"One of the greatest pieces of economic wisdom is to know
what you do not know."
John Kenneth Gilbraith.
Chris
Brennan Seminar at HMC
The "Westside Strangler" and instructor and owner of
the Next Generation Fighting Academy, Chris Brennan will be holding
a seminar. This will be Chris Brennan's first ever Hawaiian seminar.
Beginning at 3:00pm and going till 8:00pm, Chris will be teaching
EVERYTHING he can fit in to a 5 hour period of time. For only
$40 we will be going over many of the techniques that help him
become a 3X King of the Cage World Champion, along with many
other titles. Chris will be covering NHB techniques, Wrestling
techniques, Striking on the ground, and Submission Wrestling
techniques. Bring your video camera because this will be one
you don't want to miss or forget. For more information email
Chris at chris@chrisbrennan.com. The location of the
event will be:
Place: Hawaii Martial Arts Center (HMC)
King's Gate Plaza
555 N. King Street
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 841-5144
Date: Friday, October 25th
Time: 3pm to 8pm
Cost: $40.00
It is based on a first come first serve basis, limited to 50
students.
This seminar is opened to all martial artists and guarentees
to be a good one.
For years, Seattle,
Washington's AMC Pankration school hasbeen known for it's high
level of training and competition. In 2002, the school's teaching
depth has improved, as lead instructor Matt Hume has been holding
JJ classes with Alan Goes and kickboxing classes with Maurice
Smith.
Matt 'The Wizard'
Hume has stated he is in negotiations for a comeback fight in
HOOKnSHOOT. Sources inside HnS said that they are working on
a suitable opponent for Hume's first time back in competition
in over five years.
Josh Barnett
vs. 'Minotauro' Nogiuera? That seems to be the talk! After seeing
Nogiuera against Sapp, Barnett seems even more sure that he can
beat 'Minotauro', the acknowledged #1 as PRIDE's heavyweight
kingpin. Barnett has been in Japan for the last 15 days and is
scoping out EVERY major pro wrestling event. There is talk that
Barnett could enter pro wrestling very soon to supplement his
income. His suspension under the Nevada State Athletic Commission
isn't over until January of 2003. There is also talk about teaming
Barnett, Sapp and Bill Goldberg in the pro wrstling circuit,
which would heighten Barnett's name even more!
Bob Sapp is
enjoying MAJOR success not only in PRIDE but in K-1 where he
recently KO'd Mike Bernardo. This came as a shock to many in
K-1 and MMA fans as well! Sapp is being bombarded with pro wrestling
offers from almost every major group in Japan, as his marketability
is really beginning to come into it's own.
Ivan Salaverry
is back in Seattle, after his disappointing loss to Matt Lindland
in UFC 39. Look for more from Salaverry in the near future as
well!
Aaron Riley
has started college but is still training. Riley will potentially
compete on the same card as Hume on November 2, 2002. Riley plans
on feeling school out for the next week or so to see how or if
he can juggle a training schedule.
Angela Restad,
the woman who captured the TAPOUT/HnS Fighter of the Night on
the 4/13 all-womens HOOKnSHOOT REVOLUTION event, is training
to take on Judy Neff for the HnS title on November 2nd. Debi
Purcell vs. Neff was the intended fight for the first ever women's
title match at 135 lbs., but Purcell has elected to take a fight
elsewhere. Many insiders believe that Restad has all the right
training and tools to test the 11-0 Judy Neff. Look for more
on this match in the days to come!
Source:
Abu Dhabi-Fightworld
2nd
United Gracie Event Rocks
The 2nd United
Gracie BJJ Tournament took place this weekend in the Campus of
U. San Francisco and it rocked. In the words of OntheMat.com
guru Allan 'Gumby' Marques: 'It had the best set of superfights
ever in America!'
On Saturday
there was a 3-man bracket with Cleber 'Tazmanian Devil' Luciano,
'Megaton' Diaz and 'Batata'. In the first match it was Cleber
over Batata by 3 x 0. Then Megaton put on aclinic defeating Batata
by 18 x 0. In the finals, Cleber won over Mega by 2 x 0 after
some cat moves to avoid Mega's incredible throws.
On Sunday, it
was time for David Camarillo to debut on the Black Belt division
and he did it impressively by defeating Daniel Coyote with a
Gi choke. Cameron Earle was almost too sick to fight but managed
to beat his opponent by 6 x 4 with a late sweep to win. Macaco
avenged his loss to Gutti in what was deemed as a blood war,
as Gumby puts it: 'It was one of the most brutal fights I have
ever seen!' At one time Macaco was choking Gutti and Gutti's
dreadlocks go caught in the choke and were being ripped along
with the choke causing a wound and splashing the mat with blood.
The two were slamming each other back and forth on the mat until
late in the match Macaco scored a takedown for the win!
Congratulations
to all, especially Ralph and Charles Gracie who put on another
Classic!
Source:
Abu Dhabi\Kid Peligro
PRIDE-22
RESULTS
COMPLETE RESULTS: PRIDE
22
DATE: September 29th, 2002
PLACE: Nagoya Rainbow Hall, Japan (Aichi-Pref , Japan)
COMPLETE RESULTS:
- Heath Herring
Vs Kotchkine Iouri: Herring wins by Strikes in RD 1.
- Kevin Randelman Vs Michiyoshi Ohara: Randleman by Judges Decision.
- Igor Vovchanchyn Vs Quinton Jackson: Jackson by Ref Stoppage,
RD 1.
- Akira Shoji Vs Paulo Filho: Filho by Arm Bar, RD 1.
- Alexander Otsuka Vs Anderson Silva: Silva by Judges Decision.
- Guy Mezger Vs Norihisa Yamamoto: Mezger by Judges Decision.
- Shungo Oyama Vs Ryan Gracie: Gracie by Arm Bar, RD 1.
- Mario Sperry Vs Andrei Kopylov: Sperry by KO, RD 1.
ABOUT PRIDE
FC
Originating
in Japan, PRIDE Fighting Championships combine the most highly
skilled MMA competitions with a 21st Century entertainment philosophy
to create the next generation in cutting edge sports entertainment.
PRIDE competitions include athletes from across the globe, including
the United States, Japan, Brazil, Europe, Russia and many other
countries. PRIDE allows techniques from a myriad of martial arts
and combat sports, solidifying its place as an authentic and
unique fighting style that is built on tension and excitement,
appealing to the growing audience of 21st Century entertainment
fans.
Source:
Abu Dhabi
UFC
Afterthoughts
Penn,
Uno Win Lightweight Fights;
To Meet For Vacant Title
Uncasville,
CT, September 28, 2002…Ricco Rodriguez of Las Vegas, Nev.,
won a fifth-round tap-out submission of former two-time champion
Randy Couture of Portland, Ore., to win the vacant Ultimate Fighting
Championship heavyweight crown tonight before a sell-out crowd
of 7,514 Mixed Martial Arts fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
Rodriguez, 10-1-0, came back strong with a ground and pound attack
after Couture, 7-4-0, took control in the first two rounds with
the same offense. Had Couture been victorious, it would have
been his third UFC heavyweight title. "I've worked hard
my whole life. I grew up in a tough neighborhood and I hustled
to win this title. I'll be sleeping with my belt," Rodriguez
said.
Two lightweight preliminary bouts, both won by unanimous decision,
selected the opponents for the UFC's vacant title in that weight
division. Caol Uno, 13-4-2, of Kanagawa, Japan, defeated Din
Thomas, 16-3-0, of Orlando, Fla., and BJ Penn, 6-1-0, of Hilo,
Hawaii, defeated Matt Serra, 11-2-0, of Long Island, N.Y. Penn
and Uno will meet early next year.
Uno took Thomas to the ground in all three rounds and used elbow
punches and grappling to win the unanimous decision. The Penn-Serra
fight was much closer as both fighters were cautious in all three
rounds. Penn's quickness kept him away from Serra's jiu-jitsu
attack, which was enough in the judges' eyes to win the fight.
Another battle of heavyweights saw Gan "The Giant"
McGee win a first round victory over veteran Pedro Rizzo. McGee,
11-1-0, of San Luis Obispo, Calif., hit Rizzo with a hard right
and knocked him down with seconds left. The shot opened a deep
cut over Rizzo's nose and the fight was stopped between rounds.
Rizzo, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, saw his record fall to 11-4-0.
In a much anticipated middleweight bout, Phil Baroni, 6-1-0,
of Long Island, NY, came out fast against Dave Menne of Forest
Lake, Minn., and knocked him out in 18 seconds. Baroni hit Menne,
35-5-1, with a series of lefts and rights and he was out on his
feet. Referee Larry Landless stopped it immediately. Baroni said
he definitely wants the middleweight title.
In other middleweight action, former 2000 U.S. Olympic wrestling
silver medalist Matt "The Law" Lindland of Eagle Creek,
Ore., won the Battle of the Northwest with a unanimous decision
over Ivan Salaverry of Seattle, Wash. Lindland came out fast
and won the first two rounds on the judges' scorecards with a
ground and pound attack. Then, he won round three with a solid
stand-up attack that opened a cut under Salaverry's left eye.
Lindland said afterward he wants a re-match with middleweight
champ Murilo Bustamante. Lindland is now 8-1-0 and Salaverry's
record fell to 9-2-0.
UFC newcomers Tim Sylvia of Davenport, Iowa, and Wesley "Cabbage"
Correira of Hilo, Hawaii, staged a heavyweight slugfest in their
debuts before Sylvia won a technical knockout by referee stoppage
at 1:43 of the second round. Both fighters hit each other with
numerous lefts and rights in the first round. "Cabbage"
led the initial charge, but Sylvia quickly took over. As the
second round began, Sylvia, 16-0-0 in overall MMA, again dominated
Correira, who now has a 15-4-0 record.
In the curtain raiser, welterweight contender Sean Sherk of Brooklyn
Park, Minn., handed Benji Radach of Olympia, Wash., his first
MMA loss at 4:16 of the first round with a solid ground and pound
attack. Sherk, now 21-0-1, hit Radach, 11-1-0, with elbow shots
that opened a deep cut on his forehead and the referee stopped
the fight.
The UFC's next live PPV event will be UFC 40: Vendetta at 10
p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on Friday, Nov. 22, from the MGM Grand Garden
Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. Rodriguez Crowned New Heavyweight Champ;
Penn & Uno Advance to Next Round
By Jim Genia
(Uncasville,
Connecticut, September 27th) Not a single submission all night,
but more leather thrown than ever before. A newly crowned young
heavyweight champ, two lightweight chess matches, a heavyweight
slugfest and a middleweight devestation. That was UFC 39 "The
Warriors Return" in a nutshell, and judging by the packed
house at the Mohegan Sun Arena -- on their feet cheering -- the
show was a good one.
Ricco Rodriguez and Randy Couture met in the Octagon to determine
who should fill the heavyweight championship vacancy, and after
five rounds of back-and-forth pounding on the ground, Couture
was forced to verbally submit. Dishing out the pain in the first
two rounds, Couture found himself on the receiving end for the
latter rounds as Rodriguez maintained the top position and rained
down strikes. It was too much for the two-time champ, and at
3:04 of the Round Five, it was all over. Ricco "Suave"
Rodriguez is the new UFC Heavyweight Champ.
In the first round of the tournament leading to the UFC's lightweight
belt, four of the best 155-pound fighters in the world showed
why they're the best. Going the full three-round distance, Japanese
superstar Caol Uno weathered an early submission storm from Florida's
Din Thomas and kept the pressure up with strikes from the top
to earn the unanimous decision. Also going the distance were
Hawaiian stud BJ Penn and Long Island's Matt "the Terror"
Serra -- two of the best jiu-jitsu fighters in the world -- who
fought this battle completely on their feet. Showing vastly improved
stand-up, the Terror was forced to trade with Penn, who himself
did everything in his power to not go to the ground. Though he
failed to knock the Terror out as many had predicted, Penn remained in control,
earning the unanimous decision. The stage is now set for a rematch between Uno
and Penn -- with the vacant UFC lightweight title on the line.
Rarely does
the loser get a thunderous standing ovation from the audience,
but Wesley "Cabbage" Coreirra deserved it. He and Miletich-fighter
Tim Sylvia battled it out in what could only be described as
a heavyweight "slugfest", and while he ate countless
punches to the face and knees to the body, Cabbage refused to
go down. Sylvia looked impressive as he stalked his opponent,
and garnered the win after Cabbage's corner threw in the towel
at 1:43 of the second round. But Cabbage was the man who would
not go down -- making this bout the undisputed crowd favorite
of the night.
In other action, "New York Badass" once again proved
why he's a badass, steamrolling through former middleweight champ
Dave Menne with a devastating right cross and subsequent flurry
that left Menne unconscious after just 18 seconds in the first
round. In the heavyweight division, the giant Gan McGee pulled
an upset when he broke Pedro Rizzo's nose in the first round,
prompting Rizzo's corner to throw in the towel at the start of
the second round. In the preliminaries, middleweights Matt Lindland
and Ivan Salaverry had a war, with Lindland getting the unanimous
decision after three rounds, while welterweight Sean Sherk opened
up a nasty cut above Benji Radach's eye, getting the win via
doctor stoppage at 4:16 of the first round.
The Warriors returned to the Mohegan Sun for UFC 39 -- and it
was a night of crowd pleasing heavy leather.
Source: FCF
9/28/02
Quote
of the Day
Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
Chinese Proverb
UFC
39: The Warrior's Return Results
Mohegan Sun, CT.
September 27th, 2002
Middleweights:
- Phil Baroni (182.5 lbs.) vs. Dave Menne (182 lbs.): Baroni
by KO in RD 1. :18 seconds.
Heavyweights:
- Pedro Rizzo (246 lbs.) vs. Gan McGee (264 lbs.): McGee by corner
stoppage. Ruas threw in the towel to answer round 2, Rizzo bleeding
from nose.
Lightweight
Tournament Bouts:
- Din Thomas (152.5 lbs.) vs. Caol Uno (154 lbs.):
Uno by Judges Decision. Din won the first round, then got a point
taken away in RD 2. Uno focused from there and worked hard for
the win.
- BJ Penn (154 lbs.) vs. Matt Serra (154 lbs.):
BJ by Judges
Decision.
Serra won round 2, Round 3 saw both men tired. BJ was dissappointed
by his performance, Serra is a class act!
Main
Event - UFC Heavyweight Championship Bout:
- Randy Couture (227 lbs.) vs. Ricco Rodriguez (243 lbs.):
Ricco wins in RD 5. Referee stops the fight - Couture left it
in the ring - a true champion! Announcer said tap out!
PRELIMS:
Heavyweights:
- Wesley
"Cabbage" Correira (263 lbs.) vs. Tim Sylvia (259.5 lbs.):
Sylvia, by ref stoppage in RD 2. Literally thousands of punches
to the face...
Welterweights:
- Sean Sherk (167 lbs.) vs. Benji Radack (170 lbs.):
Sherk - stoppage due to blood, RD 1.
Middleweights:
- Ivan Salaverry (184 lbs.) vs. Matt Lindland (183.5 lbs.):
Lindland by Judges Decision.
Source:
Abu Dhabi
Relson
Gracie Academy Grand Opening A Success
Balance Studios and Ashtanga Yoga held their Grand Opening Monday
night to the tune of over 50 spectators in attendance.
Located
at 115 South 24th Street in Philadelphia, PA, Balance Studios
takes up a 2nd floor loft in this conveniently located Center
City building.
The
night consisted of the elder Phil showing a technique and the
class drilling for a period of time. Both Gi and No-Gi techniques
were demonstrated. Student Tim Carpenter, a Relson Gracie purple
belt and 2002 Pan Ams Super Super Heavyweight Champion, assisted
Phil in demonstrating technique for the class. An Open Mat time
followed.
Offering
Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, brothers Phil and Rick Migliarese instruct
6 days per week. Floating around just looking for a good place
to train, Nate Flannigan of Philadelphia says, 'it's the best
place in the area to learn real Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.'
In
addition to Gi and No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu, Balance Studios offers Women's
Self-Defense, Ashtanga Yoga and Kids classes, with unlimited
open mat included in Adult packages. Private instruction is available
by appointment with either Phil or Rick. 'Students are training
partners,' said Phil, 'and we work on character development in
a family atmosphere.'
The
academy features dressing rooms and a shower for student convenience.
And the first class is always free.
For
more information on Balance Studios, check out www.BalanceStudios.net or call 215-636-9661.
Source:
Abu Dhabi
Picking
and Grinning:
The Sherdog Fight Picks for PRIDE 22
September 26, 2002
PRIDE
22 is a few short days away, and if you beleive these picks,
there are going to be some major-league punishment dealt Sunday
in Japan to a certain few fighters. Most of the Sherdog team
who voted don't disagree on most of the card, but the ones that
do see it VERY very differently. Mike Fridley, Brian Piepenbrink,
Garrett Poe, Dan Rose, Greg Savage, Jeff Sherwood, and Mike Sloan
again lay their reputation on the line and predict Sunday's PRIDE
22 outcomes.
Heath Herring
defeats Kotchkine Iouri (7-0)
Greg Savage: Heath will win by whatever means he feels neccasary.
Herring by TKO ref stoppage.
Dan Rose: Heath Herring is the second best Heavyweight in Pride.
Iouri is way out of his league here and it'll be up to Heath
as to how he finishes him. I think he'll take him down in Round
1 and punch his way to a First Round TKO.
Kevin Randleman
defeats Michiyoshi Ohara (7-0)
Mike Fridley: Randleman by KO, 1st round from punches. Ohara
is a star from New Japan Pro Wrestling, I hope he kept his day
job.
Brian Piepenbrink: Randleman will win by decision. Ohara will
actually die in the ring, but due to some advanced acupuncture
techniques he will walk out of the arena a bloody corpse.
Quinton Jackson
defeats Igor Vovchanchyn (4-3)
Jeff Sherwood: Classic matchup - Pride at least gave us one fight
to watch. Rampage by TKO.
Mike Sloan: This one should be fun! I see all-out war, with Igor
prevailing with a crippling knockout of Quinton. Might happen
very early. Either way, Igor scores the kayo.
Akira Shoji
defeats Paulo Filho (4-3)
Brian Piepenbrink: Shoji by Decision. In an upset, Shoji shows
why we say "experience counts."
Garrett Poe: Filho by Decision. Shoji is good, but usually anytime
he faces anyone of merit he loses. Filho will win by positioning.
Anderson
Silva defeats Alexander Otsuka (7-0)
Greg Savage: Otsuka, looking to take Matsui's job as Pride's
number one punching bag will be taking a beating from Silva.
Silva by TKO.
Mike Sloan: I don't think Anderson should have too much trouble
with Alexander, but in MMA, anything's possible. Competitive
early, but Silva takes over and submits him via guillotine.
Guy Mezger
defeats Norihisa Yamamoto (7-0)
Mike Fridley: Mezger by KO, 1st round. Mezger will walk right
through Yamamoto and get an early KO.
Dan Rose: Mezger will win this via KO in the first round. Lord
knows he needs it.
Shungo Oyama defeats Ryan Gracie (4-3)
Greg Savage: Could we have a new Gracie Hunter on our hands?
Oyama, coming of a controversial victory over Renzo Gracie at
Pride 21, takes on Ryan Gracie, the bad boy of the Gracie clan.
Not that it really matters, but I will take Oyama in another
close decision.
Brian Piepenbrink: Gracie in round 1 by TKO (strikes). This fight
could very well go the other way if Ryan blows his wad in the
early minutes.
Mario Sperry
defeats Andrei Kopylov (7-0)
Jeff Sherwood: Kopylov might look like your grandfather but he
is bad ass. But, after watching Day of the Zen I'm brainwashed.
Sperry by submission, round two.
Garrett Poe: While Sperry got royally roughed up by Ninja, he'll
cake-walk (baby) through Kopylov, who won't be able to submit
or punch (slap?) through Sperry. Sperry by Decision.
Source:
Sherdog
Sherk,
Lindland Wrestle Their Way to Victories; A “Cabbage”
and a “Grizzly” Brawl with the Best of Them in Undercard
Action from the Mohegan Sun:
By Josh Gross
Out
of the Homer Simpson School of fighting, Wesley “Cabbage”
Corriera stepped into the Octagon. With red, white and blue hair,
“Cabbage” -- so named due to the melon-like head sitting
on his massive shoulders – took an unbelievable number of
punches and knees to said melon for just over two rounds in the
first “swing” bout in UFC history.
Long
a staple of boxing cards, fighters competing in swing matches
are at the beck and call of the promoter. With four television
fights out of the way, and nearly an hour and a half left on
the pay-per-view, it was time for “Cabbage” and Pat
Miletich-trained, 6’8” Tim Sylvia to enter the fray
-- and fray they did.
Notorious
for his chin of steel, Corriera immediately showed why many feel
he’s impossible to knockout (Sylvia is now a believer).
It’d be impossible to point to a single flurry of punches
or barrage of knees, instead the only way to describe Sylvia’s
mauling of “Cabbage” was “fan friendly.”
(And I’m being glib, because this fight was a war, an adulterated
slugfest.)
And
as disappointed as the thousands inside Mohegan Sun Arena were
when Correira’s corner finally said ‘no more’
1:43 of round two, they understood. It was the war they’d
come to see, everything else was gravy.
Returning
to action for the first time since a failed shot at UFC middleweight
champion Murilo Bustamante’s crown, Matt Lindland hoped
to pick himself up against Ivan Salaverry, who came into tonight’s
action riding high off of a stellar performance versus Andrei
Semenov in May.
Lindland,
who had major problems wrestling Bustamante, found success early,
putting Salaverry on his back following a kick to his midsection.
Salaverry, clad in brown shorts, worked for space and shifted
his hips hoping to slap a submission on the Olympic silver medallist,
however he never came close.
Consistently
controlling and outwrestling Salaverry, Lindland dominated position
for the remainder of the first round. With his ground-and-pound
game gaining steam, Lindland bull rushed his way into the second
round.
In
true Greco Roman wrestling style, Lindland clinched with Salaverry
from behind, slamming him to the mat. In his best effort of the
night, the Matt Hume-trained fighter rolled for kneebar. Lindland
escaped, but landed on his back and Salaverry scrambled to side
control. He was unable to capitalize.
As
round two wound down, a gassed Salaverry attempted ever-weakening
kicks, which Lindland brushed to the side. With two rounds under
his belt, Lindland slowed in the third, knowing that the only
way for his opponent to win would come via punches.
The
two fighters danced around the Octagon the duration of round
three, neither doing much damage before time ran out. Judges
Jeff Mullen and Cecil Peoples scored the bout 29-28 and judge
Douglas Crosby had it 30-28 for the unanimous decision winner
Matt Lindland.
The
consensus coming in was that if Sean Sherk, a fighter that’s
grounded-and-pounded his way to an impressive 20-0-1 record,
put Benji Radach on his back, the Dennis Hallman trained fighter
would be in for a rough night.
Sherk,
equipped with one of the best -- if not the best -- takedown
games in the sport, had trouble early. Radach used his hips well
to fend off Sherk’s first takedown attempt of the night.
Once they separated he was equally proficient by jabbing down
on the 5’6” monster from Minnesota.
However,
once Sherk was able to get underneath Radach’s hips the
takedown was inevitable. Lifting Radach high in the air, Sherk
walked his opponent across the ring to a waiting mat near the
Octagon fencing that’s made his ground-and-pound almost
impossible to stop.
Taking
his time, Sherk positioned Radach to his liking and began chipping
away -- damn big chips. With Radach shifting his hopes, trying
desperately to create space so he could avoid Sherk’s powerful
punches and elbows, Sherk landed the first of two vicious elbows
that opened a deep cut down the middle of Radach’s forehead,
which started to drip blood into the grounded fighter’s
eyes.
Referee
Larry Landless looked close as a crimson covered Radach strained
to see without having the burn of blood in his eyes. Deciding
to have the physicians at ringside check on Radach after the
fighter claimed impaired vision, Landless stopped the action
to the chagrin of the filing in crowd. Following doctors’
consultation, Landless halted the contest at the 4:16 mark of
the first round.
With
the victory, Sherk is 4-0 in the UFC and finds himself a serious
contender to welterweight champion Matt Hughes (pending Hughes
bout versus Gil Castillo on Nov. 22 in Las Vegas).
Source:
Maxfighting
PRE-PRIDE
22 INTERVIEW
BRAZILIAN TOP TEAM FIGHTER
PAULO FILHO
TOP TEAM's PAULO FILHO - PRIDE 22 BOUND!!!
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- What exactly happened during your training for Pride
21, where you got an injury? Filho- I thought that I'd be without
hard training for a week while I was in Japan, so 2 days before
I left, I went to BTT academy all hyped up to have good training
session, I went with my all strength to take Carlos Barreto down,
he sprawled in a bad way and I got a injury to my knee, I extended
the collateral ligaments.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- You had left BTT for awhile, what happened and why did
you come back? Filho- Ok, I had left because they wanted more
money from each fighter. So Carlos Barreto, Ricardo Arona, Vítor
'The Phenom' Belfort, Allan Góes and myself had a meeting
and we decided that it wasn't right, so we left. However things
weren't so easy out side of BTT, each fighter was only concerned
about himself and a Team's philosophy wasn't being put in practice.
So I decided to come back, I thought out it was less expensive
to train with BTT than to go it on my own; another reason is
because I began with them, they're a bunch of guys whom I like
a lot. Not only myself but also Barreto came back; only Arona,
Belfort and Goés didn't come back.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Before the BTT's announcement that members who left couldn't
come back who do you think would have probably came back? Filho-
Arona perhaps, there was no chance that Belfort and Goés
would have came back, because these two didn't grow up with BTT
like I did, they were on their own before they joined BTT.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- What about the - ChuteBoxe Vs. Brazilian Top Team rivalry,
you weren't really part of it because you were in Pancrase/DEEP
scene, but at Pride 21 you almost fought against a ChuteBoxe
fighter, so what're your thought on these things? Filho- ChuteBoxe
is a strong Team, where the fighters train very hard and they're
schooled in Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu, they've a good Jiu Jitsu
black-belt with them, Cristiano Marcelo, and they're learning.
In my opinion Jiu Jitsu is must for NHB, because everyone who
fights nowadays knows how to grapple. The ChuteBoxe guys train
Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai and crosstrained they finish alot of
fights with strikes but I believe if there was an even that was
just Muay Thai x Jiu Jitsu, Jiu Jitsu would win.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Do you think that ChuteBoxe are ahead of Brazilian Top
Team 3-0 (Katel Kubis def. Marcelo 'Bocão' Ferreira, Anderson
Silva def. Juan 'Jucão' Carneiro and Murilo 'Ninja' Rua
def. Zé Mário Sperry)? Filho- I don't see it this
way - 3-0 in ChuteBoxe favor - they're fighters who deserve respect
and we(BTT) also deserve to be respected. They're lacking with
respect for us and making the matches more of a personal thing.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- So isn't this rivalry simply Jiu Jitsu x Muay Thai? Filho-
No make no mistake it's ChuteBoxe x BTT. When I went on the Japan
for the first time. I saw Rafael Cordeiro with a t-shirt that
had ChuteBoxe below Carlson Gracie, thats because they began
in Jiu Jitsu with Renatinho, a Carlson student. That happened
due to a misunderstanding during Pride, and they used this fact
to try to put ChuteBoxe's name over us.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Murilo 'Ninja' Rua in his pre-fight interview, spoke
some hard words about his fight against Sperry in Pride 20 while
Sperry didn't speak nothing; and that worked positively for 'Ninja'.
Do you agree? Filho- Mario is a legend, he's very intelligent
and educated, that's why he doesn't get caught up in the hype
and talk hate in his interviews. When 'Ninja' did this I think
it made Sperry want to stand up and trade with Ninja and thats
not his game and thus he didn't even show 5% of his ground skills.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Wasn't Sperry ready to trade blows? Filho- He's a Jiu
Jitsu fighter and he's not used to trading blows like 'Ninja',
who's a Muay Thai fighter, so obviously the tactic would be to
take 'Ninja' down. 'Ninja' doesn't have the same technique and
strength which Sperry has on the ground.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Were you surprised with the Ninja's ground game? Filho-
Nowadays there's no Brazilian who doesnt know a bit of ground
fighting. Brazil is the land of Jiu Jitsu, so there's high level
Jiu Jitsu in all places. Marcelo is a Royler Gracie's black-belt
and they're not stupid, they've trained Jiu Jitsu for 3/4 years.
A NHB fighter doesn't need too be great at ground fighting, because
ground game in Jiu Jitsu is different than the ground game in
NHB. In NHB you need only to know how to use the guard, to clinch
and to keep some positions. All Brazilians know this and a fight
involving Brazilians is always high collision, because they both
know ground skills.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Right now you will face Akira Shoji in Pride 22, what're
you training for this fight? Filho- I've trained a lot of ground
positions and also on the feet, because he'll probably be thinking
that I will only want to take it to the ground but he'll have
a surprise.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- What're you training for stand up? Filho- Muay Thai with
Artur Mariano, who already beat Vanderlei Silva.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- You're not a wrestler, however you have a good GnP game.
How come? Filho- I competed in Judo since I was a kid and this
gives me an excellent base. So I feel very comfortable inside
the opponent's guard, it's practically impossible to move me
off from this position. I think that my physical bio helps too.
I trained Wrestling a long time, I always liked sports that were
Olympic sports.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Shoji fought against Mark 'The Hammer' Coleman, who couldn't
KO, submit or TKO him so how will you beat him with your GnP
style? Filho- Shoji proved that he's one of the best, he also
fought against Igor Vovchanchyn and the fight went to a decision,
so what would be the best way to beat him? Like I said before
I've got a surprise for him and for the crowd.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Do you think it will be hard to beat him with a GnP style?
Filho- He shows heart in all his fights and has good technique
against GnP fighters, however I think against a fighter who likes
to trade strikes, he doesn't fight good.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- So will your surprise be to trade strikes? Filho- Yeah,
I promise to pound him on the feet, because my on the striking
is sharp.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- So what're you best at punching and kicking and which
will you use in your fight with him? Filho- I prefer punches,
Shoji is my height, so I don't think that I'll have trouble landing
punches in his face. Shoji likes to fight on the ground, so a
kick can stop his takedown attemps.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Besides heart, what are Shoji's other strong points?
Filho- He's a good fighter, with experience in Pride, he's not
the strongest or the most technical, however he has will and
heart and in my opinion these are good points in NHB. I think
that I've these same qualities and I consider myself more technical
than him.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Will this fight against Shoji be the first step to get
the Pride middleweight belt? Filho- Yeah, if GOD wants and if
everything runs ok, by the end of next year this belt will be
around my waist.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- What's your actual weight? Filho- 89kg.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- So this will put you in the lightheavyweight class right.
Do you prefer this category? Filho- I never had the weight of
a middleweight, I'm always between 88-90kg. I don't have trouble
gaining or losing weight, I don't even have to diet or try to
bulk up it just comes natually.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- The Lightheavyweight category around the world is a very
tough one,it has some great fighters. Why did you choose this
category? Filho- You're correct. Pride is the number one event
followed by UFC, I want to be fighting the best fighters in the
world, I deserve to be where the best are.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Would you like to face Anderson Silva rather than Shoji
in Pride 22? Filho- I'd like to fight him, but the promoters
haven't set it up yet, it seems the ChuteBoxe guys only want
to fight against fighters who have made names for themself inside
of Pride and that's ok. Anderson Silva moved up in Pride by beating
Alex Steibling and I'll do the same on September 29th, who knows
the second step can be Anderson Silva.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Is it a personal rivalry? Filho- No, I respect the ChuteBoxe
Team because they do very serious work, all their fighters are
tough. I simply want to fight against the best, because I want
to be the best.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Last words. Filho- I'd like to thank my family, my girlfriend
Julia, Brazilian Top Team camp, Amaury Bitetti and my all friends.
Filho x Shoji will be a great fight, it'll be good fight in all
aspects and I hope for the victory. I promise much pressure,
and that I'll be very aggressive and if GOD wants, it'll be a
great show. I want speak two messages, first to the Brazilians,
I hope that they enjoy my performance because I've trained realy
hard and I'm certain that they'll not be disappointed, and to
Japanese fans of Shoji, stay worried...
Source:
ADCC/Fightworld
9/27/02
Quote
of the Day
If the creator had a purpose in equipping us with a neck, he
surely meant us to stick it out.
Arthur
Koestler
UFC
39: The Warrior's Return
OFFICIAL WEIGH INS!
Fights are Today!
FRIDAY,
SEPTEMBER 27th, 2002 - MOHEGAN SUN, CT.
Official
weigh-in on Thursday, 9/26 at 4:00 pm at the Wolf Den inside
Mohegan Sun
Oceanic Channel
76 4:00 PM
Main
Event - UFC Heavyweight Championship Bout:
- Randy Couture (227 lbs.) vs. Ricco Rodriguez (243 lbs.)
Lightweight
Tournament Bouts:
- BJ Penn (154 lbs.) vs. Matt Serra (154 lbs.)
- Din Thomas (152.5 lbs.) vs. Caol Uno (154 lbs.)
Middleweights:
- Phil Baroni (182.5 lbs.) vs. Dave Menne (182 lbs.)
- Ivan Salaverry (184 lbs.) vs. Matt Lindland (183.5 lbs.)
Welterweights:
- Sean Sherk (167 lbs.) vs. Benji Radack (170 lbs.)
Heavyweights:
- Wesley Correia (263 lbs.) vs. Tim Sylvia (259.5 lbs.)
- Pedro Rizzo (246 lbs.) vs. Gan McGee (264 lbs.)
Source:
Abu Dhabi
The
Faces of UFC 39: BJ Penn
By Loretta Hunt
What
better way to conclude our series today than chat with lightweight
contender, BJ Penn? At 23 years old, Hawaiian import Penn has
already had a phenomenal career in a relatively short period
of time. He knocked out two of the UFC's top five lightweight
contenders on his way to a collision course title bout with champion
Jens Pulver. Although he did not come away from that match-up
victorious, Penn says he walked away with an even more valuable
commodity -- wisdom. Pulver may be gone from the UFC, but he
still remains in Penn's thoughts. With the UFC lightweight belt
potentially two fights away for 4-1 UFC veteran, Penn discusses
his future in the game, his current bout against fellow BJJ black
belt and Renzo Gracie protégé Matt Serra, and just
what he thinks of Pulver's current competition.
FCF:
Your last fight versus Paul Creighton at UFC 37 introduced us
to a less frenzied BJ Penn. You took your time and showed the
patience of a more mature fighter. Should we expect more of that
this Friday?
BJP: Definitely. I'm going to take the fight as it comes, standing
or on the ground or wherever. I think I'm a lot more relaxed
now and I'm not in such a rush to get the guy out of there, so
in that aspect this fight might look similar. But, I've also
been working a lot on my explosiveness, so it might be a mix
of those two.
FCF:
What do you attribute this newfound relaxation to?
BJP: I attribute that to [Jens] Pulver. Losing that fight to
him just made it a lot worse for everyone now, including him
when I see him again to fight. I really feel like I matured over
that fight. I know how it is now to be almost winning and then
not win, to take a few punches here and there. That fight really
did it for me. It made me ten times a better fighter.
FCF:
After training for previous fights with Frank Shamrock and "Crazy"
Bob Cook's crew at the American Kickboxing Academy in California,
you went back to your Hawaiian roots and trained for your last
fight from there. Who have you been training with this time around?
BJP: Pretty much the same guys as last time. I am training with
my brothers, my teacher Charuto Verissimo de Oliveira [of Nova
Uniao] -- he's a black belt down here, and then we have a wrestler
here named Melchor [Manibusan]. He's fought in Abu Dhabi before.
He's a great wrestler. We've been bringing in a couple of other
guys and I have everything I need right now.
FCF:
Your match-up against Matt Serra is fast becoming one of the
more anticipated bouts of the night, especially for Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu practitioners around the world who hope to see some
serious ground action. What are your thoughts on "The Terror"?
BJP: Matt Serra is a very explosive fighter himself. He's a great
competitor and I love watching him fight. I like him as a person
as well; he's a really good guy. But I' m entering my prime now
in my fighting career. This is definitely not the most experienced
I'll ever be, but I'll definitely be my strongest and my fastest
time. I think in these next seven years, you're going to see
a lot of great fights out of me -- this is going to be one of
them.
FCF:
If you get control during the fight, where would you dictate
it to go?
BJP: Either or -- on the ground or standing. I still feel I'm
the best grappler in the lightweight division, although not to
take anything from Matt. Matt is an unbelievable grappler. Matt's
the man, you know? But I still feel I am a better grappler than
he is. I feel I'm better in all aspects of the fight than he
is.
FCF:
Will you try to capitalize with your stand-up prowess?
BJP: Yeah, that too, but sometimes I like to make the guy stand
up because I know it tires him out -- being on his back and stepping
back off him and then he has to get up and exchange punches.
I know that really wears on you mentally and physically.
FCF:
A knockout or a submission? What would be your preference in
finishing the fight in your favor?
BJP: Submission.
FCF:
Because Matt Serra is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under
Renzo Gracie?
BJP: Not just Renzo Gracie -- just that Matt Serra is very good
at what he does. If I could have my choice it would be a submission,
but it could be a knockout too. Who knows? If I get the chance,
I'll submit him.
FCF:
Are there any specific changes you made for this fight?
BJP: My diet. I' m mastering The Zone diet. I'm totally into
that now. The guys at crossfit.com, who help me to train, kept
trying to get me to do it. I was always about fast food and Myoplex
and now I'm just totally into the Zone. That's going to give
me 1,000 more times confidence now knowing that I'm running on
optimum fuel.
FCF:
How do you feel on this new diet?
BJP: Great. Unbelievable. Before, all I would eat was McDonalds
or Jack-In-The-Box and then try to drink protein with it. That's
all I ate through all of my other fights. Now I' m eating really
well and I like it.
FCF:
If you get past Matt, your next opponent will be decided for
you on this same night. Din Thomas meets Caol Uno in the second
semifinal lightweight match up of the evening. Who do you think
will come out the victor in that bout?
BJP: Everything tells me Din, because he' s bigger and stronger,
but I don't know. Uno would never, ever give up. I still think
Uno could win. Din's not terrible on the ground, but I don't
know if he could submit Uno. It's up in the air to me. Everything
is telling me Din, but I wouldn't count out Uno versus anybody.
FCF:
Who would you prefer to fight?
BJP: It doesn't really matter. I know I'm in both of their heads.
FCF:
Getting a rematch with Jens Pulver was obviously an important
goal for you, but now he no longer fights with the UFC organization.
Do you still harbor hopes that one day you might meet again in
the combat arena?
BJP: Of course. Jens says the winner of this title elimination
won't be the true champion. What he should have just done was
come down to Hilo and dropped the belt off at my house. At first,
I thought that maybe the UFC is treating Jens real bad, and maybe
that's why he's leaving. All that guy's doing is going around
fighting people that aren't even ranked at all. Isn't the goal
of this sport to be the best? To be the champion? At least he
could go fight Din Thomas again. Thomas beat him and is ranked
in the top ten. I don't know what that guy's up to.
FCF:
That's a challenge if I ever heard one. [BJ laughs] It sounds
like you are trying to lay some bait to get him back into the
UFC.
BJP: I think he'll end up back in the UFC. I'm not really worried
about it, because I know we'll fight again. I guarantee he'll
be back and I'll be ready.
With
UFC 39 now only hours away, we at Full Contact Fighter wish you
an enjoyable evening of mixed martial arts entertainment and
wish all of tonight's competitors the best of luck. Enjoy the
show!
Source:
FCF
The
Faces of UFC 39: Matt Serra
By Loretta Hunt
He
can wow fans on the ground with his slick positioning, flowing
transitions, and submissions that seem to come out of nowhere.
A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under the famed Renzo Gracie,
Matt "the Terror" Serra has created himself a niche
among MMA audiences. The "ground" fans worship him
for his aggressive ground tactics while others respect him for
his gutsy display standing up, even when he may be the odd man
out. Since his unforgettable debut at UFC 31 versus a vastly
more experienced Shonie Carter, Serra has always delivered the
goods, making him a fan favorite in loss and victory. Friday's
match up against BJ Penn is a dream come true for those looking
to see the ground game pushed to its ultimate limits within the
Octagon. But as Serra explains, he's not ready to be counted
out upstairs quite yet.
FCF:
Let's first start off with your training, and a factor that is
probably on a lot of fan's minds. How is your stand up coming
along?
MS: I've been training hard. I've been doing a ton of sparring,
three or four times a week. I always hit all aspects hard, but
who knows? Maybe people get to see [the standup] in this fight,
maybe they don't. Up till now, I stand by each one of my performances
and every good fight that I've had I feel like I can improve.
From the Shonie fight, to the Edwards fight, to my Dullanty fight,
I think I've become a more evolved and seasoned fighter each
time. There's a chance they'll get to see it [the stand up] in
this fight, but who knows? I always train hard though, and I
train everything.
FCF:
Is it just a case of fans not getting a chance to see what you
can really do on your feet?
MS: People didn't get to see it [the standup] too much with my
Edwards fight, but look what he did to his last opponent. I think
Edwards is one of the best strikers in this sport . It would
have been foolish for me to play his game. With Shonie, that'
s where one of my mistakes was. I had too much of a street-fighter
mentality in that fight. When I was standing, I just wanted to
get him. I wasn't as strategic as I was on the ground.
FCF:
Your sparring at this point is a mix of boxing and Thai boxing,
right?
MS: We mix up everything. We punch. We do punching to takedowns.
We do straight boxing, straight kickboxing. It's really nothing
new. We have to cover everything and I'm sure most guys are doing
what I'm doing. It might just sound different because a jiu-jitsu
guy is doing it.
FCF:
You're facing another "jiu-jitsu" guy. What are your
thoughts on BJ Penn?
MS: BJ 's tough as hell. I'm really looking forward to it because
this is one of the few times I can go in there and be the underdog.
Every time I fought, except when I supposed to fight Din Thomas,
I was the favorite. It's kinda BS. My first fight with Shonie,
I'm the favorite because of my reputation with BJJ. The dude
had close to forty fights and I had like seven.
FCF:
This fight has created quite a stir among the BJJ community,
as a "roll" between you two on the ground could become
nothing short of stellar. On its feet though, observers are giving
the advantage to Penn. Are you intimidated by the KO power Penn
has exhibited in the past?
MS: I'm not intimidated by anything or anyone. Not to sound like
a macho guy, but in this game, anyone can knock out anybody.
Nobody thought Bustamante was going to knockout Menne. I don't
think that was high on the predictions list. Uno knocked out
Iha in the guard. The weirdest things happen in this sport. Could
he knock me out? Sure. Could I knock him out? Sure. I wouldn't
bet against it. You go in there knowing anything could happen,
and you don' t get surprised too much. Unless it's a backfist.
FCF:
Now it seems everyone's throwing a backfist or two into their
fights.
MS: I know. And the shoulder lock. You never saw too much of
that till after my Shonie fight [UFC 31]. Now everyone's going
for the shoulder lock. Shonie and I became trendsetters from
that fight.
FCF:
This will be your second time cutting weight down to the 155
pound weight class, where before you fought at 170. How has losing
the weight worked for you this second time around?
MS: The weight's doing good. I feel good and I felt great the
last time. I've done it before now, so that' s a really big relief.
I think I'm going to be a very strong and explosive 155er like
the first time.
FCF:
Was there a bit of nervousness losing weight that first time
for your fight with Kelly Dullanty?
MS: The first time I was a mess, and it didn't help that before
my Dullanty fight I tore my bicep. It was double to worry about
because I wanted to make the weight once so I knew I could do
it, but I didn't want to take the water weight from my body.
I didn't want to get dehydrated beforehand to see how I felt
at 155 because I had an injury I needed to nurse. The goal is
to get down to as close to 160 as possible, take out a little
water weight, and then put it back. I felt great for the last
fight, but Dullanty didn't like it. That's what I'm talking about!
FCF:
In the other bracket of this 4-man lightweight tournament, Din
Thomas is set to take on Caol Uno. The winner of this bout gets
the victor of yours. Who do you think it will be?
MS: I think Thomas is going to win, but it' s hard to count Uno
out. Did you see their first fight together? Thomas was doing
well even back then. It all depends on how Uno fights. Uno can
really surprise you. Not that it was a fluke, but I think with
Penn he just caught him in their fight -- I mean that could happen
to anybody.
FCF:
Do you think Thomas being out of the game for nine months will
be a factor?
MS: Thomas has been out, but I think he's a smart guy. I even
talked about it with Penn once, and he told me how strong Thomas
is for that weight. So, I would put my money on Thomas.
FCF:
So, it's Thomas and Serra for the title?
MS: If all goes as planned, it's me and Thomas. But there's no
way I'm looking past Penn.
Tomorrow,
we check in with Serra's opponent, the formidable BJ Penn. At
only 23 years of age, Penn explains that he is just coming into
his prime as a fighter. Find out where he wants to take his fight
with Serra, what its like training for the UFC -- Hilo style,
and just what his opinion is on Jens Pulver's big move.
Source:
FCF
The
Miracle of UFC 39
By Jim Genia
The
weigh-in for the Ultimate Fighting Championship 39 "The
Warriors Return" show was held today at the Mohegan Sun
Casino in Connecticut, and it marked a momentous occasion in
UFC history. "Momentous?" you may wonder? "Did
someone fall off the scale and hurt himself?" No, no one
got hurt, and that's what was so special. The card for this show
has remained virtually intact, free of injuries and fighter withdrawals,
since it was conceived. More than any other, this card can truly
be called "solid" -- and that is the miracle of UFC
39.
On
to the weights. Stepping up for the vacant heavyweight title,
two-time UFC champ Randy Couture was 227 pounds, while rising
star Ricco Rodriguez tipped the scales at 243 pounds. Couture
has been training with Miletich-fighter Tim Sylvia for this match.
Will it be enough to keep the Team Punishment upstart from wearing
the crown?
For
the much-anticipated first stage of the lightweight tournament,
Hawaiian stud BJ Penn and jiu-jitsu demon Matt Serra were both
154 pounds -- and both looked to be in incredible shape. Penn
himself was a changed man because of a new diet, having cut out
junk food and gaining washboard abs in the process. Japanese
superstar Caol Uno and Florida's tough guy Din Thomas were 154
and 152.5 pounds respectively. Will this rematch play out differently
than their first bout years ago? Or has Thomas' string of victories
since then (including a submission win over top dog Jens Pulver)
made him into something more than Uno can handle?
In
the heavyweight division, Brazilian slugger Pedro Rizzo and SLO
Kickboxing's giant Gan McGee were 246.5 and 264 pounds, while
Sylvia and Hawaiian monster Wesley "Cabbage" Coreirra
were 259.5 and 263 pounds [Cabbage & Sylvia are shown facing
off above]. With all the heavy leather that will surely be thrown
tomorrow night, these big boys were surprisingly amicable and
friendly with each other. Equally as friendly were welterweights
Sean Sherk and Benji Radach, who, at 167 pounds and 170 pounds,
will be showing fans the latest edition of the classic "wrestler"
versus "striker" match-up. Middleweights Ivan Salaverry
and Matt Lindland were 184 and 183.5 pounds, and completely respectful.
But taking the prize for fighter interaction: former middleweight
champ Dave Menne (182 pounds) and New York BadAss Phil Baroni
(182.5 pounds). Usually intense and focused, Baroni stepped up
to the scale with a sexy woman on each arm, and at the photo
op, jokingly grabbed Menne's throat and made as if he were punching
him [This photo was snapped just after Baroni's "playful"
antics]. The two fighters with aspirations for the belt then
skipped the standard fighters' pose and stood with the women
-- both warriors sharing a smile.
So
far so good for "The Warriors Return". A roster full
of talent on a card more solid than any other -- will the miracle
of UFC 39 pan out into a good show? Tune in tomorrow.
Source:
FCF
Connecticut
Sound Bites
By Loretta Hunt
With
the official weigh-ins for UFC 39 "The Warriors Return"
completed -- fans, fighters, their families and friends enter
the home stretch countdown for the "big show." Here
are a few thoughts from some of tomorrow night's competitors,
with their inevitable trip to the Octagon not far from their
minds…
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pedro Rizzo, eleven-time returning UFC heavyweight veteran, on
opponent Gan McGee's heftier size:
I'm
fine. Over 200 pounds, everybody for me has same power. It makes
not so much difference for me. I will do my game. If he takes
me down, I will fight on the ground. If he try to stay stand,
I will fight standing up. For me, no problem.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dave Menne, former UFC middleweight champion, on opponent Phil
Baroni's rambunctious antics at the weigh-ins:
I
don't really get into the fight until I get into the ring, so
whatever he's doing is basically lost energy on his part. Half
an hour before the fight, that's my time to turn it on.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tim Sylvia, first-time UFC heavyweight competitor and Miletich
Martial Arts representative, on his and opponent Wes "Cabbage"
Corriera's slimmed-down physiques:
I've
been dieting and trying to keep up with the little guys. Jens[Pulver]
and Tony [Fryklund] have been running me around. He [Cabbage]
looks real soft. "Jelly-belly" it looked like to me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gan McGee, Chuck Liddell protégé and two-time returning
heavyweight (formerly super-heavy), on going in the underdog
against UFC staple Pedro Rizzo:
I'm
glad I'm a big underdog. A lot of my friends are going to make
a lot of money.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benji Radach, three-time returning UFC welterweight contender,
on opponent Sean Sherk's takedown prowess:
That's
his game. People have to understand that he's one of the best
in the world at that game, so he should stick with it. He'll
shoot in, try and take me down, and I just have to try and keep
my hips in and defend those takedowns, while trying to play my
game by getting some big punches in. I've got heavy hands and
I'm ready to use them. I'm prepared to work from my back though
as well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Middleweight contender Matt Lindland, on his recent ten-day trip
to the Miletich camp:
I've
always admired Pat [Miletich] and the type of training he's done
with his fighters and himself. I've always wanted to go out and
train with him, and when the opportunity finally came, I took
it. I worked on a lot of stand up with Pat. Bustamante got that
submission [at UFC 37] by beating me with a strike that knocked
me down and disorientated me. [From Miletich's tutelage, Lindland
brings in...] Just bigger confidence and definitely better positioning
with my stand up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sean Sherk, Minnesotan welterweight dominator, on avoiding fan's
criticisms:
I
stay off the Internet. I know what my game plan is and I know
what I need to do to win. I care not to read what other people
say. A lot of them have negative outlooks on things.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ivan Salaverry, AMC Pankration delegate and two-time returning
middleweight, on just where his fight with Matt Lindland falls
in the middleweight class's "big picture":
Look
at us right there. Between Baroni, Menne, me and Lindland I think
these are tight, tight fights. We're all great competitors and
we all want the belt, so these fights will definitely determine
who gets the shot and who doesn't. That's what it's all about.
Source:
FCF
A
Few Words with An Original
By Loretta Hunt
Loud.
Brash. Cocky. Bold. Middleweight contender Phil Baroni has probably
been called all of these things, as his in-your-face self promotion
has attracted (and detracted) droves of fans curious to hear
what he'll say next. Now add exciting to that list as well. For
all of his talk outside the ring, Baroni is beginning to deliver
the type of performances that complement the hype he preaches.
His last fight at UFC 37 turned more than a few heads, when his
concentrated aggressiveness allowed him to capitalize on Russian
opponent Amar Suloev's hesitant play. Suloev, a world-class kickboxer,
had been hailed as one of the "next big things" to
hit the sport. Baroni thought to the contrary. Now taking on
returning former UFC middleweight champion Dave Menne, a win
for Baroni could secure him the title bout he's been working
towards. Catching up with Phil between training sessions at the
Mohegan Sun, his mood is focused and confident. This fighter
means business.
FCF:
Phil, you've been uncharacteristically quiet lately. How has
your training been going?
PB: I've been training real hard and breaking my ass. I've been
training at One Kick Nick's and the Las Vegas Combat Club.
FCF:
Have you officially made the move out to Las Vegas?
PB: Yes, I'm living in Vegas now and I like it a lot.
FCF:
You made quite a statement with your last performance at UFC
37. Have there been any changes in your training since your last
fight?
PB: My last fight was Amar Suleov and the difference in training
from that fight to this one is that I'm working a lot more on
my stand up. I'm ready to rock and roll.
FCF:
If you could control where this fight is going with Menne, where
would you like it to go?
PB: I'm ready to fight anywhere -- anywhere it goes. I'm just
going to go out there and be dangerous.
FCF:
Knockout or submission. What would be your weapon of choice?
PB: Of course, knockout. I'm always looking for the knockout.
FCF:
What are your thoughts on your opponent Dave Menne?
PB: He's the former UFC champ. He's got tons of experience. I'm
using him as a stepping stone to get what I want -- the belt.
I'm going right through him.
FCF:
How important do you think this fight is within the overall middleweight
picture?
PB: This fight is huge within the middleweight class. It's a
huge fight for me. Every fight is my biggest fight yet. I'm looking
to take it to him and knock him out. I want to prove to everyone
that I'm the best 185-pounder in the world.
FCF:
If you get past Menne, who would you like to fight next?
PB: When I get past Menne, I'll fight Bustamante or anyone else
in my division.
FCF:
Are you saying you feel you'll be entitled to a title shot if
you win this fight?
PB: It's up to them -- my people and the UFC -- to determine
who I fight next. Of course, I think I'm ready to fight Bustamante.
I'm ready to fight him tonight. I'll fight him after I knock
out Menne.
FCF:
Menne's a tough, resilient fighter…
PB: Yeah, he's tough and well rounded but not so much as me.
I'm big and strong and faster and nastier -- as well as better
looking.
FCF:
How does it feel to return to fight in front of the East Coast
crowd?
PB: It feels great to be back here in front of all my fans. I'll
have all the New York fans in attendance and they'll be going
crazy for their hero. Menne's getting knocked the fuck out!
FCF:
Any special message you'd like to pass on to the fans?
PB: Don't blink.
Source:
FCF
A
Statement from UFC CHAMPION Murilo Bustmante...
(Quote
the CHAMPION, regarding the DANA WHITE interview that appeared
here dated 9/26/200)
'I
just wanted to say that I understand Dana White's 's statement
on this website regarding our negotiations. If you are being
interviewed, you have to answer the questions, Although I would
like to point out that I never mentioned a word regarding our
situation in order to avoid rumours.
Since
Dana came spoke to the general public to expose his point of
view, I feel I am entitled do the same and clarify what is the
situation regarding my contract. This is not a statement to bring
controversy to the subject.
First
of all I wanted to say that UFC is an amazing promotion and I
feel very proud to be one of their champions. I agree when Dana
says that UFC treats their fighters very well and that's why
I would like to keep being part of this family.
I
wanted to keep being part of this promotion and wanted to stay
as a champion doing more than only fighting, because I believe
a champion's work is really more than just fighting! When I complained
about Big John McCarthy's refereeing, obviously I complained
because it was in my fight, but the mistake could affect the
development of the sport in general, that's why I wanted him
to recognize the mistake. Being a champion, you get some responsibilities
and duties such as speaking out about our sport and you bear
the responsibility to bring up unclear points for discussion
in order to help the sport progress without any clouds or rumours.
Big John is a very respected referee, and in my opinion he is
even more respected now, because you learn from mistakes and
become more experienced.
He
did nothing but what would be was expected from an honorable
man like him recognizng his mistake. I wanted to congratulate
Big John for that publicly, so to Big John MaCarthy: No hard
feelings Big John, let's move on and 'let's get it on!!'.
Regarding
Dana's statement I wanted to say that I feel very proud and honored
to be considered the best fighter pound for pound in the world.
This coming from the man behind the UFC is something that carries
a lot of importance.
That's
exactly the point where we disagree! If I am the best pound for
pound fighter, I think this should be a considerideration on
the financial side. I should get an offer compatible to this
status, not only compatible to 'a guy who weighs 185 pounds'
as he stated.
In
my understanding a fighter's worth is judged by how much excitment
he brings to a fight, not how many pounds he weighs. Just to
let the MMA lovers and my possible fans know, I did not ask for
tons and tons of money and for sure there are UFC contracts way
bigger than mine! I don't want to compare my work with anyone's
since it is very hard to put price on your sacrifices. On the
other hand it may be even harder to be on the other side of the
table and to have to say to a fighter that his sacrifice is not
worth what he thinks!
This
said, I wanted to restate that my hope is to reach an agreement
and keep holding the UFC middleweight belt. Fighting for the
UFC fans is really something hard to describe so I am here for
them, to make this point clear and to avoid people starting rumors
about my feelings and thoughts regarding this promotion.
Thank
you very much for everybody's attention and good luck to all.
God
Bless,
Murilo
Bustamante
Source:
Abu Dhabi
UFC
Up Close: Ricco Rodriguez v. Randy Couture
With the heavyweight
belt up for grabs, the two 'big dogs' of the UFC will do battle
in just a few hours.
Ricco Rodriguez
has dropped his nicknames and is dead serious about the fight.
No more 'Pretty Boy' or 'Suave' just Ricco.
Ricco boasts
a 9-1 overall record and is 4-0 in the UFC with all wins via
TKO!
Couture is coming
off a controversial loss with Josh Barnett. Many believe that
Randy is even more hungry to win 'his' championship belt back.
'He's a big
strong kid who's fighting with a lot of confidence right now.
He had a couple of pretty good opponents that he's walked through.
I think it makes for a pretty interesting fight,' says Couture.
Ricco gives
credit where credit is due: 'Randy is definitely the toughest
opponent I've ever faced because he has so much experience in
the Octagon. He's someone I really looked up to as a kid, watching
him in the NCAA's. He's such a go-getter who has achieved so
much in his life. He's a tough man and he's going to come at
me 100%. I'm ready for him' says Rodriguez.
Fight factors
are:
Rodriguez with a sizable weight advantage.
Rodriguez with a 14 year age advantage.
Couture with 7-1 UFC experience advantage.
Couture's versatility. Faced the best grapplers and strikers
in the game.
Rodriguez ability to go in the later rounds could be in question.
Many are picking
Rodriguez (roughly 75%). We're just hours away from fight time!
Abu Dhabi
Top
of The Class
UNCASVILLE,
CT, September 26 - There wasn't a huge crowd at the Mohegan Sun
Casino's Wolf Den for today's UFC 39 weigh-in, but that's okay.
Those that did show up got to see class in forms it is typically
not expected to be in.
And
they weren't disappointed.
They
weren't disappointed that the fighters fighting in tomorrow night's
card showed up on time, acted like professionals, and then made
themselves accessible to the fans that did brave the rainy remnants
of Isidore.
Randy
Moss, they ain't.
Tito
Ortiz, perhaps the biggest mixed martial artist in the United
States in terms of popularity and exposure, a man who was a holler
away from signing autographs, shaking hands, or just shooting
the breeze, puts it down in terms as no nonsense as his ground
and pound.
"Muhammad
Ali was like that," said the light heavyweight champion.
"I want to be the same way. If it wasn't for the fans, I
would just be another fighter."
And
the fans give back that respect.
Some
made trips to Connecticut that smacked of insanity (MaxFighting's
own John Hanlon drove ten hours from Ohio), but it's that love
that makes this sport unique. From the fighters to the fans,
there are no airs, no separation. Want to single out a couple
of fighters who are especially fan friendly? You can't. They're
all that way. From Ortiz and future foe Chuck Liddell to Pride
veteran Dan Henderson to Japan's Caol Uno - I have never seen
a mixed martial artist turn down a handshake, autograph request,
or interview. A cynic will call it contrived; but you can't hide
forever. And I've been to too many shows, and seen this interaction
too many times for it to be fake. It's real. Just like the action
in the ring.
The
sport is changing. The rules have changed, its public perception
has changed, and these changes will undoubtedly continue. One
thing that should never change, though, is the bond between fighters
and fans. That's the real lifeblood of mixed martial arts.
Oh
yeah, all 16 fighters on the eight bout card made weight.
WEIGHTY
MATTERS - Most of the fighters on the card looked in shape and
ready to go to battle. Ricco Rodriguez especially looked to be
in the best shape of his career at 243 pounds, but Pedro Rizzo
(facing 264 lb Gan McGee) looked heavy, not only in the body,
but also in the face, at 246 ½ pounds.
WAR
- Forget Vanderlei Silva, the stare BJ Penn fixed on opponent
Matt Serra was downright frightening. Even after the two broke
off from the photo op, Penn continued to stare. That is one bad
man.
RARIN'
TO GO - UFC light heavyweight champ Tito Ortiz said that his
knee is at about 95% of where it should be as he prepares for
his November showdown with Ken Shamrock. "I'm actually leaps
and bounds from where I'm supposed to be," said Ortiz. "My
personal trainer is stepping back and saying, 'man, you're a
freak.' And oh, yeah, says the champ, the animosity with Shamrock
is real. "The only thing fake in this fight is my bleached
hair."
FROM
THE PRESIDENT'S DESK - It wasn't the best kept secret around,
but UFC President Dana White did confirm the following undercard
fights for UFC 40 - Matt Hughes-Gil Castillo, Carlos Newton-Pete
Spratt, and Robbie Lawler-Tiki. White also informed MaxFighting
that the oft-injured Vitor Belfort has pulled up lame yet again,
this time with a knee injury, and will not be facing Vladimir
Matyushenko in Las Vegas, a November show that the UFC Prez hopes
will pull in 15,000 to the MGM Grand.
BEHIND
THE SCENES - Nice to see Burt Watson, boxing's premier site coordinator,
pulling the same duties for UFC 39. Rest assured, if you're a
fighter and you see Burt around, you know you're in a first-class
show.
QUOTE
OF THE DAY - Team Extreme manager extraordinaire Monte Cox on
the transformation of debuting heavyweight Tim Sylvia, after
a little tough love in the Miletich camp - "I didn't know
he was 6-8 until one month into it. He was bent over puking into
a garbage can the whole time. I thought he was 5-4."
HIDE
THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN - A Japanese film crew followed around
hometown hero Caol Uno to film a documentary as he prepared for
his bout with Din Thomas. If any of our Japanese readers happen
to see this film, don't scared by the three gaijin - it's only
MaxFighting staffers Bruce Buffer, John Hanlon, and yours truly,
being filmed filming Uno, one of the game's class acts in any
language.
STATEN
ISLAND IN DA' HOUSE - New Yorkers, especially those in Staten
Island, should pick up the Friday edition of the Staten Island
Advance, which is scheduled to feature a profile of heavyweight
title challenger Ricco Rodriguez, who grew up in the borough.
Source:
Maxfighting
MaxTales:
Couture vs Rodriguez
As
is often the case in the combat sports, truth is more compelling
than fiction.
In
1997, classy champion Randy Couture bolted from the Ultimate
Fighting Championship over money woes. This came after a decision
victory over Maurice Smith and the destruction of then-unstoppable
Vitor Belfort. He competed sporadically in Japan before returning
to the UFC in November of 2000. Again the Heavyweight belt was
up for grabs, and in a flawless display of class and guile, he
triumphed over the formidable Kevin Randleman to reclaim the
crown he had never actually lost. Victories over Pedro Rizzo
followed, with Josh Barnett being the only black mark on Couture's
UFC record.
Following
Barnett's steroid trial and subsequent vacating of the belt,
elder statesman Couture will attempt to recapture the coveted
title yet again, this time having to overcome upstart challenger
Ricco Rodriguez. Is that enough drama for your mama? Check out
the Max Tale of the Tape.
UFC
Heavyweight (205 lb. and under) Title Bout
Randy Couture vs Ricco Rodriguez
Randy
Couture
"The Natural," 39 Oregon
10-4-0
Most
Notable Win
Kevin Randleman via TKO, 11/00
Most
Notable Loss
Josh Barnett via TKO, 3/02
Last
Win
Pedro Rizzo via TKO, 11/01
Years
as a Pro
5 years, 4 months
Time
elapsed since last bout
6 months
Strengths
Will of iron, wrestling and ground control.
Weaknesses
Smaller than some Heavyweights, aging.
Ricco Rodriguez
"Ricco Suave," 25 California
10-1-0
Most Notable Win
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka via TKO, 5/02
Most Notable Loss
Bobby Hoffman via strikes, 9/99
Last Win
Kohsaka, 5/02
Years as a Pro
3 yrs, 2 mths
Time elapsed since last bout
4 1/2 months
Strengths
Larger Heavyweight, submissions.
Weaknesses
Has never faced a ranked Heavyweight.
MaxFacts:
-
Rodriguez has never faced a contender ranked in the top ten of
Heavyweights.
- Couture will be Rodriguez's first opponent with accredited
wrestling skills.
- Rodriguez's last four fights were all wins via TKO.
- Three of Couture's four losses have come via submission.
- Rodriguez is undefeated in the UFC.
- Rodriguez submitted current Pride sensation Antonio Nogueira
in submission grappling.
Question Marks
-
Can Couture control the larger Rodriguez, when the similarly-sized
Barnett was able to weather his storm and come back to dominate?
- Can Couture fend off submission attempts by the Abu Dhabi veteran?
- Is Rodriguez where he needs to be in order to stay competitive
with the division's elite?
Possible Outcomes:
-Rodriguez
submits Couture quickly and without warning from the bottom.
- Couture takes down Rodriguez and batters him from the mount.
- Couture wins a decision, controlling position over an increasingly
fatigued Ricco.
Source:
Maxfighting
Can
Couture Circle the Wagons, or is his Party Coming to an End?
Competition.
Fame. Money. Glory. Respect. Without a shadow of a doubt, 39-year-old
Randy Couture has achieved, earned and fought for each of these
during his storied mixed martial arts career. With less than
48 hours remaining before he steps back into the Octagon for
what seems like the umpteenth time, the two-time UFC heavyweight
champion is fighting for a new and tremendously motivating reason:
redemption.
It
was only last March when the Gresham, Oregon resident looked
every bit his age, going down to a larger and younger Josh Barnett.
In the weeks following the bout, Couture, along with his wife
and kids, took a long hard look at all his options. “After
a little bit of contemplation, and it didn’t take very long,
I decided that I hadn’t done everything that I wanted to
do and that I didn’t really want to go out that way,”
Couture told MaxFighting.
“I
think if I retired right now I’d be remembered for the fights
that I’ve had and the kind of fighter that I’ve been,”
he says. “So it only gets richer and the legacy only gets
stronger the more that I compete and continue to be successful.”
Though
the loss didn’t sit well with Couture -- “I think anytime
you lose, when you get the chance to go back in, fight again,
compete again, it always adds a little bit something extra. You
get hungry to test yourself again and try out the things you
did wrong,” he says -- the blemish on his record was, for
all intents and purposes, erased when the Nevada State Athletic
Commission suspended Barnett six months for having performance
enhancing substances in his system the night of the fight.
With
the belt in limbo after the UFC stripped Barnett subsequent to
the NSAC ruling, Couture, who faces Ricco Rodriguez at the Mohegan
Sun in Uncasville, CT on Friday night for the vacant title, was
given another shot to compete for crown he was synonymous with
before the Barnett bout.
With
an opportunity to become the only three-time champion in UFC
history hanging in the balance, Couture currently stands at a
crossroads. One path leads to victory and the probability that
his name would be mentioned alongside the best the sport’s
ever seen -- though he says it’s not his place to say where
he fits amongst the game’s legends -- Losing, on the other
hand, raises serious doubts as to how much longer he could continue
to fight at a high level.
“I’m
not planning on making it just one more [fight],” Couture
says, regardless if his best days are behind him or not. “I
think I’ll be in there a few more times.” Good news
to MMA fans everywhere, but when and where we see him next is
contingent upon how he performs Friday night. Judging by the
tone of his voice on Wednesday, the former Oklahoma State All-American
wrestler fully anticipates competing in five-round championship
fights for some time to come.
“I
feel like I’ve made the adjustments [from the Barnett fight]
and I feel comfortable and confident that this fight is going
to go well,” says Couture, who believes that he’s in
the best shape of his life after one of the best training camps
he’s ever been a part of.
“I
think I can hang with Ricco at any pace he wants to go,”
he continues. “If he wants to come out hard and try to take
me out early I’m sure I can match his pace and match him
tit for tat if that’s what needs to be. And that’s
only going to be better for me if it does go longer. I’m
prepared to do whatever it takes. I know he’s going to come
out, be aggressive and hope to establish the dominant position
and try to take me out. He doesn’t want it to go long. He
doesn’t want it to go into the later rounds because he’s
not sure if he can hang there, so I’m going to do my best
to weather that storm, make him work as hard as possible and
be there to finish him.”
Couture
knows Rodriguez, an excellent Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor
and above average wrestler, will want to work from the top, especially
after witnessing the Barnett fight first hand. The similarities
are impossible to miss: Both Rodriguez and Barnett hold 20-plus
pound weight advantages, both have excellent submission skills,
both strike well on the ground (particularly with elbows) and
both are 15 years younger than the elder statesman of the UFC.
Those
are just a handful of the reasons why more than a few people
have picked against Couture coming into this fight. But the veteran
remains unfazed by it all. “The age question is always an
angle people always want to focus on and I don’t focus on
it,” he says. “All I focus on is my training and how
I feel. I feel terrific so I don’t think my age has any
bearing on what’s going to happen in the fight. So I just
have to focus on the things I can control and go out and get
after it.”
One
would think that Couture’s most obvious advantage stems
from his immense amount of experience -- particularly in championship
bouts -- that he brings each and every time he steps into the
ring. However, against Barnett he was the one that seemed like
the inexperienced fighter. Unsure whether to rely on aspects
of the game he’d been attempting to improve upon or fall
back on the wrestling ability that made him successful from day
one, Couture faltered and paid the price.
“I
never really intended to take him down right off the bat,”
Couture remembers of the Barnett contest. “I wasn’t
really sure why that occurred, why I reverted to taking him down
right away. I wanted to work the clinch and work the fence and
work a lot of other things before we worked the takedown situation.
The other thing was, especially on the ground, I wasn’t
focused on wrestling and trying to stay off of the bottom by
continuing to scramble and work towards the top position. I had
been working on jiu-jitsu so much that I kind of dove forward,
pulled guard rather than stand up, fight hands and wrestle with
him. That would have been the difference in the fight in my opinion.”
The
Rodriguez bout presents an opportunity for Couture to atone for
the mistakes he felt he made in March. Step one was going “back
to what I came from,” he says. In the process of reevaluating
his last fight, Couture came to the conclusion that a renewed
focus on wrestling was essential, despite a previous effort to
learn jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai and several other components that
are seen in a well-rounded MMA fighter. With a bigger, younger
and more athletic breed of heavyweights popping up with regularity,
Couture quickly realized that he needed to control from the top
in order to be successful.
“I
think all the stuff I made a point of learning, trying to use
and being successful at is still very important, but when it
gets right down to it in those situations I’d much rather
be where a wrestler usually ends up and that’s on top. Rather
than be satisfied in positions and situations to be on the bottom
and end up there, which is where I was for Josh’s fight
-- I was like ‘oh well, if I’m on the bottom I’m
ok’ and I was satisfied to fight from that position -- I
had to reevaluate that way of thinking. I have a whole bunch
of skills and things that I know I use to make sure that no matter
what I come out on top, especially when you’re dealing with
bigger guys you don’t want to be on the bottom -- ever.
If you’re stuck there in a situation where you may end up
on the bottom, change what you’re thinking, don’t be
satisfied in trying to fight from the bottom, create situations
where you can scramble and move and get back to at least a neutral
position and hopefully a top position.”
A
major key for Couture to pull that off is to keep the larger
Rodriguez off of him, which is no easy task when you take into
account the New Jersey native’s undervalued wrestling skills.
But, unlike some who only care about pedigree, Couture hasn’t
fallen prey to the notion that the only wrestlers in MMA to worry
about come out of the Olympic or high-level collegiate ranks.
“Just
because maybe he didn’t wrestle for the National team or
try out for the Olympics or any of that stuff doesn’t mean
he’s not a good wrestler,” says Couture. “He wrestled
in high school. He wrestled in junior college. He’s got
a decent wrestling background, so he knows how to execute technique
and execute takedowns. And I have to be ready for that.”
Couture
made a point to bring in bigger sparring partners for this training
camp, learning the tough lesson from the Barnett fight. But when
it comes down to it, if Couture ends up on his back like he did
in his previous bout, he could be in for a world of hurt. For
that reason, the veteran fighter must do what he could not against
Barnett and draw from his vast experience in championship fights
-- a situation Rodriguez, like Barnett before him, will encounter
for the first time.
“I
think it’s an advantage to have been in a five-round fight
before and to have been in championship fights before and felt
the pressure and been able to deal with that,” Couture says.
“Certainly that’s an advantage.” As each round
passes, so to does any physical edge Rodriguez may have carried
into the ring -- especially after the first 10 minutes.
Couture
could have just as easily retired following the Barnett bout
and no one would have thought any less of his accomplishments
inside the ring and incredible sportsmanship outside it, but
he refused to go out one someone else’s terms. The UFC has
only seen a Randy Couture driven by competition. On Friday, he
steps into the ring looking for redemption -- a man who doesn’t
need to prove anything to anyone, feeling as if his livelihood
is at stake.
Scary.
Source: Maxfighting
9/26/02
Quote
of the Day
Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.
Henry
Ford
Warriors
Quest 8
YOUNG GUNS
Thursday, Oct 24.2002
Warriors
Quest and IFC Presents
Chris
Brennan Vs. Jon Weilder
Westside
Strangler Chris Brennan a former King of the Cage Champion and
UFC Veteran will fight Jon Weilder for the vacant Warriors Quest
World Championship. Brennan in his last apperance in Warriors
Qust taped out John Chrisistomo in round 1. And in the other
corner Weilder who had an impressive win aganist Hawaii's Dave
Yueng will go up aganist all odds and meet up with the strangler.
ZUFFA
Planning to Address Title Picture on Live Broadcast
There is word
from the Mohegan Sun that the UFC will be devoting time on the
PPV broadcast to address the vacant title picture. In particular,
the vacant lightweight title formerly owned by Jens Pulver and
the heavyweight title that Josh Barnett was stripped of will
both be discussed on the air.
The overall
message should be greater communication and flow of information
- this is a chance to impart a message to the widest audience
ZUFFA will have. It will be interesting to see what information
makes the cut and hits the air!
Source: Abu
Dhabi
UFC
Up Close: DAVE MENNE v. PHIL BARONI
Dave Menne is
one of the most experienced fighters in MMA, with over 40 fights
under his belt.
Although Phil
Baroni is a relative newcomer, his raw power and explosiveness
have the potential neutralize Menne's experience. 'He seems to
be an aggressive fighter who tries to overpower his opponents.
I think he's got some holes in his game but he makes up for it
a little bit with this outright aggression' says Menne.
Menne has been
training with Pat Miletich in preparation for the upcoming match.
'Pat Miletich, Jens Pulver, Matt Hughes, Jeremy Horn. There are
different parts of their games that I watch and try to pick up'
Menne says.
He faces the
'New York Bad Ass', who returns to the octagon as one of the
fighters people really want to see. Don't let his one and only
loss fool you: Baroni's battle with Matt Lindland that ended
in a decision loss was an exciting bout that put Baroni on the
map as a legitimate contender!
'We literally
have the lock the doors to make Phil take a day off from training'
said teammate Frank Mir at UFC 37. When it comes to being a 'full
time' fighter, Baroni is the man.
In typical Baroni
fashion, he gives his thoughts on his career and Menne. 'I want
it all! I want to be known as the sexiest and pound-for-pound
best fighter in the world. He (Menne) is a proven fighter that's
gonna get knocked out on September 27' says the NYBA.
This could end
up being the sleeper match on the card, then again, almost any
of them could steal the show!
Source: Abu
Dhabi
UFC
39: The Warriors Return -- Ivan Salaverry
UP
CLOSE WITH AMC PANKRATION's NEXT UFC STAR
Water
is to thirst what Ivan Salaverry is to fighting and on Friday,
September 27, he'll look to quench his thirst when he meets Olympic
silver medallist Matt Lindland in the octagon at 'UFC 39: The
Warriors Return'.
Born
in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the 31-year-old middleweight lived
in Chile and New York, before settling in Seattle, Washington
with his father. Looking for an opportunity to seek adventure,
Salaverry joined the Marine Corps, 'a friend's dad gave me direction,
helping me keep balance and enjoy life.'
Since
his early teenage years, Salaverry has trained in some kind of
combat sport. Whether Jiu-Jitsu, Karate, Kickboxing or Wrestling
in HS, and later in the Marine Corp, it wasn't until he joined
AMC Pankration that it all came together. Training under Matt
Hume for the last 4 to 5 years 'has taken me in a different direction
then what I wanted in fighting,' said Salaverry. It has benefited
him competitively, taking him into world class competition. Working
with Maurice Smith, Josh Barnett, Jeff Monson and Dennis Hallman
everyday... 'It's amazing,' exclaimed Salaverry.
The
185-pound Salaverry credits the athletes at AMC with sharpening
his skills. 'My grappling was great,' said Salaverry, 'but there
is always someone with a different style and body type where
I can twink my ability.' We know cross training is a necessity
today, as you can no longer just grapple or strike, you need
to do both very well. Salaverry says, 'Matt has helped transition
my grappling with striking.' The 6'0' Salaverry looks to be the
best well-rounded fighter.
A
veteran of Abu Dhabi, HOOKnSHOOT, the IFC, SHOOTO and SuperBrawl,
Salaverry, who currently owns the HOOKnSHOOT and IFC Middleweight
titles, earned his shot in the UFC through his record and experience.
Salaverry had a successful UFC debut at High Impact by defeating
Russian Andrei Semenov by TKO in the 3rd Round. He returns this
Friday to face northwest neighbor, Lindland, of Eagle Creek,
OR. His thoughts on Lindland, 'he's another brother from the
great northwest. A superb athlete with lots of grappling.' The
only prediction Salaverry would make is 'it's going to be a good
fight.' Salaverry is aware of Lindland's upper body strength
and ground and pound style, along with his strong grappling,
but says, 'I'm comfortable going in any direction, as it's part
of being well rounded.' Trainer Matt Hume and teammate Roman
Roytberg will be covering his back.
Salaverry
is cool pre-fight, as this is what he loves. He is living his
dream, but he does get nervous too. He lives for the fact that
he is alive and getting into a fight surrounded by people. He
wants them to see great technique and go wild, 'a quick win is
great,' said Salaverry, 'but an exciting match is what I prefer.'
With
a professional MMA record of 9-1-0, Salaverry's most memorable
fight, the one he wants his vengeance on, is his only career
loss to Akihiro Gono. Laughing, Salaverry says, 'absolutely,
absolutely,' to a rematch, but only after his UFC obligations
are fulfilled.
Salaverry's
goals are continuous, 'a lot of people make a mistake with MMA
and try to compare it to boxing, where you have to be a super
undefeated fighter' said Salaverry to be recognized. There are
many variables in MMA. There are fighters that are champions
with wins and losses and it doesn't take away from them as a
fighter. Salaverry feels people look for style, tenacity and
how they fight.
When
not in the gym, Salaverry enjoys dinner with friends or going
on hikes in the scenic northwest. This single father of a daughter
has found balance, working as a Social Worker outside of MMA
and enjoying life. There is no aspect of his life to change,
rather, he says, 'I'd like to continue with what I is doing...
what I love.'
Salaverry
has some advice to educate people on MMA, 'get yourself involved
in the martial arts, as sport is rising,' says Salaverry, 'keep
your eyes open and get involved.'
Fans
can get more information on Ivan Salaverry through his web site
at www.IvanSalaverry.net.
Source:
Abu Dhabi
The
Faces of UFC 39: Gan McGee
By Loretta Hunt
This
installment of our Faces of UFC 39 series focuses today on heavyweight
Gan McGee, deemed the biggest underdog for Friday night's showdown
with heavily experienced Pedro Rizzo.
Calm
and reserved, much like his mentor Chuck "the Iceman"
Liddell, Gan McGee made his Octagon debut at UFC 28, but hasn't
walked the fame fighter's ramp since. With almost two more years
of training under his belt and a few more wins to reflect this,
McGee has been called up again to take the challenge. A high
school and college wrestler, 6'10" McGee hopes his solid
base in the art of the takedown will be enough to derail deadly
striker Pedro Rizzo. The Californian discusses his breakdown
of the fight, how he's been equipping himself for battle, and
his thoughts on just how big weight will be a factor on Friday.
FCF:
The last time UFC fans had a chance to see you in action was
at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, where you took on another
first-timer, Josh Barnett. What have you been doing since UFC
28, and how did you make your way back to the Octagon?
GM: After the UFC, I went back to fighting a few smaller shows.
Actually, my weight increased -- I was coming in around 320 for
a while and the UFC was using heavyweights that were lighter.
I started dieting and training, trying to get my weight down.
It's getting low now and I got the call -- so I'm doing it [the
UFC] again.
FCF:
What smaller shows were you competing in?
GM: I fought for the WEC a couple of times. Maybe another fight.
I can't remember.
FCF:
When you fought Barnett, what weight were you at?
GM: I was around 300 [pounds].
FCF:
From 300 pounds you are working down to the 265-pound weight
class limit, where opponent Pedro Rizzo will be waiting for you.
Rizzo is extremely experienced, having fought for the show ten
times since UFC Brazil in October 1998. What are your thoughts
on this fight?
GM: Me and Pedro Rizzo -- we're going to be the classic match
of a wrestler versus kickboxer. I'm going to try and take him
down. He' s going to try and knock me out. This is a great career
opportunity for me. Rizzo is a good one to go against. I also
think it's going to be fun. He's a tough guy. It should be enjoyable.
FCF:
How has your training with world-class striker Chuck Liddell
helped you for this fight?
GM: Chuck is a great training partner for me. He's pretty much
the same [as Rizzo], maybe a little bit lighter. Chuck's a great
kickboxer, the same style of fighting [as Rizzo]. There's nothing
to worry about in taking him down and he's probably a little
bit better wrestler than Rizzo.
FCF:
Let's fill in the fans in regards to your background in the combat
arts. What discipline(s) did you start in?
GM: I wrestled in high school and college. Chuck used to wrestle
at Cal Poly too, but graduated a year or two before I went to
college. And then there was also Scott Adams. He was wrestling
in his senior year when I was a freshman. Chuck would come to
work out at the gym after I was done wrestling. In my off-season,
I started to stay and roll around with him and learn submissions.
One day, Chuck asked me if I wanted to fight and I kinda fell
into it from there. I didn't even wrestle my senior year. I just
liked fighting so much that I decided to just do that.
FCF:
How far did you get with your college wrestling?
GM: I went to nationals a few times, but never won it.
FCF:
You must have a very strong foundation in wrestling. What other
aspects of the fight game do you train in today?
GM: I work on a little bit of everything with Chuck -- kickboxing
and submissions. I just try and stay well rounded.
FCF:
Chuck and Scott Adams own a successful training facility in San
Luis Obispo and you are there as well. With all you fighters
walking around, I imagine the crime rate must be lower.
GM: It's a little college town, but there are so many fighters
here! People are leery on the streets and you can tell they try
and stay clam. They don't want to pick fights with anyone. You
just never know who you are facing.
FCF:
Why do you think the UFC has called you back to fight again?
GM: Maybe Chuck's success has gotten me in there. I'm not sure.
Maybe I'm riding his coattails a little.
FCF:
Maybe it has to do with a little more than that. For one, the
UFC is in need of more heavyweight competitors.
GM: Yeah, I think they need some heavyweights too. I'm undefeated
except for that one fight with Barnett and he became the champion.
FCF:
People in the industry have said you were "off" the
night you fought Barnett, and fans didn't get to see what you
were really capable of. What happened that night?
GM: I had bronchitis, but I thought I 'd be able to win that
fight anyway. I was undefeated at that point and it was just
a mistake. I shouldn't have done it. I should have backed out
when I wasn' t feeling 100%. I was doing well the first round,
but then I ran out of gas. I couldn't breathe and my body just
wouldn't respond anymore.
FCF:
If you could have fought that fight again, what would have you
done differently?
GM: I would have been healthy. Honestly, I just didn't think
I'd lose. I was on a roll and although I was sick, I thought
I could handle it anyway. I underestimated him.
FCF:
Do you train full-time?
GM: I'm a security manager of a company that runs five bars here
in town and a few others outside it.
FCF:
Do your workmates know about ultimate fighting?
GM: Yes. They are very encouraging and want me to do well. It's
actually a great job. It has real flexible hours and I can easily
set my training schedule around it.
FCF:
Still, with this job you must find it hard to train all of the
time, right?
GM: I train about three hours a day. I have also been on a strict
diet as well. So between dieting and training, that has really
become my full-time job.
FCF:
Being a couple of weeks away from the show, what weight are you
down to at this point?
GM: Right now, I'm 270, 275. It's going to be easy to make weight.
FCF:
Do you think your weight will be a factor on how this fight plays
out?
GM: I don't know. I haven't been that light in a while, so it
will be great for me. I shouldn't be that much heavier than him.
What does he come in around? 240? I should have about 20 pounds
on him, so at that weight I don't think it will be that much
of a factor.
FCF:
What do you do in your free time besides MMA?
GM: I lay a lot of video games. It helps when you're dieting
and training. You kind of just want to lay around and it gives
you something to do. It takes your mind off of other things.
FCF:
With all that dieting, I'm sure food is one your mind. What's
the first food you will eat after your fight with Rizzo?
GM: I haven't really thought about it. It's not that big of a
deal to me. My weight is pretty good, so I haven't had to make
it so strict. But, I could go for some good Italian.
FCF:
What are your goals in MMA?
GM: I'd love to win the UFC title someday. I'd also love to fix
that blemish on my record with a win over Barnett. But I don't
what to get ahead of myself. For now, I'm just concentrating
on Rizzo. I'm trying to stay focused.
Source:
FCF
The
Faces of UFC 39: Din Thomas
By Loretta Hunt
In
this installment of The Faces of UFC 39, we speak with lightweight
dynamo Din Thomas. Coming in at 5'9" and 155 pounds, this
warrior makes his return after an injury-induced nine-month hiatus.
Being the one competitor to have handed former UFC champion Jens
Pulver a loss, Thomas was a natural choice for the 4-man lightweight
tournament that will decide just who get to fill "Little
Evil's" shoes. Thomas takes on Japanese legend Caol Uno,
a fighter he lost to three years ago in the early stages of his
career. Thomas is hoping that this time however, it will all
go differently. Calm, relaxed, and always entertaining, Din Thomas
is ready to make his presence known and has made a special pledge
to the fans once his hand is raised on Friday night. Ladies and
gentleman, Mr. Din Thomas.
FCF:
Let's get the public back up to speed in the ways of Din Thomas.
Will you refresh our memories as to the injury you incurred a
few months ago and your road to recovery and fighting again?
DT: Basically, I'll say that the injury was just an accumulation
of hard training through the years. I always remembered having
pretty bad knees, but it got to the point where it was unbearable.
When I was going to fight Matt [Serra at UFC 36], I couldn't
even train some days. I couldn't even walk some days. I had a
talk with my doctor, John Keating from Atlanta, and he said I
would have to cancel my fight and get this taken care of. Basically,
he went in and cleaned out my knee. It was a torn meniscus and
some other damage in there that he took care of and now I'm good
to go.
FCF:
How many months were you not able to do any type of training
whatsoever?
DT: About two months. I was on crutches for two months. When
my doctor first told me I had to be off for two months, as soon
as those two months started, I was counting the days. I actually
threw the crutches off a day or two early. I was at the gym and
I just started training right there. I couldn't take it no more.
FCF:
So how many months have you been officially training for your
upcoming bout with Caol Uno?
DT: I train year round really, so it's not like I have to do
anything really special. I kinda turn it up a bit about two months
out. That's when I really start focusing.
FCF:
And you've been able to complete this full two-month period?
Did your recovery time dip into this time at all?
DT: No, not at all. My knee is fine. It's like nothing happened.
I feel really good. I can't complain at all. I'm really excited
to fight. I just can't wait till the 27th. I'm dying over here!
FCF:
What is an ultimate fighter to do when he's on crutches for two
months?
DT: You get pampered a lot and you do a lot of talking to whoever
will listen to you. I tried to build my fan base up while I couldn't
fight. I did a lot of promotional work for myself. When you're
training you don't have a lot of time to market yourself, so
when I got hurt, I took the time to do that. I did a lot of radio.
I made up little trading cards, so wherever I went, I'd pass
out my cards and try and meet different people.
FCF:
Was this all in Florida?
DT: Right. If I can't be famous everywhere, at least in my own
hometown I'd like to be recognized.
FCF:
I've heard that the UFC is considering putting on a show there
now that MMA is legal in Florida.
DT: Hey, I'm with that. I'll do anything to support the sport.
For the longest time, Florida had a bit of a [MMA] scene down
here. It got a little side tracked after a while because of the
law, but up until about a year ago, it was really big down here.
But since it's been back on track, nothing's really jumped off,
so hopefully the UFC or someone with the capital to put a show
on down here will do it.
FCF:
I heard that during your hiatus you dabbled a bit in the rap
industry.
DT: Rapping is something that I've done since I was little, in
high school and all. Since I couldn't fight and I wasn't training,
I went back up to my old "peeps" and we did a little
something (Din chuckles).
FCF:
A little something? Like a record?
DT: I made a little song.
FCF:
Can this song be purchased by MMA fans somewhere?
DT: I'm still trying to get that on my website [www.dinthomas.com].
I'm working on that. The song's called "Everybody's Doing
It."
FCF:
Like everybody's doing MMA?
DT: No. When I rap, I try not to do anything about MMA. You know
how Roy Jones is a boxer and his song is totally about boxing?
I try to make myself different and I don't want to do anything
with MMA when I'm rapping.
FCF:
Unfortunately, I haven't heard Roy Jones' song... or maybe fortunately.
DT: [Laughs] Yeah, maybe fortunately. All he basically talks
about is himself knocking people out, which is cool. That's his
gimmick, but me -- I try to broaden the spectrum a bit.
FCF:
You were looking for new management not too long ago. How did
that work out?
DT: Yeah. I'm now with Alex Davis. He's from Fort Lauderdale
and manages a bunch of guys from American Top Team.
FCF:
American Top Team? Have you hooked up with them?
DT: We've talked a little bit and we keep in touch. We're friends.
I haven't really trained with them. I've got a good group of
guys here at my gym. I co-own the gym with Mike Blak. He fights
as well and has done some smaller shows here in Florida. My gym
is going really well. We have a really strong kids program. That's
my pride and joy.
FCF:
Are you teaching kids?
DT: Actually, in the last few days, I've thrown on my gi and
taught the kids some stuff. It's a whole experience in itself
teaching kids, just watching them learn and watching them develop
into something.
FCF:
I almost hate to ask, but I was wondering if your past problems
with Jamie Levine have been resolved? Is he out of your life?
DT: Jamie who? He has nothing to do with my school. He's definitely
has nothing to do with it and he's not even really welcome here
anymore. He's out of the picture.
FCF:
Let's talk about your first fight with Caol Uno at Shooto 4.
That was almost three years ago to the day and went into the
third round before Uno got the submission. What are your thoughts
on that fight?
DT: I was young and wasn't really prepared for him. At the time,
he was a lot better than me. I'd say he was about as good as
he is now. He was definitely one of the top guys back then and
I was just coming up and trying to learn about fighting back
then. I was a little unprepared. I'm hoping it's different now.
FCF:
And what are your thoughts on Uno today?
DT: Realistically, not to take anything away from Uno, but he's
kinda on the decline. There's a lot of other guys out there who
are a little bit tougher. Not to say that Uno's not dangerous.
He can beat any fighter on any given day. But generally, he hasn't
really done anything to impress us recently. He hasn't changed
much. He's kinda the same fighter he was back then, while everyone
else has gotten a little bit better.
FCF:
Do you feel you have a solid understanding of Uno going into
this second meeting, having clashed with him once already?
DT: No, not really. I'll say I've learned more about Uno watching
him fight other people then I did having fought him before. The
fight before was more of a training experience that I wasn't
really ready for. Now -- Uno's dangerous, but he's not scary.
FCF:
Is there anything you are doing differently to train specifically
for Uno or has your training stayed the same?
DT: It's never the same, not because of the opponent but because
I'm always looking to get better and exceed my limits. If you
do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.
That's something my nutritionist always tells me, so I'm never
doing the same thing. I'm always trying something new to get
better.
FCF:
Speaking of better, the votes are in. I've spoken to BJ Penn
and Matt Serra, and they both think you will win against Uno.
DT: Really? Well, I don't know. I think I'm going to win too.
I think a lot of people who know what's going on in this sport
think I'm going to win. I think I'm going to be a little bit
bigger than him and a little bit stronger. Everybody knows his
game now, and if you stay on top of him and don't let him dictate
the pace, then you won't have a big problem with him.
FCF:
Being that you might be facing the other lightweight match-up
winner, what are your predictions for the Penn-Serra fight?
DT: It could go any way. BJ may have more tools, but it doesn't
mean he's going to be able to utilize them all. I can' t really
see either of them submitting the other. I can see a domination
or stalling on the ground for a judge's decision. I don' t think
either is going to knock the other out as well. It sounds so
easy to say since BJ is better on the feet, he'll knock Matt
out -- but I just can't see that happening because Matt knows
that he might not be able to touch BJ on his feet, so he probably
won't trade with him.
FCF:
Who would you prefer to win, as the victor might be your next
opponent following Uno? You were scheduled to fight Matt at one
point, but BJ knocked you out at UFC 32....
DT: I've got a little bone to pick with both of them, so it doesn't
really matter. Because it is for the title, I probably would
rather fight BJ, but for personal satisfaction, I'd probably
want to fight Matt. Matt did beat my training partner Paul Rodriguez
at Abu Dhabi and when you mess with my "peeps," you
have to pay the price.
FCF:
This whole four-man lightweight tournament came about as a result
of Jens Pulver leaving the UFC. You're the only lightweight that
has beaten Jens. What is your reaction when he comments that
whoever wins this title will not be the true champion?
DT: He might be right. You gotta beat the champ to be the champ.
He might be right, but it doesn't really matter. I'll tell you
one thing though. I think what Jens did was honorable and I was
actually happy he did it. Even though I wanted to fight him again,
I was happy that he stood up for himself and what he believed
in. Not a lot of guys would have given up the title just for
the principle of financial issues. My hat tips to Jens for doing
that.
FCF:
Having been away from competition for almost nine months now,
is there any worry about "ring rust?"
DT: No, not really. I've had enough fights to be able to deal
with the ring rust. Nine months has been a long time, but I don't
think it will be a problem. I've had 18 fights, so I think I'm
experienced enough where I'll be able to deal with this layoff.
FCF:
Would you like to leave the fans with a little rap? Maybe something
off the cuff?
DT: [Laughs] No, I don't have nothing off the top of the dome.
Wait in line and by a ticket. Put it this way though, I'll make
a promise to the fans. I beat Uno, I'm grabbing the mic and I'm
gonna kick a little freestyle.
FCF:
I'm going to hold you to that!
DT: You can definitely hold me to that.
Source:
FCF
K-1
Andy Spirits 2002 Japan GP Finals Complete Results
Date: Sunday,
September 22nd 2002
Place: Osaka Jo Hall
COMPLETE RESULTS:
Hiroki Kurosawa defeated Wataru Suda at 2R 2:39 by TKO
JAPAN GP Tournament
(3min 3R) Quarterfinals:
Tsuyoshi Nakasako defated Ryuta Noji after the 3R by Decision
(3-0)
Yusuke Fujimoto defeated Tooru Ooishi at 3R 1:47 by KO
Musashi defeated Hiromi Amada after the Extension Round by Decision
(2-0
Tatsufumi Tomihira defaeated Nobu Hayashi after the Extension
Round by Decision (3-0)
Super Fight:
Bob Sapp defeated Cyril Abidi, at 1R 1:17
by KO This is the big man that threw around the heavyweight champ,
Minotauro Nogueira, and ended up getting armbarred.
Semifinals:
Tsuyoshi Nakasako defeated Yusuke Fujimoto at 2R 2:18 by KO
Musashi defeated Tatsufumi Tomihira after 3R by Decision (3-0)
Super Fights:
Petr Vandrachek defeated 'Great' Kusatsu at 2R 1:32 by KO
Mike Bernardo defeated Tom Erikson at 1R 2:30 by KO
Finals:
Musashi defeated Tsuyoshi Nakasako after the Re-Extension Round
by Decision (3-0)
Source: Abu
Dhabi
9/25/02
Quote
of the Day
Success is neither magical or mysterious. Success is the natural
consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.
Jim
Rohn
Dana
White talks about the summer of instability in the UFC belts
UFC
President Dana White and Light Heavyweight contender Chuck Liddell
have just wrapped up a New England radio tour promoting the UFC
show at Mohegan Sun, culminating with a meet & greet at a
bar in Boston on Friday Septembewr 20th. Even after this exhausting
tour and with members of his family present, Dana went out of
his way to patiently set the record straight on many topics,
excerpts from which relating only to the UFC belts appear below.
KM:
I'd like to run down the status of the belts right now. What
is the official line about the Couture/Barnett fight? Couture
lost the fight and Barnett was then suspended so the belt is
in limbo right now and is going to be settled at Mohegan Sun.
DW: Right. The way it is - Couture lost the belt, we found out
it was won unfairly, and now it's vacant. You can't win the belt
by losing.
KM:
Getting on to the Light Heavyweight's belt, seems like there
has been no results on the belt for almost a year now since Tito
beat Matyushenko. Do you think first off you over-invested in
media on the Light Heavyweights only to see a lack of action?
DW: No, not at all. There is no doubt about it the Light Heavyweight
is one of our more exciting divisions. We went out there with
Tito because Tito has that charisma. Tito just has that thing,
you meet him and you like him. When you see him fight maybe you
think he's a punk and you don't like him or you do like him.
Either way you want to see him fight. I don't care what anybody
says, Tito is probably the biggest star in this sport right now.
Yeah, a little bit of that had to do with us because we did put
him out front…
KM:
A little? DW: Just a little, but the other thing is that a lot
of people have said things about Chuck not getting a shot and
everything else. We've done a lot of good things for everybody
since taking this thing over: put a lot of guys in good positions
and literally changed their lives. Chuck understands why this
Ken-Tito fight has to happen. The reality is Tito came to me
and said 'I want to fight Shamrock.' I said I don't know if I
can do it, let me call Ken. When I called Ken, Ken goes 'you
have no idea how bad I want this fight'. They both really want
to fight each other bad….
(After
a brief discussion on the merits of Ortiz/Shamrock covered by
other authors)
KM:
Everything you've said about Chuck makes sense. I've been saying
since Chuck/Randleman that I'd like to see Chuck/Tito but I don't
disagree enough to blow that point but what would you like to
say to the fans of Chuck who ever since he beat Randleman they
thought was first in line and then Vitor comes back on the scene.
Okay, Chuck will have the winner of Vitor/Tito and then the whole
injury thing. Okay, Chuck will have Vitor and the winner of that
gets Tito. Now it's Tito/Ken and Chuck has to go past Renato
Sobral… DW: Whoa whoa whoa, time out. All the other things
you were saying I totally agree, I understand and everything
else. Chuck wants to fight: I don't want Chuck to fight Babalu.
I don't want this fight, I don't like this fight, it's stupid.
Chuck is guaranteed a title shot, but he says I'm not sitting
out on a shelf for 6 months for a title shot, I need another
fight. His manager negotiated this thing where he gets a fight
on the undercard blah blah blah. I don't like it. He just came
off a fantastic win over Vitor Belfort. He's hot, everybody's
into him. The last thing I want is a boring fight with Babalu
or something like that.
KM:
Like Babalu/Randleman or Babalu/Smith… DW: It's what they
wanted!
KM:
If Chuck does lose this is Chuck still going to be… DW:
He loses his title shot. He's well aware of that. To all Chuck's
fans out there, when you here Chuck publicly complain about what
is going on then you can start griping because Chuck understands
what were doing and what's going on. Let me tell you something
and I mean this, there are a lot of guys in this sport because
they want to get famous or whatever. Chuck is a real fighter.
The Babalu story alone, 'I'm not sitting on the shelf for 6 months.
I don't care who you get me to fight, I'll fight.' He's a real
fighter. I have nothing but respect for Chuck.
KM:
The point to the Chuck fans should be you are not denying Chuck
a fight, this is what Chuck wants? DW: Chuck will fight anybody
anytime any day anywhere on any amount of notice.
KM:
Moving on to the Middleweights, rumored next belt instability
being Bustamente leaving. What is the status of Bustamente in
the UFC? DW: It's a hard thing because I've said it a million
times, Bustamante is one of those guys that I love. Right now
personally I think he's pound for pound the best fighter in the
world. It's hard, money talks and at the end of the day for me
to pay a guy who weighs 185 a ton and ton of money it's just
hard to do right now.
KM:
He's already left? DW: No, he has not. He's still with us right
now. We're still in limbo with him right now.
KM:
What is the deadline on limbo? When does his contract expire?
DW: Off the top of my head I honestly don't know right now but
I'll tell you this: I'll do everything I can to keep Bustamante.
I know you're going to get to Jens Pulver next. Jens Pulver calls
me every day, sometimes twice a day. He wants to be in the UFC.
I begged him, begged him for a month 'don't do this Jens, you're
making the wrong decision'. I asked him to fly out to Vegas to
talk to me, didn't want him to do it. I know how we treat our
fighters, I know the respect we show them at our events, the
way they are treated when they're at home and not at our events.
I know that there is no other promoter on the planet that would
treat fighters the way we do. I know that, I don't even have
to second guess that. How did this question start? Oh yeah, Jens…
KM:
I was going to ask about if you were preparing for Bustamante
leaving with Lindland/Salaverry and Baroni/Menne. DW: We're just
looking for a contender there for the title. We'll get to Baroni
there in a minute, let me finish about Pulver (both laugh). The
reason Jens Pulver isn't in the UFC right now is the people who
surround him. They told Jens Pulver to make the wrong decision.
I don't give a (word) about what any of them say, I'm close to
Jens. That's the reason he's not there, he got bad advice. Is
he working? Sure he is. He was in Japan, he's going to be in
the UCC, the ABC, and the DEF after that but this was this home.
He knows he made the wrong decision, I know he made the wrong
decision, I tried to stop him from doing it and it bums me out.
When I first heard Jens was thinking of not signing and going
I was a mess for a month. It was hard for me. It's the past now
and I got to move on. This next Lightweight tournament is going
to be good. Is Jens Pulver the best fighter in that weight division?
Sure he is, absolutely. If you look at talent are there guys
out there more talented then Jens Pulver? Hell yes, way more
talented but Jens wins fights. Maybe they're not the most exciting
fights we've ever seen, they might be rather stale but the guy
wins. I love him, I respect him. He made the wrong decision.
Source:
Abu Dhabi
UFC
Up Close: CAOL UNO versus DIN THOMAS
Although
this match has happened in the past, it's sure to be even better
than it was before!
Most
fans are torn between picking a winner in the Din Thomas vs.
Caol Uno rematch that takes place this weekend at UFC 39, in
the Mohegan Sun.
'I
think he is a good all-around fighter. I can learn from the last
time we fought but he has improved his technique so much since
then.' says Uno.
Uno
vacated his SHOOTO Welterweight title in December of 2000 to
start fighting outside of Japan. He the only fighter to defeat
Japanese superstar Rumina Sato decisively...two times. It's ironic
that Uno lists Rumina as his hero along side Sakuraba of Pride!
Din
Thomas is now training with the American Top Team in Ft. Lauderdale,
Florida. Having partners like The Silveira Bros., Ricardo Liborio,
Hermes Franca and a host of others is a huge upgrade in training!
Thomas
had interesting comments about Uno. 'He's predictable, yet at
the same time unpredictable. There's a way to beat him... I'm
working on that right now' says an eager Din Thomas. 'I was so
inexperienced at that time' says Thomas about his first fight
with Uno. 'I had all the odds stacked against me. I didn't even
feel like fighting. Now is different.'
Uno
thinks that BJ Penn will defeat Matt Serra on the opposite side
of the bracket. Din Thomas didn't want to make a prediction but
later hinted that he would like to see Penn win. That may just
be wishful thinking by both (a redemption rematch the likely
factor in their picks). Don't forget.... Matt Serra is also in
the game and getting better and better with each appearance.
Source:
Abu Dhabi
SHOOTO
- November 15th, 2002
LOCATION: Tokyo, Kourakuen Hall
PROMOTER: Sustain
Class B 2 x
5 minutes rounds:
Bantamweight [-56.0Kg] Rookie Tournament Final: Yasuhiro Urushitani
vs. Masatoshi Abe
Class A 3 x
5 minutes rounds
Featherweight -60.0 Kg: Survivor Tournament 1st Round: Shuichiro
Katsumura vs. Alfie Alcarez
Featherweight
-60.0 Kg
Survivor Tournament 1st Round: Ryota Matsune vs. Hudson Rocha
Source: Abu
Dhabi
AKIRA MAEDA
- Back in the News!
It has appeared
in the Japanese press that former RINGS owner Akira Maeda has
settled a lawsuit in early September. This time, it was Maeda
who filed charges against Tokyo Sports (a Japanese newspaper).
Maeda was victorious in Japanese court. According to the reports,
Maeda filed a civil suit against the newspaper for slanderous
stories printed about him.
The newspaper
had written an article that mentioned Maeda's alleged altercation
in Iowa with his ex-girlfriend. The incident resulted in Maeda
facing minor charges for allegedly slapping the lady in the face
at a restaurant.
Tokyo Sports
reported in their 5/30/01 edition that Maeda was spending time
facing charges for allegedly slapping the woman, when he was
actually getting married. This prompted Maeda to seek damages
from the paper.
Maeda originally
sued for 2 million yen (roughly $16,000-$18,000 U.S. Dollars)
but was awarded an inflated sum of approximately $40,000 U.S.
in damages by a Tokyo judge, who blasted Tokyo Sports for their
reporting.
Source: Abu
Dhabi
BJJ
Nationals Championships - BRAZIL
This event,
held in São Paulo, had some notable absences for several
reasons. Vitor Shaolin and Robson Moura were fighting NHB in
SHOOTO last week. Marcio Pé De Pano was recovering from
an injured finger. Saulo Ribeiro just fought in the Fightzone
event last weekend and some others like Marcio Feitosa, Rodrigo
Cumprido, Leonardo Vieira and Ricardo Viera were involved with
seminars around the world.
Complete Results:
In the rooster
division the winner was Marcus Norat from Gracie Humaita.
Superfeather
winner was Bibiano Fernandes from Gracie Barra who just arrived
in the black belt after a world title in the brown belt.
Featherweight
once again featured Fredson Paixao, after defeating Reinaldo
Ribeiro in the finals.
The lightweight,
with the absence of Feitosa and Co, had Rafael Barbosa defeating
the veteran Crezio de Souza in the finals
The medium heavyweight,
Marcel Louzada from Sao Paulo defeated his rival Givanildo Santana.
In the Heavies
Roberto Godoi lost in the finals to his former student Roger
Coelho.
The Super Heavy
had Roberto Tozi winning over Felipe Pederneiras.
The 97kg and
above had Vinicius Wallid defeating Daniel Hugo in the final
The Absolute
class had Alexandre Cafe as champion defeating Felipe Pederneiras
in the finals.
Source: Abu
Dhabi
Sherk
looks to break out in style
In
today's climate of mixed martial arts, virtually everyone loses
a bout early in their career, perhaps even a few. The learning
curve has kicked in across the world, and as such, there's little
advantages to be had from a lengthy background in wrestling,
jiu-jitsu, or what have you. Yet Minnesotan Sean Sherk has built
a record of 20-0-1 and is probably the best unbeaten mixed martial
arts fighter you haven't seen.
Like
all the good ones, Sherk's foundation is strong, both literally
and historically. Sprung from a family of wrestlers, he's a 5'6,
170-lb. powerhouse who specializes in dominating takedowns and
a ground and pound game that has elicited comparisons to Mark
Coleman. But despite an unstoppable formula thus far, he still
spends two days a week training entirely from his back. In today's
MMA climate, even a takedown specialist has got to learn how
the other half lives.
"If
I really was on my back I wouldn't be that uncomfortable about
it," Sherk told maxfighting.com. "I have strength and
good submissions and striking from my back. In training I train
from the bottom twice a week. We just go at it for 45 minutes."
Sherk
didn't hesitate either, as some wrestlers might when asked about
fighting on their back. In today's UFC, it's all about being
prepared for any kind of fight, from any position, and Sherk
does not suffer from the hubris that often makes for a wrestler's
Achilles heel.
Despite
being one of the world's best welterweights, Sherk still has
to deal with the everyday challenges of a working guy. Like getting
a leave of absence from his job as a turret lathe operator, only
to get laid off shortly afterward. So much for supporting your
local professional athlete!
The
time off has helped him focus on training, but the short-changed
job situation is indicative of how hard it is to be a mixed martial
arts fighter, even a damned good one. Picking up a few thousand
for a UFC fight is hardly enough to make up for the tough monetary
breaks incurred when you need to train full time. You can fight
a lot, a la Travis Fulton, but that's a good way to get hurt
and be at less than optimal shape for the big fights, the ones
where you need to be at your best or something close to it. You
can fight for one organization, which is the norm these days,
but be subject to the whims of that organization's matchmakers;
some guys get the breaks, others don't. But at the end of the
day they can't ignore you if you keep winning and that's what
keeps Sherk going.
While
a top ten boxer might take a tune up bout for ten or fifteen
grand, an MMA guy like Sherk, lurking amongst the hard-core fan
base but still needing a breakout performance to get bigger opportunities,
is relegated to doing what he's gotta do. Sherk wasn't too bummed
about relating the lousy job situation, but it shows you what
these athletes are up against. He's literally got to win to keep
going.
He
faces no soft touch in Benji Radach, who is 5-0, with a win and
a no-contest in his two UFC fights. Sherk has scouted three of
Radach's matches -- two of which ended in quick taps -- but Radach's
fight with Nick Serra, where he took a unanimous decision in
UFC 37.5, gave him a fair blueprint, he feels.
"In
the three fights of his, the Serra fight I got the most of. He
looked like a classic jiu-jitsu guy, uses wrestling ability,
he's got a big right hand," Sherk said. "Benji is not
gonna be an easy opponent by any means."
But
why isn't a guy with his record on 20-0-1 record not on the televised
broadcast, despite having two UFC wins under his belt? A puzzling
question. Sherk doesn't dwell on it, but knows that delivering
a devastating performance could bring him the next level of exposure
that he needs.
"UFC's
been telling me I'm gonna fight for the title for about a year,
and I'm fighting another preliminary. I guess it's up to Dana
White and the guys at Zuffa….but I really wanna go out and
make this the best fight I've ever fought," Sherk said.
"It does put pressure on me."
A
5'6, 170 lb. takedown monster, unemployed, with no option but
to kick ass and win impressively. What the heck does a guy need
to do to get on TV these days, anyways?
Source:
Maxfighting
Ricco
Rodriguez: Days from A Dream
It
wasn't easy growing up on Roosevelt Avenue.
Raised
by a single mother, Ricco Rodriguez remembers life in the Paterson,
New Jersey projects as a place where "the only time you
were safe was when you were in your home."
It's
a far cry from where Rodriguez will be on Friday night, when
he battles Randy Couture for the vacant UFC heavyweight title
at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. But even
as a youth, he knew that his destiny was not to be written in
the streets that have claimed so many lives.
"I
don't want to be here."
"I
don't want to live this life."
"So
you just work hard."
When
his mother remarried, Rodriguez and his family moved to Staten
Island, New York. It might as well have been paradise.
"When
I moved to Staten Island, I thought it was the most beautiful
place in the world because it was so clean and so nice compared
to where I lived before," said Rodriguez.
He
found a niche at Tottenville High School, where he became a star
wrestler. It planted the seed for a nomadic life that has led
him to California, Arizona, Abu Dhabi, Japan and back. That's
a lot of living for a 25-year-old, and it has given him the experience
that has led him to the doorstep of the sport's greatest prize.
But
according to the critics, Rodriguez, despite unbeaten records
in the UFC (4-0) Pride (3-0) and King of the Cage (2-0), has
not paid his dues.
"The
critics are a tough crowd to please," Rodriguez admits.
"You're never going to satisfy them. I used to take it very
personally, and I would say, 'how many times have you fought
in the UFC?' But with maturity you learn some things. They don't
know anything about me; they probably don't even like me. But
the bottom line is, you have to respect me. My record speaks
for itself. Abu Dhabi champion, Brazilian world champion. I've
done everything I possibly can. My work speaks for itself. That's
why I'm where I'm at today - because of the hard work. I've done
my homework. It's the people who really don't know who I am and
who don't know much about mixed martial arts who should do their
homework."
Improving
with each bout, Rodriguez' ring pedigree is obvious. His standup
has gotten better since some shaky moments against Andrei Arlovski
in his UFC debut a year ago, and his ground game is among the
best in the sport. But with victories over Arlovski, Pete Williams,
Jeff Monson and Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, Rodriguez' record doesn't hold
the names that dot Couture's slate - names like Rizzo, Belfort,
and Randleman, a criticism that hits a sore spot with Rodriguez.
"A
lot of people say that Ricco Rodriguez has never fought anyone,"
said Rodriguez. "I've tried to fight Pedro Rizzo; I've tried
to fight Josh Barnett. But it comes down to the dollar amount
and whether or not they were willing to fight me at that time.
When I fought Jeff Monson, I was supposed to either fight Pedro
or another guy. They didn't want to take the fight at the time.
People don't always see behind the scenes."
"But
the people who are the top fighters are the ones that are willing
to put in the hard work."
Not
just hard work. Because taking Rodriguez to the Mohegan Sun on
Friday is something that isn't reflected on his record.
Character.
"I
moved to California when I was 17 years old with $150 in my pocket,"
remembered Rodriguez, who, with a high school diploma in his
hand and little else, didn't have the brightest of prospects
staring him in the face in New York City. He didn't know what
he was going to do, but he knew what he didn't want.
"I
don't want to be like one of my friends if they're going to go
to jail."
"I
don't want to be working for one of my friends' fathers for the
rest of my life."
"I
don't want to fall in the cracks in New York, getting in trouble,
partying all night, going to clubs."
So
he left.
Staying
with friends in California, Rodriguez ran into the Machado brothers
while working out. And the New Yorker quickly took to Jiu-Jitsu.
"They took me in," said Rodriguez. "They trained
me for three months, and they said, 'hey, you're a phenomenal
athlete. Let's take you to Brazil.' I went to Brazil in '97,
competed in the world championships and won them, won the Pan
Americans, and the Machados were the guys who really pushed me
in Jiu-Jitsu."
After
a successful run in the Abu Dhabi tournament in 1998, Rodriguez
ran into Mark Kerr, who was terrorizing MMA rings. Eager to try
his hand at the sport, the two struck up a friendship, and soon,
Rodriguez was training for MMA with Kerr in Arizona.
"Mark
helped me sign my first contract with Pride, and the Japanese
loved me so much that they asked me to train over there,"
said Rodriguez. "This was around the time that Kerr was
taking some time off, so I went to train with (Kazushi) Sakuraba
at Takada Dojo. I trained there for about eight months."
Winning
in Pride and King of the Cage, Rodriguez quickly made a name
for himself, not only for his fighting skill, but for his marketable
image outside of the ring. But in 2001, life ground to a halt
for Rodriguez when his girlfriend was seriously injured in an
accident in Mexico, and his finances had been stretched to the
limit.
Enter
Tito Ortiz.
Rodriguez
called up the light heavyweight champion, who was training for
a bout with Evan Tanner, and cut to the chase.
"I
need a fight and I need it now," Rodriguez told Ortiz.
The
UFC gave Rodriguez the fight he needed, a bout in his hometown
of New Jersey against Arlovski. It was a one-fight deal. If he
won, the future was wide open. If he lost, he had no future,
having burned his contractual bridges with both Pride and King
of the Cage.
"I
just don't want to go back to that neighborhood."
Armed
with all the motivation he needed, Rodriguez stopped Arlovski,
and hasn't stopped since. Rodriguez doesn't dwell on the year
that has changed his life; pausing only to say, "In the
last year a lot of things have happened really well for me. I've
definitely brought some value to the UFC and myself. It's definitely
satisfying, but at the same time I think my hard work has paid
off. I've proven myself. I didn't think I'd be here this soon,
but I knew that I wanted to be here, and that this was my goal
in life, to be fighting for the heavyweight title."
He
gets his chance Friday, against Couture, one of the sport's legendary
figures. And if you're looking for some pre-fight trash talk,
look elsewhere, because Rodriguez' respect for Couture runs deep.
"I
always refer to Randy Couture as Rocky Marciano," said Rodriguez.
"He's just a phenomenal stud, an unbelieveable athlete,
and one of the best guys to ever grace the Octagon. I just have
the utmost respect for him. He's someone I had watched as a kid,
when I watched him in the NCAA's. I followed his Greco career
and he's someone I looked up to, even when he was a coach. He
is going to be prepared. He's hard working and dedicated. He's
been there. He's been five, five-minute rounds. The things that
I have going for me are that I'm a well-rounded fighter and my
youth. He's 39 years old. I'm 25 years old. I consider myself
to be more diverse. He prepares for each fight differently, but
he's one dimensional in the fact that he's always attacking and
waiting for the other guy's cardio to die out. I'm preparing
every which way for this. I've waited my whole life for this.
I'm doing everything I possibly can to train for this fight."
Rodriguez
has had an amazing ride over the last few years - cramming more
living into 25 years than most do into a lifetime - but he's
not about to let complacency set in.
"I'm
so positive right now, moving towards life, that I really don't
have time to sit back," said Rodriguez. "I also have
a five-year-old daughter that I had when I was 20. I had to support
her since I was a kid. I support my mom and my daughter, and
I also help my sisters through school, so I try to get as much
as I possibly can. Everybody thinks I'm living on this high horse,
but I'm still all about family. I'm very close to my family;
there's not a day that goes by when I don't talk to my mom. People
have no clue about what I'm about. I've worked so hard for everything
I've got. Nothing's been given to me; I don't have a silver spoon
in my mouth. There were times when I couldn't eat anything when
I was 19-20 years old and living on my own. I was pretty much
eating tuna every day, just trying to survive."
To
the victor goes the spoils, and while he isn't settling down
to a meal of tuna seven days a week anymore, Rodriguez remains
hungry, forcing himself into the isolation of Big Bear, California,
to prepare for what he hopes will be a victory on September 27.
And
while Couture and his management team have had their battles
with Zuffa over the marketing of 'The Natural', the UFC should
have no such problems with Rodriguez, an outspoken, marketable
presence who is eager to bring the sport to the mainstream, and
who should bring fans to the sport if presented to the public
properly.
"I
think Randy Couture's one of the best guys in the world, but
he's not a marketable guy," said Rodriguez. "We depend
a lot on Tito Ortiz. Whether you like it or not, he is the UFC.
When you see the UFC, you see Tito Ortiz. You don't see Royce
Gracie or Ken Shamrock anymore. I want to take it to the next
level. I'm not saying Tito can't, but I want to take it to a
whole other level. He's taken it to the X-Games level, so to
speak, because he's got the hardcore look. I'm going for more
of the look where I can say, 'Look, this is a legitimate sport,
we're all professional athletes, and we all train hard.' I'm
doing everything that a pro athlete should do, and that's the
side I want to show. When it comes down to it, the people who
are outside the circle of mixed martial arts, those guys respect
us. The people who are just 'playa hating' are 16 to 30 years
old. They train at these Gracie or affiliated schools that are
pro-Jiu-Jitsu, and they talk so much smack about MMA. Maybe I'm
outspoken, but I'm not someone who is going to kiss everyone's
ass. I'm going to give my personal opinion about a fighter or
the sport."
These
personal opinions have made the rounds on message boards and
web sites around the Internet, and have made him the object of
both love and hate, with both camps equally vociferous. Rodriguez
has one phrase for the haters: "This is going to be my line
for this year: 'jealous ones envy,'" he said. "That's
all it comes down to."
But
even though Rodriguez can talk trash with the best of them, he
does give credit where it's due. "Some of the guys I do
respect a lot, even though I might talk smack about them, is
the Miletich Camp," he said. "They are phenomenal athletes.
They held three belts at one time. Name one camp that's done
that? You've got Jens Pulver, Matt Hughes, Pat Miletich. Those
guys right there show their dedication. They have heart, they're
mentally strong, and they have a great work ethic. The guys who
are top five and top ten are the guys who are kicking butt, really
going out there and being consistent, and taking the fights that
nobody wants to take."
If
he comes home with the title this Friday, Rodriguez plans on
taking the fights no one else wants to take, wherever they may
be.
"When
I hold the belt, I will accept anyone they're willing to give,"
said Rodriguez. "I would love to go down there and kick
the s**t out of (Pride heavyweight champ Rodrigo) Nogueira. I
already beat him in Abu Dhabi, and I'm stoked about taking that
fight. But I know that the UFC is not going to let me go anywhere
until one of these guys step up. Hopefully (former UFC heavyweight
champ) Josh (Barnett) will step up. I'm willing to fight anybody.
I know that people might say, 'Josh is the champ, blah, blah,
blah,' but you've got to play by the rules too."
"What
happened to Josh Barnett was sad, and maybe they made an example
of him, but by the same token, I don't think he showed any loyalty
to the UFC," continues Rodriguez. "Maybe they weren't
treating him good, or maybe they weren't giving him the money
that he wanted. But everybody is running to make the quick buck
in Japan. I was in Japan. You're there one day, the next day
you're not there. When we do get into the mainstream, when the
UFC does get that reality TV show, or when we're on regular TV,
where do you think the fighters are going to be? They're going
to be at the top. Stay with the company. The Fertittas (Zuffa
owners) are hanging in there. They've lost millions of dollars,
and they're still here, so they must know something. The toughest
fighters are going to be here in the States."
"But
I'm not really worried about those things," he said. "All
I'm thinking about is that there are two men in the Octagon,
two respectable fighters, and they're going for the vacant title."
And
if all goes well for him Friday night, Saturday morning will
be a day to remember for Ricco Rodriguez, and another chance
to put Roosevelt Avenue far behind him.
"September
28 will be a brand new day for me, and a whole new life for my
family and me," said Rodriguez. "It means a brand new
beginning. I have over 100 people coming - 50 from my family,
50 friends flying in from all over - and for me, the most important
thing for me is winning. I can't lose in front of my home crowd.
It will not happen. They're going to have to drag me out of that
Octagon."
Source:
Maxfighting
A.P.
REPORT AT GRECO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS DISSES WRESTLING AGAIN!
By: Eddie Goldman
You
probably won't be surprised by this, but the reporting by the
Associated Press on the 2002 Greco-Roman World Wrestling Championships,
which concluded Sunday, Sept. 22, in Moscow, provided yet one
more in a long list of examples of how many in the mainstream
media disrespect wrestling.
Writer
Jim Heintz was assigned to cover this event for the A.P. His
dispatch on Sunday referred to the gold medal finals at 120 kg/264.5
lbs. between American Dremiel Byers and Hungary's Mihaly Deak-Bardos,
last year's silver medalist, which Byers won, 3-0.
Heintz
wrote, 'The heavyweight bout was mostly Byers and Deak-Bardos
jockeying for grip and leverage or straining to lift each other
off the mat - the sort of unengaging action that often characterizes
big-man bouts and leads critics to argue that Greco-Roman should
be dropped from the Olympics because it's too visually dull for
the television era.'
What
a distorted description of a Greco match. The first period was
scoreless, not uncommon when you have athletes of this caliber
competing. His depiction of 'jockeying for grip and leverage
or straining to lift each other off the mat' is exactly what
wrestling is about. That no one scored in the first period is
more a testament to the abilities of the two best super-heavyweights
in this event. Instead he knocks the sport, and joins the ranks
of those who would get rid of Greco and (although Heintz does
not directly advocate it) add a country club sport like golf.
Perhaps
if Heintz were sent to cover a baseball game and he witnessed
a no-hitter, he would complain that there were no home runs.
Heintz
then fails to report just how Byers scored those winning three
points. By FILA rules, the two men had to start the second period
in the clinch because the first period was scoreless. Byers was
able to lift Deak-Bardos off the mat and land him on his back,
thus scoring with a three-point throw. You would never know this
from Heintz's account.
If
this kind of dramatic and decisive throw does not fit Heintz's
fancy, then he just doesn't appreciate wrestling -- or, more
likely, understand it. It wasn't as if Heintz wasn't paying attention.
He also wrote, 'But after he won on points 3-0, Byers turned
into a vivid performer, dancing along with an anomalous troupe
of Russian pompom girls and turning a more-or-less graceful back
handspring.'
So
Heintz could recount Byers's dancing and handspring, but not
his wrestling throw. In other words, he just had no clue what
he was watching, and therefore disrespected it.
It
may not always be the fault of the writer when he is assigned
to cover a sport with which he is not familiar. But Heintz did
have an opportunity to ask Byers about that wonderful throw.
He wrote, 'Afterwards, suddenly shy while waiting for the completion
of doping control, Byers said softly 'I feel very honored. I
worked a lot, I prayed a lot.' ' So Heintz did get a chance to
speak to Byers, yet either didn't ask him about or didn't report
about why there was no scoring in the first period, what that
successful throw was, why they had to start in the clinch, etc.
Perhaps
Heintz should have been assigned to a dance competition, and
not wrestling, since that seems to sent him all a-titter. But
wrestling should be left to those who either specialize in it,
or at least respect it enough to do some preparation beforehand
or at minimum ask a few people at the event to help explain what
is going on.
Of
course, that is why we have web sites like this one, and a growing
wrestling media. If reports like this one from the A.P. bother
you as much as I suspect, make sure to step up your support for
the wresting media so we can get it right, and to as many people
as possible.
Source:
Abu Dhabi
KURT
ANGLE CLASSIC ON NOV. 8-9: ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS REAL PRO WRESTLING?
By: Eddie Goldman
It
is not often that those amateur wrestlers who had joined the
ranks of the WWWF/WWF/WWE continue to support real wrestling.
While he shunned major publicity for doing so, Bob Backlund,
a 1971 Div. II NCAA champion at North Dakota State at 190 lbs.,
and a WWWF champion, as that company was then known, quietly
organized many youth wrestling tournaments in the 1980s. Despite
running for public office and maintaining ties to WWE, Backlund
is also involved to this day in helping the real sport that laid
the basis for his fame. He is also a coach emeritus for Brooklyn's
Midwood High School wrestling team.
Now
another amateur wrestler who crossed the line into pro 'wrestling'
and achieved success in both endeavors is doing something to
help the sport that laid the basis for his fame. Long before
Kurt Angle partook in what the late Lou Thesz called 'choreographed
tumbling,' he was one of the most successful American wrestlers
ever. Angle was a two-time NCAA champion at heavyweight, winning
in 1990 and 1992, and finishing second in 1991, all at Clarion
University. After college, he won the USA Senior Freestyle Championships
in both 1995 and 1996 at 100 kg/220 lbs. He also became a World
Champion in freestyle in 1995 at 100 kg/220 lbs., helping lead
the U.S. team to a first-place finish. And in his one and only
Olympic appearance, he won a gold medal in 1996 in Atlanta at
100 kg/220 lbs. in a memorable overtime match with the colorful
Abbas Jadidi of Iran that is still talked about today. In 2001,
Kurt was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in
Stillwater, OK.
While
presently continuing with WWE, Angle has also become involved
in promoting the Kurt Angle Classic. And before you ask, yes,
this will be all real wrestling. This is being called a special
invitational tournament with the theme of 'USA vs. The World.'
It takes place Nov. 8-9 at the Morial Convention Center in New
Orleans as part of the GNC 'Show of Strength' event. It is also
sanctioned and organized by USA Wrestling.
There
will be wrestling in both men's freestyle, Greco, and women's
freestyle. Among the American wrestlers signed to compete are
Cael Sanderson and Rulon Gardner, in his first competition since
his snowmobile accident in February. At present organizers, who
are from USA Wrestling, are negotiating with athletes from around
the world to fill out the card. And, ironic or not, all these
wrestlers will be paid for their efforts, making this a real,
professional wrestling event.
How
successful this event, as well as the pilot taping on Oct. 26
for RealProWrestling.com, will be remains to be seen. But if
either or both of these take off, we could be in for a new era
in wrestling.
Below
is the latest press release for the Kurt Angle Classic. You can
follow more news about this event on their web site at: http://www.showofstrength.com.
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 12, 2002: KURT ANGLE CLASSIC TO
TAKE PLACE NOV. 8-9 IN NEW ORLEANS
Event
Will Pit Top International Stars Against Best in the U.S.
New
Orleans, La. - USA Wrestling in conjunction with Kurt Angle and
GNC will present the Kurt Angle Classic November 8-10 at the
Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
The
event will be part of the GNC 'Show of Strength', a competition
that will include body building, power lifting, arm wrestling
and a strongman contest. A fitness expo will feature more than
300 vendors with displays, demonstrations and samples of products,
equipment and other athletic resources.
'I
am excited and honored to be hosting this event along with USA
Wrestling,' stated Angle, who after capturing Olympic gold in
1996 went on to become a WWE superstar. 'This is my way of giving
back to the sport of wrestling. It should be an incredible atmosphere
and putting the top wrestlers in the world against each other
should help the sport as well.'
The
Kurt Angle Classic, set up in a 'USA vs. The World' format, will
spotlight internationally known Olympic and World Champion athletes
in the three Olympic styles of wrestling: men's freestyle, men's
Greco-Roman and women's freestyle.
All
wrestlers will be paid to compete, with bonuses for the winners.
The total purse for the event will exceed $75,000.
'USA
Wrestling is excited to host the first-ever Kurt Angle Classic,'
stated Pete Isais, USA Wrestling Director of National Events.
'It is a great way for our athletes to earn more money this season.
This event has been further enhanced due to the fact that our
men's freestyle World Team was unable to compete at the 2002
World Championships, so this may be the only time some of these
athletes get to see competition of this caliber for a while.'
There
will be three sessions of competition. In session one, a team
comprised of military wrestlers from the U.S. Marine Corps and
the U.S. Navy will face a team composed of wrestlers from the
U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. Sessions two and three will pit
the top U.S. stars in all three Olympic styles against some of
the top international competitors in the world. In men's freestyle
and Greco-Roman, all but two 2002 U.S. World Team members have
committed to compete in the event, including Cael Sanderson.
In addition, 2000 Olympic gold medallist and 2001 World Champion
Rulon Gardner, who missed the 2002 season due to injury, will
compete. The U.S. team will also feature Olympic medalist Brandon
Paulson and World medalist Joe Williams.
There
will also be two featured women's freestyle matches, with 2002
U.S. World Team members Patricia Miranda and Toccara Montgomery
committed to compete. Both Miranda and Montgomery have captured
World medals.
The
international athletes are expected to include stars from the
2002 World Championships and other events from a variety of nations.
Wrestling
will take place in an entertaining atmosphere. Matches will be
enhanced with music, up-close interviews and cutting-edge production
techniques that are certain to make this one of the most fan-friendly
and stunning amateur wrestling events ever. For more information
on the Kurt Angle Classic, visit www.showofstrength.com.
Athletes
who have committed to compete in the Kurt Angle Classic are:
Men's
Freestyle:
55 kg/121 lbs. - Stephen Abas (Fresno, Calif./Sunkist Kids)
60 kg/132 lbs. - Eric Guerrero (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Chris Bono (Gilbert, Iowa/Sunkist Kids)
74 kg/163 lbs. - Joe Williams (Coralville, Iowa/Sunkist Kids)
84 kg/185 lbs. - Cael Sanderson (Ames, Iowa/Sunkist Kids)
97 kg/211.5 lbs. - Tim Hartung (St. Paul, Minn./Minnesota Storm)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Kerry McCoy (Bethlehem, Pa./New York AC)
Men's
Greco-Roman:
55 kg/121 lbs. - Brandon Paulson (Anoka, Minn./Minnesota Storm)
60 kg/132 lbs. - Jim Gruenwald (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist
Kids)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Kevin Bracken (Colorado Springs, Colo./New
York AC)
74 kg/163 lbs. - T.C. Dantzler (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York
AC)
84 kg/185 lbs. - Brad Vering (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist
Kids)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Rulon Gardner (Cascade, Colo./Sunkist Kids)
6'8".
265 pounds. In an age where large doesn't necessarily equate
to slow; where heavyweights can be technical as well as brawny,
Miletich Martial Arts' Tim Sylvia is looking to etch himself
a place among this growing group of mammoth competitors. His
journey reaches a new milestone here at UFC 39 with his toughest
adversary to date. With a clean record of 15-0 amassed mostly
from Extreme Challenge and SuperBrawl action, Sylvia is ready
to take on what the next level of competition has to offer. His
opponent? A burly Hawaiian by the name of Wes "Cabbage"
Corriera, cut from virtually the same cloth as Sylvia himself.
Two 265-pounders that BOTH want to keep it standing. (Insert
fireworks here.) Sylvia explains how he's up for that challenge
and where he's looking to go in the UFC heavyweight class --
revealing which heavyweight is on his own personal "hit
list" and another heavyweight whose experience he has drawn
from in the last couple of weeks. For this easy-going Maine native,
Friday is only the beginning.
FCF:
Let's first start with your earlier days in the sport. How did
you get into mixed martial arts?
TS: I wrestled a bit in high school. I wasn't good at all. I
was fat, short, and out of shape, but I loved to compete. I always
did karate all through grammar and high school. I have about
seven years of karate under my belt. I held a black belt in Okinawan
karate and held a brown belt in an Americanized version I studied.
Something I've always enjoyed was martial arts. I moved to another
town and started bouncing at a place where all the other bouncers
were doing grappling. They would just do it on the side and I
started going to classes and really enjoyed it. We'd get together
a couple of times a week at the local Gold's Gym. We were doing
it mainly to protect ourselves when we were bouncing. We were
choking guys out instead of punching them, which was much easier.
FCF:
Where were you and the other bouncers getting your grappling
knowledge from?
TS: One guy learned from Boston Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Marcus Davis
was a pro boxer out of Bangor [Maine]. He was teaching us the
sambo part that he had learned in Boston. I also got all the
Mario Sperry tapes that we'd all watch together on the weekends
and then go and practice. I guess I was mostly self-taught for
that first year.
FCF:
How did you progress from grappling to MMA?
TS: I had the opportunity to compete in a couple of grappling
tournaments and took first place in both of them. Then, I had
the opportunity to do an amateur NHB fight, open-handed, in Rhode
Island. I knocked the guy out in twelve seconds and thought,
'Wow, this is kind of fun. I kinda like doing this. I don't get
in trouble for it and it's a great way to release stress.' And
it kinda started from there. The next time they had a fight,
I came down and won again. They gave me a title shot with Rhode
Island Vale Tudo -- that's Kipp Kollar's event -- and he got
me involved with the IFC. I went to Atlantic City and won there.
FCF:
From there, how did you connect with the Miletich Martial Arts
team?
TS: I went to the next UFC and met Pat [Miletich] and those guys
and just started talking to them. I had a big fight coming up
in World Extreme Fighting and knew that my competition was going
to be tough. The guy I was training with at the time was talking
to Pat and he ended up inviting me out [to Iowa] for a week.
I came out and trained my ass off for a week and Pat said, 'You
know, we could always use a hard working heavyweight. Why don't
you come out and live here?' That's all I was waiting for and
a month later I moved out here.
FCF:
At this point, was there an assimilation period where you didn't
fight?
TS: No, not really. The first week I was at Pat's, I had a fight
in California for Gladiator's Challenge. It was for the Super
Fight title and I won that. About two month's later I fought
for Monte [Cox at Ultimate Wrestling Minnesota] against a guy
named Greg Wikan. When I came to Pat I was 2-0 [professionally]
and now I'm 15-0.
FCF:
Did you have any losses as an amateur?
TS: Yes I did.
FCF:
Was there a bit of a culture shock moving from the East Coast
out to the mid west?
TS: Believe it or not, there's actually more to do out here in
Iowa then where I'm from. Maine is just real laid back. There
are really no distractions out here in Iowa. All we do is eat,
sleep, and train -- not like the guys in California. They have
so many distractions with the women and the bars and there's
so many different things to do. Out in Iowa, there isn't much
to do so we have an advantage in a way. It's good because everyone
here is so close. You'd think it'd be hard to move away from
home, but when you come into an atmosphere where everyone is
like a big family, it's really easy to get settled in. If it
wasn't for Tony Fryklund -- he's from Boston -- I don't no what
I would have done. Him and I have become best friends. We live
together now. We're from the same area, so we reminisce together.
FCF:
Are you excited to be returning to the East Coast for this fight?
TS: Very excited. I'm actually staying for two weeks longer after
the fight. I'm going back to Maine.
FCF:
Has your training for this fight differed in any way from how
you've trained in the past?
TS: Well, Randy Couture is flying me out to train with him for
two weeks. [By this time, Sylvia has completed his two weeks
of training with the former champ and is at the Mohegan Sun].
FCF:
And Matt Lindland just spent ten days with the Miletich camp.
It sounds like an exchange program of sorts.
TS: Yeah. Matt came out here and I just beat the hell out of
him every which way I could. I guess he was pretty impressed
with me and told Randy that he should have me come out. Randy
called and said, 'I'd like to fly you out for a couple of weeks
and keep you at my house.' What a great guy. He's doesn't even
know me and he's having me come out and train with him and stuff.
FCF:
But if you do well in this next fight, there's potential for
you to meet Randy down the road...
TS: This is true. We're both after one thing -- our next fight.
We'll take it one fight at a time though. I'm going to help him
beat Ricco [Rodriguez]. I can't stand Ricco, so I'm really happy
Randy is fighting Ricco so he can beat his ass.
FCF:
You don't like Ricco?
TS: No. He had some bad things to say about our camp and about
Matt Hughes. All he likes to do when he commentates is talk about
himself and himself only. I really don't think he's a great fighter.
He's gun shy. He doesn't like to get hit and I'd really like
to see if I could get a fight with him down the road.
FCF:
So, I guess the rumors about the Miletich camp and Team Punishment
having some rivalry, especially following the UFC London after-party
fight, hold some truth.
TS: [Coyly] Yeah, there could be. I like Tito [Ortiz], but I'm
not happy with the way he's acted about this. I wasn't in England
so I don't know, but I'm going to believe my guys' story. Pat's
never lied to me. Tony never has. Matt [Hughes] wasn't there,
but Mark's [Hughes] never lied. I know Lee [Murray]. Lee has
come to train with us in the past. I think their stories seem
to be the truth. Tito was drunk and things happen when you get
drunk. He got beat up and I should just leave it at that, but
his story doesn't make sense compared with everyone else's.
FCF:
Let's focus on your impending fight with "Cabbage".
What are your thoughts on him?
TS: It's going to be a good fight. I'm happy about him being
my opponent because it'll give me a good chance to show off my
skills. He's a stand up fighter like myself, so it's going to
be a stand up war. He's going to have problems dropping weight.
He has to get down to 265 and I think that's going to be an advantage
for me because I naturally walk around at 265. I'm big and strong
at that weight. I'm going to come in around 260, 265.
FCF:
For the fans that have yet to see you in action, how would you
describe your fighting style?
TS: I'm a stand up fighter with good takedown defense. People
have a hard time taking me down; therefore I can keep the fight
standing up, which is what I want to do. I have a really good
reach. I use my jab well and set up my punches.
FCF:
As the largest member of the Miletich team, all of the other
teammates must "fight over" you to get in some sparring
time.
TS: I wrestle with Matt every now and then. We do takedowns every
Monday night and always cross each other. I wrestle with Pat
every now and then, but I spar with him a lot. He'll get "froggy"
and want to beat on me. He grabs me and gets to beat up on me.
Of course, it makes him feel good. [At this point, Tim announces
that Jens Pulver has just walked into the room.] He has Jens
running around in circles thumping him, so when its his turn
to run around someone in circles, he comes after me.
FCF:
As a fighter, what do you feel your weaknesses as a fighter are?
What do you need to work on?
TS: I really don't know. Jens says I have two left feet. (Tim
laughs, then pauses.) My footwork. I'm probably a little slow.
Other than that, I think I'm pretty well rounded.
FCF:
It sounds like you prefer to fight standing. How's your ground
game?
TS: It's not bad. I don't see "Cabbage" taking me down
though. He doesn't have anything on the ground from what I've
seen and I don't think he's going to try and take me down. Then
again, when you take someone out of their element -- he's a stand
up fighter and I'm going to stand up with him, so he might be
forced to take a shot because he's going to get punished standing
up.
FCF:
We're you a "big kid" growing up?
TS: No, in high school I would get beat up all the time. I didn't
grow till my senior year. I think I got my driver's license at
15 and I was 5'9" and 200 pounds. I was fat, out of shape,
and always picked on. But, then I walked in my senior year at
6'4". I was a late bloomer.
FCF:
What do you enjoy filling your time with besides MMA?
TS: Playing video games with Jens.
FCF:
It seems like the entire Miletich team does that in their free
time.
TS: Yeah, I know, but he has the Playstation and the X-Box. We
also like to meet up and go to the movies.
FCF:
Video games and movies -- pretty tame fare for a bunch of ultimate
fighters.
TS: Well, the only other thing that we do on the side is mountain
biking. We get pretty crazy actually. Pat's always yelling at
us like, 'You guys have fights coming up. You shouldn't be out
there doing that shit.' We do some crazy stuff. We jump off four-foot
drops and wipe out at least once each. We come back and our knees
and elbows are all gauged out.
FCF:
Were you a fan of the UFC prior to your own fighting career?
TS: Back in 1992, I think, UFC 2 came out and a bunch of my friends
were like, 'You've got to see this Gracie guy. He's phenomenal.
He's this little guy and he's grabbing all these big guys and
choking them out.' I was watching it then and just got hooked
on it.
FCF:
What does fighting in the UFC mean to you?
TS: It's a goal I set three years ago. I said three years from
now I'd like to get into the UFC and low and behold, here it
is. It's a dream come true and I'm really looking forward to
making an impact on the sport. I think I'm a different heavyweight
fighter than everyone has seen. I think I'll surprise a lot of
people just for that reason. All of the UFC heavyweight fighters
I've seen so far, they aren't as well rounded as I am. My endurance
is phenomenal. I can honestly say I have the best endurance of
any heavyweight in the UFC. I just want to work my way up the
ladder and keep fighting. I'll have a title shot when they think
I'm ready for it. I just want to fight and get big where people
know me.
Tomorrow
we visit with the one UFC 39 competitor that's even heftier than
Sylvia and "Cabbage" -- SLO Kickboxing and Chuck Liddell
protégé, Gan McGee. After a personally disappointing
UFC 28 premiere (November 17, 2000) versus Josh Barnett, McGee
gets his second shot at glory this Friday. His task at hand will
be no easier -- Pedro Rizzo is looking to resume his climb back
up the heavyweight ladder and McGee seems only an obstacle (albeit
a very large obstacle) in that path. McGee talks about second
chances, cutting from 300 pounds to make weight, and just how
he stacks up next to the Brazilian known for his third round
knockout magic. Don't miss it.
Caol
Uno
Tsugi
no Yume (???)
Next
Dream
From
Gong Kakutougi, 9-16-02
Translated
by Yoko Kondo
Unexpectedly
Uno asked “how did you know that? I was at a loss, not knowing
what he meant. Then he continued. “If I lost in that fight,
I was wondering if I should retire. But I didn’t tell anybody
about it. Why…..?” Now I understood what he meant,
and I said I heard about it from Mr. Kevin. Uno nodded in a big
motion. What Uno was talking about was an interview article about
the fight with Yves Edwards in UFC 37. Uno was talking in his
usual bright tone in the interview at that time, but he was showing
a different face in private.. Mr. Kevin Yamazaki told that Uno
was showing a tough face. “He is considerably nervous. He
looks different from usual. Maybe he thinks this would be a key
fight in his life.” Uno was at a crossroads.
Last
November, he was knocked out by B. J. Penn at 11 seconds after
the fight started. After coming back to Japan, he was told to
stop the training for one month by President Kubo of GCM, considering
that he should go away from training so that he could refresh
himself and start over again. But even after starting training
again, it seems troubles happened to him continuously such as
hurting an old wound.
Facing
the come-back fight for six months which he finally managed to
get by clearing various hurdles, what was growing in his mind
was only negative feeling like that there would be no more chance
if he lost to Edwards. Uno’s determination was shown here
and there in his words in the article at that time.
Uno
won over Edward by a narrow decision. After that, I heard that
he was spending busy days, doing such things as working on "Contenders"
as a producer or performing matches in All Japan Pro-wrestling.
Things
completely changed due to the fact that the champion Pulver left
UFC. The empty champion belt was decided to be contended by the
tournament, and Uno was chosen for entry along with B. J. Penn
and others. But it was a question whether it would be good for
Uno to participate in the tournament. So I asked Uno a question
which has been on my mind for a long time, "Do you really
want the belt of UFC?" Uno fell silent for a moment, and
then he smiled. "In fact, I was asked the same question
the other day."
"What
do you want to be?" Uno was asked by someone somewhere.
Uno was at a loss for answer. "What are you aiming for?"
Uno remained silent for a while, and answered "I want to
be the champion in UFC." Then that man started to be mad
with anger. "Why didn't you answer quickly? If you are a
strong fighter, you can say that. Why can't you say that? Because
something is bothering you, isn't it?" The man was drunk.
But his word, "something is bothering you", stuck into
Uno's heart. " That man was drunk. But because he was drunk,
he told the truth, didn't he? What he told me then really meant
me."
He
stopped talking here, swallowed,, and started speaking off the
cuff. "A long time ago, I didn't hesitate to say, 'I want
to fight with Rumina Sato'. I could immediately say that I wanted
to fight with Rumina Sato rather than to be the champion. I remember
anew that I could say that clearly when I was interviewed a long
time ago. Now I am saying something which I don't really mean,
and saying it with hesitation. But now I realize it. What the
man said that motivation improves technique. If you have an aim,
you will train for it. I remember the words even during the training.
When the man asked me again, "what do you want to be?"
as he was leaving, I could immediately say that I wanted to be
the champion in UFC. I thought then that's it , my mind is settled
now. I don't have special desire to be famous or to earn money,
but now I have a clear aim in my mind that I want to get the
champion belt of UFC. So I think I can approach the training
with a different feeling than before. "
Asked
why you are doing kakutogi, there are some fighters who can answer
instantly, "because this is my job." They are pro-fighters
like Sakuraba or Kanehara . But Uno is a type of fighter who
needs motivation other than money or honor to exchange blows
in the ring (octagon). During the shoot period, Uno had a clear
aim, that is, Rumina Sato. Nothing bothered him spending days
and nights on doing a hard training. When he looked ahead, there
was always Rumina in front of him. Fighting with Rumina was the
dream and motivation to fight for Uno.
But
from the moment he won successive victories over Rumina, Uno
lost a clear aim. He gave the belt of shoot back and aimed at
"major league" UFC. But fighting in UFC was too low
a hurdle to be his next dream. As the light-weight class had
just started at that time, the number of the fighters was limited
and most of them were unknown fighters. Uno, a former shoot champion
and a man who defeated Rumina, was a desirable fighter for UFC.
However, a favorable treatment, the fight was matched against
Pulver for the champion belt in the first entry to UFC three
months later from the fight with Rumina, didn't turn out to be
good for Uno.
Uno
always wishes that he wants to be skillful and strong, and has
been training for it. He has been learning various techniques
by taking lessons under various kinds of people and asking for
the training at the other dojos. Compared to the shoot period,
his power must be improved remarkably. He has increased a lot
in the number of technique he can use including punches and kicks.
However,
what I felt from the technique Uno used in a fight was his passive
attitude like that he just ate something prepared in front of
him. In the shoot period, even if his technique was not so skillful,
he had been fighting with all his heart aiming at the big target,
"the fight with Rumina". But that fighting style has
faded away. Even watching the fight with Edward, I couldn't wipe
off my impression that there was more vigor in his fights during
the shoot period.
Just
as he is in a maze, the entry to the championship tournament
has been decided. I thought if Uno participates in this tournament
with the same attitude as he has had so far, he might be easily
crushed in the first match. I felt even danger that "Fighter
Uno" might come to an end with the fight with Din Thomas
this time, taking it as his peak when he fought with Rumina two
times with the best motivation.
"But
I'm different now." Uno said clearly. "Because I have
the next dream to get the belt of UFC."
Uno
was walking with dragging feet a little bit that day. It is because
in Club Contenders two days ago, he performed an exhibition match
with Magunam Sakai whose physical size is similar to Din Thomas
under the kick rule, and he was exposed to a storm of low kicks
from Sakai. "Mr. Sakai kicked the thigh with a pinpoint
precision. It was painful. When I fought with Din Thomas in shoot
last time, his reach was so long that it was difficult to get
in. Mr. Sakai has a long reach too, so he reminded me of the
feeling that I had then. It was very a good practice for me.
"
Three
years ago, Uno defeated Din Thomas by sleeper. But since then,
Din Thomas has triumphed over Pulver and Perling [spelling?]
and others, except for losing to B. J. Penn. No doubt that he
is getting stronger than three years ago.
"I
don't have a feeling that I won last time. I just have an image
what it was like. But I will do it with a fresh mind as if I
am fighting with him for the first time. Will I get my revenge
on B. J. Penn in the final match? It is too far to see it. First
I must face Din Thomas. And the program made by Mr. Kevin will
start from next week, so I have to clear it anyway. I heard that
the program Mr. Kosaka is doing now is very hard. His legs were
trembling like a little deer (laugh). "
Recently
there were two fights which stimulated Uno. One was Genki Sudo's
successful debut in the UFC by submission in July, and other
was Abe (elder brother) KO victory over Nogueira. "Mr. Sudo's
victory became stimulating to me. But I can't think of fighting
with Mr. Sudo in UFC yet. What was more stimulating to me was
Mr. Abe's KO win. "
Abe
's KO victory resulted from the experiences of standing fights
putting on boxing gloves in the ring of MA kick or SB after he
was defeated by Puring [spelling?]. Uno is taking it as an inspiration
to improve his striking technique. "It seems that people
think I am performing only exhibition matches, but the exhibition
match with Mr. Kobayashi was a valuable experience for me. I
just took a lot of punches without making a counterattack in
the first round. And in the second round what I did was just
to keep the face up. Then when I trained striking after that,
something was different. When I fought with Mr. Sakai this time,
I kept it in my mind not to look down and to launch one punch
somehow to him. As the pressure from Mr. Sakai was quite different
from that in the training, it was a good lesson. Compared to
Mr. Abe who did real fights, the effect must be different in
degree. But it was a good experience for myself, so I think it
will be useful for the fight with Din Thomas. I am standing on
the edge this time again (laugh). I hope I can do a good training
and a good fight. I want to show the fight through which the
fans can find me a little different than before. I am looking
forward to seeing what the fight would be like now that I have
one big aim just like a long time ago. "
Uno
has a new motivation--to be UFC champion. I wonder what kind
of fight he will show us in the octagon.
I
can't help having a feeling that Uno, with his new motivation
and improved technique, will explode in the octagon.
**
Previous
GTR Interview with Caol Uno after fight with B.J. Penn
Bonus
unfinished Interview with Caol Uno from Kami no Puroresu
Interview
with Caol Uno
From
Kami no Puroresu, No. 34, 2001
Feb.
25, 2001
Interviewed
by Noboru Yamaguchi
Translated
by Yoko Kondo
Note*
We started this Caol Uno interview a long time ago but never
finished. Now, here is the still unfinished interview as a bonus.
Q:
It’s the first time to talk to you in an interview, isn’t
it?
Uno:
Oh, Yes. Thank you very much for helping me out when I went to
Seattle.
Q:
Well, I did nothing special. (laughing) There are many things
I want to ask you about. Now I called you Uno senshu (fighter),
but I wonder what kind of fighter you are now. (laughing)
Uno:
I am not a pro wrestler… well….but I’ve never
considered myself a kakuto fighter.
Q:
What?
Uno:
When I had a part time job, I considered myself a freeter. (laughing)
[in Japanese, freeter is a person without a steady job.]
Q:
Freeter! (laughing)
Uno:
Being called a kakuto fighter didn’t fit me somehow. In
fact, I didn’t like to be called by that name, because I
couldn’t live on only that job.
Q:
You are not doing a part-time job now, aren’t you?
Uno:
I’m doing at Uno Kaoru Shop now. [Uno is his family name,
Kaoru is his personal name, and he writes it in English as Caol.]
Q:
Oh! A Goods-related shop! How is your business?
Uno:
Well, so so. My mother is the president, and I am the director
of public relations. (smiling) So, maybe my title now is a shop
manager.
Q:
A shop manager, not a fighter (laughing).
Uno:
Yes (laughing).
Q:
By the way, you created a sensation at the end of the last year
of 21st century by participating in “Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye”
(Dec. 31) after the fight with Sato Rumina (Dec. l7).
Uno:
I’m sorry to get you into a fuss (laughing). But this pattern
is exactly what “Kami no proresu” expects.
Q:
Ha ha ha (laughing). To be sure, you are very interesting lately.
Uno:
(Put a little pose for confusing) Is that so? I have to speak
carefully today, because “Kami pro” interview is more
sharp than other kakutogi magazines. I made a statement on why
I returned the champion belt and what I’m going to do from
now on. And I was thinking to talk about something inoffensive
along the statement, but I forgot to bring that paper. I wonder
what I should do (laughing).
Q:
Generally speaking, a statement isn’t interesting. So let’s
talk without it (laughing). Looking at you lately, I have an
impression that you look good.
Uno:
Ha ha (laughing). Thank you very much!
Q:
You look serious, or in other words, valiant in the ring.
Uno:
Is that so? It must be an effect of the hard training with Mr.
Kevin Yamazaki (laughing). Before the fight with Rumina Sato,
I had a very hard, but very interesting training with him. After
that I did the same training as usual with Mr. Moriyama at Eishukai.
I did training as much as I could, so I could come up to the
ring feeling that there would be no regret for whatever the result
would be.
Q:
Kevin-san has a peculiar power as a human, doesn’t he?
Uno:
He is …… very interesting! (laughing) I enjoyed the
training everyday. He taught me a scientific training, which
was new to me. So what should I say….. he was interesting.
Q:
If we describe him in one word, it will be “interesting”,
won’t it?
Uno:
Yes, I think so. And he is good at teaching.
Q:
He shouts like this, “Go, go, come on!” If you listen
to it carefully, it is very confusing which you should go (laughing).
But that shout seems to make fighters’ power up.
Uno:
Exactly. (laughing) In that sense, he is good at controlling
our feeling for the better.
Q:
He teaches the most advanced scientific training. But a sort
of nonsense he has is very important, isn’t it?
Uno:
(laughing). And I’m quite forgetful. But he talked to me
repeatedly so that I could learn. I was training without thinking
before, but I am trying to think lately.
Q:
Are you a type of man who usually thinks about things deeply?
Uno:
No, I’m quite superficial. But I’m obsessive to things
I like.
Q:
In short, selfish? (laughing)
Uno:
Maybe so.
Q:
But, being selfish is indispensable to being the top.
Uno:
(seriously) Is it true?
Q:
Don’t trust what I say (laughing). Well, you said before
the fight with Rumina, “I have the champion belt, but I
will go in with the spirit of a challenger”. I think what
is called for most in this age is that spirit, which you try
to challenge even after becoming the champion, and try to take
a risk toward a new stage. Mr. Inoki is the one who has been
doing it as a permanent activity, I think. No matter how many
times he is depressed, he never gives up (laughing). Why did
you participate in his “Inoki Festival”?
Uno:
For one thing, I am a fan of pro wrestling from a long time ago.
And Eishukai doesn’t have a negative idea against pro wrestling,
for the other. In fact, I have been training with pro wrestlers,
so I know through the body how strong they are. And Mr. Shoji
was injured at that time. I thought a single match might be hard
for him.
Q:
It was just after Mr. Shoji got the appendix resolved.
Uno:
Besides, he was in a terrible condition due to a kick by Almeida
at Pride 12. But he made a dash for the fight as soon as he came
up the ring of the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye. He did even keprada(?).
Q:
Speaking of technique, you also showed diving elbow and leap
frog. And you were caught with thunder fire power bomb and DDT.
You seem to have experienced baptism of pro wrestling a lot.
(laughing)
Uno:
That’s right. And we made rice-cakes after the count-down,
didn’t we? Mr. Shoji told me then, “Isn’t it a
dream, is it? Pinch me to make sure!” (laughing)
Q:
(laughing) He is funny too.
Uno:
There were many fighters gathering there whom I used to watch
when I was a child. So I was very happy that I could go in the
Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye with them.
Q:
Your fight was also interesting, especially the ground move with
Matsui at the early stage of the fight.
Uno:
Thank you very much.
Q:
In the case of Pride or Shoot, some fighting technique are not
so clear that viewers have to use a microscope. In pro wrestling,
on the other hand, fighting techniques are shown so exaggeratedly
that it is easy to see that both of you have the base of kakutogi.
If Mr. Yamamoto Kotetsu [who used to be a pro wrestler] was there
as a commentator, he would say, “Wait a second! These two
fighters do a leaping technique too, but their base of ground
wrestling are perfect”. (laughing) Adding to it, it is a
jujitsu boom now, and you are speedy.
Uno:
(Being puzzled) Ha…
Q:
Well, perhaps you are not used to being praised (laughing).
Uno:
(laughing) I just wonder if it’s OK with me to be praised
my fight in pro wrestling. I might offend the fans of kakutogi.
(laughing)
Q:
When you decided to participate in pro wrestling, you must have
been criticized by people around.
Uno:
There were a lot of criticism seen in Internet. But pro wrestling
is nothing but pro wrestling for me. And Renzo, Mark Karr, Coleman,
and Mr. Sakuraba, all got together there. If Renzo or Mr. Sakuraba
hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have been there either.
One more reason for that is I thought this chance could bring
me a good experience.
Q:
How did you feel when you came up the ring? Was it different
from that of Shootfighting?
Uno:
I seldom get nervous. But I was nervous. I thought something
might be thrown at me on a stage passage. (laughing)
Q:
(laughing)
Uno:
I thought that booing might arise, but I heard a lot of shout
of joy too. It surprised me a little bit. It made me even happy,
because I had in mind that something dangerous might happen to
me.
Q:
There are some among the kakutogi fans who feel bad about your
participation in pro wrestling. Some people among the pro wrestling
fans say too, “Don’t do pro wrestling as a temporary
work!” or “we don’t want to watch pro wrestling
like a kid’s play”. But it is good to hear that you
went in with a lot of excitement. Generally speaking, the former
welter-weight champion of Shoot never went in pro wrestling,
in terms of physique too. (laughing) People who were paying attention
to you wondering what your next choice would be ……
Uno:
Some people said, “Where will he go? Pride?” But I
chose pro wrestling. (laughing)
Q:
Besides, it was the “Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye”. (laughing) It
was a very good choice from a view poing of “Kami pro”.
Your fight was very interesting from my point of view, but it
seems like that Mr. Inoki was mad at it in a waiting room.
Uno:
(with anxiety) What? Why is it?
Q:
It is the “Inoki Bom-Ba-Ya”, so he expected a “fighting-spirit
pro wrestling” like the fight between Ogawa and Yasuda.
But you showed a “Rucha-teki” [translator’s note:
I don’t know an exact meaning of “Ruch”, but I
guess it implies a light mood like in a festival.] fighting there.
So I heard that he said watching a monitor, “It’s not
a fight I want!”
Uno:
(with be disappointed) Is it true?
Q:
But even in the fight of Hashimoto vs. Goodridge, there were
some parts which threw a question to the fans who were used to
watching vale tudo.
Uno:
Aaaaaa…
Q:
What?
Uno:
Nothing (laughing). But it was the fight I wanted to do there.
I enjoyed it, and 20 minutes passed in a moment. In the beginning,
the way I breathe didn’t fit it, so I was tired easily and
thirsty. But my condition became better from the middle of the
fight.
Q:
Mr. Sakuraba was out of stamina that day. It seems to be difficult
how to distribute stamina.
Uno:
(nodding) I found it really difficult to do pro wrestling. And
I thought how great pro wrestlers were. These are the reasons
why I wanted to go in pro wrestling. I thought this new experience
would have a good influence on me. Anyway, I was thinking to
do pro wrestling one time as an experience.
Source: GTR
More
From Japan's PRIDE - An Editorial...
It's
becoming more obvious that PRIDE and the promoters around the
Japanese giant are wanting to push Hidehiko Yoshida as the 'next
big thing.' After the controversial victory by Yoshida over Royce
Gracie at the mega show PRIDE DYNAMITE, the controversy has not
died down.
Naoto
Morishita, the President of Pride, stated 'Royce was indeed losing
consciousness and the right call was made.' This was stated at
a Pride press conference where many believe the Gracie/Yoshida
bout was going to be called a 'no contest.'
Not
only is this horrible for the box office in the USA, where the
general consensus is that the stoppage was 'weak', but it is
a slap in the face to Royce Gracie. Video evidence clearly showed
the choke wasn't anywhere near Gracie's artery or doing any damage.
A bad move considering that even most Japanese fans thought the
stoppage was bad and the rematch could do monstrous TV ratings
and money.
With
Kazayushi Fujita and Sakuraba both out, Pride is struggling to
find a Japanese star to fill the shoes. It is said that Sakuraba
cannot even begin training again for 8-12 weeks due to his injuries.
Pride
is talking about a Yoshida match against old card Nobuhiko Takada,
in what is being called a retirement match. Takada is thought
to be a fighter who has lost every legitimate fight he has done.
Their plan is to use him as a drawing card (if he has any drawing
power left) to hopefully get a win for Yoshida under MMA rules.
This would be Yoshida's first MMA fight. According to sources
in Japan, Takada isn't too fond of the idea and has not fully
agreed. Apparently, he was banking on a victory by Gracie, as
he preferred to rematch Royce in his final bout.
It
appears the long-term plan is to put Yoshida in against Rodrigo
Nogueira. Is this truly the direction for the sport of MMA in
Japan?
Source:
Abu Dhabi
Thumbs
up to the UFC!
Many people
watched the Best Damn Sports Show Period and expected Tito Ortiz
and Ken Shamrock to do some 'physical hype' for their November
PPV match.
Rather than
carry a negative stigma, like most heavyweight boxing press conferences
ending in near-riots, Dana White made the decision to NOT have
both in the same studio.
The UFC is trying
to crush the criticisms that plagued the sport before Zuffa took
control.
A classy move
considering a pull-apart brawl on BDSSP would definitely boost
PPV numbers and ticket sales. Tickets are selling faster than
expected as many are considering this show as the 'Wrestlemania'
of UFC.
At the present
time, it is not known whether Shamrock or Ortiz will be at the
Mohegun Sun to push the match. There are special features being
filmed on both fighters to hype their fight that is sure to break
recent UFC buys on PPV. Ortiz will more than likely be in attendance
to support Ricco Rodriguez against Randy Couture.
As reported
previously, Ken Shamrock has signed a three-fight deal with UFC.
Shamrock, who reportedly was only around 215lbs for his fight
with Don Frye, should have no problem reaching 205lbs. The marks
the first time that Shamrock has fought this light.
The size difference
will be a factor as Ortiz will probably come in around 218-220lbs
after making weight.
Regardless of
the outcome, Shamrock's name has proven to have drawing power
on American PPV. While Pride's buy rates are very low, it increased
over 50% when Shamrock took on Frye.
This will definitely
be a match that many want to see. Over two years of dislike will
come to a head as the pioneer of MMA meets the star student of
the game.
Source: Abu
Dhabi
A.P.
REPORT AT GRECO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS DISSES WRESTLING AGAIN!
By: Eddie Goldman
You
probably won't be surprised by this, but the reporting by the
Associated Press on the 2002 Greco-Roman World Wrestling Championships,
which concluded Sunday, Sept. 22, in Moscow, provided yet one
more in a long list of examples of how many in the mainstream
media disrespect wrestling.
Writer
Jim Heintz was assigned to cover this event for the A.P. His
dispatch on Sunday referred to the gold medal finals at 120 kg/264.5
lbs. between American Dremiel Byers and Hungary's Mihaly Deak-Bardos,
last year's silver medalist, which Byers won, 3-0.
Heintz
wrote, 'The heavyweight bout was mostly Byers and Deak-Bardos
jockeying for grip and leverage or straining to lift each other
off the mat - the sort of unengaging action that often characterizes
big-man bouts and leads critics to argue that Greco-Roman should
be dropped from the Olympics because it's too visually dull for
the television era.'
What
a distorted description of a Greco match. The first period was
scoreless, not uncommon when you have athletes of this caliber
competing. His depiction of 'jockeying for grip and leverage
or straining to lift each other off the mat' is exactly what
wrestling is about. That no one scored in the first period is
more a testament to the abilities of the two best super-heavyweights
in this event. Instead he knocks the sport, and joins the ranks
of those who would get rid of Greco and (although Heintz does
not directly advocate it) add a country club sport like golf.
Perhaps
if Heintz were sent to cover a baseball game and he witnessed
a no-hitter, he would complain that there were no home runs.
Heintz
then fails to report just how Byers scored those winning three
points. By FILA rules, the two men had to start the second period
in the clinch because the first period was scoreless. Byers was
able to lift Deak-Bardos off the mat and land him on his back,
thus scoring with a three-point throw. You would never know this
from Heintz's account.
If
this kind of dramatic and decisive throw does not fit Heintz's
fancy, then he just doesn't appreciate wrestling -- or, more
likely, understand it. It wasn't as if Heintz wasn't paying attention.
He also wrote, 'But after he won on points 3-0, Byers turned
into a vivid performer, dancing along with an anomalous troupe
of Russian pompom girls and turning a more-or-less graceful back
handspring.'
So
Heintz could recount Byers's dancing and handspring, but not
his wrestling throw. In other words, he just had no clue what
he was watching, and therefore disrespected it.
It
may not always be the fault of the writer when he is assigned
to cover a sport with which he is not familiar. But Heintz did
have an opportunity to ask Byers about that wonderful throw.
He wrote, 'Afterwards, suddenly shy while waiting for the completion
of doping control, Byers said softly 'I feel very honored. I
worked a lot, I prayed a lot.' ' So Heintz did get a chance to
speak to Byers, yet either didn't ask him about or didn't report
about why there was no scoring in the first period, what that
successful throw was, why they had to start in the clinch, etc.
Perhaps
Heintz should have been assigned to a dance competition, and
not wrestling, since that seems to sent him all a-titter. But
wrestling should be left to those who either specialize in it,
or at least respect it enough to do some preparation beforehand
or at minimum ask a few people at the event to help explain what
is going on.
Of
course, that is why we have web sites like this one, and a growing
wrestling media. If reports like this one from the A.P. bother
you as much as I suspect, make sure to step up your support for
the wresting media so we can get it right, and to as many people
as possible.
Source: Abu Dhabi
9/23/02
Quote
of the Day
Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance,
but to do what lies clearly at hand.
Thomas
Carlyle
Hawaiian
State Grappling Championship (NAGA) Partial Results
(NAGA Submission Tournament)
Farrington H.S. Gymnasium, Honolulu, HI
September 21, 2002
I have asked Kipp Kollar
for the complete results to be emailed to me. So, we'll post
it as we get it. Again, the exact divisions below could be totally
wrong, but I know these guys won a division. Feel free to correct
me to email me results on how you or your team member did and
I will gladly post it!
More Results:
I do not want
to seem like I am biased, but I cannot remember the names of
the winners from the other teams off hand so I will post what
I do remember.
Team
Titles:
Gi
1st Place: Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
No
Gi
1st Place: Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
2nd Place: 808 Fight Factory
Kid's No-Gi
1st Place: Shane Ahlo Jr. (Relson Gracie)
2nd Place: Kekoa (No team)
Kid's Gi SuperHeavyweight
1st Place: Shane Ahlo Jr. (Relson Gracie)
2nd Place: Kekoa (No team)
Kid's Gi SuperHeavyweight
Open
1st Place: Shane Ahlo Jr. (Relson Gracie)
2nd Place: Kekoa (No team)
3rd: Sage (HMC)
4th: Derrek (HMC)
Flyweight Intermediate
No- Gi (I may be wrong on this one)
1st Place: Ryan Cabinian (Relson Gracie)
2nd Place: Will Hagerty (Grappling Unlimited)
3rd Place: Jim Kiguchi (808 Fight Factory)
Lightweight Advanced No-Gi
1st Place: Kyle Sukihiro (Kamole)
2nd Place: Eben Kanshiro (Kamole)
They did not fight for the title since they are on the same team
3rd and 4th Place: Either Erik Beach (Nova Uniao) or Ryan Eniem
(Longman)
Heavyweight
Advanced No-Gi
1st, 2nd and 3rd: Jeff Furuta, Andrew Furuta, Kaleo Hosaka (Relson
Gracie)
(just tossed coins for the titles)
Super Heavyweight
Advanced No-Gi
1st and 2nd: Malcolm Ahlo and Kaleo Hosaka (Relson Gracie)
(just tossed coins for the titles)
Blue Belt Super Heavyweight Gi
1st. Place: Malcolm Ahlo (Relson Gracie)
Gi Masters (Open
Division)
1st Place: Malcolm Ahlo (Relson Gracie)
2nd Place: Kaleo Hosaka (Relson Gracie, again they did not fight)
3rd Place: Lee Theros (Luis Hereda Jiu-Jitsu)
White Belt Super
Heavyweight Gi
1st Place: Kyle Nitahara (Relson Gracie)
2nd Place: Phil (Relson Gracie)
(just tossed coins for the titles)
3rd Place: Champ (Nova Uniao)
4th Place: Raymond (Relson Gracie)
(forgot your last names, sorry guys!)
I apologize
for the many champions that I forgot. Congratulations to all
the competitors! There were 160 competitors at this tournament
which made it one of the most successful in the last two years.
Let's keep this support going for the upcoming tournaments like
the next Relson Gracie Invitational and 808 Fight Factory Tournament
that should be coming soon!
Royce
Gracie and Dynamite Event
From His Camp
On
August 28, 2002 - Legendary No Hold Barred Champion Royce Gracie
made his return to professional fighting in Pride FC / K-1 joint
production 'Dynamite - Shockwave'. His opponent 1992 Judo Olympic
Gold Medallist in 82Kg division, 2000 World Judo Champion in
90Kg division Japanese native Hidehiko Yoshida.
Much
anticipated event took place in Tokyo National Stadium with a
crowed of 91,000 plus spectators and over 100,000 PPV views.
Later
released news from FIGHT WORLD informed us that this was the
largest MMA event ever in the world. It has beaten all records
in both attendance, PPV buys world wide and as the show was later
featured on Japanese FREE TV an audience of 20 Million views
tuned. The overall Dynamite TV ratings in Japan was an astounding
10.6.
However
to no ones surprise the Gracie/Yoshida match received a rating
of 14.6 making it the most anticipated and watch MMA fight ever
in history.
Unfortunately
for Royce Gracie fans around the world, the fight ended in a
very bizarre way, creating as it has been labeled the 'most controversial
and poor referee stoppage of a fight in MMA history' as 7 min
and 4 sec into the match, the referee stopped the fight thinking
that Royce Gracie has been choked unconscious. Seconds later
is was apparent that Royce was not choked, has he started pushing
Yoshida off him and protesting the stoppage before getting off
the ground.
In
accordance to the rules of the match, Royce Gracie filed an official
request with Dynamite Committee to have the outcome of the fight
declared as NO CONTEST.
Royce
Gracie claims are that he was in no danger and was fully a part
of the fight, additionally in the rules negotiated between both
Fighters and the Promoters the referee was not allowed to stop
the fight.
'No
referee stopping of the MATCH shall occur as to PERFORMER ( Royce
Gracie ), provided, however, a referee stoppage may occur for
his opponent's health or welfare.'
The
Dynamite Committee convened to make their official ruling on
the fight. We have been provided a copy of the decision and the
reasoning behind it. Although we are not in position to post
the entire ruling here are the key points as made by the Committee:
'Mr.
Noguchi gave the following four points as the reason why he has
determined Mr. Royce Gracie had passed out; 1. Mr. Yoshida’s
choke was in perfectly. 2. Mr. Royce Gracie’s left hand
and right leg was moving only slowly, and his strength was going
out. 3. Mr. Yoshida, who was fighting with Mr. Gracie, shouted,
“He is out! He is out!” 4. Mr. Noguchi himself confirmed
by touching Mr. Royce Gracie’s hand, that there was no strength
or movement.'
'MMA
matches like “Dynamite!” is a sport that is played
in front of a big audience. Therefore, regardless of the rules
adopted for the match, the act taken by Mr. Noguchi is morally
essential. His refereeing is in line with this absolute standard.
We therefore declare that the result of the match remains unchanged.'
'In
the hindsight, however, the referee seems to have made decision
too early. Therefore, it left a bad taste in everybody’s
mouth. But we do not see sufficient reason to determine that
it was a total failure of a certain individual. Undoubtedly,
Mr. Yoshida was very fair in releasing his hands from Mr. Gracie.
It is just natural as a fighter to obey the order of the referee
to stop giving the sleeve choke, when Mr. Yoshida himself was
feeling that his opponent choked out.'
Royce Gracie was very disappointed with the decision of the committee.
And stand by the original statement that he was not out, 'the
choke' was in and the referee stoppage of the fight was wrong.
Royce
Gracie and Pride FC in talks. At this point we can not disclose
about what, but one can draw his own conclusions.....................
Feeling
Around the World:
After
the fight, we have received countless e-mails and phone calls
expressing the fans dissatisfaction with the stoppage. A lot
of Pro MMA fighters have since also expressed their opinions
- which have all seemed to agree that Royce was in no danger
and the stoppage was wrong.
Royce
would like to thank all this fans and friends from around the
world that have come to his support. It is sincerely appreciated.
So
what will come out of all this - only time will tell. Royce has
returned to his vigorous schedule of seminars and workshops,
as his staff continues the talks with Pride FC.
Source:
ADCC
Saulo
Ribeiro Takes The Belt in The Fight Zone & The Big Dog has
a Puppy! Cachorrao is a dad!
Just a short
note congratulating my friend Saulo Ribeiro (shown training at
his Academy) on his return to the NHB arena. After an inauspicious
International debut on Collosseum 2000, multiple times World
BJJ Champion Saulo returned to a lightning quick title victory
in the Fight Zone event. Saulo facing Jason Ireland was the main
event. Saulo opened up with a quick strike followed by a takedown.
As the two fighters hit the ground Saulo was in Jason's half-guard.
Saulo proceeded to pass, mount and deliver a series of strikes
until Ireland turned over. At 2:30 min of the first round Saulo
sank a rear naked choke for the win.
After the fight
Saulo told us: 'I am elated with the result. Few people know
how hard I trained for this fight and all the hard work has paid
off. I want to thank all my friends and supporters who have stayed
with me through thick and thin. I am glad to be back!'
Congratulations
to Saulo and his team. More details of the event to come!
Ricardo 'Cachorrao'
Almeida is the proud papa a new baby boy. Born on 8:26 AM Renzo
Matthias Almeida! With a name like that and a father like Cachorrao,
the kid can only be a Champion! Parabens Cachorrao ! (Congratulations!).
Source: Kid
Peligro/Abu Dhabi
MAXIM
Covers PRIDE
Maxim, one of
the largest men's magazines in the world, has done an article
about PRIDE. It's available on the Maxim Online website and is
both positive and negative in many aspects.
It refers to
Pride as the 'newest contender for the ultimate fighting crown.'
But they are quick to point out the differences between UFC.
The talk about
the lack of a legitimate system for ranking fighters and even
goes as far as calling it 'dull and boring' with many references
to it being more like pro wrestling than fighting.
Their 'positives'
were the mauling of Tamura by Bob Sapp and the barroom brawl
between Frye and Takayama. This seems to be what the Joe Six-Pack
casual viewer is into (but many become fans of legitimate MMA
along the way).
**2002
Relson Gracie U.S. Nationals**
Event Date: 26-Oct-02
Location: Columbus, OH,
43215, United States
Phone: 614-238-3662
Event Email: gracienationals@aol.com
Event Website: www.gracienationals.com
Event Contact: John Cooper
More
Information,
The 3rd Annual Relson Gracie U.S. Nationals is one of the most
competitive and prestigous Jiu-Jitsu competitions in the United
States. This years competition will feature an amateur Gi and
No-Gi format. Winners from the amateur No-Gi competition will
qualify for the Arnold Schwarzenegger Professional Submission
tournament, which will be held in late February, 2003. The top
3 winning teams will awarded trophies and cash prizes with individual
competitors receiving Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.
Online registration and information will be available on October
20th by going to www.gracienationals.com (Note: if site unavailable,
please check back)
Weigh-ins
and Registration: October the 25th from 10:00 a.m. to 11:oo p.m.
Downtown Red Roof Inn 614-224-6539 (across from Convention Center)
Weight
Classes Adult Men Amateur Gi:
Rooster
Weight 121lbs. & under Super Feather Weight 122lbs. to 134lbs.
Feather Weight 135lbs. to 147lbs. Light Weight 148lbs. to 160lbs.
Middle Weight 161bs. to 173lbs. Light Heavy Weight 174lbs. to
187lbs. Medium Heavy Weight 188lbs. to 200lbs. Heavy Weight 201lbs.
to 213lbs. Super Heavy Weight 214lbs. and over Absolute Weight
unlimited/open
Weight
Classes Adult Men Amateur No-Gi:
155
and under 156lbs. to 171lbs. 172lbs. to 187lbs. 188lbs. to 203lbs.
204lbs. to 219lbs. 220lbs. and over
*Women,
Juniors, Juveniles and kids will be matched up by weight during
the weigh-ins and registration on October the 25th!
**Tournament
rules/Amateur Gi competition**
Classes:
Kids 13 and under Juvenile 14 and 15 Juniors 16 and 17 Adult
18 to 29 Masters 30 to 39 Seniors 40 & over
Time
limits: Kids 4 min. all belts Juveniles and Juniors 5 min. all
belts Adult White Belt 6 min. Blue Belt 6 min. Purple Belt 7
min. Brown Belt 8 min. Black Belt 10 min.
Masters
and Seniors
White
Belt 5 min. Blue Belt 5 min. Purple Belt 6 min. Brown belt 6
min. Black Belt 8 min.
Judging
and Scoring:
The
point system is as follows- Clean takedown 2 points Pass opponents
guard 3 points Taking opponents back 4 points Sweep 2 points
Knee in the belly 2 points Mount 4 points
To
gain points for any position, the competitor must show clear
control for 3 seconds. Competitors can score points one time
for each position (2 times from knee in the belly-once from right
side and once from left side) More points can be accumulated
once the competitor transitions from opponents guard.
Points
are accumulated from the start of the match. Matches will be
won by the competitor who reaches 12 points first, submits their
opponent or ends up with the most accumulated points at the end
of the match. In the event of a tie, the referee will make the
final decision based on competitors aggressiveness, near submissions
and total advantages awarded.
Advantages
will be awarded to the competitor that makes submission attempts
that posed a real threat to the other fighter, near takedowns,
sweeps, passes, etc. Overall, the competitor with the more aggresive
stance and offensive posture as judged by the referee.A deduction
of 2 advantages will be deducted for the competitor that attempts
to place his opponent in the guard from the standing position
but fails.
Stalling
and avoiding the fight for more than 30 seconds will not be permitted.
Running from the opponent, such as intentionally leaving the
ring area will not be permitted. A warning will be isssued for
the 1st offense, a 2 point deduction for the 2nd offense and
disqualification for the 3rd offense.
Holding
both bottom Gi sleeves will not be permitted for more than 10
seconds. Holding inside opponents Gi cuffs(pants or jacket) will
not be permitted.
Sweep
points will be awarded to the competitor that utilizes technique
not power to reverse his or her position.
In
general the competition will allow all submissions as defined
by the international Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. Please
note the following:
No
knee bars, No heel hooks, No slamming, No strikes, No eye gouging,
No hands around the throat, No obscene language, No obscene jestures,
No biting, No hair pulling, No ear pulling, No head butting,
and No small joint manipulation.
Warnings
will be given for unsportsmanlike conduct. Repeat offenders will
be disqualified.
Competitors
are required to wear a Gi. All sleeves must have enough play
to have four fingers(approximately 3 inches)inserted through
out the length of the sleeves. Sleeves and pant legs must be
within four inches of the wrist or ankle. Competitors must compete
with shoes(bare feet)
**Amateur
No-Gi competition/Arnold Schwarzenegger Professional Submission
Competition qualifier**
The
winner in each weight division will qualify to compete in the
Arnold World Gracie Submission Competition which will be held
in Late February. The rules for the qualifier are as follows:
Time
limits for all matches will be 8 min. with no overtime. Matches
will continue to the end of the match unless one fighter submits
the other or a fihter gets injured and is unable to continue.
Fighters who run form their opponent intentionally, i.e., intentionally
going outside ring area or intentionally running from opponent,
will be given a warning. The 3rd warning will result in disqualification.
We
will not allow biting, hair pulling, striking, small joint manipulation,
knee bars, heel hooks, holding or pulling og clothing, stopping
or stalling for more than 30 seconds.
Competitors
may wear t-shirts and shorts, one piece fightin apparel. No wrestling
shoes will be allowed. Hair must be short or tied. No earrings
or jewlery.
Points
will be awarded as follows: 2 points for sweeps, takedowns, knee
in the belly- 3 points for passin opponents guard- 4 points for
taking opponents back and mount-
Advantages
will be awarded for near submissions-sweeps, takedowns, etc.
The referee will make the final decission on which competitor
won the match in the advent of a tie.
**Tournament
location and start times**
Greater Columbus Convention Center 614-645-5000 Terrace Ballroom
Amateur
No-Gi/Arnold Schwarzenegger Professional qualifier Start time-9:00
a.m.
Amateur
Gi competition-12:00 p.m.
**Pre-Registration
fees**
Gi $60.00 No-Gi $65.00 Both Gi/No-Gi $100.00 Juniors and Kids
$40.00 *Fees must be received by October the 19th
**Late
Registration fees**
Gi $65.00 No-Gi $70.00 Both Gi/No-Gi $120.00 Money Orders or
Bank Drafts Only-Make payable to: John Cooper)
Mail
to: Relson Gracie U.S. Nationals 4516 Kenny Rd. Suite 119 Columbus,
Ohio 43220
**Accomodations**
Hotel
Rooms will be at a premium. Please make your arrangements early.
The following hotels are located next to the Convention Center/Tournament
Venue:
Downtown
RedRoof Inn 614-224-6539
*weigh-in/registration location 20 Kings available w/roll away
beds-State your with the Relson Gracie U.S. Nationasl
Adams
Mark Hotel 614-228-5050
*State your with the Relson Gracie U.S. Nationals
Holiday
Inn 614-221-3281
Event Directions
Please go to www.mapquest.com
Greater Columbus Convention Center 400 N.High St. Columbus, Ohio
43215
US
Grappling 8 men Tournament: Quick Results
Quick Results
from the AWESOME eight man tournament this weekend at GQ:
1st round:
Justin Garcia defeated Eddy Rolon via points (a Qulifier to enter
the tourney field)
Marc Laimon defeated Shawn Williams by advantage
Todd Margolis defeated Rick Migliarese via points
Kenny Florian defeated Ken Kronenberg via points
Justin Garcia defeated Stephen Haigh via points
2nd Round:
Margolis defeated Laimon by points
Florian submitted Garcia with a triangle
Finals:
Florian defeated Margolis via points
Source: Abu
Dhabi
Greco-Roman
Worlds Day 2
GRUENWALD,
DANTZLER, BYERS REMAIN IN MEDAL CONTENTION AT WORLD GRECO-ROMAN
WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS; THREE GOLD MEDALS AWARDED ON SATURDAY
Three
U.S. wrestlers have won their pool competition and remain in
medal contention on their first day of competition at the World
Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships in Moscow, Russia, September
21.
Advancing
into the bracket on Sunday will be Jim Gruenwald (Colorado Springs,
Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 60 kg/132 lbs., T.C. Dantzler (Colorado
Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 163 pounds and Dremiel Byers (Colorado
Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.
In
his pool competition, Gruenwald defeated Seref Tuefenk of Turkey,
4-2 and Valentin Malutin of Kyrgyzstan, 4-2.
Gruenwald
will battle 1996 and 2000 Olympic Champion Armen Nazarien of
Bulgaria in tomorrow's quarterfinals. Gruenwald was sixth at
the 2000 Olympic Games and 10th at the 2001 World Championships.
'I
have wrestled him before and I feel I have learned from the mistakes
I made then,' Gruenwald said. 'I have seen many guys crumble.
His best move is a reverse lift. Everyone in the world knows
it, so I just have to make sure and stop it if I get down. He
has a history of not competing very well at this event, so we
know he is not unbeatable.'
Dantzler,
competing in his first World Championships, has become a crowd
favorite with an offensive outburst in his two matches. He scored
an 11-0 technical fall over Joacim Iversen of Norway and a pin
over Georgios Panagiotou of Greece in 2:37.
'I
expected it to be like this,' stated Dantzler. 'My opponents
so far have been looking to stand around and be more flat-footed.
I'm more of a sharp shooter and a sniper. I am always looking
for that time to hit the big move.'
Dantzler's
wins earned him a qualification match tomorrow morning against
Volodymir Shatskikh of Ukraine, who competed at the Junior level
last year. If Dantzler wins, he advances into the quarterfinals.
Byers
had a challenging pool, beating Jidong Song of China, 6-0 and
pinning 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Dzmitry Debelka of Belarus
in 3:14. In the match against Debelka, after a scoreless first
period, the two wrestlers went into the clinch. From this position,
Byers drove Debelka to the mat, earning the pin.
'Right
when I thought he was going to break, I could feel his legs possibly
getting ready to try and throw me, so I kept my lock and as soon
as he broke, I tightened it up,' stated Byers. 'It feels pretty
good to be in the quarterfinals, but I just have to take it one
match at a time.'
Byers
will meet up with Youri Evseytchik of Israel in the quarterfinals,
who placed fourth at the 2000 Olympic Games. Evseytchik lost
in both the 2000 Olympics and 2001 World Championships to American
Rulon Gardner. Byers was sixth in the 1999 World Championships.
2000
Olympic bronze medalist Garrett Lowney (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota
Storm) was eliminated at 96 kg/211.75 lbs. after suffering two
surprising defeats.
Lowney,
a 2000 Olympic bronze medalist, lost his first match to reigning
World Champion Aleksandr Bezruchkin of Russia, 7-0, then suffered
a crushing blow by losing a 3-0 decision to Ali Mollov of Bulgaria.
Mollov went on to upset Bezrutchkin and Mollov advanced from
the pool.
'(Bezruchkin)
caught me off-guard with a few of the positions. We were very
unfamiliar with his style of wrestling,' said Lowney. 'I never
got into a decent flow in either match. In the second match,
my head just wasn't in it after the loss.'
Three
U.S. wrestlers competed on Friday and were eliminated from the
competition: Brandon Paulson (Anoka, Minn./Minnesota Storm) at
55 kg/121 lbs., Kevin Bracken (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York
AC) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. and Brad Vering (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist
Kids) at 84 kg/185 lbs.
According
to the Russian World Championships web page, Vering finish fifth
in his weight class and Paulson placed eighth. Vering's fifth
place was worth six team points, and PaulsonÕs eighth
was worth three team points. Bracken, who placed 14th, earned
no points for the U.S. team in the standings.
The
gold-medal and bronze medal finals were held in those three weight
divisions on Saturday night. Sweden won two of the three individual
gold medals, with Jimmy Samuelson at 66 kg/145.5 pounds and Ara
Abrahamian at 185 pounds.
Samuelson
beat Farid Mansurov of Azerbaijan, 3-0 in the gold-medal match
for his first World title. Abrahamian stopped Aleksandre Menshikov
of Russia, 3-1 to claim his title. It was the second straight
World title for Abrahamian, who captured the 167.5-pound title
last year.
The
other individual champion was Geider Mamadaliyev of Russia at
55 kg/121 lbs., who beat Nepes Gukulov of Turkmenistan, 4-0 in
the finals.
2002
GRECO-ROMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS at Moscow, Russia, September
21
Medal match results, first three weight classes
84
kg/185 lbs.
Gold - Ara Abrahamian (Sweden) dec. Aleksandre Menshikov (Russia),
3-1
Bronze - Mohamed Ibrahim Abd El Fattah (Egypt) dec. Levon Geghamyan
(Armenia), 5-0
5th - Bradley Evering (United States); 6th - (tie) HamzaÊYerlikaya
(Turkey), BojanÊMijatov (Yugoslavia) and CotchaÊTsitsiashvili
(Israel); 9th - MukhranÊVakhtangadze (Georgia); 10th -
ViachaslavÊMakaranka (Belarus)
U.S.
results on Saturday
60 kg/132 lbs. - Jim Gruenwald (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist
Kids)
dec. Seref Tuefenk (Turkey), 4-2 dec. Valentin Malutin (Kyrgyzstan),
4-2
74
kg/163 lbs. - T.C. Dantzler (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York
AC)
tech. fall Joacim Iversen (Norway), 11-0, 2:03 pin Georgios Panagiotou
(Greece), 2:37
96
kg/211.75 lbs. - Garrett Lowney (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota
Storm)
lost dec. to Aleksandr Bezruchkin (Russia), 7-0 lost dec. to
Ali Mollov (Bulgaria), 3-0
120
kg/264.5 lbs. - Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army)
dec. Jidong Song (China), 6-0 pin Dzmitry Debelka (Belarus),
3:14
DREMIEL
BYERS WINS GOLD MEDAL AT GRECO-ROMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR
THE UNITED STATES
Dremiel
Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) won a gold medal at
120 kg/264.5 lbs. at the 2002 Greco-Roman World Championships
in Moscow, Russia, Sept. 22.
It
was the top performance by a U.S. wrestler at this year's World
Championships, the only medal won by the seven-athlete team.
Byers
becomes the fourth U.S. wrestler to win a World Championships
gold medal, joining Mike Houck (1985), Dennis Hall (1995) and
Rulon Gardner (2001).
It
was also the third year in a row that the United States has won
the gold medal on the World level at the super heavyweight class
in Greco-Roman. Rulon Gardner won the 2000 Olympics gold medal
and the 2001 World gold medal, followed by Byers amazing victory
this year.
'This
is an unbelievable feeling. I feel great,' said Byers, who was
almost speechless after his win. 'I had a plan coming into this
tournament, and it worked out perfectly for me. I am just so
happy right now.'
In
the gold-medal finals, Byers scored a 3-0 victory over Mihaly
Deak-Bardos of Hungary. It was the same athlete that Gardner
had defeated in the gold-medal match at the 2001 World Championships.
Byers
scored a throw on every opponent he faced in the tournament,
and that is how he defeated Deak-Bardos. After a scoreless first
period, the two competitors engaged in the clinch to start the
second period. After the two circled around for nearly 30 seconds,
Byers was able to get his body underneath Deak-Bardos and throw
him to his back to take a 3-0 lead.
That
was all the scoring Byers would need as he held off one last
attempt by Deak-Bardos in par terre midway through the second
period.
'I
have felt good in the clinch the entire tournament. I could feel
myself gaining leverage at one point, and that is when I decided
to throw it,' Byers said.
Byers
had to win three matches on the final day of the competition
to secure his gold medal. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Youri
Evseytchik of Israel in overtime, 3-1. In the second period,
Byers stepped out of bounds while in the clinch, giving Evseytchik
an early 1-0 advantage. The match went to overtime with the same
score, when Byers used the clinch to his advantage. He wore down
Evseytchik before throwing him to his back 30 seconds into overtime
to earn the win.
In
the semifinals, Byers defeated 2001 World bronze medalist Xenofon
Koutsioubas of Greece by a 4-1 margin to advance. Byers fell
behind 1-0 after giving up a gut wrench in the first period,
but in the second period, he began to wear Koutsioubas down.
After Koutsioubas was warned for passivity, Byers went to work,
scoring on a lift and throw to take a 4-1 lead and coasting to
the win.
Two
other U.S. wrestlers competing on Sunday lost their opening match
and missed the medal rounds.
In
the quarterfinals, Jim Gruenwald (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist
Kids) battled two-time Olympic champion Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria
at 60 kg/132 lbs. When Gruenwald was whistled for passivity two
minutes into the match, Nazarian immediately attempted his favorite
move - the reverse lift. Nazarian executed the move twice, the
first time for six points and the second for four points in earning
the technical superiority win, 10-0.
The
loss placed Gruewald eighth in his weight division. Gruenwald
was sixth at the 2000 Olympic Games and 10th at the 2001 World
Championships.
In
a 74 kg/163 lbs. qualification match. T.C. Dantzler (Colorado
Springs, Colo./New York AC) noticeably limping throughout the
match after reaggravating the torn MCL in his right knee, and
was unable to get any offense together in a 3-0 loss to Volodymir
Shatskikh of Ukraine. The loss placed Dantzler at 11th in his
division, and only the top 10 in each weight class scores points
for his team.
'I
couldn't push off and I couldn't change levels,' Dantzler said
after recording a 2-1 record at his first World Championships.
'I am about 65% right now, but I know if I could have gotten
on top, I could have turned him. But since I couldn't get any
offense going, I realized quickly that it was going to be tough
to get on top.'
In
other finals, two-time Olympic champion Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria
won his first World Championships gold with a 3-0 win over 1996
Olympic champion Wlodzimierz Zawadzki of Poland at 60 kg/132
lbs. Nazarian used his favorite move, the reverse lift, to score
three points in the first period.
At
74 kg/163 lbs., 2000 Olympic champion Varteres Samourgashev of
Russia defeated Badri Khasaia of Georgia by a score of 3-0. Samourgashev
scored all of his points in the first period and hold off late
attacks by Khasia, a two-time European Champion.
At
96 kg/211.75 lbs., Mehmet Oezal of Turkey defeated Koram Mohamed
Guder Ibragim of Egypt, 15-11. In the wildest match of the evening,
both wrestlers traded throws in the first and second periods.
Ibragim cut the lead to 11-10 with just over one minute left
in the match, but a reverse lift by Oezal sealed the win.
2002
GRECO-ROMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
at Moscow, Russia, Sept. 22
Final results from the four final weight classes
60 kg/132 lbs.
Gold - Armen Nazarian (Bulgaria) dec. Wlodzimierz Zawadzki (Poland),
3-0
Bronze - Roberto Monzon Gonzalez (Cuba) dec. Oleksandr Khvosch
(Ukraine), 3-0
5th - Akaki Chachiya (Georgia); 6th - Asledin Khudoyberdiev (Uzbekistan);
7th - Ion Gaimer (Moldova); 8th - James Gruenwald (United States);
9th - Eusebiu Lancu Diaconu (Romania);, 10th - Rustem Mambetov
(Russia)
U.S.
results on September 22
60 kg/132 lbs. - Jim Gruenwald (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist
Kids)
lost tech. fall to Armen Nazarian (Bulgaria), 10-0, 2:46
74
kg/163 lbs. - T.C. Dantzler (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York
AC)
lost dec. to Volodymir Shatskikh (Ukraine), 3-0
Final
U.S. placements
55 kg/121 lbs. - Brandon Paulson (Anoka, Minn./Minnesota Storm)
- 8th
60 kg/132 lbs. - Jim Gruenwald (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist
Kids) - 8th
66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Kevin Bracken (Colorado Springs, Colo./New
York AC) - dnp (14th)
74 kg/163 lbs. - T.C. Dantzler (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York
AC) - dnp (11th)
84 kg/185 lbs. - Brad Vering (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist
Kids) - 5th
96 kg/211.75 lbs. - Garrett Lowney (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota
Storm) - dnp (27th)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S.
Army) - 1st
For
complete coverage of the World Championships this weekend, visit
the special section on TheMat.com (www.themat.com)
9/22/02
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
Hawaiian
State Grappling Championship (NAGA) Partial Results
(NAGA Submission Tournament)
Farrington H.S. Gymnasium, Honolulu, HI
September 21, 2002
I apologize for
having more results for you, but I had to leave at 4:00PM because
I was supposed to be home at 4:00PM, you get the idea. Here are
the results of the No Gi 4-Man Division. Mike will add to the
results later.
1st round:
Anthony Torres (Grappling Unlimited) def. Ron Jhun (808 Fight
Factory)
via rear naked choke
Ronn Shiraki (Relson Gracie) def. Joao Morais (North Shore Freestyle
Jiu-Jitsu)
by points
Finals:
Ronn Shiraki (Relson Gracie) def. Anthony Torres (Grappling Unlimited)
by points
MaxPreview:
UFC 39
Couture Attempts to Three-Peat in Forgotten Event
By Jake Rossen
That
big, lumbering ball of Shamrock/Ortiz hype continues to roll
along, obliterating everything in its path. Hide the women and
children. Get a free Tito Ortiz Big Gulp with every purchase
of a Ragin' Ken Shamrock action figure. (Now just $1.99 at select
thrift stores.) Practice sharp intakes of air as one of these
guys breaks his femur in training.
Among
the casualties in Zuffa's relentless bid for mainstream attention
in November is UFC 39: The Warriors Return, a captivating September
27th fight card that tantalizes with possibilities: redemption
for Randy Couture; long-sought respect for Matt Serra and Phil
Baroni; and a host of intriguing, tightly-wound matches. Disclaimer:
Ad spots are not to be confused with Return of the Warriors,
Warrior's War, Revenge of the Warriors, or anything even remotely
approaching creative capability.
After
the fiasco that was Pride: Shockwave, a disturbingly irresponsible
pseudo-wrestling event that became incomprehensible once it crossed
the ocean, Zuffa delivers on their responsibility to Nevada and
the sport to create fair and meaningful match-ups. The catch,
of course, is that the proceedings will be presented so blandly
as to cause stupor in anyone not intricately familiar with keylocks
and half-guard positions.
(When
some blazing genius finally manages to combine the UFC's fight
quality, accessibility and safety with Pride's sense of showmanship,
he or she will profit immensely from said intellect. But I digress.)
An
overview of the bouts, in reverse order:
For
the Vacant UFC Heavyweight (205 lb. and over) Championship
Randy Couture vs. Ricco Rodriguez
Scan
the fight message boards for a while, and your eyes will glaze
over at the miles-long debates over who sucks and who blows.
Nearly every fighter is fodder for intense like or disinterest,
joke or hype. Very few exceptions are made among the faceless
and surly. Only a select group demands respect from even the
most jaded pundit. Couture is one of them.
At
nearly 40, ready for Depends in the athletic world, Couture has
proven his mettle time and again. The single time he came up
short in the Octagon was when he succumbed to the larger, younger,
more intense Josh Barnett back in March. The result of that is
now well-documented, as Barnett was stripped of his title following
a positive result for steroids.
Outside
the cage, it's news. Inside, it means very little. Whether Barnett
could've beaten Couture without 'enhancement' is a pointless
thought. It's obvious that Couture has had to weather other unseasonably
strong athletes in his career. Despite the ensuing public spectacle,
it was just another day at the office. If Couture's wins against
the drug-aided are to be counted, so, too, must his losses.
Rodriguez
comes in for a long-awaited chance to prove himself a top Heavyweight
contender. He's certainly earned the slot, with only one loss
on record (to Bobby Hoffman) and a string of UFC victories in
the past year-plus. However, those victories came against not
one ranked Heavyweight. Never has Rodriguez been tested by the
likes of Mark Coleman, Heath Herring, Vovchanchin, or Kerr. Instead,
his laundry list reads Goodridge, Marsh, Fulton, and Giant Ochiai.
Rodriguez has the 'feel' of a top contender, but with little
on his resume to support it. To say Couture will be a tremendous
step up in competition is unnecessary. It's obvious.
At
Stake: Couture's chance to hold the UFC Heavyweight title an
unprecedented three times. For Rodriguez, the respect he craves.
Edge
To: Unquestionably, Randy Couture. The Barnett loss surely motivates,
and so is the opportunity to make history by having that belt
strapped around him a third time. Couture will come out, feel
out strikes and then struggle for a takedown. He'll get it, and
thus will be on his way to a referee stoppage from strikes in
a role reversal of his fight with Barnett.
Result:
Couture TKO.
Lightweight
(155 lb. and under) Bout
BJ Penn vs. Matt Serra
In
2001, Penn made the biggest debut
in the sport since Vitor Belfort machine-gunned his way through
huge bloated guys in 1997. He consecutively ransacked Joey Gilbert,
Din Thomas, and Caol Uno before the inevitable plodding showdown
with ultimate pacifist Jens Pulver in a title bout. After that
loss, he toyed with Paul Creighton and is now set to face off
against jiu-jitsu brethren Matt Serra.
This
match-up intrigues on several levels, and some consider it the
true main event of the evening. Serra has been far less impressive
in the cage, getting knocked out by a spinning backfist courtesy
of Shonie Carter, decisioning Yves Edwards, and finally submitting
rookie Kelly Dullanty in a 'gimme' bout.
Both
guys are noted for their ground skills, although Penn has been the one to use them to his
advantage. Standing, Penn has been far more impressive
with the strikes, and has yet to even actually submit anyone
in the UFC.
At
Stake: This is the semifinal round of a four-man tournament that
will crown a new Lightweight champion in light of Pulver's absence.
The winner will go on to face the winner of the Din Thomas/Caol
Uno bout of the same evening. Penn
will likely have a hearty laugh at this configuration, considering
that if he beats Serra, then he's already beaten everyone in
the tourney. Somewhere, a balloon is hissing.
Edge
To: Clearly Penn. Oddsmakers are probably
chuckling at this fight. However, if one would like to take a
small financial risk for a large payout, consider that Serra
cuts a fair amount of weight and will easily be the largest man
Penn has faced in competition.
He's a good deal thicker and it could make it hard for Penn to impose his will on the ground. Keeping
it standing, he'll deliver a licking.
Winner:
Penn by KO.
Lightweight
Bout
Din Thomas vs. Caol Uno
In
the other Lightweight tourney bracket, we have a rematch. Three
years ago, Uno submitted Thomas in a Shooto event. That's a long
time to have to train and get better, and surely Thomas will
be a much tougher threat this time around. So, too, will Uno.
(After all, it's not like he sat around watching soaps for those
same three years.) His loss to Penn
excused, Uno usually looks good in the cage, bashing Fabiano
Iha and decisioning Yves Edwards. Thomas brings in sharper stand-up,
though his record is not stellar. He also took care of Iha and
lost to Penn. Notice a trend forming?
At
Stake: The finals of the tourney and the chance to lose to Penn slower this time.
Edge
To: Uno, who can usually ward off any style attack, unless it's
the crazy monkey technique utilized by Penn.
Winner:
Uno by decision.
Middleweight
(185 lb. and under) Bout
Phil Baroni vs. Dave Menne
While
some appreciate Baroni's straight shooter, New Yawk approach
to self-promotion, others find his personality grating. Either
way, it's good for the sport, as an athlete who arouses emotions
is bound to be remembered. Baroni remains largely dismissed even
after a great showing against Matt Lindland and a blowout of
Amar Soloev, one of the Russian imports that both Zuffa and fans
trumpeted as the Second Coming. Is he championship material?
Maybe, maybe not, but both bouts solidified his chance to at
least have a crack at it.
He's
got his work cut out for him in Menne, as durable a fighter as
they come. Rattling off his accomplishments assumes you have
time to spare: tons of wins in small Iowa shows, Shooto, RINGS,
and the UFC; the Kuwait tournament champion; former UFC Middleweight
champion. His KO losses are few, with one, to Murilo Bustamante,
coming after a bout of food poisoning. It's obvious that Baroni's
only chance of winning is via KO, and Menne ain't no inflatable.
At
Stake: A move back up the ranks and a possible crack at the title
Menne briefly held.
Edge
To: Menne, the ultimate storm-weathering fighter.
Winner:
Menne by decision, but it'll be more of a slugfest than people
would expect.
Heavyweight
Bout
Pedro Rizzo vs. Gan McGee
Yes,
Pedro, there is a Heavyweight title.
No,
beating Gan MeGee doesn't really mean you deserve your umpteenth
crack at it.
Make
no mistake: Rizzo is tougher than nails, and when not contesting
for a title, he will eventually allow his hands to fly, albeit
after an hours-long feeling out process. But for whatever reason,
Rizzo's attempts to capture a belt are usually met with yawns.
The glass ceiling is definitely in effect for the man.
McGee
is...large. At 6'10" and 265 lbs. he's about as sizable
as one can be and still contend in the Heavyweight division.
His lone Octagon appearance was a loss to Josh Barnett back in
November of 2000, in which he displayed aquatic movement.
At
Stake: Rizzo's reputation as a KO artist.
Edge
To: Rizzo, who should be able to easily wade through whatever
feeble defense McGee puts up en route to hammering his head into
the bleachers.
Winner:
Rizzo KO.
Middleweight
Bout
Ivan Salaverry vs. Matt Lindland
Salaverry
impressed with his Octagon debut against Andrei Semenov, the
other half of the Russian Invasion. He beat Semenov so severely
that even hardened fans cringed at the referee's neglect to stop
the bout sooner. Needless to say, his next fight is of great
interest.
Lindland,
a durable wrestler from Couture's camp, is one of the more difficult
fighters around. With an innate feel for positioning, it's hard
to put him in a bad spot. Even the proven conditioning and patience
of Pat Miletich was busted by Lindland in minutes. Bustamante
proved his talent by putting Lindland away twice in their title
bout in May, thanks to an aborted stop by referee John McCarthy.
Even so, it would be foolish to forget Lindland's otherwise impeccable
record and lineage.
At
Stake: Moving notches up the Middleweight rankings.
Edge
To: Lindland, the superior wrestler and more experienced combatant.
Winner:
Lindland by TKO.
Welterweight
(169 lb. and under) Bout
Sean Sherk vs. Benji Radach
Sherk
is a machine, a wrestler so disciplined and streamlined for aggression
and domination that all of his competition to date has been stifled.
Some TKOs have been mixed in with his fifteen wins, but most
come by decision.
Radach
is certainly overmatched here, with wins coming over Shannon
Ritch and Nick Serra. His bout vs. Steve Berger was halted prematurely
and declared a no contest.
At
Stake: A win here sets up Sherk for a high-profile fight against
a top name in the division. It seems inevitable that he'll get
his shot against fellow wrestler-monster Matt Hughes, a more
accomplished version of himself. In time, the fight could be
very competitive.
Edge
To: Position-taker and holder Sherk.
Winner:
Sherk by decision.
Heavyweight
Bout
Tim Sylvia vs. Wes
Correira
With
UFC debuts for both Correira and Sylvia, it'll likely
make for a slugfest. Correira, also known as "Cabbage" for his shape, is a slugger who
made his name in Hawaii. Sylvia, an Iowa native, has done much
of the same thing, knocking out tomato cans in Superbrawl.
At
Stake: Status as the UFC's new Tank Abbott, minus the personality.
Edge
To: Unknown.
Winner:
Cabbage, just because the guy clearly has a sense of humor.
Source:Maxfighting
9/21/02
Quote
of the Day
"It's kind of fun to
do the impossible."
Walt Disney
To
All of the Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Team
Come out today and join the rest of the Relson Gracie Team (Main
Academy, Kaneohe Team, Team HK, Gracie Kahuku, Gracie Kauai AND
CASCA GROSSA JIU-JITSU ACADEMY (Aiea)) as we try to capture the
NAGA team title.
Vote
BEFORE you come to NAGA
It doesn't take very long and you can make a difference in this
state, please take the time to vote. This is not a high school
test where you have to color in the circles on EVERY section.
If you are not familiar with the candidates don't vote in that
section. A dumb random vote will cancel out a well-educated vote.
If you don't know who to vote for, VOTE REPUBLICAN! The democrats
have taken us nowhere. Hawaii needs a change. Why not give the
new guys a chance?
Is it that obviously that I am a conservative republican?
Hawaiian
State Grappling Championship (NAGA) Today
(NAGA Submission
Tournament)
WHEN: Saturday, September 21st (10 AM TO 4 PM)
WHERE: Honolulu, HI (Farrington H.S. Gymnasium)
Tenative
Schedule
EVENT SCHEDULE –
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21ST, 2002
TIME
EVENT SPECIAL NOTES:
10:00 AM
DOORS OPEN to general public (Registration & Weigh-in begins
and lasts all day)
NO-GI GRAPPLING
DIVISIONS Begin at 11AM (Rings 1 through 3)
1. Kids, Youth,
Women & Senior Grappling Divisions
2. Men’s
Beginner Grappling Divisions (Under 1 year experience)
3. Men’s
Intermediate Grappling Divisions (1 to 2 years experience)
4. Men’s
Advanced Grappling Divisions (2+ years experience)
GI GRAPPLING
DIVISIONS: Begin at 11AM (Ring #4)
5. Men’s
Purple Belt & Above Gi Divisions
6. Men’s
Blue Belt Gi Divisions
7. Men’s
White Belt Gi Divisions, Women, Juniors & Master Gi Competition
NO GI 4-MAN
DIVISIONS:
8. Battle of
the Promoters (Brennan Kamaka vs. Kipp Kollar)
9. 4-Man Competition
Weigh-In Starts
at 10:30 AM and lasts all day
You do not need
to pre-register in order to compete
Compete in as
many divisions as you like
There will be
4 rings running continuously throughout the day
Note Purple
Belt & Above Gi Divisions start at 11AM
Source: Nagafighter
Website
Who
is the Top Dot Com &
Best Pound for Pound
An Editorial Article, By Dan Rose
Who’s
number 1?
There are a handful of sites out there covering MMA. Some of
them do it for money; some do it for the love of MMA, some both.
But when the rubber meets the road, who's number 1? We don’t
have the BCS, instead a lot of BS...let me try and get to the
bottom of this, and I can tell you right now, Sherdog has a big
edge.
Discuss
this week's Grind in the MMA Forums
First
off, let me say that this won’t be the content of my whole
article this week. I was asked by a close friend who I thought
did the best job of covering MMA on the net. I shot back, Sherdog,
ya idiot. He said, really? I thought about it, mulled it over,
scratched my head, and said, “Sherdog, ya idiot”, here’s
why.
Self
serving: "something that serves the needs or desires of
the presenting party." Close enough, what it means is someone
doing something for themselves. Like for instance someone who
writes for Sherdog telling everyone that Sherdog is the best.
However, if that person did some research and then came to a
decision independent of his own original thought, could it be
believable?
I
spent the majority of my Sunday watching football and checking
out the competition. I looked at news.adcombat.com, maxfighting.com,
fullcontactfighter.com, mma.tv, and fightworld.com. I also checked
out Sherdog, go figure, there were things on that page I had
never looked into before.
Here
are my independent reviews, based on what I saw.
news.adcombat.com:
The site is a news site that focuses more on the Brazilian fight
scene. It’s a good site to visit for like, page 2 stuff.
What I mean is you probably won’t see the interview with
Tito Ortiz or the mainstream UFC coverage, but you’ll get
interviews with fighters you might not know as well and plenty
of smaller shows getting coverage. Personally, I like that. I
think it’s a good source for news not covered in depth on
other webpages. Their main page is functional if not always in
agreement with other pages. Their top ten is very interesting
to me. It’s like a pound for pound top ten and here it is,
as of 9/16/02. 1. Don Frye, 2. Sakuraba, 3. Vanderlai Silva,
4. Igor Vovchanchyn, 5. Ricco, 6. Mark Kerr, 7. Mark Coleman,
8. Pat Miletich, 9. Ken Shamrock and 10. Tito Ortiz. I don’t
think that top ten list makes any sense at all. They have a forum
that is comparable to Maxfighting’s and their fighter database
is interesting and kind of unique. I’d give them a 6 out
of 10. Their Alexa ranking as far as how they rank against all
sites on the net, based on visits is 57,926. I’d rank them
third among the sites I visited.
maxfighting.com:
Maxfighting is a powerhouse in the MMA game. Their page layout
is fresh and they have a easy to navigate front page. Maxfighting
for a long time had made it’s reputation on their writing
and now they’ve added a members only paid area where rich
video and audio chats are available. Their video is usually exclusive
fighters training and they were the only MMA company to provide
video of Josh Barnett’s NSAC hearing. They have a forum
that is on the smaller side and they also have interviews, fight
picks, Josh Gross’ pound for pound top ten and a lot of
other features. Josh Gross leads a talented group of writer’s
in making Maxfighting.com among the best in the bunch. Their
Alexa ranking as far as how they rank against all sites on the
net, based on visits is 69,076. I’d rank them second among
all the sites I visited. I think any company that Josh is associated
with is going to be special. He’s a serious talent within
MMA.
FCFighter.com:
Their layout is very simple and they don’t have the level
of news depth that other sites here did. They have a news section
as well as a picture section. However, when I visited, their
news site was down. That was on Sunday Sept, 16th at 2PM MST.
They are mainly a website to sell their magazine and advertise
their television show and on those ends, they succeed. Their
Alexa ranking as far as how they rank against all sites on the
net, based on visits is 127,454. I’d rank them fifth among
the sites I visited.
MMA.tv:
Home to the infamous “Underground,” MMA.tv is a popular
webpage that serves as the largest forum in MMA. As far as news
and pictures and videos go, you won’t find it in the traditional
sense, but if you want to interact and share with fellow MMA
fans, other than Sherdog.com, this is the place to be. They are
visited by more people than any other MMA site reviewed with
an Alexa ranking of 14,075. They don’t really compare with
the others here since they aren’t a news site but simply
a large melting pot for MMA fans to talk MMA and flame over who’d
win a Rickson/Joe Son fight. I’d rank them fourth among
the sites I visit
Fightworld.com:
Fightworld.com has a similar layout to fcfighter.com. They are
the online home to HooknShoot and link their news to adcombat.com.
This site isn’t big or beautiful but it serves its purpose.
Their Alexa ranking as far as how they rank against all sites
on the net, based on visits is 391,532. I’d rank them last
among the sites I visited.
Sherdog.com:
Perhaps the most complete site on the net, it offers articles,
news, videos, pictures, and two features that set it apart. They
have an in depth Fight Finder feature that allows someone to
type in a fighters name and see their past fights often times
with photos and videos available. The forum on Sherdog is probably
second biggest but the best when it comes to content and moderation.
Where you’ll often times find people bashing the fighters
on the underground, that’s frowned upon at Sherdog.com.
Their Alexa ranking as far as how they rank against all sites
on the net, based on visits is 23,045. I’d rank them first
among the sites I visited.
***Editor's
note: Sherdog.com is ranked 23,045, while Sherdog.net (a separate
site) is ranked 56,281.***
Ok,
there ya go, a brief breakdown on some of the top MMA sites on
the net. Who’s the best? Well, if you follow Alexa, MMA.tv
is. However, they aren’t a news site, and are primarily
a forum. Of all the news/article content sites listed, Sherdog.com
wins over Maxfighting.com who is really the only site who is
even close. I don’t believe it’s just about the numbers
though. I honestly feel like the two best are Sherdog.com and
Maxfighting.com, in that order.
Ok,
enough about that, let’s talk about something different.
You know, I see a lot of people doing their pound for pound top
ten lists and I figured, why not, maybe I’ll do one. This
was very difficult for me to do but here’s my first version
of the Top 10. I’ll do this once a month. How’s the
second Wednesday of every month sound?
Pound
for Pound Top Ten
Rodrigo
Nogueira ~ His win over Sapp solidified him as the top fighter
in the world.
Murilo
Bustamante ~ The Bionic Brazilian has the most complete game
in the world.
Chuck
Liddell ~ He has been on a tear over the last year making him
the top LH.
Matt
Hughes ~ His style doesn’t sit well with everyone, but winning
never goes out of style.
Tito
Ortiz ~ Until he loses, he’ll be in the top five. A win
over Shamrock will propel him.
Anderson
Silva ~ His skill and style make him the most dangerous and entertaining
in the top 10.
Takanori
Gomi ~ He’s the top 155 guy in the world. He fights a lot
of top guys and beats them.
Josh
Barnett ~ The only real threat to Nog. Josh has emerged as a
top fighter in the world.
Vanderlai
Silva ~ The Axe Murderer would be way up on the list if he fought
someone decent in Pride.
Bob
Sapp ~ Hey, he’s raw but he’s good. For anyone who
doesn’t think he belongs, ask Nog.
Consideration to: Sakuraba, Pulver, Sakurai, Javy Vazquez, Cro
Cop & BJ Penn
(I definitely don't agree with Bob Sapp being on the list
- I would put Pulver - Chris)
The
word is that Evan Tanner is no longer in the UFC. Contract/Money
issues have severed another top fighter from the top American
MMA promotion. Rumor has it, Evan and Kevin Randleman will be
fighting in November but not for the UFC and that’s sad.
The top fighters should be fighting in the UFC. It’s just
that simple as far as I am concerned. We’ve already waived
bye-bye to Jens and now Evan is gone and they are dealing with
Murilo. If Murilo walks I’ll be crushed but, truth be told,
it’s a business. I hated when Joe Montana went to KC. I
hated Jerry Rice going to Oakland but it’s just the way
business is done. Hopefully the UFC realizes what they have in
Murilo and keep him home in the Octagon. If the day comes when
Phil Baroni has a place in the Octagon and Murilo doesn’t…..Zuffa
is gonna be on the business end of one of my hissy fits. Not
that it keeps them up at night.
Source: Sherdog
Dave
Menne Interview
September 19, 2002
By Brett Herman
Brett
Herman spoke with Dave Menne after his conversial bout with Robert
Ferguson. Menne is facing Phil Baroni at the next UFC.
Brett
Herman: You weren't 100 % when you fought Bustamante, any comments
on how that affected your fight?
Dave
Menne: Yeah, I definitley wasn't 100 %, I caught the flu that
everybody had, like the half people got there. I'm not using
it as an excuse, I don't know if I would have won if I had been
healthy, so time will tell. Hopefully I will win my next fight,
I'll get to fight him healthy and we'll find out. But, he's a
tough opponent, you know, I give him all the respect...I'd like
to fight him healthy.
Brett
Herman: Let's talk about a guy who recently said he can handle
you within 1 round, Phil Baroni.
Dave
Menne: He's a strong, tough guy, he can turn the fight to his
advantage pretty quick, so I don't take him lightly. I think
he also makes a lot of mistakes, so it's the kind of situation
where the fight can go either way. He's very aggressive, he comes
at you, but I think he makes a lot of mistakes. The fight could
be won either way...quick.
Brett
Herman: Did you get a chance to see Weir's KO in England?
Dave
Menne: Yeah, I got a chance to watch Weir, I think it's a situation
where he's got great attributes, but I don't think the fight
said much. Anytime anyone wins a fight under ten or twenty seconds...even
if they win two or three, I don't think it says much about them
as a fighter. He might be a great fighter, but you don't get
to see that until he's fought a great fight isn't thirty seconds.
It's when they fight the diffficult 15 minute fights and they
find a way to win. But, a ten second knockout, he's obviously
got some skills and he's talented, but I think the verdict is
still out on how good he really is.
Brett
Herman: Take him three or four rounds and see what happens?
Dave
Menne: Yeah, he definitely has skills and he has great attributes
having such a long body. It'd be nice to see him go past ten
seconds I guess, you can't say much about a fighter in ten seconds.
Everybody gets knocked out.
Brett
Herman: You are from Minnesota right? How's this epic California
weather treating you?
Dave
Menne: It's actually nicer than Minnesota has been, it's been
frickin' incredibly hot and humid, so this is actually a recovery
form what I've been training in, I've had like 90 % humidity,
on top of that in my gym it's probably twice as bad! So, it's
actually kind of refreshing...I went to a cooler climate for
a change.
Brett
Herman: A lot of great pro-wrestlers came out of Minnesota, do
you ever watch WWE?
Dave
Menne: No, I don't watch pro-wrestling, no. I just basically
train at the gym.
Brett
Herman: What do you do to relax and chill out?
Dave
Menne: Watch movies, read, cook every once in a while or BBQ,
stuff like that. I play games with my girlfriend every once in
a while.
Brett
Herman: Did you have any input on your entrance theme?
Dave
Menne: In the UFC? Yeah, I brought it to them, yeah. It was all
me.
Brett
Herman: Anything to say to your fans?
Dave
Menne: Hopefully we'll have a good showing next time, keep watching,
and I am not a man of a lot of fancy words I guess...just keep
watching!
Source: Sherdog
Dave
Menne: The Indestructible Warrior Returns at UFC 39
By Joe Hall
I
was sitting in one of two makeshift workout rooms in a New Jersey
hotel. Wrestling mats were sprawled across the floor, superstar
mixed martial artists spread across the room. Shonie Carter was
hammering Thai pads in the adjacent area while Ricco Rodriguez
and Dennis Hallman graced the mat at my feet. BJ Penn drilled
techniques at light speed with John Lewis near the far wall,
as Matt Hume chatted with Pat Miletich.
It
was the evening before UFC 32. The fighters and their camps were
putting in a final training session and cutting a little weight.
A virtual who's who of the sport passed through those rooms on
that night. With the final workouts finished and pools of sweat
resting on the mats, many of those same fighters and their camps
sat around chatting.
Jokes
were told and people laughed. Fight stories were exchanged and
related and laughed at, too. A camaraderie had established a
steady buzz in the room. Then Dave Menne walked in and the rhythmic
hum suddenly ceased. Now, Menne's no mega personality in the
sport, and you wouldn't expect a room to hush when he enters
it, but let me offer some background. Four months earlier, he
had captured the Warriors War tournament in Kuwait, taking out
Carlos Newton and two big, talented Russians all in the same
night. That field also boasted Matt Hughes and Pele, but Menne
was the last man standing. Then, instead of a vacation, he had
flown to Japan and fought in the King of Kings tournament just
two weeks later. Somewhere in between he had been labeled "The
Warrior." Word at UFC 32 had it that Menne was going to
join the UFC's soon-to-be-developed middleweight class, and that
he was aiming for the title.
He
hadn't poked his head into the room to train; he was simply stopping
by. He greeted the idle surroundings with a smile and a nod,
and after nearly everyone returned the gestures and tendered
a hello, he left. The silence remained, though, as everyone uncomfortably
eyed each other. Pat Miletich then courageously broke the awkward
stillness by announcing, "That's one tough son of a bitch."
Everyone laughed, unanimously agreed and returned to their conversations.
Three
months later, Menne won the UFC middleweight championship. The
belt marked the pinnacle of a four-and-a-half-year climb, which
began in HOOKnSHOOT, thrived in Extreme Challenge and eventually
led to the Octagon. His reign would not last long, however, as
Murilo Bustamante knocked him out and took the title in Menne's
first defense.
Even
though the loss was the most convincing defeat of his career,
it may also be the most persuasive testament of his toughness.
Several fighters at UFC 35 were bitten with an inopportune virus
-- none worse than Menne. It hit him the day of the show, triggering
diarrhea and vomiting. He was told he could not fight by his
manager Monte Cox, but decided to battle anyway. Twenty minutes
before walking out, he broke into sweats and dry heaves. He then
popped in an Imodium tablet to prevent an "accident"
during the fight and marched to the ring.
The
bout quickly turned into a surreal experience. Menne had no problem
thinking during the fight; he just couldn't control what he was
thinking about. He daydreamed about subjects completely irrelevant
to fighting or his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt opponent. Normally,
Menne said, he hears little during a match other than his corner.
On this night, however, he could decipher the announcers, various
people around the Octagon and fans yelling throughout the arena.
Perhaps
an even more admirable act than insisting on fighting is that
Menne declined publicly announcing his illness. When most fighters
would have emptied their lungs in explanation of their defeat,
Menne merely accepted the loss and went home with his mouth shut.
"It's just kind of the way I go about things," he told
MaxFighting after some badgering. "I've been injured or
seriously ill for quite a few different fights. Some of them
I've won, and some of them I've lost. I had separated cartilage
at King of the Kings between my ribs and couldn't close my right
hand before I actually fought. And then there's a fight in Hawaii
(against Chris Munsen), where I had a kidney infection and was
peeing blood. I was having a hard time standing before that.
"I
don't know necessarily if you can ever tell how much anything
affects you," he continued, returning to the subject of
his loss to Bustamante. "I knew I wasn't right, but like
I said, I had been there so many other times, where I had a ding
here or a tear there or bronchitis or something else. I typically
try to rise above it. That's not necessarily always a prudent
action, but when you decide to do what we do, if you're constantly
wanting to fight at 100-percent, you're never going to fight.
There's sometimes when someone should probably look at you and
just pull you. But sometimes…I'm the type of person that
just closes my eyes and lets the chips fall."
Menne
was scheduled to begin his road back to the title in May, but
he suffered a debilitating injury with which even he could not
compete. While training to face Andrei Semenov, the crushing
weight of a grappling partner and his own 190-pound frame collapsed
on top of him. The result was a third degree shoulder separation,
a chipped bone and busted blood vessels along his back.
Well
over a month passed as Menne waited patiently on the sidelines
for some sign of recovery. When he could finally sleep at night
absent of gnawing pain, he knew it was time to resume training.
He worked back into the mix slowly, holding pads, then hitting
them, and finally grappling again. Now, after nearly five months,
the shoulder has apparently mended. "It seems to be functioning
well, at the moment anyway," the Minnesota resident stated.
"My body probably will never be fully recovered, unless
there's a rebirth. But it works."
Talk
of beaten bodies aside, Menne has not excelled in the sport because
of his toughness alone. He can wrestle, strike, submit, but most
of all, he can think. Mixed martial arts enthusiasts are accustomed
to images of a battered and victorious Menne, but those pictures
don't capture the brilliant mind behind those triumphs. More
than ever, Menne's intelligence could be his biggest advantage
when he faces Phil Baroni at UFC 39.
Baroni
will be stronger and significantly more explosive, but Menne
has experience and wisdom on his side. "I think a lot of
his fight game comes down to he is overly aggressive, and he
seems to wind," Menne said of his upcoming foe. "But
if there is one thing that he has going for him, I've seen him
where he's about to die, but he keeps going. So if nothing else,
he does have a lot of heart. You can't take that away from him
and, in most instances, that's something that a person can't
learn. They either have it or they don't. He's a dangerous fighter
and lots of times, he's most dangerous when he is tired and when
he is hurt."
Previous
UFC matches against Matt Lindland and Amar Suloev have proven
that when Baroni is backed into a corner and apparently in trouble,
he roars out of it in a fit of aggression. Handling his opponent's
bursts of intensity will be vital for Menne. "In that situation,
that person's aggression is one of their biggest strengths, but
if you can play it right, you can exploit it too. If I can do
things to frustrate him and keep him out, lots of times that
aggression is going to turn on them. That's going to make them
start doubting themselves and putting themselves in bad positions.
That can make them make mistakes. It's a little bit of a dangerous
game, but anytime you're fighting it's a dangerous game.
"I
have to control the action, where the fight goes. I can't let
him start his ball rolling, can't let him get confident. That's
where he's more and more dangerous. I have to keep him in his
box, doubting himself, doubting himself and thinking about what
he needs to do rather than just doing it. If I can pull him out
of just reacting and just fighting into having to think his way
around me, then I think the game's in my arena. Getting past
the first round, too. I think that's probably where he's going
to be the most dangerous."
Mind
games centered on pre-fight banter have also become a characteristic
of Menne's adversary. Although Baroni hasn't slung any mud yet,
Connecticut (host of UFC 39) might serve as a mucky playground.
"I don't think it's going to make me scared," commented
Menne. "The time comes in the ring. You make your predictions
about what you're going to do, and who you are, and where you're
going in the sport, and what tomorrow is going to be, but it
just comes down to the 15 or the 25 minutes in there. I'd rather
just go in there and do what I know I can and take my business
to the next fight."
To
ensure he'll be ready for Baroni, Menne has been in Iowa preparing
for a potential war. He's been on the mat with Miletich and all
of Pat's boys: Horn, Fryklund, Lawler and others. He's also stepped
in the ring to spar with many of the same fighters, including
Jens Pulver and Laverne Clark. The shoulder has held up well
through the rigorous training, and he says he'll walk into the
Octagon physically primed.
The
psychological aspect of fighting, on the other hand, has never
been a problem for Menne. However, his lengthy furlough may prevent
him from peaking on the same mental level that he attained prior
to the Bustamante fight. "That's the kind of thing that
comes out when you're in there," he explained. "I guess
we'll find out in a couple of weeks. If anything, I feel like
I've matured as a fighter. I'm seeing more things and expanding
my game. As far as mentally tough though, that comes down to
the fire."
Mentally,
physically -- Menne is tough in every way that can be articulated
and even in some ways that can't. I know that for a fact. I saw
it in the acknowledging eyes of a room full of fighters last
summer.
