|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
July News Part 1
|
|
|
|
Your incredible brain can take you from rags to riches, from loneliness to popularity and from depression to happiness and joy - if you use it properly. Brian Tracy American Trainer, Speaker, Author, Businessman |
|
Chris did an inteview with Marcelo Tigre and asked him of his various plans on fighting, his upcoming match at Super Brawl, and his potential rematch with Egan. He even mentions a fight with Kimo. Check it out by clicking here. |
|
I guess Sakuraba is a party animal (like some of us) and he reportedly drinks alcohol obsessively and party's a lot. He is said to have liver problems which is the reason why he is fighting a scrub in the next fight. The Japanese want him in Pride to draw the audiences. Here's some info I found interesting from Sherdog's Website. Source: Sherdog's Website |
|
Hawaii's Yokozuna, Fiamalu Penitani, is tied with Kaio for first at 6-0 at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament in Japan. |
|
|
|
"I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday." Abraham Lincoln |
| Sometimes it seems like I have too much time on my hands, but believe me, I have lost valuable sleep over this. And you can see that I kind of threw this together quickly. This is for the guys who asked how my puppy is doing. He has to be kept isolated until August, so I can't take him out until then. Click here to see a pictorial of "The Rock" |
|
1. David Yeung 150lbs 5'7" 150 lbs (Muay Thai) 0-1 vs Gabe Lemley 5'10" 145 lbs (Team Extreme) 2-2 2. Iwi Kohanu 135 lbs (Nova Uniao) 0-0 vs Lincoln Tyler 5'6" 135 lbs (Freelance) 3-1 (Team Extreme) vs Paul Ano 5'10" 200 lbs (Grappling Unlimited) 0-0 (Maui) 2-0 vs Gary Frietas 5'7" 150 lbs (Grappling Unlimited) 2-1-1 (Team Extreme) 6-2 vs John Crisostomo 5'7" 176 lbs (Grappling Unlimited) 2-5 (Team Extreme) vs Niko Vitale 195 lbs (Grappling Unlimited) 5-1 8. Cabbage Caberra 6'3" 270 lbs (Grappling Unlimited) 0-2 vs Marcelo Tiger 5'11" 205 lbs (Team Tiger) 33-1 9. Mike Buntenbah 199 lbs (Team Tiger) vs Egan Inoue 190 lbs (Grappling Unlimited) 6-2 Super Brawl XXI July 21, 2001 Neil Blaisdell Arena Tickets on Sale Now! 24 Hour Fitness 1680 Kapiolani Blvd. Monday, July 16, 2001 10:00 AM  |
|
|
|
"Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger and we will make not only our own happiness, but that of the world at large." Mahatma Gandhi |
|
this Saturday, July 14, 2001 Just got word from our inside contact, who we will call T.T. Boy to protect his identity, Royler Gracie black belt and resident ass kicker, Fredson Alves will be doing 2 one hour seminars this Saturday at the Gracie Academy 844 Queen Street 589-2524 from 12:30-1:30PM (with the Gi) and 1:30-2:30PM (No Gi) Cost: $20 each seminar. Each seminar is $20, which is a steal for a class with a guy of his caliber. Call the Gracie Academy at 589-2524 to reserve your spot. Fredson will be leaving for Brazil to compete in the Mundial next week so this may be the last time to catch him. He is an incredible technician and has made everyone improve 200%. Please come out and show him that we value him at our academy and, more importantly, give him a reason to come back after the mundial. |
|
There has been a lot of instances where a fighter gets stiffed by a promoter as well as a fighter being unreliable and putting the promoter in a bad spot. An incident recently happened regarding Travis Fulton, the Ironman of NHB, who probably still has the most professional fights, Dan Severn and the promoter of the IFC. Since everyone has had an opportunity to give their view of what happened, I will let the readers come to their own conclusions. Here are some sides of the story from people involved: Counterpoint: Dan Severn/Becki Levi 1. We were contacted sometime at the end of the week of June 4-8. To fight in the promoters words “a tomato can.” 2. Dan was to replace Lidell on the card as main event. 3. The flights were $1200 per person to the show. We offer to use frequent flyer miles for $1000 added to purse. Instead of the show paying $2400 for those tickets. 4. A friend of ours is a radio voice in Fresno area and he did a bunch of extra promotion for the show to get more bodies in the seats (at no additional cost to the promotion) 5. Dan was scheduled for 4 MMA fights in a row starting June 23 and continuing trough July 15. This fight was the second fight in the series. 6. We had to change our weekend schedule, we had driven to the Pocono Mountains. for a seminar and for Dan to be inducted into the World Karate Hall of Fame. On the day of the fight show, we flew out of Newark NJ to San Francisco. We got in at 3 pm and had a 4 hour drive to the Palace Casino in LeMoore, CA. 7. Upon phoning one of the promoters Reed Harris we find out that they are having problems with Dan’s opponent and may change it to Travis Fulton. We don’t have much choice at this point. 8.We get to the event and Reed Harris pays me (Becky Levi) Dan’s fee for the fight. We go to the dressing area. Dan wants me to find out if they changed his opponent. I found a lineup sheet and it says that Dan is fighting Travis in main event. 9.I then go to check out where warm up area etc was located. I see Travis and Bruce Nelson. Travis proceeds to tell me about why they changed the opponent. Supposedly he (Dan original opponent) was drinking and smoking at the casino and they took him off the card. I asked him if he was getting paid more to fight Dan and he said yes. I also asked him what the time on the rounds were, since we did not get any rules or regulations. 10. I then go to find Reed since the $ negotiated was to fight “a tomato can” and not a veteran like Travis. I am told that they are over budget and have no more money to pay out. He proceeds to tell me if he knew we would want more money he would never of changed the opponent. At this point we could have walked. We already had our pay in hand. But no, we are there to help these guys out and the sport. So we fight. No questions asked. 11. I then went to warm up area and chatted with a few other fighters and the Tap Out crew. 12. I went back to let Dan know that it was two five minute rounds. 13. The show is quick most fights are done in under 2 minutes. I also see that Dan’s former opponent is on the card fighting another fighter. I tell Dan to be ready since Gan McGee is up and he is fighting a much smaller opponent. It lasts 38 seconds. I guess the hours of matchmaking were spent on that fight. 14. Paul Smith comes into our dressing room and asks Dan how he feels about fighting Travis. Dan says he did not want to fight Travis due to the travel and shortness of preparation time. Why is Paul Smith coming into our dressing room in the first place? He is not the promoter of the show. 15. Dan signed a contract to fight Travis in Sept for Iowa Challenge. So Dan really did not want to fight this fight. 16. As Dan is entering the cage I find out that there are no knees to the head on the ground. So, I am yelling that into the cage. The (IFC) ref then goes over the rules. He then tells Dan about no elbows or knees to the head. 17. Dan utilizes knees and elbow smashes in all his fights. He uses these to set up the top wristlock. 18. We have been up for 20 hours at this point. Dan is very sluggish. He tries to utilize an elbow smash and gets warned by the ref. Now he can’t knee or elbow smash. What good it did for me to keep yelling that at him during the fight. 19. Dan gets in one bad position during the fight. He gets mounted by Travis. But, what they fail to tell you is that Dan did not let Travis create any space and he was to high from the start. As Travis tried to make a move Dan bridged and turned him. 20. Dan dominated the whole fight. I will say that he has two more fights to go in this series. He is not going to do anything stupid to hurt himself. He is the main event in two other upcoming shows. 21. He stayed for over one hour afterward and signed autographs for the fans. 22. We were invited to the casino to lunch with the sponsors of the show (by the event coordinator of the casino). 23. We were to have our room taken care of for both Saturday and Sunday. We were informed by the motel that the promoter did not pay for our rooms, that the casino paid for our Saturday night accommodations. If we wanted to stay Sunday we would have had to pay for the room ourselves. We decided to drive back to San Francisco (4 hours) since we had an early flight the next morning, having to pay the expenses ourselves. 24. Sometime in the early evening on Sunday Scott Adams calls me and accuses us of doing a predetermined match with Travis. Basically, Scott Adams says that Travis Fulton told Paul Smith that the fight was a work. 25. I told him about the elbow warning etc. Dan hardly ever hits anyone with a closed fist. I also told him that Dan is not out to hurt anyone. He has always been that way. 26. I ask him if he spoke with Travis and he said yes. Said that Travis denies it. He said he did not believe him. 27. This was a World Extreme Cage Fighting show to our knowledge and not an IFC show. We were told by Scott Adams over the phone that the event was sanctioned by the IFC. To our knowledge who is the IFC to sanction any fight promotion? Especially when the show was on sovereign land and did not need to be sanctioned at all. Counterpoint: Travis Fulton anything. I call Paul back and he calls Scott Adams. Scott says "Oh yeah, they wouldn't let us give Travis an electronic ticket, so we had to FedEx him the ticket. He will get it by noon today. "Well my flight was at 6:10 am and I had to be on that flight. Scott says "Oh, really?" So Scott buys me another plane ticket that takes off 6-15 (the day of the IFC)that will get me into California at noon. I will then have to make a three hour drive to the event, and fight at 7:00 pm. So I call my girlfriend who is an hour away and she has to turn around and come and get me. She is late for work and is written up. Friday we have to repeat the same process. 2:00 am to make a 6:10 am flight two hours away. They wouldn't fly me out of my hometown airport because it was too expensive. So I get to the fight and fight like crap because I haven't slept for 24 hours. Plus Cal Worsham was really tough, I don't want to take that away from him. Fight is over I get paid, and I see Tedd Williams. He says that him and Paul Smith got into an argument and I am not allowed to fight for him. So I lose that money. The fighters are taken the next day to San Fransico to stay in a hotel to catch their flight the next morning. Paul Smith leaves and won't be back for a week. I ask him what I am supposed to do. He says that Scott Adams will come and get me in a couple of days, and to keep all of my receipts and he will reinburse me for all of the money I had to spend. Come the next morning the hotel calls my room and says that it is not paid for. I have to pay for my room for the next two nights. Scott Adams comes and gets me two days later. He tells me that my opponent will now be Paul Buentello, and that I am only getting half the money that I was promised before. Scott will not get me a hotel. He says that I can stay at his house. I feel very uncomfortable doing this. We get to his house which is a complete mess. ants all over the place and old food and dirty dishes sitting all over the place. Scott then says that I need to go grocery shopping. He said that Paul Smith will reinburse me for everything that we have to buy. So Scott and I go shopping and he picks out what he wants and I pick out what I want. Spending $200 in all. Over the next week people come and go at Scott's house. All of the food is eaten by his friends. This entire time I sleep on a dirty couch. Throughout this time period fighters continue to pull out of his show. I find him three fighters who are willing to fight for a plane ticket and $100. He flys them out and save his show. If it wasn't for the three guys that I got and myself he would only have 6 fights. My opponent changes again to a 190 pound guy who is a student of Scott's. Finally after 9 days I get my chance to go and stay in a hotel provided by the casino. Once again I have to pay for all my own food. The night before the fight Scott asks me if I would fight Severn for $1250 more. I said of course. The guy that Severn was set to fight was terrible. He was 6'3 250, but an awful fighter. The guy was smoking and drinking and kind of acting like an idiot at the hotel. That is why I was asked to fight Severn. They call Becky Levi and tell her that Severn's new opponent MIGHT be me. They said okay. Then Severn's plane was delayed and nobody arranged a ride for him from San Fransisco which was 4 hours away. So Severn had to rent a car with his own money to drive to the event. He arrived one hour before the show started. The entire time that I stayed with Scott the rules were you could not knee the head at any time. Apparently this rule changed at the time of the event. I missed the rules meeting and so did Severn. Becky comes up to me upon arrival and says that they are going to ask for more money because they changed his opponent to somebody much tougher. Scott told me that if Severn didn't except my fight I would have no opponent and would only get my show fee of $750. He also said that they were not going to give Severn any more money. So when Becky told me that they planned to get more money or they would not except the fight, I told her what all had happened. Severn and I have a signed deal to fight in my hometown in September and I really needed that fight to happen. So I told Becky not to ask for more money and Severn and I would grapple for real and I would agree not to throw KO punches.(which was not a problem considering my right hand was still broken) Since I believed that there were no knees to the head, Levi said that this would be no problem. So the fight didn't have a predetermined outcome. The fight happened and went the way that it did, and Severn wore me down and won the decision. After the fight I was paid and told that I did a good job. Nobody said anything negative about the fight. It was a good main event. One of only two fights that went past the 1st rd. The 250 lbs guy that Severn was supposed to fight was beaten in less than 2 minutes by the 190 lbs guy. I talked to Scott at the post fight dinner and he said that he would arrange a ride for me to get to the airport the next morning. I went to Paul Smith's room and talked to him about being reinbursed. He asked me if Dan and I had agreed not to strike. I explained the whole situation to him and he said that we should have just fought our original opponents, and was going off on Scott Adams and the WEC. I showed him my receipts and he gave me $75 saying that he would give me the rest later. I went to another fighters room and had a couple of beers. I had to get my ride in 2 hours in order to get to the airport on time. Scott adams then calls me up and asks why I did a work.(apparently Paul had told him we did) I told Scott that it wasn't a work. He started bitching about it. I calmed him down and asked how I was going to get a ride to the airport? He told me that he wasn't going to help me and that I had pissed him off and I needed to find my own ride to the airport.(keep in mind that these were ghetto tickets. If I missed my flight I would have to buy a new ticket. Imagine how expensive that would be the day of my flight. I also had to go back to work on Monday morning. I also would not have any other ride home from Des Moines because my girlfriend couldn't miss anymore work.) Scott hung up on me and I didn't know what to do. Scott's father was sitting in the dining room having breakfast. I told him what Scott had said and it really made his father mad. He tried to find where Scott was but he was unable to do so. Mr. Adams had to take a group of fighters to LAX in 3 hrs. He would not be able to take me to San Fransisco(which was 4 hrs away) So he thought about it and drove me an hour to Fresno. He then bought me a ticket out of his own pocket that would get me to San Fransisco on time. He is a very good man. I make my flight and the rest of the day goes by fine. I then hear a few days later that Graciefighter.com releases a story that Severn and I did a work. They released this story without having asked Severn or my sides of the story. I call Paul Smith and he said that they weren't mad at me , but at Severn. He started complaining about how Severn had negotiated with casinos that the IFC had done shows at and were able to take the shows from the IFC. He said that they were sick of Severn. I asked how I fit into all of this suspension stuff. He said that they were going to announce that Severn would be suspended for a year and that I would be suspended for 2 months. I asked how were they going to get away with that? He said that the IFC planned on using me in their August show so they would just say that I cooperated and Severn didn't, that way my "suspension" would be much less. Paul then started telling me that I needed to go public and announce that the limited striking fight as Severn's idea. He said that Becky Levi had made a statement that it was all my idea and I had approached Dan about doing a worked fight in order to not get hurt. I then called Becky and she told me that Scott Adams had told them that I told him it was Severn who wanted to do the work and that I was not for that, and that I told them Becky gave me $500 more to accept. Becky and I compared stories and realized that they were trying to set us up because the IFC was mad at Severn for taking the casinos from the IFC. Poor Travis Fulton is just caught up in the middle of all of this. So by making a big deal out of nothing the IFC hopes to make Severn look bad in hopes to get their casinos back. I have heard the complaints about the casinos from Paul Smith, and I have also heard Becky's side. I am caught in the middle here. I really like the IFC and they have always treated me good. I am also very good friends with Becky and Dan too. My fight with Severn will be as real as they come in September. If the crowd sensed anything that even resembled a work in my hometown, I would be cast out forever there. The story is long and I don't want to listen to the ridicule of the underground. So if you would like you can email this to whoever you want, just make sure that it isn't posted on the underground. It will all blow over, and I don't want to ruin my reltionship with the IFC. This is just their way of getting back at Severn. |
|
|
|
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Teddy Roosevelt |
|
The company eYada that hosts many internet talk shows. One of the most popular was No Holds Barred hosted by Eddie Goldman. Eddie gave many fighters some press and put on a pretty entertaining show. Chris was on once or twice. Adding to this bad news is that BJ Penn was supposed to be on the show Tuesday. Eddie is a good writer and he will be seen in print very soon. |
|
These are some comments of the Shooto fights with Baret, Bradda, and Bozo from the Underground forum. I have not been on the forum in a long time, but there are always something good on there. We have not seen the fights so these are just comments from people who have seen the fights and have talked to people who have. It makes for an interesting read. I am not even going to reference who said each statement. I hope you guys don't mind. Norifumi walked around with his hands at his feet, and got kicked in the head for it once. But he was the better of the two with his hands. And KO'd his opponent with a right hook. We just got done watching the tape Bozo dominated the whole fight he tried to get an armbar 30 seconds left in the fight but wasn't close Bozo countered right away. The whole fighting was standing Nonaka tried and tried but could not take Bozo down and got hit with some good shoots. Kato game plan worked out for him, But theirs a couple of things I didn't agree on.Cooper Knock Kato down to his knees with a left hand but no Standing 8 count in round 2.Shooto rules is after Knock down fighter has a 8 count.Also How can you win a round from sitting in the guard with your head down.Kato was punching but seemed gassed Round 2 and 3.My review was fight should have been a draw Kato took coooper down but didn't do anything 75% of his punches that he threw from the guard didn't hit cooper but his gloves.Ref could have done a better job to keep the action instead of letting kato just lie their. |
|
|
|
"All meaningful and lasting change starts first in your imagination and then works its way out. Imagination is more important than knowledge." Albert Einstein |
 Shooto Results July 6 in Tokyo Kourakuen Hall, full results: Masashi Kameda (Cobra Kai) x Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto (PUREBRED Ohmiya) Result: "KID" won via KO 4:17 R1 Tatsuya Kawajiri (TOPS) x Daisuke "Amazon" Sugie (ALIVE) Result: "Amazon" won via decision 3x0 (20-18, 20-19, 20-18) Stephen "Bozo" Palling (Jesus Is Lord) x Kimihito Nonaka (PUREBRED Ohmiya) Result: Palling won via decision 3x0 (29-28, 29-27, 29-28) Martin DeJong (Martijn Dojo) x Izuru Takeuchi (K'z FACTORY) Result: Takeushi won via decision 3x0 (28-27, 29-28, 28-27) Ray "Bradda" Cooper (Jesus Is Lord) x Tetsuji Kato (PUREBRED Ohmiya) Result: Kato won via decision 3x0 (30-27, 30-28, 30-27) Baret Yoshida (Grappling Unlimited) x Katsuya Toita (Wajyutsu Keisyukai) Result: Toita won via decision 2x0 (29-27, 28-27, 27-27) |
|
Here's an article that was published in the Orange County Registrar prior to the last UFC. It is a very interesting and enlightening article showing the emotional side of Tito which brings him back to human status to all of us who see him as an animal in the cage. He is a good spokesperson and figure head of the sport that we all love and needs a humane champion to be dominate, yet personable. Enjoy! Sensitive slugger is bad boy of martial arts With choke holds and a smile, champ Tito Ortiz battles to rehabilitate Ultimate Fighting. Photos by EUGENE GARCIA The Orange County Register TITO ORTIZ says you have to be bad in the ring but don't have to be bad in life. The "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" stands 6-foot-2, weighs 205 pounds, and boasts a specialty in "submission." The backs of his biceps are etched with gothic letter tattoos, one on each arm: "H" and "B." When he pulls up to the gym he co-owns, in an SUV the size of a tractor trailer, one quakes with trepidation. What will the king of a sport known for bare-knuckled brawling and bloodletting do first? Lay down the smack? Crush someone's head? ULTIMATE FIGHTING light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz demonstrates his punch at his Ultimate Training Center in Huntington Beach. The technical term for Ultimate Fighting is "mixed martial arts," though it's far less mixed than it once was. In 1993, when the UFC was founded, the fights were gladiator battles, as lopsided and comical as ancient Rome. Three-hundred pound Sumo wrestlers grappled with black belts half their size. Bar brawlers took on kung fu masters, just to see what would happen. It was spectacle, not sport. Source: Sherdog |
|
|
|
A professional is a person who can do his best at a time when he doesn't particularly feel like it. Alistair Cooke, 1908-, British Broadcaster, Journalist |
|
BJJ Black Belt World Champion and UFC two-time winner, BJ Penn, is scheduled to be on Eddie Goldman's eYada.com talk show. Go to eYada.com and you can login to hear the show live (which I think may be at about 12:00 noon Hawaii time) or windows media player/realtime player the show if you miss it. Below is the link to go to the show. |
|
|
|
"I hope life isn't a big joke, because I don't get it." |
|
For the upcoming Warrior's Quest that is happening on September 1, 2001 at the Hawaii Convention Center, promoter Brennan Kamaka has made some killer matches. Hawaii's Ray "Bradda" Cooper is slated to face Sean Sherk, a UFC veteran, who is 17-0, and a physical wreaking machine. Ron "The Machine Gun" Jhun is scheduled to face Matt Hughes who still is in the top five of any ranking out there. Stephen "Bozo" Palling is also going to be fighting on this card. These are huge fights for the Jesus is Lord team who are already scheduled in Shooto against formidable opponents. |
|
Many people have been asking and I have received confirmation that the Super Brawl tickets are now on sale for the upcoming July 21st show. Egan Inoue is set to face Marcelo Tigre's number one student Mike Butenbah while Marcelo faces Tali or Cabbage from Egan's Grappling Unlimited. As of now, Baret is left without an opponent. T. Jay is looking for someone, but it is hard to find a fight for Baret. |
|
Thursday, June. 7, 2001 From TOKYO, JAPAN Sakuraba has been given a light opponent to keep him in the card to draw fans. He is supposedly also in bad health from excessive drinking. Yup, one of the top fighters drinks almost every night. There may be hope for me. Now a guy just has to be dominating without training and have a gut (Note: Igor does train, heh heh). Igor faces the K-1 kickboxing star Masaaki Satake. Igor is known for his punching ability, but has been displaying some pretty decent ground work in his last fights. Braga is a very talented Brazilian with stand up and ground while Matsui is a young fighter with similar skills and this should be a good match up. Additional Match Ups Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Masaaki Satake Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Quinton Jackson Due to the injury on the hand Renzo Gracie was replaced by Wallid Ismail. Syungo Ohyama vs. Wallid Ismail Ryan Gracie vs. Tokimitsu Ishizawa (rematch) *Total nine matches are scheduled. |
|
|
|
It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared. Whitney Young, Jr., 1922-1971, American Social Reformer |
|
We sent the entire day and night at Ala Moana beach park BBQ'ing and hanging out. It was a shear terror finding parking and a spot. It's a long story why we didn't get the spot we normally do, but we ended up with a pretty good spot non the less. The fireworks were kind of weird because they had about three show separated by 30 minutes. I think something went wrong, but good thing we stayed. |
|
Relson has moved his website to a new address: http://www.relsongracie.com. It is the same site as before and the information probably needs to be updated, but at least you are not looking at naked Pam Anderson pictures when you are searching for Relson's next seminar. |
|
Since there was so much news today, I have decided to hold another big announcement about fights in another big Hawaii event until tomorrow. |
|
I could not find the sports issue with the little blurb on BJ Penn. If you have a copy, can I have it? I would like to send one to BJ's family and keep one for myself. Please email me or call me (381-9530). Thanks. |
|
Masashi Kameda (Cobra Kai) x Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto (PUREBRED Ohmiya) Class B (2x5 minutes rounds)-Welterweight Tatsuya Kawajiri (TOPS) x Daisuke "Amazon" Sugie (ALIVE) Class A (3 x 5 minutes rounds)-Lightweight Stephen "Bozo" Palling (Jesus Is Lord) x Kimihito Nonaka (PUREBRED Ohmiya) Class A (3 x 5 minutes rounds)-Lightheavyweight Martin DeJong (Martijn Dojo) x Izuru Takeuchi (K'z FACTORY) Class A (3 x 5 minutes rounds)-Middlweight Ray "Bradda" Cooper (Jesus Is Lord) x Tetsuji Kato (PUREBRED Ohmiya) |
|
|
|
I hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th. |
|
|
|
No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an unchartered land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit. Helen Keller, 1880-1968, American Blind/Deaf Author, Lecturer, Amorist |
|
It looks like everything is in place for our annual 4th of July potluck at Ala Moana Beach Park. Someone will be there at about 6:30 am and we plan on staying all day and night to watch the fireworks so if you work, come by after. Make sure that you bring some warm clothes in case it gets cold or you want to just change. As always bring something if you can, but if you are in the area and have nothing on you, don't let that stop you from coming by and hanging out even if it is just for a couple of hours. Todd has a sign up sheet at the academy, but if you are not in town, don't worry about not signing up. |
|
An extremely stripped down version of my piece, but again, at least it's in the Advertiser. It is in today's paper so pick one up to support a paper that supports MMA events and Hawaii's fighters. Isle File Hilo's Penn wins ultimate fighting bout
Hilo's BJ Penn scored a second-round knockout over Din "The Dominator" Thomas at the 32nd Ultimate Fighting Championship at East Rutherford, N.J. |
|
Another extremely stripped down version of my piece, but again, at least it's in the Star Bulletin. It is in today's paper so pick one up to support a paper that supports MMA events and Hawaii's fighters. Hilo's Penn wins ultimate fight bout |
|
I'm not sure where they got the 30 seconds because I stated the time of the bout later in the article. It is a slightly stripped down version of my original piece, but at least the article is in there. I believe this article was printed in yesterday's edition. Congratulations BJ! Penn makes quick work of opponent |
|
Minotauro of the Brazilian Top Team who won the King of Rings Tournament will make his Pride debut against the Pride Grand Prix Champion, Mark Coleman. This will be the virtual Rings Champ vs. Pride Champ. It should be a great fight because along with being a BJJ blackbelt and having teammates such as Mario Sperry, Vitor Belfort, Murilo Bustamante, and Ricardo Liborio, Minotauro is also pretty good in the stand up department which may cause Coleman some problems. Coleman has been working on his stand up with Pat Miletich, but we will see if he will stand toe to toe with Minotauro or do his normal ground and pound. |
|
|
|
"Contrary to what most people say, the most dangerous animal in the world is not the lion or the tiger or even the elephant. It's a shark riding on an elephant's back, just trampling and eating everything they see." (excerpt from Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey) |
|
The UFC are in talks with Hayato "Mach" Sakurai, the number one ranked middleweight (170 lber) in the world in many rankings, to have a match with current champ, Carlos Newton. They are also in talks with Shooto star Rumina Sato for a possible match against Hawaii's BJ Penn. If this happens, the UFC will once again blow the roof off the fighting world. |
|
The article I wrote about BJ's win in the UFC should be published today in the Hilo Tribune Herald. Make sure you pick up a copy. |
|
The Hawaiian Punch: BJ Penn Pt. 1 AB: You are one of the hottest stars in NHB right now. Part of the world's fascination with you is rooted in the mystery behind what you really know, how you train etc. Do you think people's lack of knowledge about you helps or hurts you in a fight? BJ: I dunno, it probably
helps me. People know I train with a lot of guys, so they don't
know what to expect. They don't know if I'm gonna come out punching
or grappling. So, I'm sure it helps a lot. But then, there is
always that question for the promoters. Like AB: Now that it's Mundial season, do you miss the sport side of the game or are you immersed in Vale Tudo right now? BJ: I train just for fighting. I'm not concentrating on scoring points or this or that. I'm all into fighting right now. AB: I remember watching an interview with Joey Gilbert and he said something about him feeling that you did not respect his wrestling skills. Why would he think that? BJ: I really have no idea. I did respect his grappling. Actually, when I was gonna go to Abu Dhabi, I looked at him and said to myself " There's one guys who is gonna be hard to take out. You gotta take him down. You can't just jump to your guard on him. What if he takes you down and scores some points?" He's a formidable opponent no doubt. He's beat some black belts in grappling. AB: What did you think of your fight with him? BJ: I saw some mistakes I made, that I hopefully can fix those before my next fight. AB: How are you training for your fight with Din Thomas? BJ: I'm doing a lot of NHB sparring, kick boxing, boxing, and grappling. I'm doing a lot of strength and conditioning. I'm trying to be as well rounded as I can. I don't ever want to be in a position where I cannot handle myself or I don't understand what's going on, or I'm gonna get KO'ed or submitted- or caught under a stall. AB: Tell me you opinion on Din Thomas. What do you make of him? BJ: He's a very good fighter. He's quick on his feet, fast, he has a long reach. In his ground game he looks tough to hold, real squirmy. He looks good. I think it's easy to train for a guy like that. You just train for everything. He's a tremendous fighter and a great athlete. AB: After this fight with Din, will that set you up for Jens Pulver? BJ: I hope so. I have not gotten any confirmations or anything. But I would like a title shot. AB: So let me end it with this question. Why is BJ Penn in the UFC? BJ: The reason I'm in the UFC is to prove to myself, not to anyone else…..But to prove to myself that I'm the best pound for pound fighter in the world right now. |
|
|
|
"Integrity is what we do, what we say, and what we say we do." Don Galer |
|
The Full Contact Fighter webpage has posted some pictures of the last UFC. They have included a couple of pictures of BJ Penn and Din Thomas, one when BJ was working the omo plata and another finishing him off in the guard. These are great pictures from one of the best fight photographers in the world, Joel Gold. |
|
The sports editor of the Hilo Tribune Herald has informed me that he will be running my follow up article on BJ winning in the UFC on Monday, July 2nd. If you are in Hilo or can obtain the Hilo Tribune, pick up a copy to support a paper that supports Hawaii's MMA fighters. |