you know, a big major deal. It
will really put MMA on the map. I think that this fight show
is the educational piece to educate people, let them see what
these guys are all about, see what the sport is. And then the
Fox shows, you know, they're exciting fights so it will be some
of our best fights that we've ever had. They'll be exciting and
I think some of these athletes will be able to showcase their
skills in front of millions of people for the first time. Then
just build off of that, just like we did with the venues. I mean,
the first time that we did our first event, it was at the Trump
Taj. We sold 3500 tickets and now we've had some of these fights
do 11,000-12,000 seats. I want to do the same thing now on television.
MMAWeekly:
You mention Fox Sports Net was afraid of the ground and things
of that nature.
Dana:
Everybody is. Every network.
MMAWeekly:
Is Spike TV the same way?
Dana:
Every network is terrified of the sport.
MMAWeekly:
With that said Dana, it puts you guys in a tough situation because,
I mean, obviously you've got to be scratching your head wondering,
God is this ever going to be on weekly TV because of that.
Dana:
You know, at the end of the day, I think it is all about ratings.
We could pull the ratings, you know...
MMAWeekly:
With the WWE's relationship with Spike TV over the years, there's
been talk that Vince McMahon might be worried about the UFC.
About coming on Spike TV. Is there any concern about that? Obviously
they're doing a reality show but as far as a weekly television
show, do you think Vince McMahon would kind of step on you guys?
Dana:
I guarantee you Vince McMahon knows what's going on with us.
I guarantee he knows everything that's going on. Plus, we sell
DVD's and every week they come out with a scan and, you know,
it's WWE and us at the top of the sports genre. He knows what
we're doing but he's never in any way tried to shut us down or
hold us down or keep us down. I think, if anything, McMahon's
been supportive. There's no doubt, he's the most powerful guy
out there in sports, as far as getting on television and stuff
like that. He could have shut us down in two seconds if he wanted
to, but he hasn't. He never has, if anything, I think he's been
supportive.
MMAWeekly:
A lot of people want to know when is the next Chuck and Randy
fight going to be. Is there going to be a Chuck and Randy 2?
Dana:
Yeah, Chuck and Randy Couture will fight each other in April.
MMAWeekly:
Are you guys kinda setting that up on the TV show as well? That
eventual showdown between Chuck and Randy.
Dana:
Yeah, it's kinda like we're setting it up on there. They're the
two coaches and they're going to get a ton of exposure through
this show. So, yeah, you know, we're going to build those two
up and let more people know who Chuck and Randy are before the
Chuck and Randy fight.
MMAWeekly:
What about Jens Pulver and Jeremy Horn? Are we going to see Jens
and Jeremy back in the UFC?
Dana:
I tried to make Jeremy Horn a part of this television show and
he turned it down. He didn't want to do it.
MMAWeekly:
Really?
Dana:
Yeah.
MMAWeekly:
That's interesting. What about Pulver? He's been winning a lot.
He's been knocking guys out.
Dana:
I love Jens. Jens and I have been talking a lot and you never
know. Jens wants to be back. I want him to be back. We'll see
what happens.
MMAWeekly:
Good. We want to see him back.
Dana:
He's out there doing well. I mean, He's out there in a lot of
shows right now. He's got his head back and his career back on
track and he's in a good place. I'm happy to see him doing well
and being successful and we'll see what happens down the road.
MMAWeekly:
That would be good news. I mean, here's a guy who was, at one
time, undefeated in the octagon and I know the fans want to see
him back. I'd love to see you guys work it out.
Dana:
I've always liked Jens. A lot of these situations, you guys have
got to understand, it isn't me going, you're out of here. You
know what I mean? It's usually they make a business decision
and do what they're going to do and I want to move on. I have
to do what's right for my business too. It's not anybody's fault.
It's just that people make business decisions sometimes. People
go their own ways.
MMAWeekly:
Some people will say that you hold grudges.
Dana:
I have a temper and I get mad sometimes but I think anybody who's
ever dealt with me in the company, in the business. Ryan, you
and I had a moment.
MMAWeekly:
Sure.
Dana:
I always come around.
MMAWeekly:
Yes you do and I appreciate the flowers. Just kidding. [everyone
laughs] Dana seriously, I always appreciate it. You never side
step any of the tough questions. You are always kind enough to
answer the questions and that's why you've got to respect Dana
White, the UFC President. Dana, seriously, always a pleasure.
Thanks for making time for us as always. Good luck with the TV
show, with UFC 50 and everything. Congratulations on the four
fight deal, that's got to be exciting.
Dana:
I appreciate it. You guys take care.
MMAWeekly:
Thanks Dana.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"If you don't understand yourself you don't understand anybody
else."
Nikki Giovanni {American Poet}
|
Mayhem
and the "The Machine Gun"!
This Saturday
Night!
Get your Tickets Now!
October
16, 2004
Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park in Kapolei
Fights Start at 7:30 PM
Super
Brawl will see a change of venue and a stellar main event Saturday
night October 16th. The first annual Super Brawl "West Side
Pa'ina" will be held outdoors at the Hawaiian Waters Adventure
Park in Kapolei, Oahu. Atlanta's Jason "Mayhem" Miller
will challenge Hawaii's own Ronald "The Machine Gun" Jhun in the Main Event.
Super Brawl Promoter T. Jay Thompson will be putting the 170lb
Title Belt on the line for this exciting bout. "We've only
had two championship titles in Super Brawl's nine year history...we
reserve titles for very special occassions. The Jhun - Miller
fight is certainly deserving of this."
Jhun,
one of Super Brawl's most popular fighters, will be looking to
show the Hawaii fans once again, that he is one of the most dangerous
fighters in the sport.
With
his cocky swagger, brash self-promotion, and scrappy style, Miller
may be the most hated athlete ever to compete for the Super Brawl
fans. But Miller is more than just talk as he is undefeated in
the Super Brawl ring, with his biggest success coming against
Egan Inoue in Super Brawl 32. "After punishing Egan (Inoue),
I told the Hawaiians that I'd fight their toughest guy. Anytime.
Anywhere. I'm not sure why their sending me Jhun. They may call
him the "Machine Gun," but after October 16 all he'll
be shooting is blanks," boasted the confdent Miller of his
October 16 date with the Jhun.
Jhun
saw the Milller - Inoue fight up close as he was the event's
referee. "Yeah, I heard Miller call out any Hawaii's fighter
after Egan lost to him. He didn't have to look far 'cause I was
standing right there..."
More
details about Super Brawl 37 at the Hawaiian Waters Adventure
Park on October 16 to follow...
Superbrawl
37 Fight Card
Card subject to change
Main-Event
170lbs Title Fight
Ron "Machine Gun" Jhun vs Jason "Mayhem"
Miller
(808 Fight Factory) (Cobra Kai Ju-Jitsu)
Semi-Main
Event
Kai Kamaka vs Tony Espitia
(808 Fight Factory) (Kona Boxing)
MMA
Undercard 3 x 3 Minute Rounds
175
Shawn Taylor vs. Anthony Torres
(Freelance) (Grappling Unlimited)
145lbs
Kevin Delima vs. Kaipo Gonzales
(Bulls Pen) (Eastsidaz)
135lbs
Gerald "G Money" Arevalo vs. Mark Oshiro
(808 Fight Factory) (Bulls Pen)
170lbs
Lee Peneku vs. Jeff Burnett
(808 Fight Factory) (HMC)
170lbs
Dean Lista vs. Kaleo Kwon
(HMC) (Eastsidaz)
110lbs
Corey Ferriera vs. Phillip Williams
(808 Fight Factory) (Kona Boxing)
185lbs
Bryson Kamaka vs. Paulo Kamakuaina
(808 Fight Factory) (Animal House)
Kickboxing
3 x 1:30 Rounds
Harris Sarmiento vs. Ty Brawner
Stephen Paling IV vs. Keith Kagigawa
Jumar Dumaolao vs Chavin Mahuka
Tyson Nam vs. Chad Pavao
|
INTERVIEW
OF THE WEEK:
PART I WITH DANA WHITE
Say what you want about UFC President Dana White, but he has
always been very open about the agenda for the UFC and the goals
he has laid out for the upcoming year. White pulls no punches
with MMAWeekly Radio hosts Ryan Bennett and Frank Trigg in our
Interview of the Week.
MMAWeekly:
UFC President Dana White joins us right now, Dana how are you?
Dana
White: Morning guys.
MMAWeekly:
You're busy with the reality TV show. You've got this TV deal
signed. It's a crazy time for you. How are things going?
Dana:
We've got the fight card (UFC 50) coming up, it's been a rough
month.
MMAWeekly:
Let's jump right into this TV deal. Talk a little bit about this.
How did this all come about? I know it takes a long process.
You've been working hard on it.
Dana:
What happened was, I had this deal already. I actually had other
deals than this a long time ago, you know, when we were going
to announce that we had that TV deal. One of the guys who was
running Fox Sports Net, at the time, went over to handle some
of their accusations over in Europe and the new guy that came
in did not like the UFC or Mixed Martial Arts at all. He basically
put a stop to the whole deal. Every since then, we've been working
on these guys.
Greenberg
was one of the big producers over there, is a believer in the
UFC. He saw the ratings that we did. Every time we've ever been
on anything, whether it was The Best Damn Sports Show, the two
Fox shows that we did, Carson Daly, no matter who we've been
on, even American Casino, we've done the best ratings they've
ever done, every time the UFC is on any of this stuff. I mean,
the frustrating part about this whole thing is, we've always
pulled the numbers. We've always done what TV people love, is
pull ratings. But, it is just how terrified the general public
is of this sport. It took this long to get the deal done.
MMAWeekly:
So you get it done, you got a four fight deal and it all starts
on October 17th. You've got some great matches, of course Tito
against Chuck, Robbie Lawler verses Nick Diaz. Is this going
to be similar to what we saw a couple of years back with three
matches in the hour or how is that going to work?
Dana:
That's exactly what it is. This is only going to be two but it's
the same format. But what we did is, when we did those other
shows on Fox, we did these big things on the fighters and they
kinda told a little bit about themselves. This time, it's going
to look just like the UFC show. It's going to look just like
the pay-per-view only there will be only two fights.
MMAWeekly:
Gotcha.
Dana:
The reality is, a lot of the fans have already seen these fights
but this is really for everybody else in this country that didn't,
and to kind of educate and show a couple of our good fights.
MMAWeekly:
So we'll have this one on October 17th and then how's it going
to go? Monthly or do we know the other format for the other three
shows yet?
Dana:
Every quarter. This one, October 17th, is going to run and then
the next three dates will be determined, but we'll probably build
them around our pay-per-views. I would say the next one will
probably be right before the February show.
MMAWeekly:
Dana, I know we are taking baby steps and everyone's got to be
excited to have the four fights. How far away, what do you think
it would take to get to the point where Fox Sports Net jumps
on and says, OK we like the ratings, we like the way we're going,
let's do a weekly show? How far away we and what do we have to
do to get to that point?
Dana:
It's going to be all about the ratings. I think right now we're
in a very strong position. If this reality show goes well and
these Fox shows do well, we're going to do some ratings. Some
other television we're going to be on; American Casino when they
aired the UFC one, the highest ratings they've ever done.
MMAWeekly:
Nice.
Dana:
So, Now they want UFC on there again. So, we're going to have
some UFC fights on American Casino again and then there's a new
show coming out. It's a motorcycle show called Southern Steel
and their first three hour episode on Discovery is about the
UFC. We're building two UFC choppers right now. So their first
ever episode, the guys came to the last UFC and shot a bunch
of stuff so that's going to be a UFC show. We've got a ton of
UFC on television right now. It's going to be all about the ratings.
If these things do great ratings, trust me, we're going to have
a monster TV deal in no time.
MMAWeekly:
That will be great. That will be outstanding. Who's the manufacturers
of the choppers being built? Are you going to tell us the company
that builds the UFC choppers?
Dana:
Yeah, they're called Milwaukee Iron I think is the name of the
bike company.
MMAWeekly:
Oh yeah, they got big on Orange County Choppers. They've helped
out those guys.
Dana:
Yeah, they are they guys that did the tanks for them or something.
MMAWeekly:
Yeah, exactly.
Dana:
They're going to deliver them to us at the Atlantic City show.
MMAWeekly:
Nice. Dana, I've got an idea for you. Do you have your pen and
pencil out? Are you ready to take some notes here?
Dana:
I've got my pen and pad out.
MMAWeekly:
Dana, here's what I want you to do. If Frank Trigg is on his
best behavior for UFC 50. He beats Charuto, looks impressive
doing it, doesn't become a clown after the fight, does what he
is supposed to do, how about we see Frank Trigg and Dennis Hallman
on Fox Sports Network?
Dana:
Yeah, absolutely. Here's the problem though. Here's the other
thing that we face that people don't really understand. The first
show on Fox is Tito Ortiz verses Chuck Liddell and Nick Diaz
verses Robbie Lawler. What do those two fights have in common?
MMAWeekly:
It sounds like they want stand up fights.
Dana:
Terrified of the ground. They think that it is absolutely gory
and horrifying to see a guy getting hit on the ground.
MMAWeekly:
So it's not that it's boring, it's that they're worried about..
Dana:
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not even about being boring. They think
it's horrifying. They think it's terrible. Until we break that.
That's why I was originally I was chirping about I didn't like
the reality show but the reality show hopefully is going to educate
a lot of people and open a lot of doors. One thing I love about
Spike, the one thing that I hate about the TV industry is none
of them have the balls to do something new. Somebody comes up
with a great idea and everybody copies everybody else. You know
what I mean? The thing that I like about Spike is Spike had the
balls to put the UFC on and showcase Mixed Martial Arts. Trust
me guys, we did a lot of work on this thing man. A TV deal was
far away. It was very, very tough to get. It was probably the
hardest thing that I anticipated. I didn't anticipate how hard
it was going to be until I got into it.
MMAWeekly:
Talking about the reality show, I know there's a lot of things
you can't say. What can you say about this up coming reality
TV show?
Dana:
I can say this, it's going really, really well. Viacom and Spike
both love it. They're very, very amped with where we are right
now in this show and they're really going to start to get behind
it and support this thing. When I've seen what we've done so
far, I'm really happy with it. I think it's going to be a great
television show but I guarantee you a lot of great television
shows have aired on television and not done well. It depends
on the promotion and how many people want to tune in and see
it. We could come out with the greatest TV show ever but, if
people don't watch it, it's not doing to do well. I'll feel happy
and confident about it when it's on and doing great ratings.
MMAWeekly:
The basis of the show, I know you can't talk a whole lot about
it, but it's basically they put a lot of people into one house.
These are young and up and coming fighters. The winner gets a
UFC contract.
Dana:
Yep.
MMAWeekly:
How many people will have that shot that live in the house?
Dana:
There's some young guys, there's some middle level guys, and
there's some older guys who this could be there last hurrah if
they make it.
MMAWeekly:
I know you can't say much but what was the original number coming
into the house? Was there like twenty fighters?
Dana:
Yeah, I think it was eighteen.
MMAWeekly:
Eighteen fighters, they'll narrow it down to one and that guy
gets, what is it?
Dana:
They'll narrow it down to four and on the last episode, it will
be the first ever live Mixed Martial Arts fight on television.
MMAWeekly:
Wow, nice. Will there be a tournament then because there's four
guys?
Dana:
No, no. There's two weight classes. There's light heavy and middle.
MMAWeekly:
Oh I see, OK. Very cool.
Dana:
Anybody who's ever done it, it's been a taped show where you
could edit if anything went wrong but then again, another ballsy
move by Spike.
MMAWeekly:
Where are they going to do that one at? Will it be there at the
place?
Dana:
No, it will be in Vegas. It will be in Vegas. We'll sell tickets
to it. It will be a real event.
MMAWeekly:
Nice. Dana, I want to flip sides here and go to BJ Penn here and I know the
legalities, there's not a whole lot you can say. Let me throw
this out there. I've talked with a few fans about this. Could
the UFC have avoided this whole situation if they would have
let BJ fight Bang Ludwig, see what would have happened? Basically,
if Ludwig would have knocked out BJ Penn, then would you guys
be more advantageous and say, bottom line, you lost, you're out
of the UFC?
Dana:
This isn't about Bang Ludwig and BJ. It is about, everybody knows.
It is no secret. If you hold our title, you can't fight somewhere
else. This is no secret. Everybody knows that and BJ's father
and his brother flew out and had dinner with Lorenzo and I. I
mean, you're talking people that I've had a relationship with
since we bought this company. They flew out and they asked me,
'Can we sign something with Japan? Can we do this. Can we do
that.' I told them flat out, 'No, you can't. If you guys want
to do something in Japan, I'll try and do something similar with
what I did with Chuck and Ricco. If you guys really want.' It's
not like BJ Penn has never gotten what he wanted out of the UFC.
We've always done the best by them and tried to take care of
them anyway we could. We try that with all of our fighters. If
Frank Trigg seriously came to me and said, 'Dana, listen. I really
want to fight so and so in another show.' I would do everything
that I could to help him get that fight. You know. And there's
been more than just Chuck or anybody else that's come to me and
ask me that. They knew they couldn't do and they went and did
it anyway. They did what they wanted to do. They made a business
decision. This isn't the big drama scene that everyone is making
it sound like. Bottom line is, these guys knew they weren't supposed
to. They went and did it anyway. They made a business decision.
BJ Penn's a K-1 fighter now. I used to get all crazy about this
stuff but, there's nothing you can do. BJ fought in Rumble on
the Rock before but he wasn't our title holder.
MMAWeekly:
Bottom line, I understand where you are coming from with the
title holders. With this whole situation now, it's got to be
frustrating for you because you've seen this happen before where
you have to vacate titles, you have to have other guys fight
for the titles. Is there going to come a point, Dana, where we
go back to the early UFC's, where there's no title fights because
of all the contract disputes that you've had to go through?
Dana:
Um, I don't know man. It's an unfortunate part of the business
that's always going to happen. There's always going to be something.
Everyday that I wake up, I've been doing this for almost four
years now. Everyday that I get up, I get, when I leave the office
at seven or eight o'clock at night everything is all dialed in
and looking good. By seven o'clock the next morning, there's
drama coming out my ears, everyday when I wake up. It's always
going to be something. Just another day, another part of the
business.
MMAWeekly:
How do you keep, knowing that you've got the reality show going,
you've got the Fox Sport Net thing going on right now, and the
fights coming up, right now. Do you sit down and say OK, I can
spend two hours on this, half hour on this, and forty five minutes
on this, on this everyday or do you just run around and just
try to do the best job you can with however the fires are put
to you?
Dana:
The nice part, I usually have a list of what's going on the next
day to stay on track and stay on the list and bang things out
at the top but you basically just run around and get as much
stuff done as you can in a day. The lucky part for me is I have
a great staff. Great staff. My staff's really pulls together
and knocks a lot of it out. I've got a great staff. I couldn't
do half of the stuff I do if I didn't have the people that I
have with me.
MMAWeekly:
Why did you choose the Ortiz/Liddell fight for the Fox Sport
Net when Tito loses badly, just five days before Tito is a headliner
at UFC 50?
Dana:
Good point. Because what we're doing is, basically the fight,
UFC 50, is the return of Tito Ortiz and Robbie Lawler. You know,
to see if these guys can come back. Guys lose. That's part of
the game. Guys lose. The storyline is, are these guys going to
come back. Obviously it's the rubber match between Guy Mezger
and Tito but if Tito loses this fight, that's three loses in
a row for Tito.
MMAWeekly:
Where would that leave him with you guys?
Source: MMA Weekly |
RUMBLE
ON ROCK CARD COMING TOGETHER
November 20th, is shaping up to be a sensational card in Hawaii.
Rumble on the Rock promoters are putting together some great
fights in November.
The
main event of course will be BJ Penn vs Rodrigo Gracie. Penn will be giving up substancial
amount of weight, but as he told us recently on the radio show,
he wasn't concerened about it, he was just looking forward to
the opportunity of facing a bigger fighter at 185.
There
have been plenty of other names thrown around for the rest of
the card. Right now Rumble on the Rock is still trying to get
all the contracts signed, but the names that we continue to hear
are the following.
MMAWeekly
has heard that Wes Sims may now face Cabbage on the Rumble card. Some other names
that are being considered are a couple of contenders, including
a battle between a couple of UFC veterans. Joe Riggs vs Niko Vitale. Also mentioned on
the card is Ross
Ebanez vs
Jake Shields and Gilbert Melendez Kanyan Kaku. The card should
be firmed up by the end of the week.
Source: MMA Weekly |
SALAVERRY
RETURNS TO UFC
MMAWeekly is gearing up for UFC 50 and bringing you sixteen fighters
in sixteen days. On Monday, Ivan Salaverry appeared on MMAWeekly
SoundOff Radio as he prepares for his return to the octagon against
Trevor Prangley.
UFC
50 will be Salaverry's third fight for the UFC. At UFC 37, back
in May of 2002, Ivan defeated Andrei Semenov. Four months later
at UFC 39, Ivan lost to Matt Lindland and hasn't been back in
the UFC since. That is, until now.
Salaverry
is "very excited" to be back in the UFC and back in
front of the American market. He commented, "The UFC experience
is different than fighting in the ring. The cage has an intimidating
factor to it. It definitely does. You're closed up, you're in
the cage, you're in the American market, the audience. It's a
different feel, a different culture, a different experience and
it's exciting, very exciting at that."
Ivan
is in California helping Bob Sapp train for his big screen debut.
Sapp has been casted to be in a remake of "The Longest Yard."
While out there, Salaverry has been going by the R-1 training
center about four days a week and getting in some sessions with
Frank Trigg and crew, including Josh Barnett. Ivan said training
at R-1, "has been a wonderful experience." Cornering
Salaverry in his UFC 50 bout will be one of the following three
people; Maurice Smith, Josh Barnett or Bob Sapp.
About
his opponent, Trevor Prangley, Ivan seems to have done his research.
He said that Trevor is a great Judo fighter, an All-American
wrestler and, "he's got pretty good, strong punches."
Salaverry feels that the fight will be a strategic one. "This
guy is no one to mess around with or play with. He's going to
come out there very strong," said Ivan. Having said that,
Ivan added, "I'm going to slash him up."
It
was hard for Ivan to predict where this fight will go. He stated,
"I want to be the complete fighter. I don't want to just
be a wrestler or be a kickboxer or be a submission artist. I
want to do it all." He explained that when he sees a weakness
in his opponent, he will exploit that weakness to his advantage.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Danilo
Cherman fights at Shooto
Danilo Cherman had his named confirmed at the November 12's Shooto,
witch happens in Tokyo. The competition will be kind of a first
round of an eight-men-tournament of Welterweight fighters. The
actual category champion is Brazilian Vitor Shaolin. "They
were interested in somebody who has never fought at Shooto, so
we were able to set up Cherman," explained André
Pederneiras, Nova União's leader, who avoid the information
Cherman would replace Shaolin at the Japanese event: "No,
no, no. In fact we've always wanted those two athletes fighting
side by side. But Japanese did not allow us. Now we finally have
a chance," celebrated Pederneiras.
Early
this week, Pederneiras got in touch with Shooto's direction to
figure out the controversial involving Róbson Moura and
Mamoru. According to Pederneiras, the organizers will be getting
together with the referees to figure out the controversy. "We
hope they at least declare no contest or a draw. So a new title
fight would be re-scheduled," cheers Pederneiras.
COMPLETE
CARD (subject to change):
-
Takeshi Yamazaki Vs Danilo Cherman;
-
Kohei Yasumi Vs Jani Lax;
-
Yoichi Fukumoto Vs Justin Bruckman;
-
Koutetsu Boku Vs Aaron Riley;
-
Daisuke Sugie Vs Mitsuhiro Ishida;
-
Ryota Matsune Vs Kentaro Imaizumi.
Source: Tatame |
BJJ
champion rules skateboarding
When
the subject is BJJ, no one doubt Ronaldo Jacaré is one
of the best representatives of the modality nowadays. What nobody
knows is 4x world champion rules video game as well. During his
trip to US, besides impressing Americans with his BJJ skills,
Jacaré has been ruling a skateboard game (Tony Hawk/XBOX).
-
After the seminars, we took Jacaré for a walk and he saw
the Winter Games' place in Salt Lake City and ridded downhill.
But what impressed us the most was the fact he was damn good
at Tony Hawk game. Everybody submitted to him. I always thought
I was one of the best players in the game, but I have to say
he taught me a lesson!," said Robert Lovi, the man who brought
Brasa black belt to Utah.
Talking
about Brasa, BJJ world champion Felipe Costa is ready to travel
to Europe. Felipe departed to conduct seminars in Belgium, Germany,
Holland, Dinamark and England. 'I am happy I have been helping
guys to spread BJJ," celebrated Felipe.
Source: Tatame |
RJ:
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu invades Navy
With
500 fighters, Brazilian Navy has been working hard for BJJ's
development inside the armed forces. President of a navy commission,
admiral Adalberto Casaes thinks BJJ is important to militarist,
once they are trained at Navy School. "I guess it contributes
for their physical condition," believes the admiral, who
is BJJ black belt and first met Jiu-Jitsu at age 10, via Gracie
family.
-
Besides the admiration for Gracie, I started to practice Jiu-Jitsu
due to the self defense techniques," reminds Adalberto,
a 55 years old who had Armando Wriedt as pupil and also had classes
with Hélio Gracie and Reylson.
Thinking
of increasing BJJ in Navy, Casaes is organizing the first Campeonato
de Jiu-Jitsu da Marinha do Brasil. "As an old fighter I
had to enjoy this opportunity. This is only the beginning. I
want to take Jiu-Jitsu to national armed forces and who knows,
someday featuring a BJJ Militar Worlds, as Judo and Tae Kwon
Do. Once we are the best over the modality, we need to do it,"
stated.
On
next October 16, over 110 militarists will be fighting the tournament.
The event will be held at Centro de Educação Física
Adalberto Nunes (Cefan). The competition will be divided in weight
divisions: under 73kg and over 73kg and in belt graduations:
white, blue, purple, brown and black. The refereeing will be
commanded by master Carlos Gracie Júnior. The event is
open to the public.
Source: Tatame |
Quote
of the Day
"Everything you are against weakens you. Everything you
are for empowers you."
Wayne Dyer {American Psychotherapist & Author}
|
1998
Acura Integra GS-R For Sale
There comes a time when a man must part with one of his prized
possessions and this is that time. I am selling my baby, a 1998
Acura Integra GS-R, loaded with goodies for $15,000.00. I know
what you are thinking. That sounds high for a 98. Well, take
a look at the page below if you are interested and see why I
have bumped up the price to at least get a little back from all
my money that I invested in this lean mean white machine.
http://www.onzuka.com/acura1.html
The
ad will hit the Buy and Sell this Friday so Onzuka.com readers
will have first crack at scooping up my car.
I'm
upgrading my fun car so I must part with this one. Everything
works as good as new and all maintenance has been done on time.
There is only about 46,000 miles on this car because I rarely
drive it now.
Email me if you are interested. I would like
to get the car off my hands as quickly as possible (before the
tears begin to flow).
|
Rumble
On The Rock News To Be Released Soon!
Onzuka.com caught up with ROTR promoter JD Penn at Punishment In Paradise and he promises
to quell all rumors about the fight card on Wednesday. He could
not release any information, but he did say that a lot of loose
ends should be tied up by Wednesday.
On a side
note:
BJ Penn was at Punishment
In Paradise and looks huge and solid as a rock. Rodrigo Gracie
will have his hands full. You had better believe that!
|
Older
Brother Accused of Cushion-Fort Prisoner Abuse
PARK CITY, UT—Following a probe into activities that allegedly
occurred inside a couch-cushion fort located in the basement
of the Nelson home, Keith, 11, has been accused of mistreatment,
abuse of power, and sitting on his 8-year-old brother Mark's
head for up to two minutes at a time.
Above: The fort where Keith (inset) allegedly abused his brother.
"What Mark told me was shocking," the boys' mother
Elizabeth said Monday. "According to Mark, he and Keith
were having fun playing Army until Keith captured Mark—which
is what usually happens, because Mark is smaller—and put
him inside the fort they'd made in the basement. I thought they
were playing nicely down there, but there's nothing nice about
noogies."
In
addition to farting in the fort's entrance and forcing Mark to
remain inside, Keith allegedly gave his brother Indian burns,
grundies, and a sustained wet willy. Keith also reportedly subjected
Mark to Chinese Finger Torture, by restraining him and methodically
tapping his forehead until he screamed "uncle." Chinese
Finger Torture was specifically outlawed by the Nelson family
in December 2003, during talks held at Grandma Keller's house.
"I
know boys are going to wrestle," Elizabeth said. "But
I told Keith never to do that finger-tapping thing. It drives
his brother absolutely crazy."
The
upholstered prison, named "Fort Awesome" by Keith and
Mark during a moment of unity, was made of cushions taken from
the family's old blue couch and reinforced with several blankets
and pillows. Although reportedly "grown-up proof,"
the fortress was slated for destruction even before the abuse
charges were raised.
"The
fortress was going to have to come down before dinner anyway,"
Elizabeth said. "But after this, you better believe it was
gone. I made Keith march right down there and put everything
away."
Although
he did not witness the incident, Mark's 8-year-old playmate Jacob
Oliveri said he can corroborate Mark's psychological-abuse charges.
"Once,
when we were playing in the woods behind my house, Keith said
he wanted to show us something," Oliveri said. "After
we'd walked like 10 minutes, he told us to cover our eyes and
count to 50 before opening them. When we opened our eyes, Keith
was gone. We had to find our own way home."
Above: Implements of torture Keith stands accused of using on
his brother.
Elizabeth said the stress that Keith has experienced during his
first weeks in the sixth grade, and the fact that Mark "can
be very bratty," may have contributed to the alleged abuse.
"I'm
not going to say that Mark is completely innocent," Elizabeth
said. "He sometimes gets a little too big for his britches.
But that doesn't mean I'm going to look the other way when Keith
forces Mark to smell his socks. Keith is older, and he should
know better."
Elizabeth
debriefed the boys' father Paul when he arrived home from work.
While Paul pledged that the abuses would not go unpunished, he
said he was not overly concerned about the charges.
"I
had a talk with Keith and told him that he should be setting
a better example for his brother," Paul said. "But
if you ask me, Liz is overreacting. Boys will be boys. Although
things probably did go a little too far, Keith was just playing.
That's what big brothers do. And, when Mark reaches the upper
grades, he's going to have to take care of himself. He's not
going to have his mother to run to every time something happens."
Although
Keith's PlayStation privileges have been revoked for a week,
some experts say that punishment will only create a more hostile
home environment.
"Taking
away PlayStation rights may have been a mistake," said Dr.
Ted Nealman, a noted child psychologist. "It's only going
to create unnecessary resentment against Mark. Additionally,
the public nature of the revocation means that every time the
neighbors see siblings engaging in innocent tussling, they're
going to sound the alarm. That's unfortunate, because, throughout
the neighborhood, older brothers tend to do an excellent job
of keeping their younger brothers out of trouble."
Thanks goes to Harris B. for bring this atrocity to our attention
(chuckle, chuckle).
Source:
The Onion |
Euphoria
MFC Fighter: Interview with TRAVIS WIUFF
by: Keith Mills
Travis Wiuff has gone through several phases to his career, so
fans who think of him either for his Extreme Challenge/SuperBrawl
Heavyweight tournament series or his UFC performances are a couple
phases behind Travis now. In 2002 Travis fought eleven times
with three losses, two in the Extreme Challenge/SuperBrawl series
and one in the UFC. In 2003 he fought sixteen times with only
one loss in Rumble On The Rock. In both years his wins outnumbered
his losses but weren’t as noticeable as the higher level
shows at which he lost. Then he joined Team Extreme. Now Travis
has taken quality over quantity of fights and given a lot more
focus to training, with a 2004 record of “only” 6-0
but finally with a win on a well-distributed show when he beat
Roman Zentsov in MFC’s first show.
Now
Travis is getting ready for Euphoria MFC’s second show where
he faces Zentsov’s teammate Ibragim Magomedov.
KM:
What do you think of your opponent Ibragim Magomedov? TW: Honestly
I don’t know a lot about him. I talked to (Dave) Strasser
who has seen him fight and (Ben) Rothwell who has actually fought
him and gave me a description of him but I’ve never seen
video of him. I think he is pretty typical of most Russians.
They are real tough fighters, real good standup, but not much
for wrestling background, not much for ground game. Other than
that I don’t know a lot about him.
KM:
Does who you face change your training at all? TW: No, it doesn’t
actually. I try to improve my weaknesses and keep improving my
strengths. I’m always working on submission defense, always
working on striking, and continue to wrestle. I try to worry
a little less about what my opponent is doing and try to concentrate
more on my strengths and weaknesses.
KM:
Does that not being able to see video on him affect your training
at all? TW: No, not really. I think I know how it’s going
to go. Either he’s going to knock me out on my feet or I’m
going to take him down and ground-and-pound him. I’ll be
very surprised if he tries to take me down or if I try to stand
and bang with him. I try to improve on my weaknesses and keep
trying to perfect my game which is ground-and-pound, take him
down and finish him on the ground.
KM:
This is a multi-show tournament but you were supposed to be in
that IFC Sturgis tournament. How do you feel about tournaments
or going into later rounds in a single fight? TW: I’m very
confident in my cardio. I’ve concentrated on that more than
anything. I’d say cardio is 70-80% of a fight. If you are
lacking in that area it’s going to be a long night for you.
KM:
When you do a one-night tournament is it more important to explode
and get the fight over with or is there any pacing involved?
TW: I don’t do anything different. I finished five opponents
either in the first or early in the second round. I think I can
pick up the pace for a fairly long time because my cardio is
doing so well right now. I’m not going to go out in the
first round and try to finish them quick. If it ends quick that
is great.
KM:
The last two fights of yours I saw (Extreme Challenge 58, MFC)
you had a very aggressive style, overpowering. Both ended with
doctor’s stoppages due to cuts. That was noticeably different
from your fights in the Ultimate Wrestling and Extreme Challenge
shows I saw before you hit UFC. How do you look back at those
recent two and is that the Travis Wiuff of now? TW: Definitely
for a while at the beginning of my fighting career I did lay-and-pray
too much and I got a bad reputation for doing that. Obviously
now with trying to get the sport more mainstream people don’t
want to see that. I totally understand that and am trying to
get rid of it, trying not to do that anymore. A cut is obviously
not the most exciting way to finish a fight…
KM:
Could be more exciting than a decision… TW: Exactly. Better
than just laying there not doing anything. I just go out there
and try to take care of business and if that is how it ends then
that is how it ends.
KM:
I remember at EC we were talking about you being lighter now
than you used to fight. You were around 240? TW: Yeah, I’ve
been around 240 for the past six months. I feel much better and
I feel my standup is coming along, a lot of which I feel is the
little bit of weight I’ve dropped. Obviously the cardio
is a lot better. I’ll never get much heavier than 250 and
about a week out I’ll get close to 240.
KM:
What weight are you planning on fighting at? TW: I’ll be
pretty light. I’ll probably come in around 230.
KM:
You are also getting a reputation for being a great choice for
last-minute substitute for high level fights. Obviously that
is a great way to get into the UFC and you are still pulling
off victories against high level opponents with little notice
but how do you feel about that reputation? TW: For the Brazil
thing (H.E.A.T. December 2003 against Carlos Barreto) Monte (Cox)
said there was a possibility I could be on the card so I was
training for that. For Euphoria MFC the same thing; he said if
any of the heavyweights did get injured I’d be the first
replacement so be ready. It just happened both times he was correct.
Obviously I love training so I don’t feel I’m putting
in time that is unnecessary.
KM:
Now you have been scheduled from the start for this show. Do
you feel the suffering in the trenches and being the replacement
fighter has paid off? TW: It’s obviously a whole different
situation. First time I fought in Atlantic City I didn’t
know about it until two days prior. Flew out there, next day
got all my medicals done, and the very next day I fought. We’ve
known about this for at least two months so it’s a little
bit different situation but I’m always training and always
ready to fight, this time I’ve just had a little bit longer
to prepare for it.
You
can see the results of this preparation on October 15th at Euphoria
MFC at the Tropicana in Atlantic City. In part 2 we talk more
about his last fight and his change in training making him a
‘new’ Travis.
Source: ADCC |
Randy
Couture: Acting 'Naturally'
Albany Democrat Newspaper
The following article appeared in the Albany Democrat Newspaper
in New York
Randy Couture: Acting 'Naturally'
Randy
Couture has a body fit for an Ultimate Fighting Championship
titleholder. Known in UFC circles as "The Natural,"
his sculpted muscles are worthy of display on Venice Beach.
At
41, he is powerful enough to knock off all challengers in the
UFC light heavyweight division, and he has. In August, Couture
regained his championship belt by pummeling Vitor Belfort.
Couture's
face? Well, decades of slaps, head-butts and face-plants into
the mat as a wrestler have left the edges a bit rough. Not a
mug likely to be seen on your favorite soap opera.
But
a perfect fit for reality TV.
Couture,
a former Oregon State University assistant wrestling coach who
has returned to his hometown of Gresham, is in Las Vegas working
on a UFC reality show. It is slated to air on Spike TV at the
beginning of next year.
The
possibility of an ultimate fighting show was brought to Couture
a few months ago and he jumped at the opportunity. Work should
wrap up in November.
"I
think it will be a great vehicle for our sport," Couture
said. "It will be a great way to break down some of those
walls and show people that we're not just a bunch of Neanderthals
that like to beat people up."
Couture
and fellow UFC star Chuck Liddell are training a group of fighters
who are competing for a chance at a televised bout.
The
fighters are all trained in martial arts and have been competing
around the country. Two each from two weight classes will wind
up with a chance at stardom.
"We'll
basically put them through training and eliminate them as we
go," Couture said. "We'll get down to two and those
two will fight on the first-ever UFC on free television."
Couture
said the show has twists every day. In part, it focuses on his
personality and style as he works with his pupils.
"The
whole thing is a weird experience," he said. "It's
hard to say (where the show will go). It's certainly not over
yet."
A
match with Liddell is a likely scenario after the show. Liddell
recently knocked out Tito Ortiz and Couture won his third fight
with Belfort.
Couture
had defeated Ortiz to win the title, but lost it to Belfort in
another bout that lasted only about 20 seconds. The stitching
on Belfort's glove sliced Couture's left eye and the fight was
stopped.
In
th! eir most recent duel, it was Belfort's turn to lose due to
a cut, though Couture dominated the fight and took Belfort down
in each of the three rounds.
"I
was putting him on the ground where his stand-up skills are more
or less neutralized and I was hitting him and scoring from there,"
Couture said. "I hit him with a lot of blows. It wasn't
a very good night for him."
The
win set Couture back on top of the light heavyweight class and
continues a career that has resulted in bigger paychecks and
better opportunities than wrestling. He plans to continue taking
fights as long as he is able to compete at a high level.
"Even
when I started it was still a lot more money than I had made
doing anything else. It has certainly gotten a lot more now that
I've become one of the more popular fighters in the sport,"
he said.
"This
is still a fledgling sport and still misunderstood by a lot people.
Now we have a lot of tough, well-trained, top athletes who are
very good at what they do. It's really gaining in popularity
and the money certainly has gotten a lot better."
And
TV stardom may be just around the corner.
--
By Kevin Hampton, Mid-Valley Sports
Source: MMA Weekly |
GRAPPLERS
QUEST WEST FEATURES
GRACIE VS. LAIMON
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"The
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Quest West in Las Vegas on November 6th!
Special
Guests to Attend: Helio Gracie, Frank Mir, Rorion Gracie, Chuck
Liddell, Kevin Jackson and many more!
When:
Saturday, November 6th, 2004
Where: Durango High School
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Las Vegas, Nevada 89113-1104
Weigh-Ins
Start at 8:00 AM, Children/Teen Divisions Start at 10:00 AM
Pre-Register
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--->GRACIE
vs. LAIMON Superfight Details:
- Time Limit: 30 minutes
- Match Rules: IGJJF Rule available at - http://www.igjjf.com/openchamp_official_rulesNEW.html
- All Submissions Legal
The
1st ever Grapplers Quest Absolute Superfight Champion, Marc Laimon
(Cobra Kai) will be taking on the Pride of the GRACIE family,
grandson of Master Helio Gracie and Gracie Jiu Jitsu Black Belt,
RYRON GRACIE in a 30 minute no-gi superfight.
Stay
tuned for a complete and controversial Marc Laimon "Superfight
Preview" interview by early next week
Ryron and Rorion Gracie’s Pre-Fight Interview will follow
soon after. Keep checking your email boxes for GQ Breaking News
Also
on the Main Superfight Card will be Three of the most stacked
4-Man Tournaments (**Elite Grapplers needed**) ever assembled
on U.S. Soil including:
--->Lightweight
(66 kg and Under):
1) Sandro "Batata" Santiago, Ralph Gracie Black Belt
Instructor, 2-Time Pan American Black Belt Champion
2) Jeff "The Pipelayer" Glover, Paragon Jiu Jitsu,
7-Time Grapplers Quest Champion
3-4) Send your resumes to: President@Grapplers.com
--->Welterweight
(76 kg and Under):
1) Dave Camarillo, Ralph Gracie Black Belt and American Kickboxing
Academy Instructor
2) Tyrone Glover, Cassio Werneck, Grapplers Quest Superfight
Champion
3-4) Send your resumes to: President@Grapplers.com
--->Light
Heavyweight (up to 99 KG):
1) Jamal Patterson, 2004 ADCC North American Qualifier Champion,
Renzo Gracie
2) Denis Kang, 2003 ADCC North American Qualifier Champion
3) Rafael Lovato, Jr., Machado Black Belt, Arnold Gracie World
Champion
4) Mike Rose, Caique Black Belt
*Alternate:
Eduardo Telles, Co-Founder of new TT Team (Terere/Telles), Brazilian
Jiu Jitsu Black Belt, Multi-Title Pan American and World Champion
Source: MMA Weekly |
Judo
Whiz Akiyama Goes Pro
Written by Monty DiPietro.
TOKYO,
October 6, 2004 -- It was announced today in a press conference
at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo that Yoshihiro Akiyama, a seven-time
Judo Champion, will make his professional debut in the K-1 ROMANEX
ring.
Akiyama's
silver-highlighted spiked hair and tanning-salon bronze complexion
turned heads at the World Judo Championships last September.
For traditionalists, his style bordered on irreverence. At the
same event, the 29 year-old fighter's controversial "judogi"
(judo jacket) drew protests from France, Mongolia and Turkey,
earning him something of a bad boy reputation.
Born
and based in Osaka, Akiyama stands 179cm and weighs in at 85kg,
which he terms his "ideal weight." Superior leg techniques
characterize his aggressive, crowd-pleasing style, which K-1
and Akiyama alike believe will translate well into the ROMANEX
ring.
He
may look contemporary, but today, speaking in hushed tones, Akiyama
paid tribute to Judo's roots. "In the early 19th century,
there was a Japanese Judo master named Mitsuyo Maeda who traveled
the world promoting his art -- in Brazil, he became known as
"Conde Koma" [Count Koma]," Akiyama told the more
than 100 reporters and photographers present. "Now, I am
becoming a professional fighter, and like Mitsuyo Maeda, I want
to show the whole world what Judo is all about -- I want to be
an ambassador for the spirit of Judo!"
Akiyama
will debut against a yet to be announced opponent at the K-1
Dynamite event, set for the Osaka Dome this New Year's Eve.
Source: MMA Weekly |
ARE
YOU THE NEXT PRIDE FIGHTING SUPERSTAR?
Dream Stage Entertainment, organizers of the PRIDE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS,
will be conducting their first ever talent search in the United
States on Saturday, November 20, 2004 on the UCLA campus in Los
Angeles. Are YOU the next PRIDE FIGHTING SUPERSTAR? Audition
participants will be given a rare opportunity to showcase their
skills in front of PRIDE’s decision-makers and selected
finalists will be offered a contract to compete in a BUSHIDO
or PRIDE event. Criteria will include striking skills, grappling
ability, and personality. In attendance will be PRIDE FIGHTING
stars, major media, and other special guests! Besides the auditions,
participants at the event will also be eligible for prizes and
giveaways.
DO
YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?
Audition
Date: Saturday, November 20, 2004
Location: University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)
Venue: Student Activities Center (next to the John Wooden Center)
Interested
in participating? For more details and the application form,
visit pridefc.com
Source: Pride |
Quote
of the Day
"In every person who comes near you look for what is good
and strong; honor that;
try to imitate it, and your faults will drop off like dead leaves
when their time comes."
John Ruskin, 1819-1900, English Philosopher
|
Punishment
In Paradise Results
Punishment In Paradise 7: Bragging Rights
Kapolei High School Gym, Ewa Beach, Hawaii
October 10, 2004
By Chris Onzuka - Chris@Onzuka.com
Punishment
in Paradise returned to Kapolei High School gym and featured
many fighters who made their kickboxing debuts. The buzz around
this show was the two main events, featuring the up and comer
out of 808 Fight Factory, Bryson Kamaka taking on Team Big Dogs'
top dog, Wayne Perrin. The first round had both fighters taking
it to each other, but before you had to choose who won the round,
Perrin landed a flush shot that sent Kamaka to the canvas. Kamaka
seemed to gain ground in the second round. Both fighters were
visibly tired in the third round, but Perrin seemed to land harder
blows and Kamaka's early flurry ended with Perrin finishing stronger
and earning the unanimous decision.
The
other co-main event featured Amateur Fighting Champion, PJ Dean
taking on a fighter that has been garnering a lot of attention,
a Toughman champion, breaking into MMA, Jay Carter. Carter trains
with BJ Penn, so his quality of training is at a high caliber.
Both fighters wanted to display their power early in the fight.
PJ looked to be the sharper striker, but Carter did not seemed
phased by Dean's blows. Carter looked to be the physically stronger
fighter and Dean had to stay active. Unfortunately, Dean fatigued
after the end of the first round. After the fight Dean made no
excuses, but said that he had some physical problems while training
for the fight. Keep your eyes on Carter, he may be the next big
thing in Hawaii.
Exhibition
Kickboxing Bout (3 Rounds - 1 Minute)
Zack Rapal (Freelance, Waianae) vs. Jamar Damar (808 Fight Factory,
Kailua)
Draw
Exhibition
Kickboxing Bout (3 Rounds - 1 Minute)
Jonathan Talaro (808 Fight Factory, Waipahu) vs. Zane Kamaka
(Waianae)
Kamaka was a no show.
Boxing
Bout (3 Rounds - 1 Minute)
Brandon Kaliikane (Animal House, Ewa Beach) def. Rob Hemma (Dogs
4 Life, Waianae)
Unanimous decision after 3 rounds.
Exhibition
Kickboxing Bout (3 Rounds - 1 Minute)
Duke Saragosa (808 Fight Factory, Wahiawa) Vs. John Visante Jr.
(Dogs 4 Life, Waianae)
Draw
Featherweight
MMA Bout (2 Rounds - 3 Minutes)
Kaipo Gonzales (Eastsidaz, Kailua) def. Lauren Torry (Hilo, Hawaii)
TKO via referee stoppage due to broken nose in Round 1.
Punishment
In Paradise Kickboxing Superfight (3 Rounds - 2 Minutes)
Wayne Perrin III (Team Big Dogs, Waianae) def. Bryson Kamaka
(808 Fight Factory)
Unanimous decision after 3 rounds.
Punishment
In Paradise Kickboxing Superfight (3 Rounds - 2 Minutes)
Jay Carter (BJ Penn MMA, Hilo) def. PJ Dean (Bad Intentions)
TKO via verbal submission due to exhaustion after the end of
Round 1.
|
Euphoria's
'ROAD TO THE TITLES' Gets Off To Euphoric Start This Friday in
Atlantic City!
TROPICANA CASINO, ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY
Friday Night, October 15th, 2004
Go
to TICKETMASTER's OFFICIAL SITE . Keywords: Euphoria Mixed Fighting
Championships
WEIGH
INS & PRESS CONFERENCES Scheduled for 2PM on Thursday, October
14th
'The
'ROAD TO THE TITLES' in Euhporia's lightweight and heavyweight
divisions is set to begin.' states excited matchmaker Miguel
Iturrate. 'Wednesday will be medicals and lisencing, and Wednesday
evening will be a live remote on radio and the fighters meet
the press for the first time.'
'The
Athletic Control Board has planned the weigh ins to start at
2PM on Thurday the 14th. This will include a rule meeting and
press conference. This is scheduled for the GREEN ROOM, at the
Tropicana Hotel. The fights are Friday night!'
Media
credentials are limited and going fast! Contact itur_miguel@yahoo.com
to secure press credentials.
8
MAN TOURNAMENTS TO CROWN CHAMPIONS HEATING UP!
'After
our first show, 'Russia v USA' last March, Euphoria wanted to
add structure, and crown champions. The idea of 8 man tournaments
with the finals in the spring came to mind. Our heavyweight tournament
will announce to the world the arrival of a new heavyweight champion,
and the lightweights is on paper, the best tournament to ever
occur at 155 lbs. This weekend, the ROAD to the TITLES begins!'
continues the matchmaker.
'Running
down the lightweights, RYAN SCHULTZ and DAVID GAONA are the alternates.
Schultz of Team Quest is the favorite, but you have to be impressed
with Gaona, who knows exactly what he is facing now for several
months, and he will be here to fight.'
'HENRY
MATAMOROS and RICH CLEMENTI will be one for the ages.' states
the matchmaker. 'Both are showmen, and both hate losing more
than anything. Both have big local reputations, and are looking
to break thru with this tournament, so this has potential fight
of the night written all over it'
'HERMES
FRANCA and PHIL JOHNS pits two former HOOKnSHOOT champions. Most
fans are picking Franca, but nothing motivates Johns more than
being the underdog. Look for Phil to be explosive with his wrestling,
and G & P. This will be a test for Franca, dont underestimate
Johns'.
SERGEI
GOLYAEV (RED DEVIL, St Petersburg, Russia) against JOACHIM HANSEN
pits two of Europe's top fighters, in a match with international
appeal. Golyaev is a big puncher, and Hansen is tested under
fire. We will see how they handle the pressure of fighting in
the USA.'
'NAOYUKI
KOTANI against YVES EDWARDS is the feature bout of the tournament.
Kotani is the ZST in Japan's poster boy, and he comes from a
HUGE win in September, while Edwards is a UFC star that also
comes off a historic fight. This is submission versus strikes
at the highest level.'
'In
the heavyweights, JOHNATHAN WIEZOREK, who is undefeated in mixed
fights takes on brawler BEN ROTHWELL as the alternate bout. Two
young up and comers, this should be explosive. Wiez especially,
feels he has something to prove after a lukewarm UFC performance.'
'TRAVIS
WIUFF versus IBRAGIM MAGOMEDOV - many are saying the tournament
winner comes from this match. Magomedov is unquestionably tough,
with a 10-1 record, and Wiuff is on a roll. We will see if Wiuff
can impose his wrestling, his will on Magomedov, who will have
KO power in both hands thoughout the fight.'
'ULISSES
CASTRO of CANADA brings heavy hands to his match with Kerry ’Meat
Truck’ Schall. Schall brings a lot of experience, and great
ground work for a big man. Schall is also the biggest guy in
the tornament, so we will see if Castro can handle the Meat Truck.'
'JEFF
MONSON takes on the local hero, PAT STANO. Stano is a banger,
and Monson brings a lot of saavy to the ring, with his submission
and wrestling background.'
'ROMAN
ZENTSOV faces ANTOINE JOAUDE in the final bout of the night.
Zentsov is Russia's M-1 Champion, and Joaude is Florida's AFC
champion. Joaude also comes from competing in the Olympics representing
Brazil in wrestling. A tribute to the level of athlete Euphoria
is attracting.'
The
entire card appears below and is subject to the approval of the
New Jersey State Athletic Control Board.
CARD
SUBJECT TO CHANGE:
FIGHT
#1: WEIGHT: 155 LBS (ALTERNATE BOUT)
RYAN SCHULTZ (TEAM QUEST, PORTLAND, OR) v. DAVID GAONA (SHOOT
SPAIN, Valencia, Spain)
FIGHT
#2: WEIGHT: HEAVYWEIGHTS (ALTERNATE BOUT)
JOHNATHAN WIEZOREK (Valdosta Karate, Valdsota, Georgia) v. BEN
ROTHWELL (Miletich Fighting Systems, Bettendorf, IA.)
FIGHT
#3: WEIGHT: 155 LBS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
HENRY MATAMOROS (Pedro Sauer JJ< Milwaukee, WI.) v. RICH CLEMENTI
(TEAM EXTREME, New Orleans, LA)
FIGHT
#4: WEIGHT: 155 LBS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
HERMES FRANCA (ATT, Ft Lauderdale, FL) v. PHIL JOHNS (Silverbacks,
Canton IL)
FIGHT
#5: WEIGHT: HEAVYWEIGHTS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
TRAVIS WIUFF (Team Extreme, Minneapolis, MN) v. IBRAGIM MAGOMEDOV
(Red Devil, St Petersburg, Russia)
FIGHT
#6: WEIGHT: HEAVYWEIGHTS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
ULISSES CASTRO (CANADA) v. Kerry ’Meat Truck’ Schall
(Team EXTREME, Cinncinnati, OH)
FIGHT
#7: WEIGHT: 155 LBS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
SERGEI GOLYAEV (RED DEVIL, St Petersburg, Russia) V. JOACHIM
HANSEN (Team Scandinavia, Oslo, Norway)
FIGHT
#8: WEIGHT: 155 LBS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
NAOYUKI KOTANI (Rodeo Style, Tokyo, Japan) v. YVES EDWARDS (Thugjitsu,
Houston, TX)
FIGHT
#9: WEIGHT: HEAVYWEIGHTS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
JEFF MONSON (ATT, Ft Lauderdale, FL) v. PAT STANO (CORE Martial
Arts Voorhees, New Jersey)
FIGHT
#10: WEIGHT: HEAVYWEIGHTS (CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT BOUT)
ROMAN ZENTSOV (Red Devil, St Petersburg, Russia) v. ANTOINE JOAUDE
(Ruas Vale Tudo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Source: ADCC |
Pe
de Pano and Minotauro – Part II
The note ‘Pe de Pano X Minotauro, just a chat...’,
posted in this column, on October 6th, gave rise to the curiosity
of Brazilian Mixed Martial Arts community. ‘Will Pe de Pano
change from Gracie Barra Combat Team to Brazilian Top Team?’,
ask vale-tudo fans, in the internet. The answer is no. Two times
Jiu-Jitsu absolute world champion and ADCC Heavyweight champion,
Marcio Cruz ‘Pe de Pano’ visited Minotauro’s mansion
at the request of a Brazilian magazine.
Besides
the chat about ‘how a fighter should deal with money in
the world of vale-tudo’, each athlete remembered a special
moment of the other fighter career: ‘I will never forget
the boat between Pe de Pano and Alex Negao in the last ADCC,
in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Pe de Pano attacked so many times, that
he submitted Negao in no more than 20 seconds. It was unbelievable’.
Pe
de Pano: ‘I remembered when I was a blue belt, and I saw
Minotauro fighting Ricardo Almeida “Big Dog” in a Jiu-Jitsu
Pan-American tournament. I think they were brown belt at that
time, and Minotauro won that combat with a choke. Big Dog was
already one great name of Jiu-Jitsu and, after that choke, I
started to pay attention in Minotauro’s bouts.
Source: ADCC |
REAL
PRO WRESTLING BLOG, DAY TWO
LOS ANGELES - It is now over, taped, and ready for editing. The
historic two-day taping sessions for the first season of Real
Pro Wrestling's weekly television series, which debuts on Feb.
13, 2005, on PAX TV in the U.S., is in the books with a team
champion and seven individual champions crowned.
As
I said yesterday, we are all bound by confidentiality agreements
to embargo the results until each match airs on television. Since
that means keeping them under our hats for several months, many
will be tempted to play the big shot and reveal them, especially
anonymously on some message board.
Keeping
the results under wraps, as much as possible, until the shows
air is best for wrestling. Maybe some people think it is cool
to march into a movie theater and announce the ending of the
movie to the audience. This case is not that different, except
of course it involves a real
sporting event.
Wrestling's
future depends to a significant degree on the success of Real
Pro Wrestling. With the NCAA not helping wrestling, with the
mis-enforcement of Title IX, with the International Olympic Committee
placing wrestling on its chopping block, and with the hapless
FILA driving the sport in reverse, wrestling really needs Real
Pro Wrestling, and as soon as possible. The combat sports, beleaguered
from every which direction, also need Real Pro Wrestling. And
so do the fans, and especially the young fans, who need to see
a real pro sport not drenched in steroids, reeking of pot, drowning
in trash talk, and showcasing poor sportsmanship.
If
the television product that will now be put together over these
next few months is as good as the live event was for Real Pro
Wrestling, then it will be a hit show. Each of the four sessions
of these tapings seemed to get better than the previous one,
as all involved became more comfortable with the rules, setting,
and each other.
If
Real Pro Wrestling TV is as good as this live tournament was,
and especially the finals which featured the most successful
wrestlers here and in this style, then we have a new, viable,
and marketable combat sport being born before our very eyes.
Now
two other areas become crucial for this venture: Post-production
and marketing.
All
the pieces of this two-day puzzle must now be assembled in the
proper order and with the proper care given to explaining things
understandably to the fans.
Then
there is marketing. The seven individual champions each have
stories to be told. The public has to be educated to the style,
and educated about which channel in their area will air Real
Pro Wrestling. Many people already get PAX TV but are not aware
of it because it gets low ratings and is filled with infomercials
and repeats.
But
all the overall evaluations of this show were positive. We will
have many interviews in the near future, long before the results
come out. Of course, all these come before the final television
show is ready, and from dyed-in-the-wool wrestling people. But
they all believe that this show can attract a significant enough
audience to thrive on television.
The
media must also be educated, including the wrestling media. One
disturbing fact was that there were few members of the wrestling
media here. Other than myself, the only member of the wrestling
media here to cover this event in Los Angeles whom I saw was
Mike Chapman of the International Wrestling Institute and Museum.
John Fuller of USA Wrestling and TheMat.com was also here, but
to help our Real Pro Wrestling with information, bios of the
wrestlers, and so forth.
So
if you want the real story about Real Pro Wrestling, you really
are in the right place. Once I return home to New York, I will
begin writing up the many interviews I conducted here, again
without revealing the results. Really.
Source: ADCC |
Catching
up with Jorge Rivera pre-UFC
With the next UFC only a couple weeks away Team Elite’s
Jorge Rivera is still training hard for his fight against Team
Extreme’s Rich Franklin. Since his loss to Mark Weir in
UFC 46 Rivera has picked up wins against James Gabert from Ricardo
Almeida’s affiliate of Team Renzo Gracie as well as fellow
UFC vet Mark Weir. Both of those were TKO wins.
KM:
Next UFC in about three weeks. Is waiting the hardest part? JR:
Yeah, to be honest it is.
KM:
How long have you known about this? JR: Two to two-and-a-half
months.
KM:
Is that average for how far in advance you sign for shows? JR:
Preferably. The further out the better. It allows you to plan
better and whatnot.
KM:
How do you deal with the anticipation? JR: I don’t really
think about it. I just train. The only time I think about it
is like right now. I think about it more as it grows closer and
the reality of it sinks in.
KM:
I guess you have been in the UFC enough that nerves don’t
come into play like it used to. JR: Exactly.
KM:
Your next opponent is Rich Franklin. What do think of him? JR:
I think Rich is a good fighter. Solid, well-rounded, pretty good.
KM:
What do you think of the perception your fights outside the UFC
have been a slightly higher level of opponents than Franklin
but his have been higher profile? Not much press went to your
fight against Weir for instance. Does that matter at all to you?
JR: Not at all. When it is all said and done with it’s going
to be him and me in that cage, so it doesn’t matter.
KM:
Your last opponent Weir is fighting on the next WEC card against
Travis Lutter who you beat for the HOOKnSHOOT and USMMA belts.
Which of those two were tougher to you? JR: Lutter was a tougher
fight. Weir was an explosive beginning but once I got myself
together I didn’t feel I was ever threatened in the fight
except the first twenty seconds in the fight. Lutter was a tough
guy and he has a solid chin. Lutter is a determined fighter.
I think he’ll do fine and go far in the sport. I think as
long as he is cautious of Mark’s left high kick and takes
the fight down to the ground he’ll be fine. As I start to
say Mark doesn’t have a good ground game he just finished
choking out Johil de Oliveira. You never know what is going to
happen. The fight game is crazy; that is what I love about it,
it’s so unpredictable. Like Mike Brown suffered a loss.
He was dominating the whole fight. With a minute and a half left
in the fight he gets choked out. I couldn’t believe it.
KM:
Can you tell me a little but about Mike’s fight? JR: Good
fight. He was really dominating until the end. It was quick and
my hat goes off to Joe Lauzon. Good kid, good fighter. I expect
to see good things from Joe coming up.
KM:
Do you still train with Mike? JR: Absolutely. He’s my brother,
I love him.
KM:
When you two fight there is a forty pound weight difference.
How does that come into play as far as training? JR: I never
really box or do my MMA with Mike. When the guys get together
we all roll with one another. On the ground Mike is solid. He
helps me get better every time.
KM:
Aren’t you the heaviest fighter at Team Elite? JR: No, we
actually have a couple guys that are up-and-coming right now
that are a little heavier than I am.
KM:
Anybody I should be keeping an eye out for in the next six months
or so? JR: We’ll see.
KM:
Can you tell me a little about that show Mike just fought in
and what is going on in Boston are right now? JR: There are a
few good promotions going on up here right now and that is one
of them.
KM:
How is Keith Rockel doing? JR: Keith is doing awesome. His game
is improving in every aspect. He’s helping the whole team
get better because he is getting better. So much to learn and
he is on the forefront looking for ways to get better and sharing
that with the rest of us. I’m grateful for that.
KM:
Anything else to say about Team Elite? JR: Look out for us. We
are representing the North East/New England and we are serious
about what we do and put ourselves on the map. There are different
teams representing different parts of the nation and we are here
to do our part.
KM:
You are going to continue to fight at Middleweight? JR: Yeah.
I like it right there, I don’t want to go any heavier. Some
of those guys at 205…I don’t even walk around at 205,
I’m like 198. That weight class I don’t think would
benefit me at all, coming down from 220 to 205.
KM:
Where do you feel you fit in with the Middleweight division?
JR: I fit in where I can get in, brother. (Both laugh). I like
the Middleweight division, I think it has the best fighters and
that is why I am fighting.
KM:
I‘m not asking you to call anybody out or anything rude,
I’m just wondering what your thoughts are on some of the
other Middleweights and how you would match up against them.
JR: I think the division is stacked. As far as if I could beat
this guy or that guy, I don’t know about all that. It’s
just nonsense to me. It’s like the conversation we had last
time about unpredictability, you don’t know what will happen
until you get in there and throw down. That’s why we do
it, so we can find out and move on. One way or another we’ll
find out.
KM:
This one is in New Jersey. How do you feel about being part of
the UFC’s return to the East Coast? JR: I like that a lot.
I don’t have to worry about jetlag right now. It’s
closer to home, I can have some of my people there, and the support
always feels good. I’ll take that all day long. That jetlag
is a serious thing. I’m literally a four or five hour drive
down the road.
KM:
After the Weir fight in London you mentioned jetlag. Can you
explain again? JR: That jetlag from London, that is horrible.
Horrible, horrible, horrible. For me personally every time I
fought over there…this time thank God I finally got six
or seven hours sleep. Last time I only got two hours sleep. You
have the anxiety of the fight and you are anxious and stuff and
the jetlag just throws a wrench in the whole situation.
KM:
How can you prepare for that? JR: My buddy was telling me to
wake up at three in the morning. At first I was like ‘come
on, are you serious?’ but last night I was like ‘that’s
not a bad idea’. If I get called out there again that is
what I’ll end up doing, getting up at three in the morning
and training at three in the morning. I need my rest; I need
to feel fresh when I walk into that ring. If I only got a few
hours sleep in my mind I’m like ‘damn’. I don’t
want to think about anything except getting in there and scrapping.
I don’t want to think about my food, I don’t want to
think about anything but fighting.
KM:
You are known for your conditioning and that jetlag takes that
all away. In your fight against Loiseau he basically wore down,
your conditioning took you into the third round. JR: Conditioning
is huge. After the first round with Weir this time it was a problem
for me, I didn’t like it at all. Thank God I got that first
round through because I was gassed.
KM:
That was a doctor stoppage between rounds. JR: Yep. That eye
was swollen shut, he couldn’t open it. When I landed that
shot on him I knew he was going to have problems with that eye.
I’m looking down at him and he’s looking up at me his
left eye is looking at me straight but his right eye was twitching
like crazy, like spasming. I was thinking to myself ‘you
got him pretty good there’.
KM:
You fought in England twice now. How did the crowd react when
you beat their hero Weir? JR: I like the Brits, they are pretty
cool. They appreciate you are going in there to scrap. They like
it. I’m sure they want to see their guy win but they like
to see guys fight and they cheer you on afterwards. I have nothing
but good things to say about the crowd over there. Every time
I’ve been there I’ve had a good time.
KM:
Some of these international shows like M-1 are like ‘Russia
vs. the World’ while other shows like EVT list a fighter’s
nationality but don’t make as big a deal of it. Was this
like ‘Weir vs. Rivera’ or ‘UK vs. US’? JR:
It’s a little UK vs. the World type of thing.
KM:
Given what you were saying earlier about representing the East
Coast does that international perspective matter to you at all?
JR: Not at all. That is just the way it is.
KM:
I don’t think you have ever had to back out of a fight due
to injury in training. Is that true? JR: I had an amateur fight
like five or six years ago I ended up pulling a rib cage. That
was the only one. I’ve been fortunate, I’ve been blessed.
Those kinds of things are out of your control. I might be sparring
next week I might tear my shoulder. Maybe some guys are more
prone to injuries than others.
KM:
If you were to get injured it’s not like you would still
fight… JR: If I can’t give you 100% I shouldn’t
be there. I’m cheating myself, I’m cheating you, and
I’m cheating whoever is there to watch the fight. When I
lose I want to be at my best, I don’t want to be 70%, 80%.
KM:
Sponsors to thank? JR: I want to thank Tom Hanlon, Chris Murphy
my business agent at local 609, Peter from Allied Mortgage…God,
you just opened up a box. I could go on forever. Tom Hafers and
Team Elite, Sityodtong (Muay Thai school) and Kru Mark DellaGrota…that
guy helps me out a great deal and I definitely have to thank
them. They are located right here in Boston. My teammates, my
family, my friends, and everybody else that supports me.
The
website of the Muay Thai school Jorge mentioned is http://www.sityodtong.com/home.htm while Team Elite are
part of the Massachusetts Submission Academy whose website is
http://www.masssubmissionacademy.com/.
Source: ADCC |
Japanese
Scene Round up
NOTE: The source of some of this data is http://www.puroresupower.com/ a phenomenal site
featuring Zach Arnold, with an intense focus on the Japanese
MMA and pro wrestling scene.
PRIDE
There
are plenty of tickets remaining for the upcoming 10/14 Osaka
Castle Hall (Bushido Vol. 5) show. If they get 8,000-10,000 (a
half-house) legitimately for this show, that would be good enough
to break-even. That said, they have a struggle ahead.
Osaka
Castle Hall
Bushido Vol. 5
October 14th, 2004
-
Yasuhito Namekawa vs. Mauricio 'Shogun'
- Sentoryu (Henry Miller) vs. Mal 'Twin Tiger' Foki
- Masakazu Imanari vs. Luis 'Buscape'
- Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Ryuuki Ueyama
- Katsuhisa Fujii vs. Igor Vovchanchyn
- Ryo Chonan vs. Carlos Newton
- Hayato 'Mach' Sakurai vs. Crosley Gracie
- Takanori Gomi vs. Charles 'Crazy Horse' Bennett
Rumors
were all over Brazil that it would be Pedro Rizzo taking on Mark
Hunt, but it will be American Dan Bobish facing the K-1 star
instead.
October
31st, 2004
PRIDE 28
Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo, Japan
-
Middleweight Title Match: Vanderlei Silva v. Quinton 'Rampage'
Jackson
- Mirko Cro Cop v. Josh Barnett
- Kazuhiro Nakamura v. Dan Henderson
- Mark Hunt v. Dan 'The Bull' Bobish
- Hirotaka Yokoi v. Heath 'Texas Crazy Horse' Herring
Pancrase
Pancrase has an event coming up on October 12th, however most
of the focus will be on their big card scheduled for November
7th. Word is that Tsuyoshi Kohsaka has accepted an offer for
the 11/7 Tokyo Bay NK Hall show. The likely opponent for Kohsaka
is Ron Waterman, and the fight is scheduled to be for the new
Pancrase Super-Heavyweight title.
Heavyweight
fighter Keigo Takamori suffered a fractured right hand in his
quick win over New Zealand fighter Anthony Netzler on 9/24 at
Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
the
lineups for both shows appear below.
PANCRASE
2004 BRAVE TOUR
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
doors open; 5:30PM
fights start; 6:30PM
Korakuen Hall (Tokyo,Japan)
COMPLETE
CARD SUBJECT TO CHANGE:
Amateur
Bout #1 Pancrase Gate lightweight tournament 2x5 min rounds
TAKU ARAMAKI (P's LAB Yokohama) vs HIROYUKI OTA (Team POD)
Amateur
Bout #2 Pancrase Gate lightweight tournament 2x5 min rounds
MASATO ONODERA (A-3) vs KAZUYA HIROSE (IMN Grappling)
Pro-Bout
#1 featherweight 2x5 min rounds
MIKI SHIDA (P's LAB Tokyo) vs MASAYUKI DEMISE (Wajutsu Keishukai
GODS)
Pro-Bout
#2 lightweight 2x5 min rounds
NUKINPO! (P's LAB Tokyo) vs KAZUHIRO INOUE (INPLACE)
Pro-Bout
#3 catchwrestling rules lightweight 2x5 min rounds
TAKUMI YANO (Ugokai) vs TAKUO MIYATA (Nagoya Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Club)
Pro-Bout
#4 middleweight 2x5 min rounds
HIKARU SATO (PANCRASEism) vs KYOSUKE SASAKI (U-FILE CAMP.com)
Pro-Bout
#5 middleweight 2x5 min rounds
OSAMI SHIBUYA (middleweight 9th ranked/PANCRASEism) vs KIM SEONG
HEE (Korea/NeoFight)
Pro-Bout
#6 welterweight 3x5 min rounds
TAKAFUMI ITO (welterweight 3rd ranked/PANCRASEism) vs HIDETAKA
MONMA (A-3)
Semifinal
welterweight 3x5 min rounds
KOJI OISHI (welterweight 1st ranked/PANCRASEism) vs HIDEHIKO
HASEGAWA (SK Absolute)
Main
Event middleweight 3x5 min rounds
EIJI ISHIKAWA (middleweight 4th ranked/Pancrase GRABAKA) vs YUSHIN
OKAMI (Wajutsu Keishukai Tokyo Hombu)
11/7/2004
Tokyo Bay NK Hall
PANCRASE 2004 BRAVE TOUR
Card
Subject To Change:
The
5th King of Pancrase middle weight title match:
Nathan Marquardt (High Altitude) vs Kazuo Misaki (PANCRASE GRABAKA)
The
1st King of Pancrase middle weight title match:
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Ron Waterman
Akihiro
Gono (PANCRASE GRABAKA) vs David Terrell (Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
Academy)
Source: ADCC |
MIX-FIGHT
CHAMPIONSHIP - M-1 Results From Russia!
MIX-FIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP M-1
October 9th, 2004
St. Petersburg, RUSSIA
COMPLETE
RESULTS:
Alternate
Match:
MURAT MUSAVUZOV [RUSSIA] x UBAIDULA CHOPOLAEV [RUSSIA] - Musavuzov
won by armbar
Eight
Man Tournament 80kg-85kg:
ANDREI SEMENOV [RUSSIA] x MARTIN KAMPMANN [DENMARK] - Semenov
won by referee stopage due to a cut
SHONIE CARTER [USA] x AZRED TELKUSHEEV [RUSSIA] - Telkusheev
won by judges decision
ALEKSEI OLEINIK [UKRAINE] x MARCELO 'GRILO' ALFAIA [BRAZIL] -
Oleinik won by judges decision
KAZUKI OKUBO [JAPAN] x FLAVIO LUIS MOURA [BRAZIL] - Moura won
by guiliotine
SEMENOV
vs TELKUSHEEV - Semenov won by choke
MOURA vs OLEINIK - Moura won by choke
SEMENOV
vs MOURA - Semenov won by judges decision
SUPERFIGHTS:
PETR CAJNAK, 70 KG [CZECH REPUBLIC] VS. MUSAIL ALAUDINOV, 75
KG [RUSSIA] - Alaudinov won by choke (first round)
MICHAEL KNAAP, 93 KG. [HOLLAND] VS. ALEXEI VESELOVZOROV, 90 KG
[RUSSIA] - Veselovzorov won by choke (first round )
CYRILLE DIABATE, 93 KG. [FRANCE] VS. ARMAN GAMBARYAN, 92 KG.
[RUSSIA] - Gambariam won by judges decision
PETER MULDER, 105 KG [HOLLAND] VS. RAMAZAN AHADDULAEV, 105 KG.
[RUSSIA] - Ramazan won by tko (first round)
CARLOS BARRETO, 105 KG [BRAZIL] VS. ALEKSANDER EMELIANENKO, 124
KG [RUSSIA] - Emelianenko won by judges decision
Source: ADCC |
|