Home Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Hawaii Academies & Dojos Hawaii Martial Arts News & Rumors Kamikaze Enterprises Onzuka Genealogy Onzuka Plant Links July News Part 3 Please take some time and sign our guestbook! 7/31/01 Quote of the Day "A good way to threaten somebody is to light a stick of dynamite. Then you call the guy and hold the burning fuse up to the phone. 'Hear that?' you say. 'That's dynamite, baby.' " (excerpt from Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey) Judo in Star Bulletin Posted on: Tuesday, July 31, 2001 Hawaii judokas ousted at world championships Tayler Takata and Neal Takamoto of Hawaii lost their first-round matches yesterday and were eliminated from the World Judo Championships in Munich, Germany. Takata, competing in the 60-kilogram division, lost to Nestor Khergiani of Georgia by ippon to koka, four minutes into the match. Takamoto, in the Open Division, fell to Yeldos Ikhsangaliyev of Kazakhstan by ippon, 57 seconds into the match. Martial Arts in the Advertiser Posted on: Tuesday, July 31, 2001 Fighting in name of the Lord By Seabrook Mow Special to The Advertiser There is a martial arts school in Kalihi where students are taught round-house kicks and right crosses to the solar plexus, all in the Lord's name. Under the watchful eye of instructor Marjie Ledgerwood, 11-year-old Nathan Young, left, and 7-year-old Solomon Dixon practice for this week's World Championship Martial Arts Competition in New Orleans. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser The Family Martial Arts Center's recent success has led it to the World Championship Martial Arts Competition in New Orleans, starting Thursday. "We use karate as a platform to spread the gospel," said Rachel Yasui, 34, a first-degree Keichu-Do black belt instructor. Keichu-Do, which means to "devote one's self entirely to the way," teaches a hybrid form of martial arts which includes karate, judo, jiu-jitsu, American wrestling and street fighting techniques, all while emphasizing Christianity. "I think it's great how there's Bible studies mixed in with the (karate) classes," said Robert Young, 42, a Honolulu physician who enrolled his son Nathan. "It's an application of Christianity in another format." Young said he believes students have an easier time remembering scriptures because it allows them to associate it with physical activities. According to Yasui, classes start and end with a prayer and discussion about a scripture that is the focus of the day. Haeane Ofa, 38, of Kalihi, a floor installer and student, said the school has helped him as well as his son, Tevita. Ofa said Tevita would punch and hurt other classmates in elementary school. But after taking classes, Tevita now tries to prevent fights among classmates. "My family has learned a lot of discipline," said Ofa. Yasui said being a Christian is not required to join the classes. "Some people just come here to get in shape, or learn to protect themselves and that's fine," Yasui said. What the center focuses on is strengthening family unity and enlightening one's life. Every Friday the center, with an enrollment of about 300, holds a family night, which includes watching videos, playing games, sleepovers and reading from the Bible. But the fun and games end when it comes to competition. Some members, whose ages range from 3 to somewhere in the 60s, won titles at the Palama Settlement competition earlier this month. Nathan Young, 11, captured the kata (form) division and was junior grand champion. Next up for a six-member team — Tevita Ofa, Solomon Dixon, Haeane Ofa, Daniel DePinto, Nathan Young, Yasui and coach Marjie Ledgerwood — is the World Championship Martial Arts Competition. Yasui said this is the first time the Keichu-Do school, which has been in existence for six years, is sending a team. "I'm very nervous, but you can't show it," said Nathan Young, who practices his kata and weapons kata routine a minimum of 40 times each day. Young is determined to place among the best, but if he doesn't the trip won't be a total loss. "I'm still excited to go to Disney World," he said 7/30/01 Quote of the Day When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge. Albert Einstein 1879-1955, German-born American Physicist Travis Lee in Star Bulletin Yesterday's quote, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible," fits Travis Lee very well. No other Hawaiian wrestler has won a national wrestling championship and Lee has won two. In his final match against Nick Simmons, it reminds me of the story of probably the greatest wrestler/coach in US history, Dan Gable. Gable came in to his senior NCAA finals undefeated, but lost his final match. No one remembers the guy who beat him, but hopefully this does not hold true for Lee. Competitors will definitely be watching him because his career has just started. He returned to Hawaii yesterday and was featured on News 8. Here's what the Star Bulletin wrote and a picture posted on the champ. Lee doubles up on mat The St. Louis wrestler adds national freestyle title to his collection -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From staff and wire reports FARGO, N.D. >> Once was not enough for Travis Lee. The recent St. Louis School graduate won his second national wrestling title in three days yesterday, upsetting heavily favored Nick Simmons of Williamston, Mich., 3-1, in the 123-pound division of the Freestyle Junior National Championships at the FargoDome. There had never been a national wrestling champion from Hawaii before this week. On Wednesday, Lee won the 123-pound Greco-Roman title. "It was a tough match all the way,'' Lee said in a phone call last night. "It has not sunk in yet. I'm looking forward to coming home.'' Lee brought Simmons' dynasty to a crashing end in the final, denying Simmons a record-tying fourth national freestyle title. Simmons was 210-0 with 186 pins in his high school career, and came into last night's match as the three-time U.S. Junior national champion. With his future college coach from Michigan State in his corner, Simmons walked on the mat predicting a technical fall (a 10-point major decision). Simmons had beaten Lee in this event last year. The first period ended 1-1, but Lee scored two points on an exposure early on and kept the pressure on to win 3-1. Lee was one of three wrestlers to win both a freestyle and Greco-Roman title. "It was incredible for him to win one (title), but to win two is nuts,'' said Team Hawaii coach John Kerley. "It was a real David-and-Goliath match tonight. It's an incredible accomplishment. He's proven he can do anything he wants to do.'' Harris Posted on Guestbook I'll admit that I don't check the guestbook as much as I should, but Harris posted on it while in Rio before his match on July 25, 2001. For the people who read the site and have not posted, please do so we can get a feel of who reads the site and what you guys want. Thanks! Oh yeah, the last line is a phrase that I said many times while in Brazil. "Well, for one thing, you guys weren't kidding about Relson in Brazil . . . between "losing" $800, inviting Brazilian "women" back to he apartment until 5:00 a.m., telling stories (the same ones over and over), and his driving acumen that would frighten any NYC taxi driver, I'll have plenty of stories to tell when I get back. Basically, I have been hanging out with Kai, Kendall Goo, and Kai's friend, Rob . . . ALOT! Training is going well. I am at Gracie Tijuca with Royler (awesome guy). My training is done; I'll rest Thursday and kick ass on Friday! Thanks to everyone at the main academy!! You guys rock: Chris & Mike Onzuka; Jeff and Andrew Furuta, especially. I think the guys we have on our team would go well with anyone here in Brazil. Honest. I'll take more later. Harris PS. Oh, yeah, the women are incredible. I wish I spoke Portuguese. " 7/29/01 In Case there is no news tomorrow... Since I posted so much news this weekend, don't blame me if I don't post anything tomorrow. I'm spent! Mike Quote of the Day It's kind of fun to do the impossible. Walt Disney, 1901-1966, American Artist, Film Producer Kendall Goo in Advertiser Today, news of Kendall's World Title has been posted in the Honolulu Advertiser on page C-3 (Isle File) of the sports section. Honolulu Advertiser Isle File July 29, 2001 Former University of Hawai'i football player Kendall Goo of Kaua'i, won the purple belt super heavyweight Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil yesterday Goo, a Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu team member, won four matches in order to claim his second world title. In 1997, Kendall won the blue belt world championship. In addition to winning the purple belt world championship yesterday, Relson Gracie awarded Kendall his brown belt immediately following the competition. The belts in Brazilian or Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is white, blue, purple, brown, and black. International competition starts at the blue belt level. Mundial Results Here are some various reports from Kid Peligro regarding the World Championships. Items to note are Margarida beats Saulo Riberio twice to claim the medium heavy and absolute titles, one by submission. Shaolin moves up a weight class and beats the defending champ Terere by advantage for the gold in the medium. Marcio Feitosa wins another title in the lightweight. Comprido and Gurgel close out the Heavyweight, but Comprido does not repeat as Absolute champ. Black Belt Final Results Continued: Margarida Serves Notice: "I have arrived!" and wins the Absolute! Super-Feather: Ricardinho Vieira wins by advantage and secures his first World title Medium: Shaolin defeats Terere by advantage to win the Title Absolute: Margarida wins by 2 x 0 by takedown over Saulo Superfeather Semifinal Ricardinho Vieira in a huge upset defeats five times World Champion Robson Moura (Nova Uniao). Finals to be held later Feather Fredson Paixao defeats Fredson Alves Light Marcio Feitosa wins without fighting Leo Santos. Feitosa scored a record 47 points in a match against Yamashiro Medium-Heavy "Margarida" submits Saulo Ribeiro. Pass guard and choke. Heavy "Comprido & Gurgel close out the bracket Super Heavy Boi defeats Daniel Simoes Over Marcio Corleta armlocks Garth Taylor Absolute & Medium to be held soon The Black Belt Division gets under way and it is already looking like a great one. In the Super feather it will be a battle of the Fredson's as Fredson Paixao will face Fredson Alves. Paixao, an ADCC 2001 invitee, has submitted every opponent that he faced including one of the early favorites, Barbosinha. In the lightweight it appears to be a new rivalry brewing in Marcinho Feitosa v Leo Santos. In the Medium-Heavy, the 'new' "Margarida" has started beating people via 'points' to reach the final. Margarida defeated old time nemesis "Jamelao" and "Gordo" both by points. On the other side it is going to be Saulo Ribeiro who defeated "Cachorrinho" Almeida in the semi-final. The two will therefore meet twice later in the day, in the weight division and Asolute finals! Source: Abu Dhabi Page Pride 15 Results Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo, Japan July 29th, 2001 | Matches to note are Wallid finally submits someone in NHB and Silva continues to make a statement and will probably move up in the rankings of the top ten fighters in his weight class. The biggest upset is Heath Herring beats Mark Kerr and secures his spot as one of the top five heavyweights in the world. This guy is for real and if he hasn't turned heads before, certainly will do it now. Take a look on the FCF website for full fight descriptions. COMPLETE RESULTS: Assuerio Silva v. Valentijn Overeem: Silva by Ankle Lock Rd. 1 Wallid Ismail v. Shungo Oyama: Ismail by Choke Rd. 1 Ebenezer Fontes Braga v. Daijiro Matsui: Braga by Judges Decision (OT) Igor Vovchanchyn v. Masake Satake: Igor by by Judges Decision Heath Herring v. Mark Kerr: Herring by TKO (STRIKES) Rd. 2 Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira v. Gary Goodridge: Minotauro by Triangle Rd. 1 Kazushi Sakuraba v. Quinton Jackson: Sakuraba by Rear Naked Choke Rd .1 Tokimtsu Ishizawa v. Ryan Gracie: Ishizawa by TKO Rd. 1 Travis Lee Claims Second National Title I do not remember when a Hawaii wrestler has had so much success in national competition. Lee is a three-time high school state champion and will continue his wrestling and education at Cornell which tells you that he has brains as well as brawn. Congratulations to Travis as well as Coach Los Banos who is an incredible coach and motivator. I have had the pleasure of working out with his team and he was very open and welcoming to me. He always has time to talk and has the ability to make you run a marathon after one of his speeches. Posted on: Sunday, July 29, 2001 Another national title for Lee Advertiser Staff St. Louis School graduate Travis Lee won his second junior national wrestling championship in five days yesterday, avenging an earlier loss to one of the most highly regarded wrestlers in the tournament. Lee, 18, decisioned Nick Simmons of Michigan 3-1 in the 123-pound freestyle final of the Asics/USA Wrestling Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D. On Tuesday Lee won the Greco-Roman title. Simmons was going for his fourth junior national championship and had never lost a freestyle match. He beat Lee by the same score in the Senior National championships in Delaware in April in folk-style (high school-collegiate). In yesterday's championship match, Lee took a 1-0 lead with a takedown in the first round. Simmons tied the score at 1 with a hand-to-hand gutwrench, but Lee answered with a reversal and a takedown in the second round. Midway through the second round, Lee said, "I was trying to turn him with a leglace and I put a little hurt on his leg. When he came to the center, he looked hurt and beat and that gave me a lot of confidence. I could see in his eyes he was beat already." "Travis broke his spirit," said Todd Los Banos, Lee's coach. Lee is the first wrestler from Hawai'i to win a junior national championship. "I hope I opened the door for a lot of kids in Hawai'i," Lee said. "Hopefully they will do well, too." 7/28/01 Kendall Goo Repeats as World Champ! Relson Gracie team member, Kendall Goo, has once again proved that he is one of the best Jiu-Jitsu practioners in Hawaii by winning the purple belt world championships in Rio. Along with his gold medal, Relson has awarded him a brown belt! I was told that he trashed his toe in the fights, but hopefully he'll stop back to Oahu before he returns to Kauai so we can initiate him like we do everyone else (heh heh). Kendall is now on a streak, 1997 Blue Belt World Champ and now 2001 Purple Belt World Champ. Congratulations to our newest world champion! Saulo Riberio is set to face Margarida in the absolute division tomorrow. Fellow Hawaiian, Kai Garcia lost his first match by advantage, but will be looking for revenge in the absolute. Believe me, he is going to make people pay in the abosolutes. We wish him good luck and hopefully the two Kauai boys (Kendall is also from Kauai) will come back as champions. Pride Happens Tonight Take a look at the FCF website for some interesting stories regarding Sakuraba's opponent getting arrested at LA airport at gun point and some interviews with some fighters from the upcoming event. Pride 15 Bout Order Fight One Valentijn Overeem vs. Assuerio Silva Fight Two Shungo Oyama vs. Wallid Ismael Fight Three Daijiro Matsui vs. Ebenezer Fontes Braga Fight Four Masaaki Satake vs. Igor Vovchanchyn Fight Five Heath Herring vs. Mark Kerr Intermission Fight Six Gary Goodridge vs. Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira Fight Seven Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Quinton Jackson Fight Eight Ryan Gracie vs. Tokimitsu Ishizawa There is also new rules and judging criteria. Revised Judging Criteria Judges will keep a running tally of points throughout the fight, rather than scoring each round on a ten-point system. Points will be awarded whenever one fighter shows superiority according to the following five criteria: The attitude toward working for a KO or submission (attempting to finish the opponent)--aggression with purpose Damage to opponent through the near finish of a submission, effectively throwing the opponent to the ground or effective striking Technique-based on good standup fighting combinations, good takedowns, good ground control skills, submission attempts and ring generalship Aggressiveness in general When there is a weight difference of 10 kilos or more, the lighter fighter will automatically be awarded one advantage point in each round; Negative points Stalling or illegal actions--any occurrence when a referee issues a yellow card will result in one-point deduction Other Changes Knees and kicks to an opponent on four points are now allowed in all fights, regardless of any weight difference Source: FCF Website Warrior's Quest Added Matches Along with a already solid card, Lincoln may finally get to fight again in Hawaii. He has had no luck finding an opponent. There are not many 135 lb. fighters around the islands for some reason. Another fighter jumps ship once again. 135 lbs. Yobi Soung (Jesus Is Lord) Pro Debut Vs. Lincoln Tyler 3-1 145 lbs. Eddie Yagin (Grappling Unlimited) Pro Debut Vs. Russel Mederios (Jesus Is Lord) Pro Debut 7/27/01 Boy's Night Tonight All the boys are invited for another male bonding session tonight at Mai Tai's at 9:00 AM. Be there on time so we don't have to pound the cheap beers 15 minutes before happy hour is over. Sorry for the late notice, but I was in a training class all day. Quote of the Day It takes less time to do things right that to explain why you did it wrong. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1819-1892, American Poet Murilo in the UFC Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, Murilo Bustamante, has finally signed a deal with Zuffa to fight in the UFC against Chuck Liddell. Liddell has been knocking people out and is a real force in the light heavy-weight. There is a potential for Murilo to fight Vitor Belfort who was a ex-teammate and has also justed signed with the UFC. Travis Lee Does it Again St. Louis wrestling star, Travis Lee, trashed his competition in Fargo, North Dakota by winning the Greco-Roman Junior National Championships on Tuesday. His win was published in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on Wednesday, July 25, 2001. Lee dominates in national Greco-Roman wrestling The St. Louis graduate sweeps through the tournament unbeaten Honolulu Star-Bulletin July 25, 2001 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From wire and staff reports FARGO, N. D. >> St. Louis School graduate Travis Lee became Hawaii's first Greco-Roman junior national champion yesterday, winning the 123-pound division at the Asics Junior National Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships. In last night's final, Lee defeated A.J. Lavender of Moline, Ill., by a 10-0 technical fall in 5 minutes, 37 seconds at the FargoDome on the North Dakota State campus. Lee finished the Greco-Roman portion of the event, going 12-0 and winning all of his matches by a 10-0 tech. The 123-pound class had 167 wrestlers, the largest of the 31st annual competition. "It hasn't really sunk in yet,'' said Lee, who will begin the freestyle competition tomorrow. "It's been a good tournament for me and I'm feeling pretty good right now. Last night, I felt in control the entire match.'' "He just dominated all week,'' said St. Louis wrestling coach Todd Los Banos. "He really should have won the Outstanding Wrestler Award. He was awesome.'' Last night, Lee jumped out to a 6-0 lead at the end of the first period featuring a three-point throw and an appreciation lift point. He scored a takedown with a minute remaining, then finished off Lavender with a three-point toss. The 16-year-old Lavender, an incoming high school junior, was 37-2 last year and was the Class 2A state runner-up at 119 pounds as a sophomore. Lee won three state titles, competing last year at 130 pounds. His career record was 217-19. Lee finished fourth in this competition last year in Greco-Roman and sixth in the freestyle competition. The 18-year-old Lee, who graduated with a 4.25 GPA, will attend Cornell University in the fall. Some Super Brawl Articles in the UH's Ka Leo O Hawaii Eric Alcantara * Ka Leo O Hawai'i Brett Al-Azzawi of "Team Extreme" taps out as "Grappling Unlimited" fighter Egan Inoue puts him in a submission hold at the Super Brawl 5th Anniversary Saturday at the Blaisdell Center. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tiger butt stops fight at 'Brawl' By Richard Ferris Ka Leo Staff Writer Super Brawl's fifth anniversary show nearly erupted into a riot Saturday night at the Neal Blaisdell Arena. In the last of the 10 matches for the evening, Marcelo Tiger was disqualified for head butting Wesley "Cabbage" Caberra when the fighters openly showed their distaste for each other. The headbutt opened a deep cut over Caberra's right eye, and referee Harushima Nishi stopped the match 56 seconds into the second round so ringside physician Brad Hall could examine the cut. "It was absolutely illegal," said Nishi. "Before the fight, at the rules meeting, we mention it, and just before they fight, we mention it again — no headbutts, no elbows to the head." The doctor determined that Caberra was unable to continue. This ended the fight and gave the victory to Caberra. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tiger butt stops fight at 'Brawl' By Richard Ferris Ka Leo Staff Writer Super Brawl's fifth anniversary show nearly erupted into a riot Saturday night at the Neal Blaisdell Arena. In the last of the 10 matches for the evening, Marcelo Tiger was disqualified for head butting Wesley "Cabbage" Caberra when the fighters openly showed their distaste for each other. The headbutt opened a deep cut over Caberra's right eye, and referee Harushima Nishi stopped the match 56 seconds into the second round so ringside physician Brad Hall could examine the cut. "It was absolutely illegal," said Nishi. "Before the fight, at the rules meeting, we mention it, and just before they fight, we mention it again — no headbutts, no elbows to the head." The doctor determined that Caberra was unable to continue. This ended the fight and gave the victory to Caberra. "It's too deep, he (Caberra) could get injured further. He could bleed and not [be able to] see, making him defenseless," said Brad Hall, the doctor who halted the fight. The crowd booed the decision and became unruly, throwing objects into the ring, which prompted building security and police officers to enter and surround the ring. Caberra was handpicked by Egan Inoue to be Tiger's opponent. Despite the victory, Caberra wants another match with Tiger. "I feel that Marcelo should fight me again and not cheat. Just suck it up and play by the rules," Caberra said. The incident was almost a replay of the Inoue-Tiger match two years ago, when Tiger viciously kicked Inoue in the head while he was down, which resulted in the disqualification of Tiger. This event was hyped to be the "Road to the Rematch," and had Tiger beaten Caberra, he would have faced Inoue at the next Super Brawl event. Although Tiger did not win, Inoue agreed to give Tiger the rematch for one reason: "I want to hurt him so he can't hurt anyone else again," said Inoue. "I want to hurt him for life." Although both men want to fight each other, promoter T. Jay Thompson is not so sure that there will be a rematch between the two. "I have a feeling it's going to be a long road of negotiations if it's going to happen," said Thompson. "I would love to see the rematch happen, but I do have concerns about Marcelo Tiger being able to fight within the rules of the event. If I cannot be convinced of that, then Marcelo Tiger won't be able to fight in Super Brawl anymore until I can be convinced," Thompson said. The other half of the double main event show pitted Inoue against Brett Al-Azzawi. Both men traded stiff shots at each other's heads during the first 15 seconds. Al-Azzawi landed a muay Thai style kick. His powerful left leg didn't connect, however, as Inoue blocked most of the impact with his hands. Inoue proved to be too much, as he managed to get Al-Azzawi on his back and choked him out in 1:29. "It was OK; it was kind of fast. The guy (Al-Azzawi) had a nice high kick that I didn't expect," said Inoue. "It was a good thing that my hands were up." Former UH football standout Niko Vitale had the quickest match of the evening. He needed only 51 seconds to defeat Dennis Reed. Vitale and Reed traded punches and grappled for a bit until Vitale locked Reed into an armbar submission hold which Reed could not escape and had no choice but to surrender. The next Super Brawl event is scheduled for Sept. 15, but right now, the question is: Will there be a rematch between Inoue and Tiger? 7/26/01 Quote of the Day "I think a pillow should be the peace symbol, not the dove. The pillow has more feathers than the dove, and it doesn't have a beak to peck you with." (excerpt from Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey) Mundial Heating Up I didn't look forward to many match ups, but the medium weight division looks stacked with the best guys. Saulo, Cachorrinho, Margarida, Jamelao, Gordo, Gordinho (Gordo's brother), Xandre Riberio (Saulo's brother). Also, Shaolin Riberio fights up one weight class and will probably face Bruno Severiano in the finals. Looks pretty weak. Fredson will have to beat Soca in order to make it to the finals of the Pena (147 lb class). I think if all goes as planned, the winner of this fight will fight Barbosa for the title. Yuki Nakai is on Barbosa's side of the bracket, but always seems to get robbed by the Brazilians. Comprido may face Fabio Gurgel. Harris Brumer gets a first round bye and then needs to win four matches to be the champ. Sidney Silva from Brazilian Freestyle is also in this weight class. It looks like Harris did not enter the blue absolute, but Mark Jackson from Nova and Sidney Silva entered and may face each other very soon in the keys if both win. Kendall Goo is entering the Pesadissimo class and also has a first round bye. He needs three fights to claim another world title. Kendall has also entered the absolute consisting of 8 keys (not all full, but that's a crap load of keys). He has to win six matches (I think) for the title. I am sure people will pull out. Hopefully, it will be on his end of the key. Good luck to all the Hawaii Fighters! Warrior's Quest Tentative Line Up Warriors Quest 2: BATTLE OF THE CHAMPIONS Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, HI Saturday, August 25, 2001 Chris Onzuka - Chris@Onzuka.com Promoter Brennan Kamaka just released the tentative card for Warriors Quest 2. Looks like there is no resting for Cooper after his win over Antonio McKee in the last event, Brennan is bringing in the Lion's Den stand out, Joe Hurley. That should be a great match up. Kamaka also said that he is scouring the MMA world looking for tough fighters for Vitale and Paling. Ron "The Machine Gun" Jhun's opponent will be released shortly. Jhun is fresh off of his arm bar submission of Dave Strasser this past weekend at SuperBrawl. Jhun is on a hot streak with no end in site. Another fighter to keep your eye on is Jason Dacquel. In his first fight, Dacquel KO'd Jay R. Palmer in one of Kamaka's earlier events. This event was originally scheduled for September 1st, but was pushed back to August 25th, so take note Hawaii MMA fans. Tickets are currently on sale at the Blaisdell box office. Ray Cooper (Jesus Is Lord) Vs. Joe Hurley (Lions Den) Ronald "The Machine Gun" Jhun (Jesus Is Lord) Vs. Opponent will be Announce on Monday!! Stephen "Bozo" Paling (Jesus Is Lord) Vs. TBA Falaniko Vitale (Grappling Unlimited) Vs. TBA Dennis Asche (Carlson Gracie, Oregon) Vs. Jason Dacquel (SWAT Fight Team) Jeremy Williams (Next Generation) Vs. John Crisostomo (Grappling Unlimited) Alan "Turbo" Busby (Desert Dogs, Oregon) Vs. David Santiago (Team Wailua) Justin Hawes (Desert Dogs, Oregon) Vs. Tommy Kalei (Jesus Is Lord) Joe Padilla (Swat Fight Team) Vs Polu Tata Malaipeia (Freelance) 7/25/01 Quote of the Day "I will speak ill of no man, and speak all the good I know of everybody." Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American Scientist, Publisher, Diplomat Mundial This Weekend The World Championships of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu starts this weekend. There's a post on Hawaii's Kai Garcia on the Abu Dhabi page who will make a run at a brown belt world championship. He placed third last year and crushed his competition until losing in the semi-finals. It looks like a lot of the major stars in the black belt division will not be competing, but there is a larger and larger number of American competitors which probably means more and more American World Champions. Relson Gracie team member Harris Brumer is there in Brazil and making his first attempt at a world title in the blue belt division. 1997 Blue Belt World Champion is also there to make a run at the purple belt world championship. Harris should turn some heads because he has a solid takedown and top game which places perfectly in the tournament scene. Kendall is a well rounded fighter and is comfortable in all positions. We all wish them both luck. Tank Abbott Interview Part 3 & 4 Sherdog.com: What do you think about the new UFC people compared to the SEG? Did you have problems with Meyrowitz? Tank Abbott: I would imagine that they thought they had a slam dunk in their hands. I think they are starting to look in the mirror and realize that they don't. As I told you, I don't know these people, but I have a feeling that it's going to end up a PKA. And you know where that is. Sherdog.com: Rumors, I don't know if the rumors are true, but back when you were fighting, it was rumored that you were the only UFC fighter under contract, Did you have a contract with SEG? Tank Abbott: I had a quarterly contract. Sherdog.com: So that's why you fought most of those fights on a couple weeks notice? Could you turn them down if they called? Tank Abbott: Oh yeah, they asked me. I had four days notice to fight Maurice Smith, and who do you think won that first seven minutes of that fight? Sherdog.com: Yeah, I remember your famous quote after that fight. You fell off the barstool into the octagon. Tank Abbott: Yeah, I stepped off the bar stool four days ago and walked into the octagon. That's no bullsh-t, it was that one right there [pointing to barstool]. I had the contract, but then again who was the talent? Sherdog.com: Yeah, you were definitely the most popular because there was no in between. One way or another, either people hated you and wanted to see you get your ass kicked, or they loved you and wanted to see you kill people like Nelmark. Tank Abbott: Twenty percent of the people are martial artists, and they don't like hearing they can't be a tough guy while by reading a book or going to a dojo, because that's what they do. UFC is so esoteric and no one knows about it. So it's kind of like the garage band that's slowly on it's way up, and you know about it before everyone else, and you're cool because of it, that kind of stuff. Then it's like, "Oh you know about the UFC, it's "No Holds Barred Fighting," you are the sh-t. Then you are a joke. Sherdog.com: What did you think when you hit Nelmark, and he was laying there like that? Did you think he was dead? Tank Abbott: No, I've seen that at least 30 times more. If that man weren't in the octagon, I would have kicked him about 5 times in the face. And I have, and I've done it many times. Sherdog.com: You danced a little dance after defeating Matua as he was going into convulsions, what was that? Tank Abbott: That was the Stutter Tank Thing. Sherdog.com: Was it supposed to be a Samoan dance or was it… Tank Abbott: Well, he was the one doing it, I was just with him in spirit, you know? I guess I was his partner. Sherdog.com: A couple of buddies of mine call that the "knock the f--- out" dance. They said that you were more responsible for people dancing like that than anyone else. Man, I thought that Nelmark was hurt. The way he snapped back like that, it was kind of scary. Tank Abbott: See, the whole thing is, it's not scary. That isn't sh-t. I've beaten the holy f--k out of someone ten zillion times worse that that. People think it is scary because they've never seen in it in a f--king dojo. I can tell you right now the martial artists reading this interview (will say) "Oh what a jerk!" Why don't you go get up, walk over to the mirror, and go "Oh what a pussy I am." I'm serious! Don't pretend you're tough, go out and be tough. (Click to listen) Sherdog.com: Most of these fights you talk about, are these just street fights in Huntington? Tank Abbott: All over the place. Sherdog.com: Is there any truth about there being any underground fights in Huntington, or do you even want to comment about that? Tank Abbott: I was able and willing to do that before the Ultimate Fighting. There were many times where I had set up things, but the pussies I was supposed to fight never showed up. Sherdog.com: How about Lober? Were you just training partners with Lober? Tank Abbott: I've never done anything with Lober. Lober would need a step ladder to trim my toenails. Even with all the steroids. With all the steroids in the world, he would still need a step-ladder to trim my toenails. Sherdog.com: Alright, for some reason I thought that maybe you guys were friends. Tank Abbott: I have never trained with him, I have no heat with him. I'm just telling you, he is not in the same league with me. No one in Huntington Beach is in the same league as me. And they can run around and clown themselves and think they are. They can open dojo's and gyms and everything else. But they know that they are con-men and they are all jacking off all these people. There is a different level of the "Bruce Lee Syndrome." [Sarcasticall] "You want to be tough? Give me $500.00, we'll work out everyday, and you'll be a bad ass. In six months you'll be able to kill people." Sherdog.com: So you thinking of opening a school? [laughing] Tank Abbott: Yeah, I'm thinking of doing that! Every week I'm making like two grand, it'll be great! That's a bar tab for me. Sherdog.com: What do you think of the UFC people taking your name away and giving it to Tito after you left? Tank Abbott: I think the people who gave him that are so hysterical. First of all, they are trying to get rid of me, once again they have no chance in hell of doing. Bottom line is that they are trying to put up their sail on a rowboat to sail across a sea the size of the Atlantic Ocean. It's going to blow them right down into the bottom. There is no talent there, in other words. The only talent that is there for them is their emotional want. They want that, but there is no talent there. You understand what I am saying? Sherdog.com: Yeah. Tank Abbott: It's like having a race car, or any type of vehicle and then saying "Oh, we've got the replacement!" The 500 S-Class drives off, and the replacement is a Toyota Corolla. But you're going to push the advertisement right through the roof, because some con-man is going, "I'm telling you, this is the fastest car around. It's the sh-t! You drive it, you can't be dodged." Sherdog.com: What do you think of Pride? Tank Abbott: I like Pride. I like Pride, you might see me there in the future. Sherdog.com: I've been to the last two Pride's, they are great. Tank Abbott: I haven't been to them, but I like their shows. You only see the production at the end of it. How is it live? Sherdog.com: It's awesome! Tank Abbott: Well they have money, you know? Plus they got the fans. Sherdog.com: They've got 15,000 fans, 18,000 fans, 20,000 fans At UFC 27, they were lucky to have 1,0000 fans. What do you think of Severn still fighting? Tank Abbott: Well, let me make a point. Severn is still fighting because he has to fight. When I fight, it's because I want to fight. I'm set. Just remember that. I always wanted to fight. I f---ing sh-t a brick when they gave me $10,000. "Wow, what? I'm not going to jail? I'm getting a check? You have to be kidding me." Sherdog.com: How many times have you been in jail because of fighting? Tank Abbott: More than I can count. Never stayed for long stints, except for once. I've been to jail more than I can count. I've probably got over 6 convictions for assault and battery. Sherdog.com: When I went to UFC 27, that was the headline fight. Severn and Pedro Rizzo. Tank Abbott: Newer? Sherdog.com: Yeah, Severn fought Pedro Rizzo in the headline fight. Tank Abbott: Right. Sherdog.com: Did you see that fight? Tank Abbott: No. Sherdog.com: Where Rizzo kicked him in the leg twice…. Tank Abbott: You know what? I think Rizzo is a really tough guy and I would like to fight him again. You watch my fight with him, they did something to that tarp that they put over it. It was like fighting on ice. The hole, that part that you walk out of the hole to go to the octagon, there was water like no tomorrow. And they were pouring water all the way up to the (ring), and the canvass had like a resin on it. I think that is for kickboxers so that they can get it on their feet. Sherdog.com: You wear shoes right? Tank Abbott: Yeah, I always wear shoes. What was the gimmick with that? They were also like, "Don't you have balance?" I'm like, "I wrestled since I was 9 years old, I think I have balance." There was something f--ked up in that ring. Sherdog.com: Wow, I will have to re watch that. Tank Abbott: I could not get any footing on that. Sherdog.com: Yeah, because I have that from the UFC hits, the DVD. Have you seen those? Tank Abbott: No. Sherdog.com: They take what they call the greatest hits. Tank Abbott: No, don't think for one second that the little pussies that there are intermingled in the UFC -- I'm not going to say names, but they know who they are. They put all that together, screw everything else, it just cheapens them and makes them look stupid. They're still working there, and I am still laughing at them for it. I know what you are saying. You might be able to help me because you're on the Internet. Do they have a thing saying that I'm going to be in their next video game? Sherdog.com: I haven't heard your name. Tank Abbott: I told them twice that I do not want to be in their video game. I have a very large, prominent and prestigious law firm by the name of Latham and Watkins which has represented me on it, the lawsuit for the video game. They are ready to jump on board and take legal action if they try to use me. And I know the author of the contract that has been drawn up for me to sign with them. He has expressed to me that I have the right to tell them that they can not use me. So, if they do use me, then I'll see that video game in court, just like I did with another one. Sherdog.com: Yeah, it's actually a different game called "UFC Tapout." Tank Abbott: Umm Hmm. Sherdog.com: You have the other video game, but you aren't in that, right? Tank Abbott: No. Sherdog.com: How come? Tank Abbott: Because they kind of whored me. Sherdog.com: Are you in wrestling videos? Tank Abbott: Yeah, but I had to be in those. I had a legal action against another video game, where everything is confidential and it's over with now. That's what I'm smiling ear from ear about. See, go ahead, use me. Sherdog.com: What is Goldberg like in person? Is he a cool guy? Tank Abbott: He's a pretty cool guy. He's strong. Sherdog.com: When you are working a match in wrestling, can you tell if the other person has power? Tank Abbott: No. Sherdog.com: To me when I watch wrestling, it seems like it's pretty close. That you would be able to tell if the guy is strong or fast or what ever. I don't know, I don't watch that much. Tank Abbott: All I will tell you is that wrestling is as real as you want it to be. Some people totally believe it. Sherdog.com: On the internet, there were people who said "I'm a believer!" when you wrestled Goldberg. Tank Abbott: [Laughing sarcastically] I kind of got myself into a little trouble when I went out. I had bitten off more than I could chew. Sherdog.com: Now in your wrestling part, it is pretty much the one thing - you were known for the one big punch. Tank Abbott: Yeah, well I was up for the one big punch, then I would wrestle and brawl. But WCW was in a little bit of trouble ratings wise and they didn't give me time to work. And so they pulled me out and my hands were tied because they didn't use me right. Sherdog.com: People want to know, if you do come back, are you going to dedicate yourself? When you were wrestling I saw you running around here, and you were in good fighting shape. Tank Abbott: No, I wasn't in good fighting condition. The thing that nobody knows about me, well, maybe they do know it, I'm an all or nothing kind of person. One time, before I was fighting, I was Tank. I was 305 pounds, I was drinking well over a case of beer a day, I was havin' a f---ing grand old time. So I said, "f--- it, its time to get in shape." That was December 5th, and on April 28th, I fought a boxing match at 199 pounds. I lost by the way. Sherdog.com: I remember hearing about you doing some boxing matches at a lower weight. Do you have more power at 230 then you did at 199? Tank Abbott: Well I certainly hope so. The bottom line was, I got down to 200, there were 6 guys there, and none of em would fight me. So I fought a guy that was 6'5 and 249 because nobody else would fight. And I kicked his ass for two and a half rounds, he got two good shots that rocked me, but nowhere near took me out of the running. In amateur boxing, there are people who are supposed to win, you understand what I'm saying? So, they stopped it. It's funny because the longer I live, it seems that professional wrestling is the only honest thing, know what I'm saying? Look at this joke of Tito and Elvis, they're going to carry a card? Think about that, that's a joke. That's like giving professional wrestlings' Billy Kidman a push. Do you know anything about that? Sherdog.com: No. Tank Abbott: Billy Kidman is at best a B-minus wrestler, and they f---in pushed and pushed and pushed him. You never know why, wrestling's so politics. Sherdog.com: Do you think you got a raw deal in wrestling? Like they didn't push you enough? Tank Abbott: I just took a check to the bank, I guarantee you I didn't get no raw deal! I get one of those checks every two weeks. Sherdog.com: How bout that powerhouse? Where you go to work out and they put you in wrestling matches? Tank Abbott: Oh Power Plant. You learn how to do wrestling moves, and you learn how to put 'em together. But you really don't learn how to wrestle much in front of a crowd. Power Plant was a bunch of old-time, has-beens or never-weres, that had to go through a bunch of sh-t because wrestling's always had to deal with the stigma that it's not real. "So, you want to be a wrestler? You're going to find out how real it is." And let me tell you, I've been hurt worse wrestling then I have fighting. When you get into that position you've got f---in' mentally deficient people like Paul Orndorf, and idiots that need to read a manual on how to tie their shoes, saying "I had to do this, now you have to do it." It's a rite of passage. And you know it might be a rite of passage, but I didn't need to do that. I was doing all their bullsh-t not for anything but to have the rite of passage. I said hey, I did everything you guys did, not sneaking in the back door as, you know, like a bosses son kind of guy. I went there and I did it all. But it was f---in moronic. Sherdog.com: Another big rumor going around about you is your bench press strength. Whats the most you ever bench-pressed? Tank Abbott: 625 pounds, not a problem at all. Where I am right now, I haven't touched a weight in 2 months, but if I could work out for 2 weeks, I could do 505 for an easy 4 reps. That's the way it is, and I never took steroids, just like I would say 98% of the people fighting in the UFC have. All the way down to lightweight guys, and all the way to the top. Its funny, the more steroided out little or big guys are, the more they start thinking like me. You know? They gotta get a shot in their arm to pretend they're tough guys. Sherdog.com: In the last UFC, Bobby Hoffman fought Mark Robinson and knocked him out. Then they took the fight away from him and declared it a no contest because he tested positive for marijuana. Tank Abbott: Who gives a rat's ass? We all know who won the fight. I think I tested positive for valium one time, I looked up and said, "I don't give a f---!" Why would I take a downer to fight someone? What am I thinking about? Who gives a f---? Sherdog.com: What if you were approached by an organization that claims to be legit, I'm not gonna name any names, but they said, "OK Dave, I want you to fight, I'm gonna pay you X amount of dollars, but I want you to lose." But this is a legitimate fighting organization. Would you? Tank Abbott: No way! No I wouldn't do it. You know the UFC's been riddled with that, the whole time. It is not rumor, it's fact. Don Frye and Mark Hall, Mark Hall took a fall for 5 grand. You cant keep a lid on that sh-t. What about that little pussy Anthony Macias. You know, to even be brought up in the same breath as those people, it's just a joke! Are you f---in kidding me? You think those guys are fighters? They're little f---in con-men that suck your dick so you give em fights. That's a fact. You got a bunch of dumb-f---s, sitting around, and they want to be tough so f---in' bad, but guess what, money can't buy being tough. A real motherf---in' warrior will not be a f---in' pussy, and f---in' con people like that. I had guys that wanted to pay me 500 dollars a day to train them. You know, I'm not a f---in' trainer, and they're never gonna be tough. You know guys like the guy that teaches karate on channel 6? They're so f---in stupid they can't figure out any other way to make a dollar than to go out and be con-mens, and say "I will teach Jon Q. Public how to be tough." Sherdog.com: What do you think made you tough? Fighting all your life? Tank Abbott: It's a mental disposition. Sherdog.com: Do you have to have heart to be tough? Does it take both? Tank Abbott: If you don't have any heart, you quit. Those guys that tap out from a bad position, their goal is just to make it into the octagon, like that's gonna make them tough. Tell ya right now, the vast majority of those guys are f---in' laughing hysterical jokers that are fighting now. Couture's tough, Rizzo's tough. [Tank signs an autograph from a female fan, Jeff asks the waitress for a cup to spits out his tobacco.] Waitress: Do you chew or something? Sherdog.com: [Joking] "I have to have it, Dave makes me nervous." Waitress: [Joking] Does he? Tank Abbott: It's the whole sexual tension thing. Sherdog.com: Uh oh. [Laughing] What do you think that being in the UFC has accomplished for you? Tank Abbott: Validation and respect for who I am. Back when being in the UFC meant something, now it's PKA. And they are going to f--- IT UP. Pretty soon you'll be saying, hey, did you see that fight at 2 in the morning on ESPN 2? Tito Ortiz against, uh, who's that? Sherdog.com: Don't you think a lot of that has to do with it not being on cable any more? How do you think the UFC should go about getting new fans? Tank Abbott: I think it's a dying horse, dog. You know everyone was sh-t-talking Meyrowitz and everything, saying he was holding it down. He was holding it down so he could make some money! He's a businessman! Apparently the people that own it now have money to burn! Well, let me explain something to you, I don't think having money to burn is very intelligent. It certainly ain't going to buy you toughness. You have a little bit of money, and you can tell people "Hey, I own the UFC, you know what that is?" "No, what is it?" "It's 'No Holds Barred,' it's CRAZY!" "Great, well, how much does it cost to carry that title?" And then to have all the business people bail from the UFC, which means it's a money making machine to be taken over by the lunatics, the fanatics if you will. How long does that last till you go, "Holy Christ that wasn't a smart move!" I have a feeling that this is what the UFC will be: [Acts like he is doing a kata] I'm not kidding you, do you see any shoes on them? Mark my words. Sherdog.com: You're a good business man. Tank Abbott: I do allright. Sherdog.com: What if Tank Abbott owned the UFC? Tank Abbott: I don't know that I would buy it. [laughing] That's what a good business man would tell you! Seriously, I don't know if I would, and that [the UFC] is my first love! Sherdog.com: We talked about the rumor about Bruce Lee in the octagon, what do you think about people saying that Mike Tyson, at his prime, would be the best fighter in the octagon? Tank Abbott: He'd beat up everybody there now, not when the real fighters were there. And I say that jokingly because, I like Randleman, I like Couture, I like Coleman, I like them but you know they don't fight very much. [Tank asks the waitress for a menu] Sherdog.com: Is this your hangout? This where you come a lot? Tank Abbott: I've been coming here since my first beatings, when I was a senior in high school at Christmas. I beat this guy to death practically. Sherdog.com: Have you ever been beat down in a street fight? Tank Abbott: Oh sure, you can't play with fire and not get burned! Especially if you drink! Yeah, I've been beat down, mostly 'cause I was too drunk. But hey, you get up the next day and you laugh your ass off. I'll put it this way, anyone that's ever f---in' handed it to me, I'll come up to 'em the next day and say, "You know, we can go again!" And I guarantee he ain't going to do it again. Vegas did it to me this weekend. Kicked my ass once, then half kicked my ass the next day! Sherdog.com: What do you like doin', just hangin' out? Tank Abbott: All I do is f---in' party. It's all about havin' fun, my goal is to have a fun life. Sherdog.com: Does UFC know you're coming this weekend? Think they'll let you do any guest commentary? Tank Abbott: Yeah I'd tell them how great this show is. Who's gonna win Elvis or Tito?! [laughs] I think Elvis died a long time ago. They're in this sphere of believing their own bullsh-t. Couture and Rizzo, that would have been a good headline. Sherdog.com: Tito is a pretty good wrestler though. Have you rolled with Tito before? Tank Abbott: [Laughing loudly] And your getting at what? Tito is not a good wrestler. Sherdog.com: No? Tank Abbott: He won state, but there is a old joke my dad used to tell me. "This kid comes home from school and says, 'Guess what dad? I won a contest.' The dad said, 'Really?' getting excited because the boy never wins anything. The dad said 'What did you win?' The boy said 'I have the biggest dick in the 6th grade.' The dad said, 'Well you should, you're 18.' [Laughing loudly again] That is kind of like Tito. Tito first off started off late in school and then skiped a few years before he started wrestling so, it was basically man against boy. Especially in those formative years between 18 and 23. So you got a 23 year old Tito wrestling a fresh out of high school kid. But he was already behind the times when he was wrestling in high school. Sherdog.com: I didn't know any of that. Tank Abbott: Right, so then when it all caught up to him at Bakersfield where men become men and men wrestle men he did nothing! He didn't accomplish anything! If Tito thinks he could step onto the mat with me he is believing too much of the bullsh-t he is selling to people thinking they can be tough Sherdog.com: Say that you were building a fighting character or a real fighter how would you go about that? Tank Abbott: You know, I wouldn't tell you how I would do it, but I will tell you one thing - he would make millions more then anyone else. And that would be real life! Sherdog.com: No I mean like a wrestler / Muay Thai guy? Tank Abbott: Wrestler/boxer/100's of fights in the streets. Verified and known, not con-man bullsh-t. Sherdog.com: You were at Puerto Rico right? What about that streetfighter there what was he like 350 and 0 on the streets Then Frye hits him on the chin once and he goes to sleep? Tank Abbott: Well the reason why, you have to realize it is a show. This is why I'm telling you it is going to turn into PKA. That guy is a local guy that is going to put asses in the seats. So sure, were going to go get some huge big fat guy to go in there and fight. This is not a sport! Sherdog.com: So he was just an added perk? Tank Abbott: It's all about business. [Sarcastically] "No, he isn't no martial artist, we cannot get him in there!" [laughing] You know what? I very rarely remember fights, and I remember that fight. Duh, it's money! The lunatics have taken over the assylum, I'm telling you. Do you follow what I'm saying? The whole premise of that show was so smart if you think back on it. Little guys fighting big guys. People want to see people get their asses kicked. [Sarcastically] "No we want to see martial arts." They don't want to see this sh-t! "Crosstraining, scientific, it's the double sweet science." Dumb ass, do you want to make some money? Or do you just want to pretend your tough and get some idiots jacking you off going "Your the sh-t. What are you on, what do you do?" You still better carry your gun around because you're never going to be tough. Sherdog.com: How about Rickson Gracie Tank Abbott: What about him? He's tough. I don't think he is ultra tough. I think he is a brilliant marketing and businessman. So take your hat off to him. There are easier ways to make money, put on a wrestling match. Sherdog.com: Yeah, that would have been a good way for the UFC to sell out the Meadowlands was to get The Rock vs Goldberg as the headline. Tank Abbott: [Sarcastically] Oh well they missed that one! That was last Sunday. (WWF PPV was at the Meadowlands the weekend before UFC) Now they are going to have to paper it with homeless people. "You get a free sandwich and a coke if you come stand and hold a sign that says 'Tito.'" [Laughing] But you go kill 'em guys you go make some money. Somewhere, somehow I think Meyrowitz going to be sitting at home watching with this gimmick pay per view card, laughing as loud as you are right now going "Oh boy you guys made a killing. I'll see you in Vegas." Sherdog.com: Well that one thing with Pride, they also understand business. Tank Abbott: Yeah, you've got idiot wannabe tough guys getting jacked off by these guys that are not very bright. I cannot believe there is so much want. Take for instance some incredibly rich women believing that there are these gurus out there that will show you how to rub their tits the right way and it will make them grow. Do you know what I'm saying? And that they are going to turn into some supermodel, from some kind of exercise. It's exploitation at it's finest. Are you f---ing kidding me I have never ever in my life looked at a f---in' pussy and said "Listen, you know what, if I was you, stick to business. You're not going to be a tough guy! Stick to holding that gun under your arm walking around thinking you're tough. I guarantee you, I know who carries guns, and if I wanted to hurt them they would never have a chance to reach under their arm. Sherdog.com: Any steady girls in your life? Tank Abbott: Ugggghhhhhh Sherdog.com: What, no time for that? Tank Abbott: No, I have no comment about that. [He looks up to the TV and there is a Karate exhibition going on.] Hey look at this guy, I bet he would do good in the Octagon. [Laughing] Sherdog.com: How about the move Shonie Carter used on Matt Serra, the spining back fist to KO him. Did you see that? Tank Abbott: I would never bet on the fight game. In fact I thought Rizzo beat Corture. What did you think? Sherdog.com: It was a very close fight. My thinking was that if it was not a championship fight, Big John McCarthy would have stopped it in the first round when Couture was pummeling him. Tank Abbott: How many times did John McCarthy, who hates me terriff, stop my fights? Sherdog.com: How about your fight with Cal Worsham. What was he all pissed about? Tank Abbott: No he was just trying to save himself from the embarrasment, he's a little bitch! All of them are. Sherdog.com: Were you trying to throw Cal out of the octagon? Tank Abbott: No I didn't want to throw him out of the ring and then have him come back in, and having to beat on him some more. You know, he would have been out of the ring, he would have walked around until he got his air back. Sherdog.com: Now, if you were to ever fight in Pride, they go with the boxing ring. Tank Abbott: That doesn't matter. You know, the new fighting is so custom made for me. You want to fight me with rounds? You know what I'm talking about? You want to give me a minute rest? And if you take me down then I scissor you in my guard and hug you like a bitch like Gracie for three minutes then go "Oh I got hit in the head three times!" It is custon made for me. Sherdog.com: The new UFC rules are very good for you also. Tank Abbott: The UFC is a joke! I'm telling you, mark my words, "The prophet!" The fans might hate it, but it true. Sherdog.com: There's no one there with the attitude now. They are trying to build Tito as that -- Tank Abbott: Tito does not have the talent. They have pushed it on him and he cannot do it. Sherdog.com: All that old classic stuff just came natural for Tank? Tank Abbott: Oh yeah, all Tank. I don't work at this stuff. No one had to tell me to beat John Matua into convulsions then dance at his feet. I have been doing that my whole life. Lets put it this way, I didn't look at the UFC and say "Wow I want to do that." I looked at UFC and said "I couldn't do that. They wouldn't let me in there with those guys, I would kill those people!" I remember -- Oh Christ look at that guy! [pointing to the TV Karate guy] Think we can get that guy in there? Well at least he is barefoot and does not have to worry about wearing shoes. Oh my God! The bottom line is that I didn't fight to be known, I didn't fight for money. There is not one guy that is fighting right now that don't just relish anything that will blow their little f---ing egos up. Do you know what I'm saying? There are jackoffs that go to high school wrestling tournaments and sell shirts of themselves. Are you f---ing joking me? You know what I'm saying? [Laughing] What???? That is unbelievable. Talk about believing your gimmick or wanting to believe your gimmick or living your gimmick. I am what I am. They are made up contrived things. Sherdog.com: Ok we will end the interview with one more question, then we can kick back and relax. Tank Abbott: And get to drinking. Sherdog.com: There are a lot of Tank Abbott fans out there. Tank Abbott: I guarantee you it is 50 to 1 compared to anyone else that fights in the UFC, except for maybe Ken. In Ken's case it would be 25 to 1 for him. They sold shirts at a UFC of Coleman, Shamrock, and myself. This was before the Hugo Duarte fight ever happened. They were sold out in 5 minutes of my shirts, they had to sell the one off the board. Shamrock sold 32 and Coleman sold 10! You can finish your question now, I'm sorry. Sherdog.com: Ok, I wanted to know if you had a message to your fans at all. We all know you are not really into the internet. Tank Abbott: I don't even care (about the internet). Ok here it goes, this isn't to my fans. I hope every Martial Arts guy that thinks that you are tough realizes what a f---ing pussy you are after listening to this, because you are nothing but a joke. Have fun tomorrow waking up before 8 so you can make your 9 to 5. Have fun! And all you rough and tumble con-men trying to sell toughness to these guys, have fun sweating your ass off in your gym 60 hours a week, hopefully making two grand. Because when I see two grand it is at the end of a credit card bill after my night of partying. See ya! Source: Sherdog's Website 7/24/01 Quote of the Day "In times of turbulence and rapid change, you must constantly be re-evaluating yourself relative to the new realities." Brian Tracy, American Trainer, Speaker, Author, Businessman MMA Legal in Nevada The "Sin City" has legalized MMA events! This will lead to major events that should rival boxing. Pride has already applied for a license to hold an event there and it looks like UFC 33 is a go. This is a huge win for MMA in general and this should have a major impact on getting MMA events back on Hawaii Oceanic Cable pay-per-view. Let's keep our fingers crossed. Mundial Update Relson and Fredson Alves have left for the world champions as you all probably know by now. Hopefully, Fredson can get back in shape in time to be a force. Royler Gracie and his black belt Omar Salum, both black belt world champions have pulled out due to lack of sponsorship. Nino Schembri is out of the worlds and will be in Japan supporting Ryan Gracie with his rematch against Ishizawa. Mario Sperry is also skipping the worlds to back Minotouro in Japan. Leo Vierra is out due to an infected knee and microsurgery. Japanese Black Belt, Yuki Nakai has arrived in Brazil to compete. Soca Carneiro has just qualified by winning the Mundial qualifier. The Black belt absolute champion wins a Honda Biz moped. Defending Champ, BJ Penn, has abandoned sport and concentrated on his NHB career. Brazilian Top Team Splits As reported earlier, the Brazilian Top Team have broken up in to two different teams. Vitor Belfort, Carlao Barreto, Alan Goes, Ricardo Arona, and Paulo Filho have broken off and started training on their own. These fighters are the most active MMA fighters of the team. The remaining members are primarily more sport players and have not been very active fighting. All are still friends and Sperry still manages Arona. As the end of the year and the new year rolls around, we will see how these changes will affect their success in MMA events. Belfort is slated to fight Tito Ortiz in the UFC which could show if this was a good or bad move. I believe the breakup involved how much money the manager and coaches/trainers get from the fighter's purse. 7/23/01 Quote of the Day Well, I guess this quote can be appropriate due to the out of town fighters coming to Hawaii. You know, we got to show them this is our turf. For those of you that are insulted by this, lighten up. "I think college administrators should encourage students to urinate on walls and bushes, because then when students from another college come sniffing around, they'll know this is someone else's territory." excerpt from Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey Pictures from "the Brawl" I apologize for the delay, but I was busy hammering out the interviews and fight descriptions of SuperBrawl XXI for FCF, as Snoop Dog says "until 4 in the morning." Here are some pictures to appease our loyal readers. One of the lovely ring girls. I was going to shrink the picture down so that it would download faster, but I don't think anybody is going to complain about the wait. Daddy like! Daddy like! Tiger's corner right after the fight. Mike on the left was supposed to fight Egan and Rogerio on the right. Cabbage's corner right after the fight. Vitale & Sheldon "The Sarg" Young are in the ring, Enson is climbing in too. Dave Strasser slipping out of Ron Jhun's first arm bar only to succum to Jhun's second arm bar. Cabbage has one over and one underhook on Tigre. Da Nuts is our friend Cesar Oliveras' company, not a Tigre thing. David Yeung almost submitting Gabe Lemley with an arm triangle. Ben Earwood foot locking John Crisostomo. For those sitting far enough from the ring, by the look of Crisostomo, he is definitely NOT a member of the quick tap club. He was eating the pain for a while. 7/22/01 Quote of the Day "To dream anything that you want to dream, that is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do, that is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself, to test your limits, that is the courage to succeed." Bernard Edmonds, American Writer Congratulations to Enson Inoue! Someone has actually made Enson Inoue submit, his wife. Enson weds a three-time world wrestling champion today in Hawaii. Egan is his best man and thanks to a very successful victory, the wedding pictures will turn out great with no marks to Egan or Enson's face after the little trouble at Super Brawl last night. Two things come to mind when you hear of Enson getting married to a wrestling champ, 1. Are you going to train your kids to fight? 2. What are you doing for your honeymoon? Well, Enson has a four year old step son who is training now. He said that he does not want him to fight, but he said it looks like he wants to fight. I believe the little boy who was doing the push ups in "Rites of Passage" was his step son. Enson stated that he will train him the best that he can so if he does fight, he will be ready. As for his honeymoon, he said, "I don't know. Maybe train at Grappling Unlimited." As stated below, I have asked him more questions regarding last night's Super Brawl. Pick up the next issue of FCF to get the whole story and his side of the incident. Super Brawl 21 Results July 21, 2001 Neil Blaisdell Arena Honolulu, Hawaii By Chris Onzuka - Chris@Onzuka.com Pictures coming soon! T. Jay Thompson wanted to mark the 5-year anniversary of SuperBrawl with a bang and that is just what happened. Earlier in the week, Thompson sent out a press release/promo reminiscing about SuperBrawl's humble beginnings (back then it was called Future Brawl) in a biker bar by the Honolulu International Airport. One my vivid memories was a huge bar fight that broke out at one of the events, which caused me to ALWAYS watch the fights with a beer bottle or some other hard object in my hand at all times. Another brawl broke out in the ring at the last event, SuperBrawl XX, when one of the corner men jumped into the ring and jumped on one of the fighters. Well, those days of yester-year were almost revisited again last night. You would never have guessed but Marcelo Tigre had something to do with it. Heh heh. The event was billed as "The Road to the Rematch" and it was supposed to build interest in the rematch between Marcelo Tigre and Egan Inoue after their epic battle two years ago. Originally this event was supposed to pit Marcelo's best student fighting Egan and Egan's best student fighting Marcelo. Marcelo's student had to pull out of the fight due to some trouble outside the ring and Marcelo was stuck fighting Egan's student, Cabbage, who outweighs him by an incredible 77lbs. To make a long story short, Marcelo could not take the big man down and Cabbage had no problem absorbing Marcelo's strikes for the whole first round and even rocked Marcelo a couple of times. In the second round, Tigre caught a kick thrown by Cabbage and took him down. At this point, I guess Tigre wanted to make up for the damage that he was NOT able to unleash in the first round, so he worked his hands on the inside of Cabbages', cocked his head back and laid into a huge head butt that connected right in the center of Cabbage's eye brows. This caused referee, Haru Shiminishi, to immediately stop the fight (head butts are not legal) and have the doctors check the gash that was produced. Shiminishi then disqualified Tigre and declared Cabbage the winner. The crowd booed Tigre for breaking the rules and started throwing things into the ring at him. Marcelo responded by telling the crowd that they were "number one" with both hands, using that sign language that we all know and love. Egan and Enson Inoue jumped into the ring along as a large Grappling Unlimited contingent gathering outside the ring. Team Tiger gathered their forces on the other side of the ring. Luckily, things were cooled down on both sides…well, cooled down enough for both camps not to start a battle royal. The stage was set for THE REMATCH, but it may have also caused this much-anticipated fight to be called off due to Tigre's rule-breaking antics. Only time will tell… The next issue of Full Contact Fighter will feature comments from Tigre, Egan, Enson, Cabbage and T. Jay Thompson concerning this incident. This is why you HAVE to subscribe to FCF! Results: David Yeung (Muay Thai, 1-1, 149lbs) def. Gabe Lemley (Team Extreme, 3-3, 149lbs) Unanimous decision [(20-18), (20-18), (20-18)] after 2 rounds Paul Ano (Grappling Unlimited, 1-0, 197lbs) def. Rick Graveson (Team Extreme, 21-12, 217lbs) Submission via inverted key lock (Kimura) at 1:05 of round 1 Gary Freitas (Grappling Unlimited, 3-1-1, 150lbs) def. Kim Morishita (Brazilian Freestyle Jiu-Jitsu, Maui, 2-1, 153lbs) Forfeit due to a no show Ben Earwood (Team Extreme, 20-2, 176lbs) def John Crisostomo (Grappling Unlimited, 7-6, 174lbs) Submission via foot lock at 4:38 of round 1 Niko Vitale (Grappling Unlimited, 8-1, 195lbs) def. Dennis Reed (Team Extreme, 32-22, 192lbs) Submission via arm bar from the guard at 43 seconds of round 1 Ronald Jhun (Jesus is Lord, 21-5, 180lbs) def. Dave Strasser (Team Extreme, 17-3, 189lbs) Submission via arm bar from the guard at 4:42 of round 2 Egan Inoue (Grappling Unlimited, 7-2, 186lbs) def. Brett Al-Azzawi (Team Extreme, 10-10, 177lbs) Submission via forearm choke from the cross position at 1:29 of round 1 Wesley "Cabbage" Correira (Grappling Unlimited, 4-2, 283lbs) def. Marcelo Tigre (Team Tiger, 36-2, 206lbs) Disqualification, Tigre disqualified for intentional head butt from the guard at 54 seconds of Round 2 7/21/01 Quote of the Day "Duct tape is like the Force. It has a dark side, it has a light side, and it holds the Universe together." Carl Zwanig Super Brawl Weigh-Ins Fights start tonight at 7:30 PM! Super Brawl 21 Weigh-Ins July 20, 2001 Gussie LaMour's Bar Brett Al-Azzawi vs. Egan Inoue Marcelo Tigre vs. Cabbage Correira Dave Strasser vs. Ron "Machine Gun" Jhun Rick Graveson vs. Paul Ano It was fitting that the weigh-ins for the 5th Anniversary of the Super Brawl was held at the birth place of NHB in Hawaii, Gussie LaMours. It started as a scrabby true No-Holds-Barred event in a smoky dark bar near the airport. Since Gussie's is so close to two of military bases, it was common place to see military roughnecks and some locals, with the help of alcohol, bump heads and throw some chairs. It was first known as Future Brawl and had a good mix of street brawlers, boxers, wrestlers, martial artists, and a bouncer or two. I have good memories of running down there after training, keeping our back against against the DJ wall, having a beer, keeping that empty bottle in case there was a brawl outside the ring. Super Brawl has come a long way from those black light nights and have turned in to an event that can hold it's own with the best events across the US. Initially a weak card, numerous drop outs led promoter T. Jay Thompson to go back to the drawing board. Needless to say, he has made lemonade out of lemons and have put together another solid card. A good mix of the Midwest contingent filled the bill to face some of Hawaii's top fighters. A couple of fighters dropped out so the card is left with eight fights with all the main draws staying intact. Rick Graveson and Dave Strasser of Team Extreme came in heavy, while Inoue's main event opponent, Brett Al-Azzawi, weighed in at a very light 177 lbs. Everyone looked in top shape and ready to throw down. Marcelo Tigre was so psyched for the fight that he left immediately after the weigh-ins so he could calm down and so that the Super Brawl did not start a day early. Al-Azzawi assured me that even though he is light, he has fought against some of the best (e.g. Hughes, Jermaine Andre, Strasser, and Serrano) and it will be an entertaining fight. Making his debut, Paul Ano knows that he is taking on an experienced opponent, but was very confident and told me that he always goes for the finish. A fixture in Super Brawl, Jay R. Palmer, was walking around looking for someone to fight him so he could stay in the event since Melchor Manabusen pulled out. The fighters were examined by the two medical doctors, who are also good grapplers in their own right, immediately after they weighed in so the only thing left is the event itself. I am especially looking forward to the Ron Jhun/Dave Strasser fight, which itself could be worth the $25-29 a ticket. As usual, full coverage of the event will be in the next issue of Full Contact Fighter. Fight Card 1. David Yeung 5'7" 149.4 lbs (Muay Thai) 0-1 vs Gabe Lemley 5'10" 149.4 lbs (Team Extreme) 2-2 2. Rick Graveson 5'10' 217 lbs (cutting weight) (Team Extreme) 21-11 vs Paul Ano 5'10" 197 lbs (Grappling Unlimited) 0-0 3. Kim Morishita Not Present (Maui) 2-0 vs Gary Frietas 5'7" 150 lbs (Grappling Unlimited) 2-1-1 4. Ben Earwood 174.5 lbs (Team Extreme) 19-2 vs John Crisostomo 5'7" 173.8 lbs (Grappling Unlimited) 7-5 5. Dennis Reed 191.5 lbs (Team Extreme) 32-21 vs Niko Vitale 194.5 lbs (Grappling Unlimited) 7-1 6. Ronald "The Machine Gun" Jhun 180 lbs (Jesus is Lord) 20-5 vs Dave Strasser 189 lbs (Team Extreme) 17-2 7. Cabbage Correira 6'3" 283.5 lbs (Grappling Unlimited) 0-2 vs Marcelo Tiger 5'11" 206.2 lbs (Team Tiger) 33-1 8. Brett Al-Azzawi 177 lbs (Team Extreme) 10-9 vs Egan Inoue 186 lbs (Grappling Unlimited) 6-2News and Rumors Archives March-May 2000 July 2000 August-September 2000 October 2000 November-December 2000 January 2001 February 2001 March 2001 April 2001 Part 1 April 2001 Part 2 May 2001 June 2001 Part 1 June 2001 Part 2 July 2001 Part 1 July 2001 Part 2
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