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World Gracie Professional Submission Championships
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February 2004 News
Part 3
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night and Sunday classes (w/ a kids' class) now offered!
 
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Quote
of the Day
"Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human
condition, there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing
to correct our mistakes."
George Soros, American Businessman, Financier
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Absolute
Fighting Championships #7 Results
War Memorial Coliseum, Ft Lauderdale, FL.
Friday, February 27th, 2004
A
great night of fights! The European fighter looked very good,
and ATT went 2-0-1 against a Japanese team.
Submission
of the Night: EDSON DINIZ
Fighter of the Night: ANTONY REA
COMPLETE
RESULTS:
3
RDS / 185 LBS: Marcel Ferreira (American TOP TEAM, Ft Lauderdale,
FL.) v. Izuru Takeuchi (Pancrase, Tokyo, Japan): DRAW
3
RDS / 185 LBS: Jorge Santiago (American TOP TEAM, Ft Lauderdale,
FL.) v. Takuya Wada (Pancrase, Tokyo, Japan): Santiago via arm
lock, 1:52 RD1.
3
RDS / 155 LBS: Edson Diniz (American TOP TEAM, Ft Lauderdale,
FL) Hiroki Kotani (Tokyo, Japan): Diniz via Arm Lock, 3:01 RD
1.
2
RDS / 170 LBS: Thiago 'PITBULL' Alves (American TOP TEAM, Ft
Lauderdale, FL) v. Nuri Shakir (Team ELITE, NH): Alves by Judges
Decision.
2
RDS / 185 LBS: Charles McCarthy (Freestyle Fighting Academy,
Miami, FL.) v. David Bielkheden (Team Scandinavia, Stockholm,
Sweden): Bielkheden by Strikes, RD 1, 3:33.
2
RDS / 205 LBS: Mark Tullius (Pires JJ, Las Vegas, NV.) v. Antony
Rea (Toulouse, France): Rea by KO, RD 1 3:50.
2
RDS / 155 LBS: Gesias 'JZ' Calvancanti (American TOP TEAM, Ft
Lauderdale, FL.) v. Justin Wisniewski (Duneland Vale Tudo, Portage,
IN): Cavalcanti by Guillotine, RD 1 :53.
2
RDS / 185 LBS: Efrain Ruiz (Freestyle Fighting Academy, Miami,
FL) v. Todd Carney (Freelance, West Virginia): Carney by KO,
RD 1, 1:29.
2
RDS / 170 LBS: Joakim Engberg (SHOOTERS Int'l, Gothenberg, Sweden)
v. Landon Showalter (Pearson Systems, Seattle, WA): DRAW
2
RDS / 170 LBS: Sauli Heilimo (Team Scandinavia, Turku, Finland)
v. Carlo Prater (Yves Edwards Thugjitsu, Houston, TX): DRAW
2
RDS / 155 LBS: James Edson Berto (Tiger's World, Orlando, FL)
v. Scott Johnson (Freelance, Orlando, FL.): Berto via strikes,
4:59 RD 1.
Source:
ADCC |
EXCLUSIVE:
Vitor Belfort Interview
BoxingInsider.com
Interview with Vitor Belfort
Boxinginsider.com:
Vitor, first off, how are you feeling?
Vitor
Belfort: I’m feeling good.
Boxinginsider.com:
Can you give us an update on the status of your sister?
Vitor
Belfort: We don’t have any news yet. We don’t have
a clue. We don’t have anything concrete, so we are kind
of blocked right now. We don’t know what is going on.
Boxinginsider.com:
I just wanted to let you know that the thoughts and prayers of
all the fans are with you and your family.
Vitor
Belfort: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Boxinginsider.com:
Now going on to the fight at UFC 46. First off, your fight with
Randy Couture had a bizarre ending. What are your thoughts on
what happened?
Vitor
Belfort: It wasn’t anything. I punched … I threw a
punch on him and it hit him by the eye. He had a cut and they
thought it was better to stop the fight.
It
was the right decision. I feel I would like to have proven more
of what I could do in the fight, but I didn’t have a chance
to prove how well I trained, to show everything that I did in
training—so it’s frustrating for everyone.
Boxinginsider.com:
Will you give Randy Couture a rematch?
Vitor
Belfort: For sure. Right now they’re talking with me about
that. … My goal was to fight Couture. If I win—even
Couture … because Couture went to Japan and challenged Pride
to fight for the belt—so he did all this promotion. So I
think it would have been very good for the sport. I would like
to get a chance [to fight against Pride champion, Wanderlei Silva]
and also to give Randy a rematch. I think this would be awesome.
I think all the fans would be very interested to see those fights.
Boxinginsider.com:
What made Randy Couture come out on the Internet last weekend
and start bashing you? Randy was saying that you weren’t
going to step up for a rematch. I guess he was looking for an
immediate rematch? Randy was saying that you weren’t stepping
up and going to give him a rematch. He was pretty vocal about
it.
Vitor
Belfort: Yes, because Randy said he would have beaten me. I know
for sure that Randy would have wanted Wanderlei. That’s
his main goal. Giving him a rematch would be very, very welcome,
but I have to look out for my career, not for his career. He
wants a rematch very badly because he came off from two good
wins and then he lost to me. I think he’s frustrated right
now. He wants the belt again. He deserves it, but I think he
needs to understand that I am looking for the best for me right
now. The best for Vitor is the [Pride] title, because if I beat
Wanderlei, I will hold the title. I am looking for my best interests
and the best interests for mixed martial arts. For sure my fight
against Wanderlei will be a much, much bigger job than me and
Randy Couture again.
Boxinginsider.com:
Can you comment on the negotiations between you and Wanderlei
Silva? Is the UFC involved? Are they looking at a UFC/Pride co-promoted
event?
Vitor
Belfort: That’s what Dana spoke to me about before I signed
the fight. He said, “Vitor, if you beat Randy you will fight
Wanderlei again. That’s our goal in UFC”. I don’t
know what’s going on right now. I’m looking forward
to see that fight happen. If not, I will do whatever UFC wants
me to do. I mean I am under contract with them, but I would like
to get a shot at [Wanderlei]. I’m looking out for my career
and for all the fans. I know the fans would love to see me against
Wanderlei. It would be the biggest draw in the whole world of
mixed martial arts fighting.
Boxinginsider.com:
Can you comment on your contractual status with the Ultimate
Fighting Championship? How many fights left do you have on the
contract?
Vitor
Belfort: I have several more fights. I cannot talk about the
contract.
Boxinginsider.com:
So even though it didn’t really come out, I want to go back
to that fight. What was your original game plan going into the
Randy Couture fight? If it wouldn’t have ended, what was
your plan?
Vitor
Belfort: I was so prepared with my boxing skills. I knew I was
so sharp. If God and Jesus could have stood up with me that night—I
know God gave me the strength to go there and do my best. My
main goal is to train, get very well prepared, step in the Octagon,
and do the best I can do. That’s my main goal.
Boxinginsider.com:
When do you plan on fighting again?
Vitor
Belfort: Right now? Actually right now I’m going to Rio
de Janeiro. I’m going to spend two weeks with my family—one
week with my mother and right after that we are going off to
help find my sister. Then I’m going to take my honeymoon
because I couldn’t take my honeymoon yet. I’m going
to spend a week on my honeymoon, and after my honeymoon I will
be ready to fight again. I’ll go to a camp and train for
the next fight.
Boxinginsider.com:
Can you tell us a little bit about the training in Brazil and
how it is different from training in the United States?
Vitor
Belfort: Oh, I think it is not different. It is just a matter
of opportunity, you know what I mean. Right now nobody gave me
the opportunity to work in the States. I would like to open a
gym in Miami one day. I am planning to go to the States in the
future, but right now I don’t have any contacts, no opportunity
yet. But I am going to work to make an opportunity in the future
to open a gym in the States and I can keep more contacts with
my fans in America, work and have a good life. That’s basically
what I like to do, is to help the sport to grow. America is a
very good place to be. It is a good market, and I think I have
a very good name in America.
Boxinginsider.com:
This is definitely true. Can you tell us about the reception
you received from the people of Brazil upon your return?
Vitor
Belfort: Everyone is very happy, very honored. But I am passing
through a rough time right now and people understand that. It
is hard to celebrate right now. But, I thank God every day for
what he gave me. He gave me a chance to be a world champion,
and it is not just because I am good. It was because of His will.
I am very humble. I am not looking for the ego of the champion.
I feel that everybody deserves to be a champion one day and everybody
is definitely a champion—just to step into the ring makes
you a champion. I am very happy to have the belt with me right
now. I just want to thank Jesus for what he’s doing in my
life and what he has done in my life. And I know His will is
the best will for our lives. I just pray he keeps continuing
to bless my life, to bless my career, and keep my head straight.
I cannot just be champion inside the ring, but outside the ring
is definitely the most hard and difficult area to be a world
champion.
Boxinginsider.com:
What are your thoughts on the upcoming Tito Ortiz versus Chuck
Liddell fight?
Vitor
Belfort: It is hard to pick, because both fighters have trained
together in the past. They know the game. I think it can be a
very interesting fight or a very boring fight. So I am cheering
for a very good match, an exciting match, and the best man on
the night to win. I am going to be here, just watching it and
seeing what is going on.
Boxinginsider.com:
Do you have any final messages or plugs or anything you would
like to tell the fans?
Vitor
Belfort: I would like to thank the fans for helping and supporting
the fighters and the mixed martial arts. I would like to just
tell them how important it is to have the fans supporting us
and helping our careers and the sport, giving us opportunities
to reach our goals. Without the fans the sport wouldn’t
be what it is right now, and just tell them live a good life.
Get a chance to meet Jesus and see how good it is to be a Christian.
That’s definitely the most hard, hard part of life, because
we’ve got to fight against temptation, against evil people—so
we’ve got to be very, very calm, trying to have the mind
of Christ, and this is a difficult area in which to be a champion.
I hope one day I can go to eternal life. I want to meet all my
fans there and all my family. Over there we are not going to
have pain, we are not going to have bad feelings—just good
stuff from God, giving us our eternity. Maybe that’s what
I would like to tell the fans, that I would like to meet them
one day over there.
Source:
Boxing Insider |
Quote
of the Day
"Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is active;
it is concentrated strength."
Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton, 1803-1873, British Novelist, Poet
|
Help
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808
Fight Factory's Rob Villapondo & Alex Stevenson Win at GC!
Gladiator
Challenge
Soars at Eagle Mountain
Held February 24, 2004
At Eagle Mountain Casino - Porterville, CA
Report and photos by Keith Mills
Although
billed as a smaller Gladiator Challenge the show on February
24th had some memorable moments. These smaller shows feed into
the larger Gladiator Challenges which in turn feed into King
Of the Cage, Gladiator Challenge's sister promotion. One of the
surprising aspects about this card was the presence of two 808
Fight Factory fighters for what amounted to a local show considering
808 Fight Factory are based in Hawaii. The other was the crowd's
reaction, especially to the 'grudge matches' where tribal and
local grievances were settled in the cage. There were no belts
on the line.
Both
Gladiator Challenge and King Of the Cage are known for their
preference of standup action and relatively high percentage of
knockouts. That is why it was so surprising to see the four main
events end in two armbars, a front choke, and a decision. The
biggest surprise of the night literally was from the tribal grudge
match between Stan Dressler vs. Warren Rubio fight. Dressler
weighed in at a whopping 320 lbs. and looked to stand about 7'
tall while Rubio weighed in at 195 lbs. and seemed about 5'9".
Some of he fans couldn't believe it when Rubio actually seemed
to be getting the better of the giant standing but Dressler ended
the fight with a rear naked choke instead of ground and pound.
Look
for a full report in the next issue of Full Contact Fighter.
Full
Results
A.L. Roso def. Tony Very 1:09 R2 by rear choke
Brian Cota def. Leo Costa by TKO
Costa could not continue between rounds 1 & 2)
Stan Dressler def. Warren Rubio 2:06 R1 by rear choke
Bobby Suggs def. Tino Alverado 1:31 R1 by TKO
Richard Goodman def. Hector Celaya 0:48 R1 by choke
Rob Villapando
def. Miah
Mills 1:40 R1 by tapout to strikes
K.P. Endlen def. J.D. Burnett by judges' decision (2 rounds)
Alex Pulotu Stevenson def. Leo Reyes 2:33 R1 by TKO
Francisco Ramero def. Go Go Sanchez by TKO between rounds 1 &
2 (cut)
Robert Escalera def. Pedro Mercado 0:13 R1 by KO
Felix Garcia def. Frank Megallen by unanimous decision (2 rounds)
Morris Aldaco def. Caesar Guiterrez 3:01 R1 by TKO
Dustin Arden def. Anthony Ruiz by unanimous decision (2 rounds)
Cody Grimes def. Joe Hernandez 2:13 R2 by front choke
Dan Camarillo def. Robert Breslin 0:39 R1 by armbar
Josh Gardner def. Tony Liamas 0:51 R1 by armbar
Source:
FCF |
DREAM
STAGE ENTERTAINMENT INTRODUCES
DREAM STAGE PICTURES
LOS ANGELES, California Dream Stage Entertainment, the parent
company of the PRIDE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS, announces the formation
of Dream Stage Pictures, an affiliate company for the creation
of motion pictures.
Already
in production is Dream Stage Pictures first film, a tale entitled
Nagurimono (translated as one whose nature it is to fight), which
takes place in Edo (Tokyo) at the end of the Shogunate Rule during
the 1860s. The story involves exclusive, private fights being
held for the entertainment of feudal lords and shoguns. The film
will be a combination of action and romance and will feature
up and coming Japanese actor, Hiroshi Tamaki, as well as established
film and television star, Takenori Jannai.
The
goal of Dream Stage Pictures is to create quality films that
do not necessarily focus around the presence of PRIDE FC fighters.
Nonetheless, fighters may have bit roles in the films among others,
Nagurimono will include Kazushi Sakuraba, Don Frye, Wanderlei
Silva, Quinton Jackson, Alexander Otsuka, and Yoshihiro Takayama.
Dream Stage Entertainment takes great pride in maintaining a
strong relationship with its fighters throughout their fight
careers and, as such, it is the intention of Dream Stage Pictures
to continue to maintain a strong relationship with fighters and
to open the doors for them to explore a new career when their
fighting days are over.
What
the Fighters are Saying:
Kazushi
Sakuraba: I was so nervous that I asked the director to make
my lines shorter, as few as possible. There was a scene where
I had to have a stare down with Tamaki's character and that was
the hardest thing for me because I don?t even stare down my opponents
in the ring when I really fight.
Yoshihiro
Takayama: I didn't get nervous at all. I felt ok because I'm
always fighting in front of large audiences anyway. In the movie
I fought against Don Frye! We actually punched and hit each other
seriously and I really think the audience will feel that it's
real because it was. I think the audience can enjoy the fight
scenes on their own?
Don
Frye: This is the third movie for me, but in the past I had just
done cowboy roles in westerns. This movie is kind of like a Japanese
version of a western and I thought it was really cool. I fought
against Takayama again, just like in real life. We fought for
real and we slugged it out. At one point he gave me a serious
big boot (laughing).
Wanderlei
Silva: I'm very happy and honored to be involved. This is like
a totally new challenge for me and it gives me an opportunity
to explore other possibilities instead of just being a fighter.
Quinton
Jackson: The movie is really cool. I think I may have decided
what my second career is! I fought Sakuraba in this movie and
I?m telling you it's gonna look real. We really worked on it.
I think it may be the best scene in the movie.
For
action photos from the movie involving the above listed fighters,
please email Turi Altavilla @ t_altavilla@pridefc.com.
Nagurimono
is expected to debut in September of 2004.
For
the latest in PRIDE FC news, visit pridefc.com!
Source:
ADCC |
Pancrase
Latest Official Rankings
as of 2/24/2004
[Open-weight]
the 10th Open-weight K.O.P. Josh Barnett (U.S.A./New Japan Pro-Wrestling)
#1 Yuki Kondo (PANCRASEism)
#2 Semmy Schilt (Holland/Golden Glory)
#3 Yoshiki Takahashi (PANCRASEism)
#4 Sanae Kikuta (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#5 Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#6 Nathan Marquardt (U.S.A./Colorado Stars)
#7 VACANT
[Super
heavyweight(221lbs. and over)]
the 1st Super heavyweight K.O.P. VACANT
#1 Semmy Schilt (Holland/Golden Glory)
#2 Ron Waterman (U.S.A./Team Impact)
#3 Tim Lajcik (U.S.A./Gladiators Training Academy)
#4 Keigo Takamori (Pancrase MEGATON)
#5 Sehaku (RJW/CENTRAL)
#6 Jun Ishii (Chojin Club)
#7 Jimmy Ambriz (U.S.A./New Japan Pro-Wrestling)
#8 KENGO (PANCRASEism)
[Heavyweight(199lbs.~under
221lbs.)]
the 1st Heavyweight K.O.P. Yoshiki Takahashi (PANCRASEism)
#1 Tsuyoshi Ozawa (Zendokai)
#2 Katsuhisa Fujii (UFO)
#3 Jason Godsey (U.S.A./I.F. Academy)
[Light
heavyweight(181lbs.~under 199lbs.)]
the 3rd Light heavyweight K.O.P. Yuki Kondo (PANCRASEism)
#1 Sanae Kikuta (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#2 Ricardo Almeida (U.S.A./Renzo Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy)
#3 Akihiro Gono (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#4 Nilson de Castro (Brazil/Chute Boxe Academy)
#5 Daisuke Watanabe (PANCRASEism)
#6 David Terrell (U.S.A./Cesar Gracie Academy)
#7 Yuki Sasaki (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#8 Keiichiro Yamamiya (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#9 Osami Shibuya (PANCRASEism)
#10 Ikuhisa Minowa (freelance)
[Middleweight(165.7lbs.~
under 181lbs.)]
the 4th Middleweight K.O.P. Ricardo Almeida (U.S.A./Renzo Gracie
Jiu Jitsu
Academy)
#1 Nathan Marquardt (U.S.A./Colorado Stars)
#2 Izuru Takeuchi (SK Absolute)
#3 Crosley Gracie (U.S.A./Ralph Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy)
#4 Kazuo Misaki (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#5 Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#6 Eiji Ishikawa (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#7 Hidehiko Hasegawa (SK Absolute)
#8 Shonie Carter (U.S.A./AIKI Training Hall)
#9 Yuichi Nakanishi (freelance)
#10 Jake Shields (U.S.A./Cesar Gracie Academy)
[Welterweight(152.5lbs.~
under 165.7lbs.)]
the 1st Welterweight K.O.P. Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#1 Koji Oishi (PANCRASEism)
#2 Takafumi Ito (PANCRASEism)
#3 Kenichi Serizawa (Wajutsu Keishukai Suruga Dojo)
#4 Satoru Kitaoka (PANCRASEism)
#5 Hiroki Nagaoka (MMA Dojo DOBUITA)
#6 Yuji Hoshino (Wajutsu Keishukai GODS)
#7 Takuya Wada( SK Absolute)
#8 Heath Sims (U.S.A./Team Quest)
[Lightweight(141.4lbs.~
under 152.5lbs.)] VACANT
[Featherweight(under
141.4lbs.)] VACANT
Source:
Mr Oitate |
Memories
strong 40 years after Ali won title
(AP)
-- Gene Kilroy wanted to talk about his friend, Muhammad Ali.
Not
about the time Ali stopped George Foreman in the Rumble in the
Jungle, or the time Ali fought a brutal fight with Joe Frazier
in Manila, though Kilroy was at both fights.
He
wanted to talk about Ali, the man.
It
was 40 years ago Wednesday that Ali won the heavyweight title
with an improbable upset of the feared Sonny Liston in Miami.
The years have gone by too fast, and the once brash, mouthy young
champion now trembles with age and disease and talks sparingly
in whispers.
But
the memories are fresh for Kilroy, who was at Ali's side for
much of his career as his trusted confidante and pal.
His
love for Ali is as fresh as the day they met.
'If
I was to die today and go to heaven it would be a step down,'
Kilroy said. 'Because my heaven was being with Ali.'
That
heaven stretched from the jungles of Zaire to the mountains of
Pennsylvania, from Ali's triumphant reign as champion to his
sad final title fight with Larry Holmes. Kilroy was there most
of the way, working as Ali's business manager and enjoying the
ride of a lifetime.
READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE CNN / SI
'Everyone who was around Muhammad, who was a part of his group,
would have taken a bullet for him,' Kilroy said. 'I felt the
same way.'
His
stories sound bigger than life, because the man he was with was
bigger than life. That they are all true only makes them better.
There
was the flight to Zaire, where Ali was going to take on the dreaded
Foreman in a fight most thought he had little chance of winning.
There were several thousand people waiting in the early morning
darkness for the plane and, as it landed, Ali turned to Kilroy
and asked him who the people of Zaire disliked most.
Source:
ADCC
|
Kerr
pulls a Lindland
By: Mike Sloan
Mark
Kerr was once not only known as The Specimen, but he was also
known as one of the world?s most feared mixed martial arts fighters.
He eventually transformed himself into not only ?The Smashing
Machine,? but also into arguably the sport?s biggest waste of
talent.
As
we all know by now after watching the legendary HBO documentary
about Kerr, he was stuck on a path to nowhere, hooked on a myriad
of different drugs while wallowing in self doubt and depression.
Thankfully for his wellbeing, Kerr was able to incant his spirit
and rid his carcass of the sewage that eroded his career.
Kerr,
who tore through the WVC, UFC and PRIDE, amassed a 12-0 record
with 1 no contest until the demons clenched their sinister fists
around his delicate soul, jeopardizing not only his career, but
his life as well.
Losses
to Kazuyuki Fujita, Igor Vovchanchyn and Heath Herring were indications
that maybe Kerr wasn?t this stellar destroying cyborg we all
thought he was. Nobody truly knew the battle he was waging within
his head during these down times until the HBO documentary was
released.
His
absence from the sport for two years was a mystery until the
truth ravaged the MMA world. After conquering his addictions
and gathering the missing pieces to the jigsaw puzzle that was
his life, Kerr was determined to grasp the rungs of the ladder
that lead the pinnacle of his sport andstart from scratch.
Absent
from the fight world for nearly 2 ½ years, Kerr finally
returned to action in Pride 27: Inferno, against the game but
below .500 Norihisa Yamamoto, a PRIDE veteran who made a career
of losing to the best of the best. If Kerr was even a shell of
his old self, he was to trounce the beloved Japanese warrior.
When
Kerr walked into the ring and removed his outerwear, he revealed
to everybody that his chiseled, sculpted body had vanished and
left behind a trimmed down yet flabby cocoon of his old image.
Though Kerr had peeled off a reported few dozen pounds since
his last duel, he looked old and worn out, as if he has forgotten
what a dumbbell was.
?This
doesn?t look good, I thought to myself during the introductions.
There is no way Kerr can be as dominant as he once was.
After
the bell rang to kick off the action, it was obvious that Kerr
was mummified in about three inches of ring rust. His feeble
punches missed their marks by feet, not mere inches. His shoot
lacked confidence and even though he was able to clinch onto
Yamamoto, it was as novice as one could get.
Kerr
quickly scooped up his foe and scored what looked at first to
be a classic double leg, but once he slammed Yamamoto to the
canvas, Kerr rolled over and became a sitting duck for his opponent,
who quickly rained down several moderately stinging strikes.
The ref, noticing that Kerr was knocked out cold, immediately
stopped the contest and awarded Yamamoto with the TKO victory
in under a minute of the opening round.
Kerr
scored a classic takedown, but he dug his head too deeply into
Yamamoto and when he slammed is opponent to the canvas, his noggin
was the first to crash, knocking himself into next week. One
positive aspect that arose from this debacle, though, is that
Matt Lindland can exhale a sigh of relief knowing that he?s not
the only one to knock himself out with such a nincompoopian blunder.
So,
not a single question was answered that night in Japan because
for one, the fight ended too quickly and on such wacky terms.
Though it?s a loss that is tagged onto Kerr's professional record,
one shouldn?t discount him just yet. We have to wait for his
next contest before we should start judging him.
But
for starters, was Kerr truly that great of a fighter? He never
defeated an opponent who was considered an elite fighter; the
biggest wins of his career were against Daniel Bobish (solid
but not great), Paul Varelans (popular because of his size during
UFC's formative years), Branco Cikatic (a career kickboxer) and
Enson Inoue (okay, I?ll give him that one).
Of
the top men he's faced besides Inoue, he?s lost to them; Herring
and Vovchanchyn. So what can truly be expected of Kerr when he
returns to action later this year? PRIDE will assuredly toss
in a lower level opponent, in not Yamamoto again, and if Kerr
passes the test like we hope he does, we?ll have to wait another
period of time before he wages war with an upper echelon heavyweight.
Though
it?s doubtful that PRIDE will include him in their heavyweight
Grand Prix, one can rest assured that Kerr will not be pitted
against the likes of CroCop, Fedor or Nogueira anytime soon.
It?s
unfortunate that we didn't get to fully see what Kerr was made
of during PRIDE 27, and it?s even more bitter of a taste to have
to wait even longer to see what has become of the Specimen/Titan/Smashing
Machine.
In
essence, Kerr is more reminiscent of Mike Tyson than anybody.
He feasted on meager opposition early in his career and looked
indestructible. As deep personal problems began to surface, he
lost fights to more seasoned opponents and basically tossed his
entire career into the garbage disposal. Hopefully, as not in
the case of Tyson because it's far too late for him, Roto Rooter
can unclog the pipes and salvage what is left of Kerr's career.
Though it's not too late, the sands of time for Kerr are undoubtedly
running low.
Source:
Sherdog
|
|
Don't
miss the first pics from DSE film
Check
out the first pictures from Nagurimono, first production of Dream
Stage Pictures, affiliate company of DSE for the creation of
motion pictures. The screen production is turning the fight heads
and there're fighters considering the possibility of acting as
a second carreer. 'The movie is really cool. I think I may have
decided what my second career is!', stated Jackson, who fought
Sakuraba in one of the best movie scenes, according to him.
Nagurimono,
'one whose nature it's to fight, takes place in Tokyo at the
end of the Shogunate Rule, during the 1860s. The story involves
exclusive, private fights being held for the entertainment of
feudal lords and shoguns. According to Dream Stage Pictures,
the idea is to produce high quality movies that do not necessarily
focus around the presence of Pride fighters. But they also guarantee
a close relationship with the Pride athletes, opening their doors
to them to a new carreer after their ring retirement.
If
Jackson felt himself comfortable in front of the cameras, the
same we couldn't say about his scene partner Sakuraba. 'I's so
nervous that I asked to the director to make my lines shorter',
confessed Saku. A man who loves new challenges, Wanderlei Silva
was happy with the opportunity. 'It gave me an opportunity to
explore other possibilities instead of just being a fighter',
celebrated the Axe Murder. Besides Wanderlei, Sakuraba and Quinton
Jackson, the movie also brings to the big screen, this summer,
Yoshihiro Takayama and Don Frye.
Check
out about 5 of them at http://www.tatame.com.br
Source:
Tatame |
Onzuka.com
Back Online
First off, sorry for the last two days of down time. We have
been working hard to increase our readership for our site so
that the people that advertise with us gets maximum visibility
and we can attract more advertisers. The problem is that now
we are exceeding our bandwidth for our account and it got knocked
off.
Do
us a favor, for you loyal readers of our page, please bookmark
our news page so that you go there directly. I think part of
the problem may be that people are going to Onzuka.com, watching
all the flash stuff, and then going on to our news site. The
flash is killer I must admit, but if you have seen it before,
downloading the flash everyday is adding up to a lot of bandwidth
that is downloaded on a daily basis.
Thanks
again for your emails of concern for our site being down and
we will try our best to keep the latest and greatest MMA news
on the site on a daily basis. We will also continue focusing
on Hawaii based events and fighters which we all should support
by encouraging the fighters and going to the events to keep the
promoters in business to produce more MMA events. Without support,
most of us will be without our fix of MMA events and many up
and coming fighters will be left on the shelf with no events
to fight in.
Again,
please bookmark
http://www.onzuka.com/news.html
check it daily and tell your friends about our site!
Thanks,
Aloha, and God Bless! |
Quote
of the Day
"So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they
seem improbable,
and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable."
Christopher Reeve, 1952-, American Actor, Director
|
Punishment
In Paradise 3
"WARRIORS"
Friday May 7, 2004
We have already gotten verbal confirmations from Team Big Dogs
Wayne Pierin Jr and Kickboxing Champion The Dominator. Also Jesus
Is Lords Bob Ostrovich along with Waianae's PJ Dean from Bad
Intentions.
We
are also looking for new and always exciting talent to participate
in interested contact matchmaker @ second2none@hawaii.rr.com or 330-4483.
Mahalo
Source:
Promoter |
Baroni
vs. Tanner II?
Baroni's Game
By Loretta Hunt
Would anyone care for a Baroni-Tanner rematch? "The New
York Bad Ass" Phil sure would. On the heels of Tuesday's
notification from the Department of Athletic Regulation for the
Mohegan Tribe that his one year suspension had been reduced to
three months, the UFC middleweight contender wasted no time yesterday
in naming who he'd like to square off against next in his return
to the Octagon anticipated for June or July.
"I
believe everyone wants to see the Evan Tanner fight, except for
Evan Tanner," an enthused Baroni relayed from his home in
Las Vegas. "I don't think he wants to fight me in any way
shape or form."
It
was a controversial bout back at November's UFC 45 that saw Baroni
score early on against his opponent with his punching power,
until Tanner turned the tables late in the round and achieved
full mount on route to a questionable stoppage at the hands of
referee Larry Landless. "I think he knows that he was very,
very lucky last time," comments Baroni on their first meeting.
"I think he knows he was saved by Larry [Landless] and he
think he wants to get out of there the way he did with a cheesy
win and never see me inside the cage again. He said numerous
times that he's never been hit so hard and that's funny, because
I never really hit him that hard. I hit him with glancing shots.
When I hit him hard, he's gonna be asleep. He'll be on his back
and I'll be on top of him pounding away till the referee pulls
me off."
Although
Baroni says he's game to lock horns with Tanner again, he's also
skeptical that his Team Quest adversary will take the challenge.
"He had a big mouth after the fight which is very uncharacteristic
of Evan Tanner. I said nothing to the guy. I didn't take anything
away from his so-called win, and he came on the Internet with
his big mouth and started making comments and the reason he did
that was because he's afraid. Probably for the first time in
his life, he was afraid to fight someone and that someone is
me. I guarantee he won't fight me. He'll say he wants to fight
me, but he'll price himself out of the fight. It's gonna be an
amount that he knows the UFC won't pay him. He's going to fucking
do that. I guarantee it. I'm telling you guys first now before
it happens. That's going to be his way of getting out of fighting
me again."
Calls
to the UFC last night confirmed the rematch is indeed under consideration.
UFC president Dana White voiced that the organization is looking
to make the bout happen as early as UFC 48, although no formal
offers have been made to Tanner at this time.
See
Evan Tanner's response below
Source:
FCF |
Tanner
Responds:
He'll Take That Rematch
By Loretta Hunt
Team
Quest fighter Evan Tanner has gotten wind of Phil Baroni's reduced
suspension revelation, as well his request for a rematch, and
he's not too enthused. "A reduced suspension?" Tanner
scoffed from his home in Oregon earlier today. "He's not
getting punished at all. Shoot, I'll sometimes have to sit out
nine months between fights. What's three months? That's nothing.
That's just a formality. He got his fine, which may have hurt
him a little bit, but as far as having to sit out, that was just
a gesture. That was nothing."
"New
York Bad Ass" Phil Baroni has jumped back into the spotlight
in record time following yesterday's announcement that he'll
be eligible for MMA competition after March 3rd. Having already
issued an open challenge to Tanner for a rematch of their first
UFC 45 scuffle back in November, the Texan showed little hesitancy
in his reply today. "I'll definitely take the fight,"
the quiet middleweight conveyed. "We'll settle this once
and for all. Personally, Baroni and I don't like each other.
I don't think that's a surprise to anyone. I'd be glad to take
that fight."
But,
Baroni has taken things a step further, insisting that the fight
will not happen because Tanner will price himself out of the
impending battle UFC officials have already said they'd like
to see happen. "You know what?" Tanner replied frankly
to the accusation. "As far as the money goes, yeah, I'm
gonna want to get paid for the fight. With the UFC, I've been
winning fights and my pay has been going down every time. I'm
just so eager to fight in the UFC, I'm just trying to make something
happen. For a fight like this, I'm gonna want to get paid a little
bit. I've got bills to pay. I gotta try and make a living too.
The last fight, he made more money losing than I did winning.
It's a little ridiculous. I'm definitely gonna want to get paid,
but I'm not going to be unreasonable."
A
second pairing between these two dynamic middleweights could
put to an end the question marks that have surrounded their initial
outing. It was Baroni who came out strong in the opening seconds
of the bout with his furious striking, but it was wrestler Tanner
who capitalized later with a takedown and the subsequent mount
in the final seconds before referee Larry Landless moved in to
halt the match.
Baroni
has boasted that this time around, he'll finish what he started.
Tanner remains unimpressed. "If I believed every fairy tale
that Baroni's told, he'd be world champion right now in my eyes
and Lindland wouldn't have defeated him and I shouldn't bother
getting up in the morning because he's gonna put me down. C'mon
now! He's good at telling stories and fairy tales. I don't know
if he's trying to convince himself or what. He's a big talker.
That guy makes me laugh." Adds Tanner, "His job's gonna
have to be to knock me down before I take him down, because if
I take him down, I'm gonna drop some elbows on his head. I'm
gonna hurt him."
Source:
FCF |
K1
World Max - Quick Results
K1
World Max
Date: February 24th, 2004
Place : , Japan
Alternate
Match:
- Tomo defeated Toshio Matsumoto -KO,3R.2m39s
Tournament
- Takayuki Kohiruimaki defeated Hayato - Judges decision
- Kozo Takeda defeated Kenichi Ogata via TKO in RD 1.
- Serkan Yilmaz defeated Yasuhiro Kazuya via KO in RD 2.
- Norifumi
'Kid' Yamamoto
defeated Takehiro Murahama via KO in RD 2.
Semi-finals
- Takayuki Kohiruimaki defeated Kozo Takeda via KO in RD 2.
- Serkan Yilmaz defeated Tomo via KO in RD 1.
*Tomo replaced Norifumi Yamamoto
Final:
- Takayuki Kohiruimaki defeated Serkan Yilmaz - Judges decision
Super
Fights:
- Albert Kraus defeated Takashi Ohno via KO in RD 1.
- Fuji Chalmsak defeated Arslan Magomedov via KO in RD 1.
Source:
ADCC
|
KOTC
Champ Not Your Average Joe
Half
a decade ago, when he was just 16, Joe Stevenson entered into
two relationships: one with his now ex-wife and one with the
sport of mixed martial arts. Now barely old enough to legally
enter a pub, the current King of the Cage lightweight champion
has experienced marriage, fatherhood, and most recently divorce
-- quite a life for someone so young.
With
the divorce papers signed and his marriage at an end, Stevenson's
other love -- his fighting half -- is now his focus. "It's
all I know how to do," he admits. "You can't ask me
to spell, read or write. Put some gloves on me and say 'go fight
for your money' and I'll do it."
"I
don't know what it's like to be free," Stevenson conveys
about single life. "I've been with her since I was 16 years
old. She's still a big part of my life. It's weird. She's like
my best friend now -- never, ever, when we were married was she
like that."
'Free'
is a relative term. Three weeks prior to Friday's lightweight
title defense versus Joe Camacho, Stevenson took in his two sons,
1 and 3 respectively, making what should have been an optimal
training period, hardly realistic.
"One's
almost potty-trained," the young champion says of the boys,
"but they both ain't, technically. It's a blessing that
I got to train three times a weak hard."
A
decorated California high school wrestler, Stevenson trained
out of Tedd Williams' Combat Grappling before recently departing
the Hesperia, Calif. gym.
It
was under the Combat Grappling flag that Stevenson first faced
Camacho, May 1999 in Empire One, Terry Trebilcock's predecessor
to King of the Cage. His first professional fight resulted in
a submission victory, one of 21 career wins countered against
five losses: Jens Pulver; Chris Brennan; Ronald Jhun; Brad Gumm
(a loss he later avenged); and Romie Aram (his final high-profile
bout at 170 pounds).
Over
the past 12 months Stevenson has shown himself to be a much different
fighter than the one who mostly grappled his way to victories
during the first two-thirds of his career, particularly upon
dropping down to a more comfortable 155-pound fighting weight.
"I
don't want to pull off decisions; that's not what I'm about anymore,"
he says. "I'm going to push the issue to finish the fight.
And that means actually being in good shape. Because I'm good
at submissions, I'm OK with my hands. A lot of times, to beat
the better guy, it's because you have cardio and now I'm running
six miles everyday."
Since
the loss to Aram (KOTC's former welterweight titleholder who
gave up the belt when he decided to try his hand in the UFC),
Stevenson has won nine consecutive fights, including a bout versus
Thomas Schulte which earned him the KOTC lightweight title.
Yet,
it was the Camacho rematch -- Stevenson's first title defense
-- that in many ways completed the circle which symbolized this
chapter of his fighting life.
"Well,
the first fight I wouldn't have thrown one punch on my feet,"
he says. "He caught me a couple times; I caught him a couple
times. I knew where I had to take it to win for sure, so I took
it there."
"Joe
-- he was hungry," continues Stevenson, who overcame an
aggressive challenger to sink in a fight-finishing rear-naked
choke. "I mean, jeez, he took it and was like give me more.
I was getting tired. I was like 'God, c'mon now.'
"When
someone catches you with two uppercuts you say, 'you know what,
let's weigh and balance this: I kicked him, but he hit me in
my head.' You know, I'm not a moron.
Heading
into the next phase of his career, Stevenson jokingly sees himself
"on top of the world, looking down at everyone and flipping
them off."
"I'm
going to beat everyone at 155 -- everyone," he says more
seriously. "Whoever is put in front of me, I will beat them
impressively. I will do my job and do it good."
Unlike
other KOTC lightweight champions, Stevenson says he intends to
keep the belt while facing the best fighters the division has
to offer. To do that, he admits, he must fight outside of KOTC.
"Hopefully
King of the Cage allows me to keep my belt and take it to the
UFC," he says. "That would be an awesome thing.
"They
do it in boxing. I want it to be done here. We should be above
certain childish things and I'm all down for it."
If
he gets that opportunity, Stevenson will surely face the stiffest
competition of his still-young career. He remains confident in
his skills, and believes that he can compete at the highest level
against the sport's toughest fighters.
"I'm
ready to step in there with them," he says. "I don't
get nervous anymore."
Big
fights should equate to big paydays, a theory which thus far
has failed to live up to expectations, particularly for lighter-weight
fighters. Stevenson knows this all too well. When need arises,
construction work has helped fill in the financial gaps that
come from being a tough but relatively unknown MMA competitor.
"I
don't fight for the money; I'm poor," he asserts. "I
claimed $13,000 last year on my taxes. Jesus. I'm poor. I'm under
poverty -- that's with two kids."
And
should he ever get that big purse? "I'd probably put it
away for my boys for college," he answers.
Source:
Maxfighting |
Monthly
Pay-Per-View Heavyweight Series Begins March 1st
CEDRIC
KUSHNER SAYS 'HEAVYWEIGHT HEROES: THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT GREAT
HEAVYWEIGHT' OFF TO BRILLIANT START, NEAR SELLOUT CROWD THRILLED
BY ACTION PACKED BOUTS
New
York, February 24- Promoter Cedric Kushner is ecstatic about
the inaugural card for Heavyweight Heroes: The Search for the
Next Great Heavyweight, which will air on In Demand on March
1. 'It was a terrific show all the way around, we couldn't have
asked for a better start,' says Kushner.
Heavyweight
Heroes will be presented by Perfect 10 Magazine, and will be
available at a suggested retail price of $19.95 by contacting
your local cable operators.
'Michael
Grant is back on track with a sensational six round knockout,'
Kushner says. Grant (39-3, 30 KO's) faced Charles Hatcher (15-6,
11 KO's) in the co-feature. 'During the fight I was unsure of
what the result would be but Grant didn't leave anything to chance,
and scored a sensational knockout with Hatcher falling face first
onto the canvas,' says Kushner. 'I think Michael showed by that
performance that he has no intention of being counted out of
the heavyweight division just yet.'
Taurus
'The Bull' Sykes (21-1-1, 5 KO's) scored a unanimous decision
over Jovo Pudar (21-2-0, 11 KO's) in the main event. 'Taurus
Sykes accepted the challenge against the once-beaten Pudar,'
says Kushner. 'He looked impressive picking his spots and got
a comfortable unanimous decision with the type of fight network
executives and fans will pay attention to.'
Each
month, a stunning pair of Perfect 10 models will be pitted in
a hotly-contested four round bout. 'The crowd was on their feet
for the women's fights,' says Kushner. 'I haven't seen a fight
crowd as enthusiastic as they were for the Perfect 10 ladies
bout.'
Source:
ADCC
|
AFC
#7 and SWO #1 Set To Rock
Ft Lauderdale This Weekend!
February
27th Absolute Fighting Championships #7
February 28th SUBMISSION WRESTLING OPEN 1
'This
is a good weekend for a Florida road trip.' laughs AFC matchmaker
Miguel Iturrate. 'We have two events, the AFC #7 is a full out
Mixed Martial Arts event with an international card, and the
SWO #1 is the first ADCC Submission Wrestling event in Florida's
history. The Saturday event is also packed with top notch, international
talent.'
Complete
details for both events are listed below - not a weekend to be
missed!
Tickets
available at www.ticketmaster.com. Enter 'ABSOLUTE' for the event!
Absolute
Fighting Championships #7
War Memorial Coliseum, Ft Lauderdale, FL.
Friday, February 27th, 2004
Doors Open 6:30 PM
Fighst Start: 7:30 PM
Doors
Open: 6:30 pm / Fight Start: 7:30 pm
BEST
PRICE ON TICKETS ANYWHERE:
GOLD CIRCLE: $35.00 / RINGSIDE: $25.00 - $35.00 / GENERAL ADMISSION:
$15.00
FEBRUARY
27th, 2004 - AFC #7
Card Subject To Change:
3
RDS / 185 LBS: Marcel Ferreira (American TOP TEAM, Ft Lauderdale,
FL.) v. Izuru Takeuchi (Pancrase, Tokyo, Japan)
3
RDS / 185 LBS: Jorge Santiago (American TOP TEAM, Ft Lauderdale,
FL.) v. Takuya Wada (Pancrase, Tokyo, Japan)
3
RDS / 155 LBS: Edson Diniz (American TOP TEAM, Ft Lauderdale,
FL) Hiroki Kotani (Tokyo, Japan)
2
RDS / 170 LBS: Thiago 'PITBULL' Alves (American TOP TEAM, Ft
Lauderdale, FL) v. Nuri Shakir (Team ELITE, NH)
2
RDS / 185 LBS: Charles McCarthy (Freestyle Fighting Academy,
Miami, FL.) v. David Bielkheden (Team Scandinavia, Stockholm,
Sweden)
2
RDS / 205 LBS: Mark Tullius (Pires JJ, Las Vegas, NV.) v. Antony
Rea (Toulouse, France)
2
RDS / 155 LBS: Gesias 'JZ' Calvancanti (American TOP TEAM, Ft
Lauderdale, FL.) v. Justin Wisniewski (Duneland Vale Tudo, Portage,
IN)
2
RDS / 185 LBS: Efrain Ruiz (Freestyle Fighting Academy, Miami,
FL) v. Todd Carney (Freelance, West Virginia)
2
RDS / 170 LBS: Joakim Engberg (SHOOTERS Int'l, Gothenberg, Sweden)
v. Landon Showalter (Pearson Systems, Seattle, WA)
2
RDS / 170 LBS: Sauli Heilimo (Team Scandinavia, Turku, Finland)
v. Carlo Prater (Yves Edwards Thugjitsu, Houston, TX)
2
RDS / 155 LBS: James Edson Berto (Tiger's World, Orlando, FL)
v. Scott Johnson (Freelance, Orlando, FL.)
SUBMISSION
WRESTLING OPEN 1
Saturday, February 28th, 2004
North Broward Prep High School
7600 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, Florida 33073
DOORS OPEN: 11:00 AM EST
START TIME: 1 PM EST
10
Minute SUPERFIGHTS:
(special weight 80 KG): Pablo Popovich (American TOP TEAM, Ft
Lauderdale, FL) versus Marcelo Garcia (Gurghel JJ, Sao Paulo,
Brazil)
Over
99 KG: Jeff Monson (American TOP TEAM, Ft Lauderdale, FL) versus
Marcio 'Pe De Pano' Cruz (Gracie Barra, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
55-76.99
KG: Marcos Avellan (Freestyle Fighting Academy, Miami, FL) versus
Otto Olson (AMC Pankration, Seattle, WA)
77-87.99
KG: Todd Margolis (Lloyd Irvin USA, Team Grapplers Quest, Camp
Springs, Maryland) versus David Avellan (Freestyle Fighting Academy,
Miami, FL)
Under
65.99 KG: Marcos 'Parumpinha' Meira (American TOP TEAM, Ft Lauderdale,
FL) versus Katsuhiro Hirata (Japan Qualifier Champion, Tokyo,
Japan)
Over
99 KG: Wade Rome (American TOP TEAM, Ft Lauderdale, FL) versus
Rob Constance (Team Renzo Gracie, NY)
FEATURE
TOURNAMENTS:
8 Man ABSOLUTE Tournament - (INVITATIONAL)
UNDER
65.99 KG: (145 LBS)
- Nobou Yagai (Grapplers Edge, CO) versus Mike Mrikulic (Royler
Gracie/Dave Adiv USA, Team GQ, Montclair, NJ)
- Mike Cardoso (FFA, Miami, FL) versus Renato Tavares (ATT, Ft
Lauderdale, FL)
ALT: Raphael Assuncao (Jacare, Atlanta, GA) v. TBD
66-76.9
KG: (169 LBS)
- Ricardo 'Teixhara' (FFA, Miami, FL) versus Raphael Diaz (ATT,
Ft Lauderdale, FL)
- Eric Koble (Grapplers Edge, CO) versus Ryan Ellison (Jacare,
Atlanta, GA)
ALT: Anthony Tolone (Orlando, FL) versus Chad Wagoner (Freelance,
Kokomo, IN)
77-87.9
KG: (193.5 LBS)
- Ken Kronenberg (Tai Kai Machado USA, Team GQ, Syracuse, NY)
versus Moacyr 'Boca' Oliveira (FFA, Miami, FL)
- Charles Mccarthy (FFA, Miami, FL) versus Beau Clark (Grapplers
Edge, PA)
ALT: Chris Moriarty (Jacare, Atlanta, GA) v. TBD
Source:
ADCC |
Quote
of the Day
"The roots of true achievement lie in the will to become
the best that you
can become."
Harold Taylor
|
Back
In Business:
Reduced Suspension Speeds Baroni's Return To Octagon
By Loretta Hunt
UFC
middleweight brawler Phil Baroni has gotten a reprieve of sorts,
following the yearlong administrative suspension that was imposed
on him after his performance at November 21st's UFC 45. In a
tense bout with Team Quest's Evan Tanner, an enraged Baroni grabbed
and swung two times at referee Larry Landless following a questionable
stoppage late in round one after Tanner had fully mounted his
opponent on the ground.
Mohegan
Tribe representatives, who had been ringside to observe the infraction,
conferred backstage in the moments following the attack of the
official and handed down the penalty shortly after without a
formal hearing. As is often standard with rulings of this kind,
the Mohegan Tribe's decision to suspend Baroni was reciprocated
by various sports athletic commissions and regulatory bodies,
including the influential Nevada State Athletic Commission, which
oversees at least three UFC events a year.
From
the start, some questioned the severity of the ruling in light
of Baroni's inability to make a living as a fighter. Baroni supporters
asked, "Did the punishment fit the crime?" Yesterday,
they got their answer.
In
a letter received from the Department of Athletic Regulation
for the Mohegan Tribe, Baroni's legal counsel Tony Sgro read
the following passage: "After careful review of your petition
and the supporting documentation, the Department had decided
to reduce your administrative suspension from unarmed combat
issued on December 3, 2003 from one year to three months. Therefore,
your administrative suspension from unarmed combat shall expire
March 3, 2004."
The
reduced sentence will allow Baroni to resume his professional
career as a mixed martial artist in the United States and beyond
in no less than ten days, giving "the New York Bad Ass"
the opportunity to return to the Octagon as early as UFC 48.
Although
a seemingly speedy turnaround for Baroni, the Mohegan's Tribe
reconsideration has been almost three months in the making, according
to lawyer Sgro. "From the conclusion of the fight,"
he says, "where everyone had a different perspective of
what had occurred, there's always a question of what exactly
prompted Phil to do what he did and what should be the appropriate
penalty. Basically, what we've been trying to do in conjunction
with the Mohegan Tribe is to determine that from way back in
November when it first occurred." Mr. Sgro cited what he
labeled as a "series of unique circumstances," in the
case that enabled Baroni and his representation to begin both
a verbal and written dialogue with the Department of Athletic
Regulation. High on that list was referee Larry Landless's public
admission that he had erred in his decision to stop the fight
following a verbal miscommunication with Baroni. Baroni's extended
absence from competition prior to UFC 45 due to a training injury
was also recognized with regards to the financial severity of
the ruling.
Says
Sgro, "What's been going on for the last several months
between the Mohegan Tribe and Mr. Baroni is the exchange of information
and the effort to compromise to try and dissuade future athletes
from engaging in the same pattern of activity, but at the same
time, recognizing that this is the marketable skill that Phil
Baroni possesses in that he's a professional athlete."
There
had also been discussion of setting a date for a formal hearing
in which Baroni could produce witnesses on his behalf. Mr. Sgro
says that Landless, as well as representatives from the UFC,
including president Dana White and counsel Kirk Kendrick, had
agreed to appear at the proposed hearing. But, upon presentation
of the written testimony that was to be heard, Sgro says that
the regulatory department decided that the hearing would not
be necessary.
Although
Baroni was in transit late last night, he called in briefly to
FCF to express his gratitude towards the Mohegan Sun reps and
to especially thank Larry Landless for his support throughout
the entire process. Baroni also confirmed that a rematch with
Evan Tanner has already been broached by the UFC for his tentative
return at the yet-to-be announced UFC 48 event slated in June
or July.
Source:
FCF
|
WHO
WINS AT UFC 47?
MANDALAY BAY AND UFC
Some MMA fans were disappointed after Tito Ortiz beat Ken Shamrock
at 40 that he did not face Chuck Liddell immediately at UFC 42.
Instead it would be Randy Couture who would beat Ortiz and Liddell
on route to cleaning up the UFC Light Heavyweight division.
Other
fans claim the upcoming fight between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell
doesn't have the same flavor it did a year ago because there
is no title on the line. Try to tell that to the Mandalay Bay
in Las Vegas.
Mandalay
Bay has held many boxing events over the years, but few have
sold as many tickets at this stage of the game for the upcoming
UFC 47 event "It's On."
As
of Friday Mandalay Bay has sold well over 6,000 tickets and now
the "7,000" number is in sight. At the rate tickets
are selling right now, this show will no doubt be sold out before
April 2nd. Whatever it is, MMA fans as well as the casual observer
seems to be very much into this fight game known as the Ultimate
Fighting Championships, which is great news for Zuffa and great
news for the Mandalay Bay.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
IS
STEROIDS STILL A PROBLEM IN MMA?
On Monday, MMAWeekly SoundOff Radio talked with Mixed Martial
Arts journalist Josh Gross about steroid use and testing in MMA.
The issue of steroid use has been the topic of debate and headline
news with the U.S. Department of Justice handing out a 42-count
indictment of BALCO, the California laboratory who allegedly
provided athletes with the anabolic steroid "THG."
Gross wrote an article for Maxfighting.com calling for MMA to
"come clean." He discussed his article and his opinions
on the issue with MMAWeekly Radio host Ryan Bennett.
When
asked how big the problem of steroid use is in MMA, Josh replied,
it depends on how you define problem. "I think people are
definitely using them, high profile fighters are using them,"
and lower level fighters are using them. Gross feels that there
"needs to be a system."
He
added, "Develop an umbrella for fighters, promoters, and
commissions to work under" with a standard set of penalties.
Such an approach, he feels, would bring credibility and legitimacy
to the perception of the sport.
Gross
pointed out that the UFC has no outline policy on steroids. The
UFC has had two heavyweight champions, Josh Barnett and Tim Sylvia,
who have had to give up their titles for testing positive for
steroids and former champ, Ricco Rodriguez, publicly admitting
to having used them.
All
title bouts are tested for illegal substances and random tests
are administered to under card fights, but Gross would like to
see "card wide" testing. "It's leveling the playing
field," as Josh put it. He took it one step further and
thinks contracts should have clauses within them saying, if you
test positive, this will be the penalty.
This
is a large scale plan and Gross admitted that it could take years
to get in place, but "the groundwork needs to be laid."
Drug testing is expensive which would especially affect smaller
promotions. Josh wants to see the UFC and Pride take a stance
on steroid use, who's message will trickle down to smaller events.
MMA is a sport still in it's beginning stages and the issue of
steroid use doesn't need to become a little dark secret.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
LET
THE HARDCORE TRAINING BEGIN....
Now is the point of training known as "hell week."
Fighters are putting some grueling workouts together as they
get prepared for the next UFC card in April.
One
of those guys is Chuck Liddell. "The Iceman" known
by many, is focused on Tito Ortiz and he told MMAWeekly "I
feel great. I'm in great shape and I can't wait for this fight."
The
Iceman cometh on tomorrow's edition of MMAWeekly Radio as he
gets prepared to fight Ortiz in the biggest fight of his career.
. Get your answers tomorrow at www.mmaweeklyradio.com
Source: MMA Weekly |
K-1
World Max 2004
February 24, 2004
Yoyogi Stadium
Tokyo, Japan
Super
fight:
Albert Kraus vs. Takashi Ono
Tournament:
Takayuki Kohiruimaki vs. Hayato
Kozo Takeda vs. Ken'ichi Ogata
Kazuya Yasuhiro vs. Serkan Yilmaz
Takehiro Murahama vs. Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto
Reserve
fight:
Toshio Matsumoto vs. Tomo
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
"Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the
key to unlocking
our potential."
Liane Cordes, Author
|
Fighters'
Club TV Tonight!
Fighters' Club TV Episode 18 airs tonight (Tuesday) on Channel
52 @ 6pm!
EPISODE
18 FEATURES:
-Our
favorite techniques of the weeks from 2003
-Falaniko Vitale's Toe hook/Foot lock
-Egan Inoue's heel hook
-Enson Inoue's arm bar from the guard
-Don Frye's standing side choke
-Chris and Mike Onzuka's takedown to triangle from the mount
-Also,
highlights from Superbrawl 32 of both
-Egan Inoue vs. Jason Miller (+interview w/ Jason)
-Masanori Suda vs. Shannon Ritch (+interview w/ Suda)
and
of course, everyone's favorite FCTV hosts, Mark Kurano and Mike
Onzuka
(stay
tuned for the credits where we have some exclusive training footage
of
one of Hawaii's up-and-coming fighters)
Comments,
Questions, Suggestions?
Please email us at: fightersclubtv808@hotmail.com
We're
also looking at alternate timeslot availability and would like
to hear
what time our viewers would prefer--so let us know!
|
The
"Axe Murderer" Dissected
Commentary by Jake Rossen (February 23, 2004)
A highly competent MMA industrialist once told me that anyone's
career could be split open and eviscerated, if the motivation
was there. There was no fighter who was beyond reproach: no matter
how good the record was, no matter the caliber of opponents,
you could always find a breach in the hull.
I
disagreed and immediately thought of Randy Couture, who's enjoyed
so many high-profile victories that it's difficult to settle
on one as being his defining moment. The fact that he excelled
in a young man's sport later in life only adds to the spectacle.
His actual record - 12-6, including some RINGS fights - is a
pithy and emotionless footnote. Those numbers belie what Couture
has actually achieved under special circumstances, and fails
to detail the caliber of competition he's faced.
Vanderlei
Silva's historic run in Pride seems to be the mirror image of
Couture's career, a numerically spotless record that, upon inspection,
turns out to be one of the most hollow and insulting chapters
in the sport's short history.
It's
not Silva's fault. Stronger, quicker and more intimidating by
the year, he's as formidable a fighter as any. He'll fight anyone.
I imagine a wooly-haired Vanderlei enjoying life and family,
and then shaving his head to reveal that fire-branded skull when
it comes time to demolish someone. If this wasn't something the
Vikings did, they should have. I appreciate the theater he brings
to the ring and continue to believe that the US would embrace
him as some kind of uber-villain if he were marketed properly.
The
Japanese caught wind of this early. Silva became an action figure
run amok. Around 2000, some kind of informal decision was reached:
if Silva is to lose, it had better be to a Japanese fighter.
And thus began the parade of ritual sacrifices. Rankings, talent
level, weight disparity...none of it mattered. If you were Japanese,
you were in. Literally. Tatsuya Iwasaki is a Kyokushin Karate
champ, which has about as much relevance to MMA as being an "American
Idol" finalist. He was bludgeoned. At the point at which
this took place in Silva's career, I can't fathom anyone rejoicing
in the victory.
I
had initially planned on detailing the lack of impact Silva's
early opponents have made in the sport, but I think certain names
speak for themselves: Carl Malenko, Daijiro Matsui, Bob Schrijber,
Shungo Oyama, Alexander Otsuka, Iwasaki. If any one of these
guys has ever or will ever compete for a recognized title, please,
let me know. Hell, I'll settle for finding even one with a winning
record.
I
appreciated Silva's performance against Guy Mezger in 1999: Mezger
is tough, gutsy, and willing to take chances for the sake of
the paying fans. Unfortunately, Mezger was unable to assemble
those traits into anything resembling sustained success.
A
hallmark of Silva's career has been the repeated destruction
of the unfortunately devoted Kazushi Sakuraba. If there's a bigger
Saku fan than I, good luck in finding him. But no matter Saku's
heart, he cannot physically compete as a light heavyweight. Has
he had moments? Of course. Was Sakuraba/Silva III the most unnecessary
rematch in history next to Goodridge/Yatsu II? That one's a dead
heat.
Kiyoshi
Tamura is in the same boat as Saku, only worse: they actually
fed him to Bob Sapp. Tamura is talented: Silva just physically
dwarfs him. Ditto Kanehara and Minowa.
I
consider Silva's two biggest challenges in Pride to have been
Mirko Filipovic and Dan Henderson. Henderson, like anyone with
the skills to compete with Silva, was out of his weight class.
Filipovic was grass-green in MMA and hardly resembled the gatling-gun
of strikes he soon became. And, hey, it was a draw.
Quinton
Jackson was easily his biggest threat on paper: strong, big,
talented, successful, and tough. This is how diabolical DSE is:
they actually figure he and Chuck Liddell will beat the shit
out of each other before one of them gets to Silva. And they
were right. Every time I think of the Pride Grand Prix, I think
of an old SNL sketch, "Pre-Chewed Charlie's." It was
a restaurant where the waiters would actually chew your food
up for you before giving it back to you for swallowing. And that
was what DSE did - they chewed up Jackson for Silva to finish
off.
Silva,
for his part, seems to be at least peripherally aware of the
criticism, making special note of his victory over Jackson, and
how people should respect that. What I respect is Silva's success
as a businessman: he's gotten quite wealthy manhandling ill-equipped
opponents. Given the choice between that road and one paved with
spoilers, most fighters would settle in for the smooth ride.
Nope:
I don't blame Silva for it. His is a skillset that should frighten
any fighter in any weight division. If he weren't any good, there
wouldn't be any frustration in watching him squander his prime
at the mercy of a mildly deranged fight promotion.
Pride
is the culprit here. Drunk with the theatrics and attitude of
pro wrestling, they don't seem at all bothered by their highest-profile
gaijin "defending" his title in what amounts to televised
sparring sessions. DSE apologists roll their eyes and arrogantly
patronize the critics: Japanese MMA is simply beyond your level
of comprehension. This is what the fans there love to see.
Hey,
I can dig it. It's certainly working in terms of box office.
But why regard MMA as one level playing field and debate whether
or not Silva belongs at the top of the rankings? Does engaging
in the shoot equivalent of a "squash" match really
skyrocket one's stock?
I'm
curious how fans would react if Zuffa enlisted an "Inside
Karate" cover boy to challenge Belfort for the title or
constantly pilfered from a lower weight class to make him look
unstoppable. Forget Zuffa's ideas: athletic commissions are in
place to prevent that kind of salacious and dangerous promotion.
The
latest is that DSE has scoffed at Yuki Kondo coming in. I'm not
sure why, other than his striking being a step up from Silva's
customary cream puffs. Regardless, he'll be mauled due to his
lack of power. Remember when DSE promised Ricardo Arona and Jackson
title shots? Apparently, neither do they.
This
sport is volatile. The indestructible Matt Hughes? Vanquished
by a little guy. Couture? Snagged by a punch that delivered unlikely
damage. Sakuraba? Worn down and out. Mino? Cro Cop? They're all
human.
All
of them except for Silva, wearing an unlikely 17-0 record in
Pride.
After
Kondo becomes his latest victim, where else is there to go? Who
else is left to pad his resume?I predict an eventual 25-0 record
for Silva, at which point he'll announce his retirement...and
at which point the good kids of Tokyo P.S. #25 will breathe a
sigh of relief and mourn their fallen.
Flame
away.
Source:
Maxfighting
|
ZUFFA
PRESS RELEASE
LAS
VEGAS, NEV., February 20, 2004….Tito Ortiz versus Chuck
Liddell, the mixed martial arts light heavyweight fight that
fans have been waiting for, will be the main event of Ultimate
Fighting Championship 47: It's On!, LIVE on pay-per-view at 10
p.m. EST, Friday, April 2, from the Mandalay Bay Events Center
in Las Vegas.
Live
event tickets, $350, $250, $150, $75 and $35, are now on sale
at the Mandalay Bay Events Center box office in Las Vegas, at
all Ticketmaster locations, www.ticketmaster.com and www.mandalaybay.com.
Tickets also may be ordered by telephone at 1-877-632-7400 or
1-702-474-4000. Ticket purchases are limited to eight per transaction
and are subject to transaction fees. UFC 47: It's On! will be
available on pay-per-view on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network,
TVN, Echostar, Bell ExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada. The
suggested retail price is $29.95.
In
the co-main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia
(18-0-0) from Davenport, Iowa, will return to the Octagon to
meet top contender Andrei Arlovski (7-3-0) from Minsk, Belarus,
for the heavyweight championship.
Fans,
promoters and the media have been anticipating an Ortiz-Liddell
fight since June 22, 2002, when Liddell won a unanimous decision
over Vitor Belfort in Las Vegas to become the number one light
heavyweight contender. Ortiz was then the champion, but due to
injuries and a Hollywood movie commitment, never gave Liddell
a title shot. UFC promoter, Zuffa, LLC, matched Liddell with
former heavyweight champ Randy Couture for the interim belt.
Couture moved down a weight division to take the fight.
He
shocked the world by defeating Liddell by technical knockout
at UFC 43: Meltdown June 6 in Las Vegas, then followed by taking
Ortiz' belt outright at UFC 44: Undisputed on September 26. In
a dramatic turn of events, both Ortiz (11-3-0) of Huntington
Beach, Calif., and Liddell (12-3-0) of San Luis Obispo, Calif.,
are on the outside looking in and there is even more at stake.
The winner gets back in the title hunt, while the loser goes
to the end of the light heavyweight line.
"The
UFC light heavyweight division is the most exciting in all combat
sports, including boxing," said UFC president Dana White.
"Right now, Vitor Belfort is the top dog. But, the level
of competition can't be matched. A new champion could emerge
at every event."
The
Sylvia-Arlovski match up also has an interesting scenario. Both
are coming off quick knockouts in their last fights. Arlovski
defeated fellow countryman Vladimir Matyushenko with a wicked
uppercut at the 2:14 mark of the first round on the under card
of UFC 44: Undisputed. Sylvia KO'd Gan McGee on the same night
at 1:54 of the first round to successfully defend his heavyweight
title. But Sylvia relinquished his belt on October 15 when the
Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended his license four months
from the date of the fight (Sept. 26) when a post-fight urinalysis
indicated he had an anabolic agent in his body when he defeated
McGee. Sylvia admitted his mistake before the Commission, has
served his suspension and says he is back to reclaim his title.
The
all-star, eight-fight card also will feature two additional heavyweight
bouts, two welterweight fights and two lightweight matches, and
is subject to change.
In
heavyweight action, popular Hawaiian "Cabbage" Correira (20-4-0) from Hilo
will take on big Mike Kyle (10-2-0) from San Jose, Calif., and
Jonathon Wiezorek (5-0-0) from Valdosta, Ga., will meet Wade
Shipp (6-1-0) from San Diego, Calif. The welterweight card will
feature Robbie Lawler, one of the UFC's rising stars, (8-1-0)
from Davenport, Iowa, versus Nick Diaz (8-2-0) from Stockton,
Calif., and Chris Lytle (26-10-4) from Indianapolis, Ind., will
meet Tiki Ghosn (9-3-0) from Huntington Beach, Calif. In the
lightweight bouts, two top contenders, Yves Edwards (22-8-1)
from Houston, Tex., and Hermes Franca (8-1-0) from Ft. Lauderdale,
Fla., will battle while Mike Brown (9-1-0) from Portland, Maine,
will fight Japanese sensation Genki Sudo (8-3-1) from Tokyo,
Japan.
Judges
may need a seismograph for the Correira-Kyle fight. Both are
big, strong power punchers who specialize in knockouts. Correira,
who trains in Hilo with new Welterweight Champ BJ Penn, has won
his last two UFC fights by TKO in typical Cabbage fashion with
quick knees and devastating punches. At UFC 42: Sudden Impact
last April, highly rated Sean Alvarez lasted until the 1:47 mark
of the second round. At UFC 45: Revolution in November, Cabbage
met UFC legend, Tank Abbott. It was the same story. Cabbage opened
a deep cut on Tank's head at 2:14 of the first round and the
fight was over. Kyle, who will be making his UFC debut, is from
the same school. But, in addition to his punching power, he says
his jiu jitsu skills are improving. "My jiu jitsu has really
gone up. I've been working with Tim Lajcik, especially in getting
up from underneath. It's one aspect of my repertoire that could
be a surprise," Kyle says.
In
the other heavyweight fight, both Wiezorek and Shipp will be
making their UFC debuts and both are submission/ground and pound
fighters who like to end matches quickly. "Chokes are my
favorite technique," says Wiezorek, whose undefeated record
makes a statement. When he is not fighting or training, Wiezorek
spends his time earning a masters degree in sports medicine and
athletic training at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.
"School
comes first, but this fight is the opportunity of a lifetime,"
he says. Shipp, who earned bachelors degrees in both biology
and physical education at Norwich University in Vermont, has
won six fights, three by TKO and three by submission, all in
the first round. "We are both fighting to earn a spot in
the UFC heavyweight ranks. It should be a war," Shipp adds.
Lawler,
who now has his sights on Penn's welterweight title, is coming
off a unanimous decision victory over Lytle at UFC 45: Revolution
at The Mohegan Sun after a seven-month layoff due to a hip flexor
injury. He is a powerful, explosive striker with a strong takedown
defense who became an instant star with decisive victories over
highly regarded welterweights Aaron Riley and Steve Berger, the
latter by knockout before cameras for Fox Sports Net's Best Damned
Sports Show Period! But, he will have his hands full with Diaz.
A jiu jitsu fighter managed by Cesar Gracie, Diaz' biggest weapon
is his endurance and his favorite technique is the triangle choke.
In his last UFC fight at 44: Undisputed, he defeated long-time
antagonist Jeremy Jackson with an arm bar tap out at 2:04 of
the second round.
The
Lytle-Ghosn fight will be a battle of veteran welterweights.
But, Lawler is the common denominator. Lytle's battle with Lawler
at 45 was much closer than the decision. Lytle hung tough with
Lawler for all three rounds until he was knocked down at the
midway point of the third. Lytle is a well-rounded fighter who
combines boxing, jiu jitsu and wrestling to submit opponents.
"I strike well but submissions are my strength. Most of
my victories have been by submission, which seems to be happening
less in mixed martial arts," he said. Ghosn is a submission
and kickboxing specialist who is an excellent stand-up fighter.
He took on Lawler at UFC 40: Vendetta and after landing three
pinpoint kicks early in the fight, got a little too close to
Lawler's powerful right hand at the 1:29 mark of the first round.
Both fighters will be looking for redemption in this fight.
The
Edwards-Franca bout will pit two of the UFC's top lightweights.
In his last UFC fight, Edwards defeated Nick Agallar by TKO in
the second round at UFC 45: Revolution. He is a Thugjitsu fighter
who is an excellent striker, dangerous in the clinch and well
versed on the ground. He continues to improve his boxing skills
by training with Kenny Weldon, who helped build heavyweight champion
Evander Holyfield's career. Franca, who trains with the American
Top Team in Ft. Lauderdale, is a native of Forteleza, Brazil,
with impeccable jiu jitsu credentials. He can dominate a fight
on the ground with his submission skills or standing up with
his punching power.
Brown
will make his UFC debut against Sudo, who is one of the world's
most capable and popular MMA lightweight fighters. The colorful
Japanese veteran always keeps opponents off-stride with his "Bushido"
(the Samurai way) fighting style. "But, I am not just about
fighting technique. My whole philosophy is based on how I live
as a warrior. The image I project is that I am liquid, not solid.
Being like water means that I can take many shapes and forms,
adapting myself to win any fight," he says. But his unorthodox
style is a complete package of solid strikes with excellent grappling
and submission technique.
Brown
is impressed that he is matched with Sudo, but is not overwhelmed.
A strong wrestler and boxer, Brown admits that he is "a
big fan of Genki. He is one of the most entertaining fighters
in the world with great wrestling, submission and striking skills."
But Brown also says that his biggest strength in a fight is his
heart and the desire to win. "The UFC is the pinnacle of
our sport. I'll be ready."
The
Ultimate Fighting Championshipâ brand of mixed martial
arts is the world's premier series of MMA events. Owned and operated
by Zuffa, LLC and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFCâ
fight programs feature six live pay-per-view events annually
through cable and satellite providers. In addition to its U.S.
distribution, UFCâ fight programs are distributed internationally
through WOWOW, Inc., in Japan, Globosat in Brazil, Main Event
Television in Australia and Sky Network Television in New Zealand.
Zuffa, LLC licenses the distribution of UFCâ video games
through Crave Entertainment and TDK Mediactive and its fight
show DVDs through Studioworks Entertainment, a Ventura Distribution
company. "Ultimate Fighting Championship," "Ultimate
Fighting," "UFC," "Submission," "As
Real As It Gets" and the Octagon cage design are registered
trademarks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the U.S., Japan
and other jurisdictions. All other marks that may be referenced
herein belong to their respective holders.
Source:
Maxfighting |
Interview
with Josh Barnett
MMAWeekly.com
talked with Josh Barnett about his pro wrestling career in Japan,
the top heavyweights in the world, his future, including the
possibility of him competing in the Pride heavyweight Grand Prix.
Ryan Bennett asked the questions in our Interview of the Week.
Ryan
Bennett: Long time no hear.....How are you doing?
Josh
Barnett: I'm doing good man, just got into town maybe about three
days ago and there's no taking a rest for me. I was just over
at the AMC yesterday working out.
RB:
I bet you got a billion phone calls once everyone found out you're
in town, right?
JB:
No, actually, the thing is that I'm out of town so much that
people just assume that I am there all the time and they don't
call that often.
RB:
Josh, it's been a long time since you and I talked. First of
all, congratulations, it sounds like everything in Japan is going
amazingly well for you. Talk a little bit about the experience
of being over in Japan doing the pro-wrestling as well as the
MMA stuff.
JB:
It's always been a dream of mine to compete in Japan. Just to
be involved in the fight scene over there but this has far surpassed
anything that I imagined that it would be like. It has been one
amazing thing after the other, touring the entire country of
Japan with New Japan and doing shows in small towns all over
the place and you know, just fighting in these big 50,000 plus
people arenas on live television, pay per view and just the spectacle
of it all. Just being involved in that industry over there is
like nothing else.
RB:
I could only imagine. Josh as you mention that, I used to follow
pro-wrestling pretty closely years ago. I have kinda fallen away
from it to focus on MMA. I know how the Japanese feel about it.
It's got to be just truly amazing. From all accounts, reading
a few of the sheets I still do, they're talking about you being
basically the rookie of the year man. How tough has it been going
from MMA to pro wrestling?
JB:
Well, you know, when it actually comes to wrestling out there,
when it comes to any kind of move sets or movements, that wasn't
all that hard. Because, I felt that all of the wrestling, the
amateur wrestling, shooting, all the stuff I have done before
hand, just really lended itself to helping me out in the wrestling
ring. Not to mention, movement is movement and if you can figure
out how to do all those things, submissions and combos and all
that kind of stuff, learning how to hit the ropes isn't going
to be that much harder. I do tell you that the most difficult
thing is the mental aspect of wrestling. How do you put this
match together. How do you interact with the crowd. How do you
go about the story and drama in the ring because if you're just
out there doing moves, you could do some cool stuff but eventually
people are gonna have seen it before. If it's not new to them
and it doesn't have any meaning behind it, they're not going
to get behind it. That's the real difficulty in trying to be
a pro-wrestler, it's not hit and move, it's creating the psychology.
RB:
A guy I used to speak with quite frequently in the past was a
guy named Paige Falkenberg, D.D.P as people know and he always
told me. He's just saying the same thing you are. The psychology
is something that he felt some of these young guys kinda miss
and he wanted to bring the psychology of the whole thing together
and that's kinda what you're saying right?
JB:
Uh huh.
RB:
Josh, you just signed a brand new deal with New Japan, correct?
JB:
Yes.
RB:
Tell me how long that's for.
JB:
It's for one year. They always sign only one year contracts because
of some stipulation or maybe it's just because the way the television
stations that we work for want it. So, everybody signs one year
contracts.
RB:
There are some questions about what this contract will and will
not let you do. Will you still be able to compete in MMA matches?
JB:
Oh yeah. The contract that I signed over there for New Japan
only strictly deals with management and professional wrestling.
Any fight that I do is a separate deal altogether. So, I've got
the ability, if we do shoot fights in New Japan, to do them there.
I can do them in Pancrase or I could go to the UFC and fight
if I wanted to or Pride or anywhere. I'm open to whoever makes
an offer.
RB:
Let's talk a little bit about your future in MMA. You've seen
a lot of things going down. By the way, I finally got to see
your fight against Semmy this last New Year's Eve show. I finally
got to sit down and watch that. That was an interesting fight.
Semmy's a tough guy isn't he?
JB:
Yeah, well you know, the guy is a lot bigger than he used to
be. It certainly made a difference that night. He's about 290,
somewhere close to 300. I could tell that it didn't just help
him with being on top, he was just a lot stronger. So, he really
put in his time in the gym apparently and realized that being
bigger isn't going to be such a problem over there. It's not
like he had to make 265.
RB:
I guess it's easy to say that the second fight was a lot tougher
than the first?
JB:
Yeah, it was a lot tougher. I don't know how much this had to
do with it but I actually got food poisoning about a week and
a half out before the fight and it laid me out for about three
days and I lost eight pounds. I felt good going into the ring,
so I really didn't think it would be an issue and maybe it still
wasn't. The thing is, a guy like Semmy is tough because he's
not only big but he's got so much reach that if you stood up
to break his guard, he could still smash you just like you were
right in front of him.
RB:
So you got through that fight, what's next? Can you comment on
the possibility of fighting in the Grand Prix?
JB:
Well, you know anything is possible. I'm not sitting back saying
I won't fight for this, I will fight for that. If they make an
offer to my management, I'm sure we could work something out.
I mean, it really depends on the promotion. You know, I've been
saying this for about the last year here. People always wonder
about this and that, I don't really have anything against any
one promotion. It's really up to them if they want to use me.
It's just business.
RB:
So, what do you think the possibilities are as of right now?
Will you be in the Pride Grand Prix heavyweight tournament?
JB:
I feel like if they really want to have a real grand prix, a
real showcase of heavyweights and the best tournament in the
world, there's absolutely no way you could ever claim any of
that, without having the best fighters. I know I'm one of the
best fighters in the world regardless.
RB:
I know the fans would love to see it, I'd love to see it. We
will see what transpires in the upcoming weeks. I know you're
a fan of the sport as well. You've been able to watch some of
these heavyweights get after it, what's your overall impressions
of the state of the heavyweights right now? Who's the best and
maybe you could kinda break down your top five guys that you
see out there and how you kinda equate this heavyweight division.
JB:
Right now I feel like the UFC is really a shallow pool at this
moment and there doesn't seem to be a lot of competition amongst
the guys out there. I mean, I think Pedro is still a quality
guy for the UFC. I think Tim Sylvia has some qualities about
him that are gonna make him tough to beat for most guys in the
UFC and he's definitely way better than any up-and-comer that
they're going to find.
Beyond
that, it's really hard to say what kind of quality they've got.
There are some tough guys, but I think maybe they're not quite
there yet. For the rest of the world, I think it's really obvious
that Pride has the top heavyweight division in Mixed Martial
Arts right now. I think it's suitable to say that Fedor, Nogueira,
and Cro Cop are pretty much the three names that everyone's going
to kick around and even I think about them from time to time.
I think by their past performances they've really proved that
they deserve to be mentioned at the top of the top.
RB:
Who is the best out of those three you've just mentioned?
JB:
It's really hard to say. This might be a situation where fighter
A beats fighter B, fighter C beats fighter A and fighter B beats
fighter C. Like how Cro Cop was submitted by Nogueira, but I
have my doubts that Nogueira's style will ever really match up
well with Fedor's style. Kinda like an anti-Nogueira style. Where
as maybe Fedor won't be able to work the same against Cro Cop
because he doesn't grapple, he doesn't try for submissions, he's
just kinda a spaz on the ground. All he wants to do is just get
back up and create chaos.
RB:
So you can pretty much interchange those three guys?
JB:
In some aspects. I think for me, the fact that Nogueira being
more Jiu-Jitsu and grappling oriented, I think that Fedor and
Cro Cop are almost interchangeable.
RB:
Where do you rate yourself in those, basically those four guys
with Sylvia and the three guys from Pride you just mentioned?
JB:
Well, I don't really, I mean Tim Sylvia's done a really good
job out there and I think he's made a fine example of himself
as a champion. Anything not withstanding, you know, I'm not even
caring about the extra-curricular activities but just in the
ring. I think he's really proved his worth. Do I think he could
have taken the UFC title from me? Nah, no way, as far as I was
concerned and as far as I am still concerned, there is nobody
in the UFC right now that would have beat me for that title.
RB:
Let me ask you a question right there, about Tim Sylvia. If you
were to fight Tim Sylvia, could you take him down?
JB:
Sure, I could take him down; especially, with a cage. I mean,
only in Mixed Martial Arts are you going to see a national or
world level wrestler get taken down by a guy who probably doesn't
even know how to wrestle. Like BJ Penn, he's not a college wrestler
yet he fought Joey, that little guy that he fought in his first
fight.
RB:
In the UFC you're talking?
JB:
Right, the first BJ Penn fight ever. That guy wrestled in college
and wrestled all his life and yet he got taken down by BJ. That's
the thing, because fighting is different than wrestling. The
opportunities are a little different on how you're gonna get
a takedown. Plus, pop em up against the fence, they're not going
to get a chance to sprawl or use most of their takedown defense.
The other thing is, I don't really feel like I have to take Tim
Sylvia down.
RB:
You would stand with Tim?
JB:
Yeah, I have no problem with that because I think that out of
all the people he has fought so far, he hasn't fought anybody
with any quality standup at this point. He's got a nice right
hand, he's very basic. He's got good boxing. He's worked on his
basics of boxing, but there's a whole lot more to that game.
I just think that my technique would out shine.
RB:
Breakdown the other three. How would you do against the other
three?
JB:
I don't have any doubts in this world that I could easily prove
that I'm the number one fighter in the world. I've been in this
sport long enough and haven't seen anything new yet. I mean nobody
out there that has come along is just like wow, how do you solve
that puzzle. I mean this is just something where I can't see
how somebody's gonna beat him.
Really,
it's just kind of a cycle. Everything's come and go and maybe
one guy's better than the last guy that fought like him but it's
all just relative at this point. There are obvious inherent dangers
with each opponent, Fedor, Nogueira, and Cro Cop. Even Fedor,
I don't think it's his ground-and-pound that's most dangerous
for fighters. It's the way he fights. He just kinda goes balls
to the wall. His blitz', he's in there and he goes as hard as
he can almost every opportunity he gets. Then again, fighting
that way has a tendency of leaving yourself wide open and that's
why a guy like Fujita, who doesn't really have any standup to
speak of, almost knocked him out. His head's up, his chin's forward,
he's never protecting his face when he kickboxes. He just banks
on the fact that he's going to throw it harder and faster first
and get in there. That's probably a good reason why some experts
think that Cro Cop will be able to take Fedor out, because he's
always open to getting nailed. A guy like Cro Cop, he bases everything
on his speed and ability to push the fight. Every time you've
seen Cro Cop have trouble, if you could call it that in most
of his fights, someone's actually throwing at him. Ernesto Hoost
came right at him, came right at Cro Cop and stayed in his face.
If you are not aggressive with that guy, if you're not willing
to stand, he's just going to pick his shots and tear you apart.
RB:
Here is a question I had for you. No doubt I know you're one
of the top five guys in the world today. My question is though,
since you're spending so much time in wrestling, before you were
24/7 focused on MMA, does that hurt you from a perspective now
that you're spending so much time with your wrestling that you're
not able to train like you did for MMA?
JB:
Well, not really, because I haven't really changed a whole lot
from my training for wrestling and I consider wrestling and fighting
to be one in the same. I'm not going to show up in a wrestling
ring out of shape any more than I would show up to a fight out
of shape. I pretty much do the same type of training. I make
sure to show up in good shape. It could be a problem like before
I fought Semmy Schilt. I toured for three weeks straight before
getting in the ring and while it helped me to stay in good shape
and actually improved my condition by doing all that wrestling,
it's really hard on the body and it has a tendency to wear you
out.
Normally,
I don't think I'll do something like that; especially, if I fought
in something like the Pride Grand Prix. I don't think I'd be
able to tour and then go in and take a really big fight like
that. I think I would definitely need to focus completely on
fighting at the time if not just for giving my body a chance
to rest instead of giving it a constant pounding by being out
on the road all the time. Really, if anything wrestling has done
is opened my mind to using different styles and different techniques
in the Mixed Martial Arts world that people aren't gonna know
what to do with.
RB:
My man Sherdog wanted me to ask if you keep your website up?
JB:
If I keep my website up? You know, I just actually got a website
going and I don't even think it's out on the web yet, so if Sherdog
knows about it, I'm a little surprised. I think we can expect
it to drop in around March or something like that.
RB:
Do you want to throw it out there yet or do you want to wait?
JB:
It's joshbarnett.tv. Actually, there's something on the web right
now at least just claiming it's space. I really think that by
March I can have a fairly solid site up.
RB:
Some people on the Live Fighter Chat wanted me to ask, what do
you think about Frank Mir?
JB:
Well, I don't think much about Frank at all. I don't really know
the guy. I know he's had some choice words to say about me before
that I've heard from places but all throughout the time I was
in the UFC, he doesn't even hit on my radar. I think he had a
very horrible looking fight the last time he was in the octagon.
I think he knows what he's got to work on that's for sure.
RB:
What do you see? Obviously you don't think much of him. Is it
because you're not impressed with any part of his game?
JB:
You know, the whole thing is that, you can feel whatever you
want about yourself and you can carry whatever attitude that
you feel that you need to try and accomplish your goals, but
you've gotta ground in reality about what you're capable of.
And, really truthfully look at yourself and go "am I really
prepared". The fact that he would call his fight against
Ian Freeman a fluke to this day, or I mean, if that guy showed
up in the ring like he did against Wes Sims, not only would Ian
knock him out just as hard, he's probably going to cripple the
guy.
He
couldn't even out grapple Ian past the second round. I find it
an insult to Ian who is a friend of mine, but also as Ian's trainer.
Ian was in the best shape of his life and he was in his tip top
of conditioning and no matter what Frank did, I knew he didn't
have the skill to go against Ian. If he wants to tell himself
that it was a fluke to this very day to help him sleep better
at night, that's fine. But, anybody with half a brain knows that
was no fluke and he would do it over and over and over again.
Probably like he did in Frank's nightmares the week following.
RB:
UFC 38 is still one of the best UFC cards of all time. I remember
watching that live. You know what I remember about you in that
fight? I just remember you coming out. You were as fired up as
I think Ian was. You had this look of total confidence. You and
I talked before that fight when Ian was training, hitting the
bags and you were like, 'dude, I'm telling you right now, Ian
Freeman will knock out Frank Mir'. You knew it.
JB:
Well, that guy was ready and I mean I have never seen Ian look
that good before. He looked sharp, physically he looked good
and I knew that from the training I had put him through that
he was going to be in awesome shape. If this fight was three
or five rounds it wasn't going to make a difference. Ian was
going to have the gas tank to not only make it through those
rounds but make it at a pace that his opponent wasn't going to
be able to keep up.
RB:
I'm sure Ian wishes he had you on his side right now, because
he hasn't been the same since that fight.
JB:
It's really too bad that he took a finger like that in the eye
from Arlovski. I would love to help Ian out anytime that I could,
but unfortunately when I decided to be a pro-wrestler and to
do all these things, I kinda gave up my right to be a trainer
anymore, because I can't be that reliable and make sure I am
there to give someone the kind of support and training that they
need. I really actually feel bad about that at any opportunity
in the future, if Ian needed my help, I'd love to help him.
RB:
I'm not going to ask you "hey how much money do you make"
but compare it to the sport of fighting to what you're doing
in pro-wrestling right now. Are you living a lot more comfortable
lifestyle with pro wrestling, then when you were in the UFC or
MMA?
JB:
Of course, anytime you add a second income you're always gonna
be doing better financially. At the top of the pay scale, pro
wrestling in Japan is probably better than Mixed Martial Arts,
but that group of people that can say that is probably about
a handful. Though it is really good money and more than the money,
I really enjoy the company I work with, because they treat you
just like a family. It's the best locker room I've ever been
in. It is just a great atmosphere and everybody is super supportive.
People may not have seen this coming, but some of those guys
are pretty square submission wrestlers. So, I got a nice handful
of students to workout with over there and guys to push me and
there's former Olympians in amateur wrestling. There's a lot
of good bodies to work with.
RB:
Are there some MMA guys that compete in New Japan as well?
JB:
Yeah, some former Pancrase guys and some former UWF guys. Not
to mention just all the basic wrestling, most of these guys are
taught in submission wrestling, so they know what they are doing.
RB:
Interesting. I am sure we see a lot of these submissions in the
pro-wrestling matches, right?
JB:
For sure.
RB:
You mentioned Pancrase, of course you are the King of Pancrase.
Will your next MMA fight be in Pancrase or has there even been
any talk about that?
JB:
I really don't know right now when my next fight in Pancrase
is gonna be, but I intend to defend the title at least a couple
of times this year. I don't want to be an inactive champion by
any stretch of the meaning, because I just don't feel that would
be very fair to do a belt like that. People may not consider
Pancrase with the UFC or Pride in the United States, but really
in my opinion, the top three belts in MMA are the UFC belt, the
Pride belt, and the King of Pancrase. The King of Pancrase is
by far the oldest and most prestigious in my opinion, just by
who's held it and where it's come from and where it's been. I'm
really proud and honored to be able to get that belt.
RB:
Do you still have a chance to see Bob Sapp or is his schedule
crazy and your schedule so crazy that you guys don't get a chance
to get together much?
JB:
We run into each other every so often in Japan cause he kinda
goes to the same places that I do from time to time. You walk
through and we will bump into each other or something like that,
but usually he's off doing his own thing and running around and
what not, and I'm doing my thing so we don't get all that much
opportunity to sit down together anymore.
RB:
It's got to be amazing seeing, I mean you're there, you know
it better than anybody... just the amazing out pouring of Bob
Sapp fans in Japan. It's got to be crazy.
JB:
Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I'm not really around him much. He's
definitely done well marketing himself and K-1's done a good
job pushing his image in as many places as possible.
RB:
Real quick, just give me a yes or no answer. Do you feel you
will be in the Pride Grand Prix?
JB:
Yes.
RB:
Nice, that's good. You just made a lot of people happy.
JB:
That's a positive outlook.
RB:
That sounds good. Any idea when you'll hear? I mean I guess it's
one of those things, you kinda wait and negotiate and see what
happens huh?
JB:
Oh yeah, it just really comes down to business. If they decide
for whatever reason that they don't want to put me in it, I'm
not going to lose any sleep over it. It's just like I said, if
they want a legitimate tournament. If they want the best tournament
in the world, they can't do it without the top fighters.
RB:
Who's the most underrated fighter in MMA right now in your opinion?
JB:
You know what? The most underrated fighter is the entire country
of Japan really.
RB:
You're saying all the fighters there?
JB:
Yeah. I mean people don't give them, they think that a guy like
Tamura is a tomato can. They have absolutely no idea. That whole
sentiment follows throughout the entire country of fighters over
there. They're a lot tougher guys than people give them credit
for. I think, given some time, I think people are gonna really
understand that.
RB:
You know who I think is a tough guy, and you know first hand,
is Yuki Kondo.
JB:
He's a really tough guy. He's not gonna give up for nothing.
RB:
He's an interesting fighter. I think he could make some waves
especially at 205, because I think that is more his natural weight.
JB:
He's able to turn some heads and shock the world a bit. I would
love to see him get in there and fight Wanderlei and all the
other top Pride guys and knock em out. I think he's an outstanding
fighter and he's an outstanding character.
RB:
Will Inoki let you fight in the Pride Grand Prix?
JB:
Yeah, I don't think Inoki should have any problem with that because
no matter what the relationship is between two different promotions,
if they absolutely hate each other, what would be the absolute
best thing to see happen? Send one of your guys to the group
that you cannot stand and watch em' wipe it up. Go in their ring
and walk out with their belt. I mean what would be more satisfying
than that? And really, if they put me in the Pride Grand Prix,
that's exactly what I'd go in there and do.
RB:
A lot of fans want to see you there. I want to see you there.
It would be just a fun tournament all the way around man. Josh,
always a pleasure. It's been a long time.
JB:
I know. It's been forever, but I apologize for that. I will try
to keep my schedule more open, but hey man, getting up at 9 o'clock
in the morning. I don't know what you're on, must be a triple
shot coffee, because I could barely move my jaw for the first
five minutes of this interview. It was fun and a good time and
it was good to get with you and talk.
RB:
Let's do it again soon, alright?
JB:
Alright.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
MORE
ON KONDO VS SILVA
It seems that Yuki Kondo vs Vanderlei Silva is getting close
to being a done dea. According to Kakuto.com a Silva vs Kondo
fight is being considered for Pride Bushido in May or June, but
NOT for the Pride Grand Prix.
According
to the Japanese media, they call Kondo "the only Japanese
Fighter" with possibilities to take down Silva. Meanwhile,
Kondo is glad Silva mentioned him as the next opponent in Pride
in his post fight interview after Bushido.
Kondo
also would like to have a re-match with Josh Barnett for the
King of Pancrase open weight title. Also, since K-1 just opened
it's K-1 MMA events, Kondo thinks a match with Bob Sapp is inevitable.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
COUTURE
STARRING IN HBO MOVIE
While he waits patiently to see who he will fight at UFC 48,
Randy Couture will now spend the next 18 days in Hollywood starring
in an upcoming HBO movie.
"No
Rules" is a fight movie that features Gary Busey, Pam Anderson
and another well known MMA Fighter in Frank Shamrock.
"I'm
looking forward to hanging out with Frank" Couture told
MMAWeekly. "I hope I can act" Couture said with a smile.
When asked if he has a speaking part Couture said "yea I
have a pretty good sized part. I'm one of the main characters
as I'm the #1 antagonist. Frank is my number one student so him
and I get to fight other people in the movie."
And
the big question is, Will he get to fight Pamela Anderson? "I
wish" he said with a laugh. "Unfortunately they won't
give me the opportunity."
As
far as his future goes, Couture still hasn't heard anything about
fighting Vitor Belfort. He says he plans on doing some training
during down time of the movie. "I'm looking forward to training
with Frank Shamrock. That will be a lot of fun. We have never
trained together so I'm looking forward to learning from him
and I'm sure he is looking forward to the opportunity as well."
Source:
MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"I already gave my best.
I have no regrets at all... She Bang! She Bang!"
--William Hung
2004 American Idol Auditions
(Thanks to Sean for the idea for the quote!)
|
Rodrigo
Gracie After Pride Interview!
Rodrigo
Gracie just defended his perfect record and extended it to 5-0
in Pride Bushido 2 against Japanese star Hayato Sakurai. We had
interviewed Rodrigo prior to the match and wanted to get his
thoughts after the win!
KP-
You have just defeated Hayato Sakurai, one of the best fighters
in Japan, how was the fight?
RG- I started the match by throwing some punches with the intent
of not only hurting him but also getting him to the ground. My
plan was to take him down, pass his guard and submit him. I was
able to take him to the ground, but he has a very good guard
and I spent a lot of time trying to pass. He does the sitting
guard and keeps his hands on your shoulders for distance. He
has short legs so if you give him distance and move away, he
kicks you in the face! At the same time he doesn’t let you
get close to him because he uses his stiff arm on your shoulders
and the hooks to keep you away. He defended very hard, pushing
my shoulders away, I tried to mount him and he’d push me
away, and eventually he got tired.
KP-
This is the second or third guy that you fight in a row that
has a good guard!
RG- Yes both Sasaki and Takase had great guards. As a matter
of fact Takase had a very strong guard. The Japanese have improved
their ground game to a great level.
KP-
You have been training your stand up punches and kicks a lot.
Did that help?
RG- Yes, it helped a lot. I do a lot of wrestling and Muay Thai
and my takedowns and my strikes are getting very strong. As a
matter of fact I hit him with a punch that buckled his legs.
Yes he was expecting that I throw an over hand right so he stuck
his arm out and I changed and threw a Jab that caught his chin,
not flush but it grazed it hard and he went down to his knees.
That actually caught me by surprise, the fact that he went down
from my jab! So I started to knee him in the head and he went
to his back and pulled guard on me!
KP-
Did you take him down as well?
RG- Well it seemed that every time he tried something he ended
up in trouble. He tried to punch from the guard and I got a triangle
on him. He tried a few things and I took him down, he ended up
fighting a very conservative fight. As a matter of fact compared
to his other matches, he fought a very conservative fight against
me.
KP-
Do you think that has something to do with the fact that you
submitted Matsui? Because no one has been able to do so to this
date and you basically did that on your first International fight!
That might have left a big impression on the Japanese fighters?
RG- Maybe so, Matsui is a tough fighter, he faced Sanae Kikuta,
Carlos Newton, Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort amongst others
and no one had or has submitted him yet. So maybe that has affected
my opponents, because they have all fought very conservative
fights against me.
KP-
You have only faced very good, experienced fighters as well.
RG- I have faced tough fighters from the beginning and they still
fight very conservatively against me. I have beaten them all
so far but they have not fought an open fight against me! I am
still learning, after all I have only five fights. I believe
I have a lot to improve and I have improved from fight to fight.
AS you stated, I have only fought against tough opponents, so
I have not had an “easy” fight yet, but this has helped
me mature and learn tremendously. I hope some day to have an
easy opponent (chuckles) or an open opponent then I can show
all I can do. But until then I will take the experience that
I am getting, I have been in the fire from day one and I think
that has helped me a lot.
KP-
When you have two top fighters the fight is more even right?
RG- Yes, if you have two top level fighters, the match is going
to be a lot tougher, more equal. If I or anyone else for that
matter get a lesser opponent, and there aren’t too many
of those in Pride that’s for sure, then we can do more of
a show.
KP-
You now have a 5–0 record all against tough fighters. Who
would you want to fight against next?
RG- (Without hesitation) Sakuraba!
KP-
Did you challenge him?
RG- I basically challenged him on the interview we did prior
to this last Bushido (Feb.10, 04) , and then I challenged him
again after this fight. In the press conference I stated that
I wanted to fight him.
KP-
Why?
RG- He once stated in an interview that he didn’t care how
many Gracies existed that he would submit them all. So I want
to see if he will submit me, because I guarantee you that I am
going to beat him up! Beat him up!
KP-
A fight against him would be very exciting!
RG- It will be a great fight because he goes for it. I thought
Sakurai was going to try to exchange with me and go for it, but
he didn’t, he fought very tight, it doesn’t even look
like him, he was hesitant to kick and punch. But the Gracie Hunter
would be different, he would come forward and go for it!
KP-
You think you are getting known as a good fighter and that is
affecting your opponents?
RG- Maybe. I don’t know, but I am sure the Gracie Hunter
wouldn’t hesitate or give me too much respect, he’d
go for it!
KP-
Who did you train with in Japan?
RG- I went to Japan with Daniel, then I met with Gordo and Soca.
Gordo Correa was accompanying Soca for his NHB debut so we trained
together in Japan. Then my cousin Crosley arrived and he helped
me a lot, especially in tying up the feet and other things.
KP-
You had a good team!
RG- Yes, at home I trained a lot with Renzo of course and my
other guys, but I also trained a lot of wrestling and standing,
as a matter of fact I believe I neglected the ground a little
too much for this fight, I felt a little sluggish on the ground,
like my reactions were not normal super sharp. I think I normally
would be able to pass his guard, but you can’t train everything
all the time. After the fight I watched the tape and I saw a
few openings that I should have taken advantage. But I have to
develop other areas of my game, because my Jiu-Jitsu is already
at a good level.
KP-
Back to Sakuraba. Do you think that by beating him you would
be avenging the family or is it just another test for you?
RG- Yes, if I fight him it will be a good test. But I want to
take away his nickname, he won’t be known as the Gracie
Hunter after the fight any more!
KP-
There are many new young Gracies, you, Ryan, Crosley, a new generation
is coming. But also you have an older group, that has been fighting
for a while defending the family name like Rickson, Royce, Renzo
and Royler. Does the fact that you are one of the “new generation
of Gracie fighters” affects you in any way?
RG- It puts a lot of pressure on us. I see them fight and they
have all done very well. I get a lot from them, as they pass
their experiences to us. And they are all still kicking butt.
So it puts a lot of pressure on us to do well. But I am sure
we are ready to continue the push. We are continuing the push
and trying to follow their example. They are our role model and
it is a huge inspiration to be following in their foot steps.
I believe that when they win they have helped us, so I think
when I fight and win I help the next Gracies that are coming.
Because when a Gracie fights, people just remember that a Gracie
won or lost.
KP-
What are your plans now?
RG- I want to rest a little bit with my wife Laura. But I also
will give a lot of attention and pass a lot of what I have learned
to my students. Because my students are some of my biggest supporters,
they help me prepare and give me a lot of emotional support!
You add that to my trainers like Renzo, with Keith Tremble, my
kick boxing coach, he has helped a lot and my wrestling partners
in Manhattan and in Long Island and you have a winning combo.
KP-
Thanks Rodrigo!
RG- Thank you. I want to send a big thanks to all my fans and
supporters!
Source:
ADCC
|
2004
Pan-Ams: Registrations are now OPEN!
Registrations
for the biggest BJJ Fest in North American have now offically
opened. The IBJJF has launched the official link for web information
and preregistrations for this great event: PanAm2004.
This
year's event promises to be bigger and better than ever. Solid
insider info has it that many of the big from Brazil are coming
to compete. The early info is that Fernando 'Terere', Rodrigo
'Comprido' & Eduardo Telles, Ronaldo 'Jacare' , Bibiano Fernandes
, Mario Reis & Fabio Leopoldo are all planning to fight for
Pan-Am Gold! Not to be outdone, top Americans & American
based fighters are no doubt going to show up for the fracas!
Planning to compete are US and US based top dogs Cassio Werneck,
Paulo Guilobel & Jeff Curran!
http://www.cbjj.com.br/english/pan2004.htm
Don't
miss out, sign up and show up!
Source: ADCC |
Jacare
Team on the Attack!
Romero
'Jacare' Cavalcanti, the leader of the Alliance and Master teams
is embarking on an ATTACK MISSION. Team Jacare will attack the
ADCC Florida event and then double up at the Arnolds! Jacare
is going to ADCC with some of his top US based fighters like
Raphael Assuncao, Ryan Ellison and Chris Moriarty. There he will
be joined by Fabio Gurgel and young sensation Marcelo Garcia.
The team promises to do a big show at the event.
Following
ADCC the crew moves north to Ohio and the Arnolds wher e Garcia
is going to be fighting both in the Gi and the NoGi divisions!
Team Jacare has leased a large bus to take all the young alligators
to the Arnold site.
Prior
to departing for Ohio, Garcia will be conducting a Seminar on
March 3rd at the Alliance Martial Arts Center on Sandy Springs.
For more info and to secure your spot call 404 843-0606. The
seminar will be both Gi and NO-Gi and its a must attend!
Source: ADCC
|
King
of the Cage Results!
Aftermath
of After Shock
King Of the Cage: After Shock
Held February 20, 2004
At Soboba Casino - San Jacinto, California
Report by Keith Mills
A cold night in Cali
It was a wild night for King Of The Cage's first pay-per-view
show of 2004. First off, the eighteen fights -- yes eighteen
-- complicated the pay-per-view broadcast to the point that the
undercard actually happened after the main events. The headline
fight was Joe Stevenson successfully defending his belt against
Joe Camacho, which, combined with the other belt bout, Charlie
Valencia vs. Bobby Gamboa, proved KOTC is willing to have a pay-per-view
show that highlights the lighter weight classes. Dan Severn and
Scary Jerry ending in a lackluster draw was the only fight above
170 on the upper end of the card. Even with all of that going
on, and the return of Romi Aram, the show was hands down stolen
by Charles "Crazy Horse" Bennett who seemed to have
the entire venue buzzing after his WWE-type antics. Bennett started
out the fight by jumping onto and then sitting on the fence in
his corner as if he was going to leap at his opponent from the
top of the cage. After finishing his opponent in the quickest
fight of the night, Bennett then jumped onto the top of the cage
again, this time doing a back flip off of it into the center
of the ring. Stevenson, Denny, Aram, and even Valencia couldn't
top that. Look for a complete report in an upcoming issue of
Full Contact Fighter.
Undercard:
- Richard Solis def Carlos Garcia by judges’ decision
- Matt Stansell def Logan Layton 3:22 r1 by TKO
- Omar Luv def Gus Ambrozic 4:32 by TKO (leg injury)
- Dale Breese def Cesar Moreno 0:35 by TKO
- Manny Tapia drew Chad Washburn (2 rounds)
Main
card:
- Wander Braga def Jason Cleveland 1:14 r1 by armbar
- Randy Velarde def Bryson Vanderford 4:53 r1 by submission to
strikes
- Larry Landless def Tony Berg 1:41 r1 by rear choke
- Thomas Kenny def Ray Elbe 2:36 r1 by kimura
- Brian Sesma def Brian Pardoe 2:27 by TKO
- Chad Davis def Mike Seal 1:47 r2 by triangle choke
- Brian Foster def Dustin Arden 3:19 r1 by rear choke
- Romi Aram def Michael Penalber by judges’ decision (2
rounds)
- Thomas Denny def Jake Gomes 2:15 r1 by triangle choke
- Charlie Valencia def Bobby Gamboa by judges’ decision
(Valencia retains 145 belt)
- Dan Severn drew Jerry Vrbanovic (2 rounds)
- Charles Bennett def Shad Smith 0:20 r1 by TKO
- Joe Stevenson def Joe Camacho 4:36 r2 by guillotine choke
Source:
FCF |
HE'S
ONE OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD WITHOUT A CONTRACT
He's a Olympic Silver Medalist, he is ranked in the top two in
the world in his weight division and unexplicably he has no contract
and no fights scheduled in the near future. He's Matt Lindland.
Matt
"The Law" Lindland was the featured guest on MMAWeekly
SoundOff Radio's Friday edition. As previously mentioned, Matt
has no contract to fight with anyone. The Olympic Silver Medalist
is perplexed by this, saying, "it makes no sense."
Lindland has always been ranked as a top 185lb. fighter in the
in the world and just wants to fight. Lindland thinks the sport
may be going in a different direction than sportsmanship with
a bigger emphasis on showmanship. He went on to say, "I'm
not a showman, I'm a sportsman." When asked if Matt felt
he was a "boring" fighter, he pointed out his fight
record showing that he rarely doesn't finish his opponent. Lindland
wants to stay in the UFC but favors the Pride format and would
love to fight in Pride. Matt said, "The more brutal it gets
in there, the more fun I'm having."
Looking
to future match ups, Matt said he would like to fight Murilo
Bustamante again. He admitted that Murilo won the fight and was
the better guy that night but doesn't feel Bustamante can beat
him again. He compared Lee Murray to Phil Baroni, both having
heavy hands but thinks Murray may be a more well-rounded fighter
than Phil.
Matt
doesn't see a Murray fight happening any time soon because the
UFC said Lee isn't ready for him yet. Lindland stated that he
would always step up to fight Phil Baroni and suspects that we
will see Baroni back in the UFC before him even though he holds
two wins over Phil. Matt would like to see Carlos Newton move
up in weight class and thinks he is a much better fighter than
his last outing showed. He would like to see an eight man tournament
in the same night with a bracket showing what you have to do
and who you have to beat to get the title. It doesn't really
matter to Lindland, he stated, "I don't care who I fight,
I just want to fight."
Matt
spoke briefly about Randy Couture and the questions surrounding
a rematch with Vitor Belfort. Randy is back to training and helping
out the high school wrestling team in the state tournament. Matt
said there is no update on the Vitor situation but has a hard
time believing the published reports on Tatame were made by Belfort
himself. Lindland knows Vitor really well and said it just don't
sound like him. He did say that if Belfort did make those statements,
it isn't right. He continued, "who ever the promoter puts
in front of you, you should fight."
Lindland
talked about his promotion, SportFight, putting on it's inaugural
event in Oregon. Matt has no fights lined up in the near future
and would love to remain in the sport of MMA so promoting was
a logical move.
He
has put together a few small events literally by himself but
has a staff to help out on this one. Fellow Team Quest fighter
Randy Couture is also involved with SportFight and Lindland feels
Randy's name alone is a valuable asset to have.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
NOW
WHO'S NUMBER ONE? MINNESOTA UPSETS OKLAHOMA STATE, 17-16; PLUS
MORE SUNDAY QUICK WRESTLING RESULTS
The
Big 12 Conference may be more highly ranked overall than the
Big Ten in the college wrestling rankings, but three-time defending
Big Ten champ Minnesota stated its case for its conference on
the mat against defending Big 12 and NCAA champ, the top-ranked
Oklahoma State Cowboys, Sunday afternoon in a dual meet held
in Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, OK, Sunday afternoon.
Led
by a 3-1 victory in the next to last match by Minnesota senior
Jacob Volkmann against top-ranked and previously-undefeated Tyrone
Lewis at 165 pounds, Minnesota upset Oklahoma State, 17-16. Oklahoma
State's Lewis fell to 28-1 on the season, while Volkmann improved
to 26-4.
Defending
NCAA champion and top-ranked Damion Hahn also won a 10-2 major
decision against Oklahoma State's Rusty Blackmon at 197 pounds.
In
his last home meet, Oklahoma State's two-time defending NCAA
Champion, senior Johnny Thompson, won an 8-2 decision over Minnesota's
Andrew Domingues at 133. But Thompson could not earn any bonus
points against Domingues, who was making only his second career
start at 133 after wrestling at 125 all season.
At
184, Oklahoma State's other defending NCAA champ, Jake Rosholt,
decisioned Josh McLay, 2-1. At 174, Oklahoma State's top-ranked
Chris Pendleton ended the regular season undefeated with a 12-8
win over Jon Duncombe.
Minnesota
won its fifth dual meet in a row to finish the regular season
at 12-6 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten. Oklahoma State had a
15-meet winning streak ended, and finished at 17-2 overall and
6-1 in the Big 12.
'From
top to bottom, I couldn't be prouder of this team,' Minnesota
head coach J Robinson said. 'We've been inconsistent all season,
battled through injuries, but we're peaking at the right time.
It starts with our two seniors and they really came through for
us today.'
Minnesota
ended the regular season on a hot streak. Their five-meet winning
streak included this win against the top-ranked Cowboys and a
victory over Big Ten rival Illinois, which had the best record,
7-1, in Big Ten conference meets.
Minnesota
will attempt to win its fourth straight Big Ten Championship
in two weeks in Columbus, Ohio, March 6-7. Oklahoma State's next
stop is Ames, Iowa, for the Big 12 Championships on March 6.
Then
come the 2004 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships, March 18-20,
in St. Louis.
Oklahoma
State won last year's national title, while Minnesota, which
was second in 2003, had been victorious the previous two seasons.
#10
Minnesota 17, #1 Oklahoma State 16
184 - #14 Jake Rosholt (OSU) dec. Josh McLay (MINN), 2-1
197 - #1 Damion Hahn (MINN) maj. dec. Rusty Blackmon (OSU), 10-2
HWT - #6 Cole Konrad (MINN) maj. dec. #13 Willie Gruenwald (OSU),
10-0
125 - #13 Bobbe Lowe (MINN) dec. #18 Cody Stites (OSU), 4-2
133 - #6 Johnny Thompson (OSU) dec. Andrew Domingues (MINN),
8-2
141 - #18 Tommy Owen (MINN) dec. Ronnie Delk (OSU), 6-4
149 - #2 Zack Esposito (OSU) maj. dec. Thomas McAlpine (MINN),
17-6
157 - #6 Johny Hendricks (OSU) dec. #14 Matt Nagel (MINN), 6-4
165 - #7 Jacob Volkmann (MINN) dec. #1 Tyrone Lewis (OSU), 3-1
174 - #1 Chris Pendleton (OSU) dec. #12 Jon Duncombe (MINN),
12-8
For
more information Click here: http://www.gophersports.com/sportsNews/press_release.asp?news_id=8641&sport_id=mwrest
MISSOURI
21, OKLAHOMA 15
A
crowd of 1,324 fans, a new record for the University of Missouri's
Hearnes Center Field House in Columbia, MO, witnessed the Missouri
Tigers down the Oklahoma Sooners, 21-15, Sunday afternoon in
the final regular season dual meet for both teams. Missouri won
six of the 10 matches.
Missouri's
win was historic, as it marked the first time a Big 12 team has
scored victories over both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in the
same season. It was also only Missouri's fourth win in 41 tries
against Oklahoma.
Missouri
finishes the regular season with a record of 15-3 overall, and
2-3 in the Big 12. Oklahoma finishes at 14-8 overall but 0-6
in the Big 12. The fact that Oklahoma has been ranked in or near
the top ten all season, yet lost all of its Big 12 meets, shows
just how strong this conference is.
Next
up for both teams is the Big 12 Conference Championships, Saturday,
March 6, in Ames, Iowa, at Iowa State's Hilton Coliseum.
Weight-Wrestler
over Wrestler: Result Team Points
165 Tyron Woodley (MU) dec Charles Jones (OU): 8-4 MU 3 OU 0
174 Ben Askren (MU) tech fall Randy Sulaver (OU): 4:30, 17-2
MU 8 OU 0
184 Matt Pell (MU) dec. Justin Dyer (OU): 8-3 MU 11 OU 0
197 Jeff Foust (MU) major dec. Joel Tapler (OU): 10-1 MU 15 OU
0
HWT Leonce Crump (OU) dec Mike Whitehead (MU): 2-0 MU 15 OU 3
125 Sam Hazewinkel (OU) dec. Austin DeVoe (MU): 5-4 MU 15 OU
6
133 Mimi Miller (OU) dec. Brett Watkins (MU): 11-5 MU 15 OU 9
141 J.P. Reese (MU) dec. Shane Kid (OU) 7-0 MU 18 OU 9
149 Jeff Ecklof (OU) forfeit MU 18 OU 15
157 Kenny Burleson (MU) dec. Rafael Maturino (OU): 10-4 MU 21
OU 15
ILLINOIS
26, PURDUE 9
Winning
seven of ten matches, the University of Illinois concluded its
regular season with a 26-9 victory over Big Ten rival Purdue
before a spirited crowd of 1,397 at Huff Hall in Champaign, IL,
Sunday afternoon.
Top-ranked
157-pound sophomore Alex Tirapelle finished the regular season
undefeated with an 8-2 victory.
Illinois
finishes the regular season at 13-1 overall. They were also 7-1
in the Big Ten, which was the best record in that conference.
Purdue finishes at 18-6 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten.
Next
for both teams are the Big Ten Championships, which take place
March 6-7, in Columbus, Ohio. The tournament determines the conference
champion and the 72 qualifiers for the NCAA Championships, which
are in St. Louis on March 18-20.
No.
6 Illinois 26, No. 18 Purdue 9
Feb. 22, 2004 Attendance: 1,397
149: Anton Dietzen (ILL) pin Dan Jankowski (PU), 0:59 6-0
157: #1 Alex Tirapelle (ILL) dec. #20 Brad Harper (PU), 8-2 9-0
165: Ben Hay (ILL) dec. Bryce Markley (PU), 11-6 12-0
174: #5 Ryan Lange (PU) dec. #9 Pete Friedl (ILL), 6-4 SV 12-3
184: #5 Brian Glynn (ILL) dec. #17 Ben Wissel (PU), 3-1 SV 15-3
197: Nathan Moore (PU) dec. #13 Jason Potter (ILL), 5-0 15-6
Hwt: #11 Israel Blevins (PU) dec. #8 Mike Behnke (ILL), 5-3 15-9
125: #8 Kyle Ott (ILL) m. dec. Sean Schmaltz (PU), 19-6 19-9
133: #5 Mark Jayne (ILL) m. dec. Chase Beebe (PU), 17-7 23-9
141: Michael Martin (ILL) dec. Doug Withstandley (PU), 9-5 26-9
LEHIGH
24, PENN, 9
Winning
seven of ten matches, Lehigh finished the regular season undefeated
in EIWA competition for the second straight year, downing the
home team University of Pennsylvania, 24-9, Sunday afternoon
at The Palestra in Philadelphia.
Lehigh,
which also had a Sunday evening match with Drexel, improved to
21-4 overall and 7-0 in the EIWA. Penn, in its final regular
season meet, ends at 8-9 overall and 4-1 in the Ancient Eight.
Penn
hosts the 2004 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association
(EIWA) Championships, March 6-7, at The Palestra.
For
ticket information as well as a schedule of events, go to:
www.pennathletics.com/2004eiwas.
125*
- No. 3 Matt Valenti (Penn) def. Mario Stuart (Lehigh), 7-4
133 - Matt Ciasulli (Lehigh) def. Matt Eveleth (Penn), MD 9-1
141 - No. 6 Cory Cooperman (Lehigh) def. No. 11 Doug McGraw (Penn),
7-3
149 - Matt Anderson (Lehigh) def. Rob Hitschler (Penn), 9-8
157 - Derek Zinck (Lehigh) def. Vanderveer (Penn), 6-2
165 - No. 1 Troy Letters (Lehigh) def. Richard Ferguson (Penn),
MD 15-4
174 - No. 4 Brad Dillon (Lehigh) def. Greg Hallahan (Penn), MD
15-6
184 - No. 11 Travis Frick (Lehigh) def. Ethan Bullock (Penn),
7-3
197 - No. 14 Marcus Schontube (Penn) def. Matt Cassidy (Lehigh),
10-4
285 - No. 2 Matt Feast (Penn) def. Paul Weibel (Lehigh), 7-3
* Indicated first bout wrestled in the match
Source:
ADCC
|
Quote
of the Day
"I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but
how high he bounces when he hits bottom."
Gen. George Patton, 1885-1945, American Army General during World
War II
|
Carnaval
Brasileiro - Brazilian Carnaval
My friends are putting on this Carnaval, plus the DJ is going
to be the same guy who does the Axé Brasil show on KTUH-FM
Thursdays, also spinning at Indigo, Thursday nights. So if you
miss the Carnaval on the 21st, you can go to Indigo any week.
I advise you to go the first night he's there so that he'll be
able to continue. As with most music gigs in this town, if the
initial turnouts are low, chances are the musicians, in this
case the DJ get canned. LIsten to the voice of experience! So
if you enjoy Brazilian music, take advantage. Go shake it up!
Aproveita e vai-se sacudir lá!
Aloha,
Sandy
|
|
2004
PAN-AMERICAN JIU-JITSU CHAMPIONSHIP
THE
TOURNAMENT
The
tournament will take place on April 3rd and 4th in California
State University Dominguez Hills, Carson, California.
You
can get more information at: http://www.cbjj.com.br/english/pan2004.htm
Source:
CBJJ |
The
Prodigy on Top of the Volcano
By: Mike Sloan
Though
he had a tremendous amount of support backing him as he entered
the Octagon to challenge Matt Hughes for his welterweight title,
BJ Penn proved so many of us wrong. The vast majority of the
MMA world figured that since Hughes has looked impenetrable over
the course of his last five outings, what could Penn, the naturally
smaller man, possibly do?
Well,
for starters, Penn submitted Hughes inside the first round and
he made it look easy; too easy. Against Penn, Hughes looked befuddled
and lost, not knowing what to do or expect. When the contest
was dragged to the ground, Penn dominated and eventually sunk
in the tricky, slick rear naked choke, forcing Hughes to tapout
at 4:39 of the opening stanza of the contest.
With
the win, Penn not only stole Hughes’ welterweight title,
he also walked away with the Miletich fighter’s claim as
the number one fighter on the planet, pound-for-pound. Hughes
has long been at the top of the list, and now with Penn’s
dismantling of the five-time defending UFC 170 pound champion,
we can rest assured that BJ will be delicately perched atop that
coveted list.
While
Penn had entered the bout looking rather ordinary since his razor
thin defeat at the hands of then lightweight king Jens Pulver
with wins over Matt Serra, Paul Creighton and a draw with Caol
Uno, the Hawaiian bounced back with a sensational submission
of Takanori Gomi at Rumble on the Rock 4.
On
the other side of the proverbial coin, Hughes was unstoppable,
the closest thing to an unbeatable fighter as they come. After
being awarded a knockout win over Carlos Newton via fluke triangle/slam/who-wakes-up-first-is-the-winner
at UFC 34, Hughes simply crushed every foe in his path.
Great
warriors such as Sean Sherk, Hayato Sakurai, Frank Trigg, Gil
Castillo and Newton in their rematch stood little chance against
the Hughes machine. Only Sherk lasted the distance, and even
then he was thoroughly out-classed.
Penn
was more than confident going into the bout with Hughes as he
had trained harder than any other time in his life and was thoroughly
enjoying himself in the process, but knew the keys to assured
victory.
“I
see some stuff that I don’t want to talk about,” he
expressed to me in our pre-fight interview. “I feel there
is some stuff that I can definitely do out there.”
Was
BJ just trying to pump himself up or did he truly see something
within Hughes’ game that led to the shocking upset? Nobody
has truly dominated Hughes over the course of the last few years,
especially easily taking him down and submitting him.
“I
think my takedowns are going to play a part in it,” he also
informed me beforehand. “I honestly don’t feel like
he’s going to overpower me like everybody says he is. I’m
coming to win and I’m going to submit him.”
Pretty
much everything Penn professed in the days leading up to his
tussle with Hughes was prophetic. He claimed that he’d takedown
Hughes and he did. He promised that he’d submit him and
he did.
One
thing, though, that BJ wouldn’t elaborate on was the fact
that he has some serious unfinished business at lightweight.
Penn wouldn’t elaborate on the subject before the fight
and even though he claimed he’d spill the beans after he’d
defeat Hughes, he reneged.
“I
can’t tell ya right now,” he laughed after the post-fight
press conference. “I’ll fill you in later, but right
now, I won’t say a thing.”
Naturally,
it’s not that difficult to allege what Penn is proposing
as far as his unfinished business at 155. At the top of the list,
most definitely, is Pulver, the only man to defeat him professionally.
Though there are equal aspects of respect between the two combatants,
one doesn’t have to be a member of NASA to figure out that
some bad blood festers amongst Penn and Pulver.
Gomi
is already a Penn victim and quite decisively, so he’s out
the window. BJ admitted that he didn’t want to fight Serra
at the time he did and although he did score a decision win over
“The Terra,” Penn would probably kill for the opportunity
to fight him again and quickly dispose of him.
Of
course there is Uno, the man who stood in the way of Penn’s
second title shot and was awarded with a gift draw. Josh Thomson
and Hermes Franca, two rising lightweight contenders are also
certainly on BJ’s radar, but he is silent in regards to
those two. What about Duane Ludwig or Genki Sudo? Penn remained
quite.
But
if Penn doesn’t drop back down to lightweight for his “unfinished
business” in the near future, he has an ample supply of
top welterweights to give him a challenge. Though it’s obvious
that his best fighting days are a figment of the past, a duel
with Carlos Newton is more than intriguing. However, with the
sub-par winning record as of late, it’s doubtful that “The
Ronin” will be allowed to face Penn anytime soon, especially
for the title.
Fellow
Miletich fighter Robbie Lawler is one matchup that will surely
set the barn ablaze as his nonstop aggression and murderous punching
ability should provide Penn with a handful of problems. Another
staple of the Miletich Fighting System is Jason Black. Both Lawler
and Black would be more than happy to try and avenge Hughes’
loss.
If
that’s not enough, Penn could find himself locking horns
with the likes of Hayato Sakurai, Georges St. Pierre, Karo Parisyan
or even Sean Sherk. Aside from those few listed welterweight
contenders, nothing is more intriguing that a rematch with Hughes.
Either way BJ slices the carambola pie, he’s in one of the
most comfortable positions in MMA; high atop the pound-for-pound
volcano of Mauna Loa.
Source:
Sherdog |
IT’S
ON! TITO ORTIZ TO FIGHT CHUCK LIDDELL AT UFC 47 LIVE ON PAY-PER-VIEW
FROM LAS VEGAS, FRIDAY, APRIL 2
by: Josh Hedges
Tickets
Now On Sale, at Mandalay Bay Box Office, Ticketmaster For Long
Awaited Ultimate Fighting Championship Match
Tim
Sylvia Returns To Meet Andrei Arlovski For Heavyweight Crown
In Co-Main Event of 8-Fight, All-Star Card
LAS
VEGAS, NEV., February 20, 2004…. Tito Ortiz versus Chuck
Liddell, the mixed martial arts light heavyweight fight that
fans have been waiting for, will be the main event of Ultimate
Fighting Championship? 47: It’s On!, LIVE on pay-per-view
at 10 p.m. EST, Friday, April 2, from the Mandalay Bay Events
Center in Las Vegas.
Live
event tickets, $350, $250, $150, $75 and $35, are now on sale
at the Mandalay Bay Events Center box office in Las Vegas, at
all Ticketmaster locations, www.ticketmaster.com and www.mandalaybay.com.
Tickets also may be ordered by telephone at 1-877-632-7400 or
1-702-474-4000. Ticket purchases are limited to eight per transaction
and are subject to transaction fees. UFC? 47: It’s On! will
be available on pay-per-view on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network,
TVN, Echostar, Bell ExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada. The
suggested retail price is $29.95.
In
the co-main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia
(18-0-0) from Davenport, Iowa, will return to the Octagon to
meet top contender Andrei Arlovski (7-3-0) from Minsk, Belarus,
for the heavyweight championship. Fans, promoters and the media
have been anticipating an Ortiz-Liddell fight since June 22,
2002, when Liddell won a unanimous decision over Vitor Belfort
in Las Vegas to become the number one light heavyweight contender.
Ortiz was then the champion, but due to injuries and a Hollywood
movie commitment, never gave Liddell a title shot. UFC promoter,
Zuffa, LLC, matched Liddell with former heavyweight champ Randy
Couture for the interim belt. Couture moved down a weight division
to take the fight.
He
shocked the world by defeating Liddell by technical knockout
at UFC 43: Meltdown June 6 in Las Vegas, then followed by taking
Ortiz’ belt outright at UFC 44: Undisputed on September
26. In a dramatic turn of events, both Ortiz (11-3-0) of Huntington
Beach, Calif., and Liddell (12-3-0) of San Luis Obispo, Calif.,
are on the outside looking in and there is even more at stake.
The winner gets back in the title hunt, while the loser goes
to the end of the light heavyweight line.
“The
UFC light heavyweight division is the most exciting in all combat
sports, including boxing,” said UFC president Dana White.
“Right now, Vitor Belfort is the top dog. But, the level
of competition can’t be matched. A new champion could emerge
at every event.”
The
Sylvia-Arlovski match up also has an interesting scenario. Both
are coming off quick knockouts in their last fights. Arlovski
defeated fellow countryman Vladimir Matyushenko with a wicked
uppercut at the 2:14 mark of the first round on the under card
of UFC 44: Undisputed. Sylvia KO’d Gan McGee on the same
night at 1:54 of the first round to successfully defend his heavyweight
title. But Sylvia relinquished his belt on October 15 when the
Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended his license four months
from the date of the fight (Sept. 26) when a post-fight urinalysis
indicated he had an anabolic agent in his body when he defeated
McGee. Sylvia admitted his mistake before the Commission, has
served his suspension and says he is back to reclaim his title.
The
all-star, eight-fight card also will feature two additional heavyweight
bouts, two welterweight fights and two lightweight matches, and
is subject to change.
In
heavyweight action, popular Hawaiian “Cabbage” Correira (20-4-0) from Hilo
will take on big Mike Kyle (10-2-0) from San Jose, Calif., and
Jonathon Wiezorek (5-0-0) from Valdosta, Ga., will meet Wade
Shipp (6-1-0) from San Diego, Calif. The welterweight card will
feature Robbie Lawler, one of the UFC’s rising stars, (8-1-0)
from Davenport, Iowa, versus Nick Diaz (8-2-0) from Stockton,
Calif., and Chris Lytle (26-10-4) from Indianapolis, Ind., will
meet Tiki Ghosen (9-3-0) from Huntington Beach, Calif. In the
lightweight bouts, two top contenders, Yves Edwards (22-8-1)
from Houston, Tex., and Hermes Franca (8-1-0) from Ft. Lauderdale,
Fla., will battle while Mike Brown (9-1-0) from Portland, Maine,
will fight Japanese sensation Genki Sudo (8-3-1) from Tokyo,
Japan.
Judges
may need a seismograph for the Correira-Kyle fight. Both are big, strong power punchers
who specialize in knockouts. Correira, who trains in Hilo with
new Welterweight Champ BJ Penn, has won his last two UFC fights by TKO in typical
Cabbage fashion with quick knees and devastating punches. At
UFC 42: Sudden Impact last April, highly rated Sean Alvarez lasted
until the 1:47 mark of the second round. At UFC 45: Revolution
in November, Cabbage met UFC legend, Tank Abbott. It was the
same story. Cabbage opened a deep cut on Tank’s head at
2:14 of the first round and the fight was over. Kyle, who will
be making his UFC debut, is from the same school. But, in addition
to his punching power, he says his jiu jitsu skills are improving.
“My jiu jitsu has really gone up. I’ve been working
with Tim Lajcik, especially in getting up from underneath. It’s
one aspect of my repertoire that could be a surprise,” Kyle
says.
In
the other heavyweight fight, both Wiezorek and Shipp will be
making their UFC debuts and both are submission/ground and pound
fighters who like to end matches quickly. “Chokes are my
favorite technique,” says Wiezorek, whose undefeated record
makes a statement. When he is not fighting or training, Wiezorek
spends his time earning a masters degree in sports medicine and
athletic training at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.
“School
comes first, but this fight is the opportunity of a lifetime,”
he says. Shipp, who earned bachelors degrees in both biology
and physical education at Norwich University in Vermont, has
won six fights, three by TKO and three by submission, all in
the first round. “We are both fighting to earn a spot in
the UFC heavyweight ranks. It should be a war,” Shipp adds.
Lawler,
who now has his sights on Penn’s welterweight title, is
coming off a unanimous decision victory over Lytle at UFC 45:
Revolution at The Mohegan Sun after a seven-month layoff due
to a hip flexor injury. He is a powerful, explosive striker with
a strong takedown defense who became an instant star with decisive
victories over highly regarded welterweights Aaron Riley and
Steve Berger, the latter by knockout before cameras for Fox Sports
Net’s Best Damned Sports Show Period! But, he will have
his hands full with Diaz. A jiu jitsu fighter managed by Cesar
Gracie, Diaz’ biggest weapon is his endurance and his favorite
technique is the triangle choke. In his last UFC fight at 44:
Undisputed, he defeated long-time antagonist Jeremy Jackson with
an arm bar tap out at 2:04 of the second round.
The
Lytle-Ghosn fight will be a battle of veteran welterweights.
But, Lawler is the common denominator. Lytle’s battle with
Lawler at 45 was much closer than the decision. Lytle hung tough
with Lawler for all three rounds until he was knocked down at
the midway point of the third. Lytle is a well-rounded fighter
who combines boxing, jiu jitsu and wrestling to submit opponents.
“I strike well but submissions are my strength. Most of
my victories have been by submission, which seems to be happening
less in mixed martial arts,” he said. Ghosn is a submission
and kickboxing specialist who is an excellent stand-up fighter.
He took on Lawler at UFC 40: Vendetta and after landing three
pinpoint kicks early in the fight, got a little too close to
Lawler’s powerful right hand at the 1:29 mark of the first
round. Both fighters will be looking for redemption in this fight.
The
Edwards-Franca bout will pit two of the UFC’s top lightweights.
In his last UFC fight, Edwards defeated Nick Agallar by TKO in
the second round at UFC 45: Revolution. He is a Thugjitsu fighter
who is an excellent striker, dangerous in the clinch and well
versed on the ground. He continues to improve his boxing skills
by training with Kenny Weldon, who helped build heavyweight champion
Evander Holyfield’s career. Franca, who trains with the
American Top Team in Ft. Lauderdale, is a native of Forteleza,
Brazil, with impeccable jiu jitsu credentials. He can dominate
a fight on the ground with his submission skills or standing
up with his punching power.
Brown
will make his UFC debut against Sudo, who is one of the world’s
most capable and popular MMA lightweight fighters. The colorful
Japanese veteran always keeps opponents off-stride with his “Bushido”
(the Samurai way) fighting style. “But, I am not just about
fighting technique. My whole philosophy is based on how I live
as a warrior. The image I project is that I am liquid, not solid.
Being like water means that I can take many shapes and forms,
adapting myself to win any fight,” he says. But his unorthodox
style is a complete package of solid strikes with excellent grappling
and submission technique.
Brown is impressed that he is matched with Sudo, but is not overwhelmed.
A strong wrestler and boxer, Brown admits that he is “a
big fan of Genki. He is one of the most entertaining fighters
in the world with great wrestling, submission and striking skills.”
But Brown also says that his biggest strength in a fight is his
heart and the desire to win. “The UFC is the pinnacle of
our sport. I’ll be ready.”
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship? brand of mixed martial arts is
the world’s premier series of MMA events. Owned and operated
by Zuffa, LLC and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC? fight
programs feature six live pay-per-view events annually through
cable and satellite providers. In addition to its U.S. distribution,
UFC? fight programs are distributed internationally through WOWOW,
Inc., in Japan, Globosat in Brazil, Main Event Television in
Australia and Sky Network Television in New Zealand. Zuffa, LLC
licenses the distribution of UFC? video games through Crave Entertainment
and TDK Mediactive and its fight show DVDs through Studioworks
Entertainment, a Ventura Distribution company. “Ultimate
Fighting Championship,” “Ultimate Fighting,” “UFC,”
“Submission,” “As Real As It Gets” and the
Octagon cage design are registered trademarks owned exclusively
by Zuffa, LLC in the U.S., Japan and other jurisdictions. All
other marks that may be referenced herein belong to their respective
holders.
Source:
Josh Hedges |
Interview:
Canada's DENIS KANG
by: Keith Mills
Regular
readers of this site are by now familiar with Denis Kang, one
of the best and most exciting Middleweights around. In the archives
readers can find articles on Kang talking about his fights with
UFC vets Andrei Semenov, Keith Rockel, and his performances in
TKO and the Extreme Challenge Middleweight series from 2003.
Most recently Denis fought in Spirit MC in Korea.
KM:
What was up with that Korean show? I didn’t find anything
on the net except the promoter’s website and that was in
Korean. DK: It was just an 8-man tournament that they were having
for Light Heavyweight. For them Light Heavyweight is 80 kilos
and up. I decided to go in anyways. It was a very good event.
The production level was good, it was in a cool octagon ring,
I was treated very well, and it is a good organization. I got
a chance to meet the promoters and they seemed like decent people
that want to do it for the sport, not just make a quick buck
and get out. They want to make it a lasting thing.
KM:
How did they hear about you? DK: We contacted them initially
and then they are really interested because I am half Korean.
That is a huge thing right there, it’s very marketable.
KM:
It was an 8-man tournament? DK: It was an 8-man tournament and
one person ended up dropping out at the very last minute. We
drew numbers to see who was going to get the “bye”
and I was the lucky one. I got a “bye” to the semi-finals.
My first match, I can’t remember his name, I beat him by
TKO in 0:40 I believe. He basically just walked into a right
hand. I threw a straight right and he walked right into it when
he was trying to clinch with me. The second guy was TKO again,
this one in 1:10. This guy was a little bit bigger but this guy
again was mostly a grappler; didn’t have too much striking
ability. I came out of the tournament fairly unscathed. I was
pretty lucky to get the bye on top of that.
KM:
That was a total of two minutes! DK: It’s about time because
in Hawaii I got a little bit of a hard draw (note: SuperBrawl 30 6/13/03).
KM:
It seems like the SuperBrawl one was your hardest night so far.
DK: It was, absolutely.
KM:
Isn’t that where you injured your hand in the semi-finals?
DK: No, it was my knee.
KM:
Sorry. It seems like you have been going more towards the striking
aspects. DK: I’ve been telling a lot of people for a jiu-jitsu
guy I hit a lot. In a fight you can’t be too picky. I take
what is there, a win is a win. If it were to have gone to the
ground it would have been just as good, I just ended up striking
with them. I usually come out and just feel them out with the
hands a little bit, just see what they got and then I’m
usually going to take them down. I always like to start off with
my hands a little bit.
KM:
Where have you been training with your stand-up? DK: I think
the main difference that did it was the new boxing trainer Tony
Pep. He’s a professional boxer and has a wealth of experience.
He was the Commonwealth Champ, IBO Champ, he’s fought Floyd
Meriwether so he has a lot of experience and he’s made a
huge difference with my hands. I think another thing was I increased
the number of times I spar. Before I used to spar only when I
had a fight. Now I spar even when I don’t have a fight.
I spar two or three times a week, it’s part of my training.
KM:
So it becomes instinctive. DK: That is right. To train for this
sport you have to cross-train the whole time. I can’t go
back to jiu-jitsu in the off season, I have to stay in NHB in
the off season.
KM:
Does that mean you are not going to be competing in grappling
tournaments anymore? DK: No, no, I am, I am. The thing is I’m
trying to make my living as a fighter and unfortunately grappling
tournaments don’t pay that much. Actually some of them don’t
pay anything. Plus NHB is just fun right now, I’m on a good
roll with it.
KM:
Remind me when you started with Tony Pep? DK: Just before Keith
Rockel (note: Ring Of Fury 3 on 5/3/03).
KM:
I was going to say that is when I noticed, when you knocked out
Keith Rockel. DK: That is it. It has been about a year.
KM:
I believe Jeremy Horn is the most “international fighter”,
the fighter that has fought in the most countries but you are
pretty close with Russia, Japan, Korea, US, Canada…I don’t
think you have fought in Brazil yet…b DK: I fought in the
Abu Dhabi Worlds in Brazil.
KM:
Okay, and Brazil. Point is you are probably in the top five most
traveled and therefore “saturated” fighters. How does
that make you feel? Tired? DK: I used to love flying but now
it’s getting to the point it’s a little bit of a drag
to fly because I do so much of it. I think it definitely plays
to my benefit in fights because it makes me feel confident. I’ve
lived an international life anyways from when I was a child.
I grew up in France, lived in Spain, lived in Canada, so I don’t
really have any culture shock when I go to a different country.
Now I don’t think anything throws my game off.
KM:
Do you have anything lined up right now? DK: I tentatively have
something booked for Korea in April and I believe it was Guam
in May. We are in negotiations with it right now.
KM:
I guess people should keep an eye on http://www.deniskang.com/home.htm
to hear about those as they develop? DK: Or MMA.tv or some of
the news sites like ADCC News. That is a really good site from
what I hear. (Both laugh).
KM:
I think so. DK: It’s usually the first site I check. Usually
I read my e-mail and then it’s ADCC News.
KM:
I thought you were going to fight in TKO but wasn’t sure
if it was for the Canadian or World belt. DK: We were in negotiation
to fight Loiseau for the World belt. At the same time we were
in negotiation with Korea and we thought we had already been
in negotiation with Korea so decided to go with the Koreans and
see what would happen with Horn and Loiseau.
KM:
You fight in so many different places you must be exposed to
a lot of conflicting rules. DK: I am, I am. I have to say some
of the rules I like the best are the ones for TKO because they
let you use forearms and knees on the ground. You have a lot
more weapons. I’m primarily a ground guy so I wish there
was less standups but I’m used to it and I can deal with
it because I also work on my boxing. I also like fighting in
a cage. Russia (M-1 Mix Fight) was good but of course the standups
weren’t good. It’s not that big of a deal; you get
used to the rules because when you train you train with everything
in mind.
KM:
Hold on a second. You just said you are primarily a ground guy
but you really started to step up the level of competition when
you knocked out Keith Rockel, your last fight two TKOs in two
minutes, you stood up with Semenov for goodness sake…what
is this ‘primarily ground fighter’ line? DK: That is
the evolution of MMA. I came into this sport as just a jiu-jitsu
guy. I used to train for MMA only when I had a fight and the
rest of the time I’d go back to doing gi training. At first
I was alright at it but then I started to compete against people
that did nothing but that. That is when I revamped my whole training
and just integrated a few different aspects and just focused
100% on MMA.
KM:
Given that you just referred to yourself as primarily a ground
fighter how do you feel about that perception? DK: Jiu-jitsu
is still my first love. I love grappling, I love the ground,
but now that I do a lot more boxing and understand it a lot more
I like it almost as much as jiu-jitsu.
KM:
Anything else you want to get across to the fans? DK: Hold on,
let me think f something funny. I’m on the spot, I can’t
think of anything funny. (Both laugh). I want to thank Shut Up
and Fight clothing, my manager Greg Allen, and also Miguel Iturrate
because he helped me out a lot last year.
Source:
ADCC |
Quote
of the Day
"Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair,
but manifestations of strength and resolutions."
Kahlil Gibran, 1883-1931, Lebanese Poet, Novelist
|
ADCC
NEWS - MMA Top Ten for FEB 2004
ADCC NEWS' monthly TOP TEN MMA fighters list for February is
out. Below is the list. ENJOY!
(NOTE:
A panel of 6 delegates (1 from each continent) contributed to
the voting for ADCC's Top Ten. The 'unified' weight categories
used in the USA to categorize the competitors, resulting in ratings
for 6 weight categories.)
FEBRAURY
2004 - ADCC's TOP TEN MMA FIGHTERS BY WEIGHT
under
145 lbs.
#1 Alexandre 'Pequeno' Nogueira (Brazil)
#2 Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto (Japan)
#3 Jens Pulver (Team EXTREME, USA)
#4 Stephen
Palling (USA)
#5 Joao Roque (Nova Uniao, Brazil)
#6 Tetsuo Katsuta (Japan)
#7 Ivan Menjivar (Costa Rica)
#8 Hiroyuki Abe (Japan)
#9 Hiroyuki Takaya (Japan)
#10 Mike Brown (Team Elite, USA)
145.1
- 155 lbs.
#1 Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro (Nova Uniao, Brazil)
#2 Duane 'Bang' Ludwig (USA)
#3 Caol Uno (Japan)
#4 Genki Sudo (Japan)
#5 Yves Edwards (3rd Column, USA)
#6 Joachim Hansen (Team Scandinavia, Oslo, Norway)
#7 Takanori Gomi (SHOOTO, Japan)
#8 Josh Thompson (Team AKA, USA)
#9 Matt Serra (Team Renzo Gracie, USA)
#10 Hermes Franca (American TOP TEAM, USA)
155.1
- 170 lbs.
#1 BJ Penn
(USA)
#2 Matt Hughes (Team EXTREME, USA)
#3 Sean Sherk (USA)
#4 Jutaro Nakao (Japan)
#5 Frank Trigg (USA)
#6 Robbie Lawler (Team EXTREME, USA)
#7 Hayato Sakurai (Japan)
#8 Renato
Verrisimo (Nova Uniao, Brazil)
#9 Chris Lytle (Integrated Fighting, USA)
#10 Carlos Newton (Canada)
170.1
- 185 lbs.
#1 Murilo Bustamante (Brazil)
#2 Yuki Kondo (Japan)
#3 Anderson Silva (Brazil)
#4 Matt Lindland (USA)
#5 Kazushi Sakuraba (Japan)
#6 Ricardo Almeida (Team Renzo Gracie, USA)
#7 Masanori Suda (SHOOTO Champion, Japan)
#8 Amar Suloev (Red Devil, Russia)
#9 Denis Kang (Soares JJ, Canada)
#10 Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua (Brazil)
185.1
- 205 lbs.
#1 Wanderlei Silva (Chute Boxe, Brazil)
#2 Randy Couture (Team Quest, USA)
#3 Vitor Belfort (Brazil)
#4 Dan Henderson (USA)
#5 Tito Ortiz (USA)
#6 Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson (USA)
#7 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Brazilian TOP TEAM, Brazil)
#8 Renato 'Babalu' (Brazil)
#9 Mario Sperry (Brazilian TOP TEAM, Brazil)
#10 Chuck Liddell (USA)
205.1
lbs and Up.
#1 - Emilianenko Fedor (Red Devil, Russia)
#2 - Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira (Brazilian TOP TEAM, Brazil)
#3 - Mirko Filipovic (Croatia)
#4 - Tim Sylvia (Team EXTREME, USA)
#5 - Josh Barnett (NJPW, USA)
#6 - Andrei Orlovski (Belarus)
#7 - Frank Mir (Pires JJ, USA)
#8 - Roman Zentsov (Red Devil, Russia)
#9 - Semmy Schilt (Holland)
#10 - Ibragim Magomedov (Red Devil, Russia)
Source:
ADCC |
|
Alberto
Crane v Yuki Nakai Jiu-Jitsu Match
Black
Belt Alberto Crane just signed up to face Japanese legend Yuki
Nakai in the first Best of Japan v Best of U.S.A. Jiu-Jitsu Challenge.
The event is part of Ground Impact Professional Jiu-Jitsu Circuit
and will feature many of the top BJJ fighters from both Countries
. The fights are set to go of on March 7th, 2004 in Japan.
We
recently spoke with Alberto about the match: 'I'm looking forward
to going against Yuki Nakai because he is considered the best
Japanese Jiu-Jitsu fighter right now. The rules are regular Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu rules. Which include wearing a Gi and a ten minute
time limit. Yuki Nakai is a very impressive person, just watching
his fights in Rickson's Choke video and knowing his Jiu-Jitsu
story. He has been studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu since his Rickson
fight(circa 1994). Yuki Nakai always is traveling to compete
in Brazil for the major tournaments like the Mundials (Worlds)
and sometimes the brasileiros( Brazilian nationals). Yuki Nakai
has commited his life to being the best and to making the sport
grow in Japan. It is really an honor for me to get the opportunity
to compete against him because to me he is a true warrior and
a martial arts legend. Win or lose I'm going to have a great
time, but I'm going there to win.'
For
more info check out: http://www.if-pro.com/gi03/
Source:
ADCC |
|
First
Maui Jiu-Jitsu Open
The
first Maui Open Tournament was a big success and a lot of fun.
The Island fighters not only got a great cahnce to compete but
also to mingle with notables like Ricardo Arona & BJ Penn
The
120 competitors were treated to a great organization and lots
of constested matches. Teams from Academia Casca Grossa de Jiu-Jitsu,
Gracie Kauai (Kendall Goo), Gracie Maui, Nova Uniao (BJ Penn's
MMA), Longman from Kauai, Jorge Oliveira & Maui Jiu-Jitsu,
the host academy, came out in force as well.
Organizer
Luis 'Limao' Heredia was stoked at the end of the day for tournament
and especially for his son Kaile who conqured first place in
the kids division.
For
complete results check out http://onzuka.com/news.html.
The
next tournament in Hawaii will be Longman's 3rd Annual Longman
Gracie Kauai Jiu-Jitsu Tournament on Saturday, March 13 in Kilauea
Gym.
Aloha!
Source:
ADCC |
COX
TALKS HUGHES, SYLVIA AND MENNE AMONG OTHERS...
Manager/promoter extraordinaire, Monte Cox, was on MMAWeekly
Radio yesterday talking about upcoming events and giving updates
on a few of his fighters in the process. Matt Hughes' loss to
BJ Penn has the Miletich fighters training harder than ever.
Monte
said, "when you fight at this high level, there are so many
variables." Not making excuses or taking anything away from
Penn, Cox didn't feel Matt was "up" for that fight.
Monte stated, "it's easier to get to the top than stay at
the top," and added, "if you make a mistake in boxing,
you get hit but you can recover. You make a mistake in our sport,
it is over." Hughes has resumed training and told Cox, "right
now, I just want to beat the shit out of someone." Expressing
the sentiments probably felt by the entire 170lb. division, Monte
said, "I wouldn't want to be his next opponent."
Tim
Sylvia continues to train hard for his title fight against Andre
Arlovski at UFC 47. Monte thinks Arlovski will try to stand with
Tim until he realizes that he can't. He pointed out that Andre
isn't the best takedown guy and that Tim isn't easy to takedown.
According
to Cox, Sylvia has a pretty good ground game and "he's so
much better than people think." Interestingly, Monte said
he felt that Mir is more dangerous to Tim than Arlovski is. Cox
feels that Tim's timeoff from the ring has done him some good
and that Tim just keeps getting better and better, and will be
the best in the world very soon.
Jens
Pulver is doing good and is recovering from a lingering cut.
Monte said Jens knows what it is like to hit rock bottom and
the ups and downs of the sport. Jens was on top of the world
until he suffered back to back loses which has left his future
in question.
Jeremy
Horn will be fighting David Louiseau in TKO in a fight that Cox
said, "needed to happen." He thinks Horn is better
on the ground than Dave, but feels like Horn may want to show
his stand-up skills in this one. Monte has all but given up on
the UFC giving Jeremy the call and will look for other places
for him to fight.
Cox
has several events coming up as well. On March 13th, he is doing
an XFO event with Jeff Curran. Shortly thereafter, he has the
Ice Show in Cincinnati, Ohio. On the 26th of March Cox is involved
in the Extreme Challenge show in Minneapolis featuring Dave Menne
who is doing fine after his loss to Vitale and regrouping to try and put together
a winning streak. He said it was truly an all out war between
Menne vs Vitale and thought Menne
fought well; especially, in the first round, but said Vitale was that good and
Niko should be back in
the UFC very soon.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
The
Voice Of Reason Prevails: Shannon “The Cannon” Ritch
Off KOTC Card To Commentate On PPV
by: Joseph Cunliffe
In
the “After Shock” of concerns echoing throughout the
internet, promoter Terry Trebilcock brings King of the Cage to
the Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California, this Friday, February
20, 2004, less at least one fighter.
Shannon
“The Cannon” Ritch is on a 30-day suspension by KOTC
for his KO loss in Hitman last weekend. Matchmaker Chris Cordeiro
made the call to Ritch Wednesday afternoon informing him of the
suspension. Not all is lost, however, as “The Cannon”
is taking aim in a new direction: color commentary. Ritch accepted
the position of commentator for the KOTC PPV.
Whether
or not the decision to suspend Ritch was influenced by the Nevada
State Athletic Commission is unknown, but it is possible to conclude
the argument “if you’re going to bring your operation
here, you have to keep it clean elsewhere.” What is clear
is that the right decision for the sport of MMA was made by the
promoter.
Also
scheduled to fight on this weekend’s KOTC card is Jorge
Pereira, who is on a 60-day medical suspension from the Florida
State Boxing Commission according to FightFax Inc. Pereira was
given a Mandatory Order of Suspension effective the date executed
of January 24, 2004. This suspension stems from his 1st Round
KO loss suffered at the hands, literally, of Todd “Crazy
T” Carney on the KOTC Florida debut card.
Source:
ADCC |
WHO'S
TOUGH? THREE DIFFERENT VIEWS
by: Eddie Goldman/ADCC Wrestling Editor
The issue of who are the toughest people is now being bandied
about in various parts of the media. For the combat sports, there
are mixed results in these offerings.
MEN'S
JOURNAL'S '25 TOUGHEST GUYS IN AMERICA'
The
monthly magazine Men's Journal has publishUed in its March 2004
edition a list of who they say are the 'The 25 Toughest Guys
in America.' Note that they are not just rating athletes.
At
the top of the list is Green Bay Packers' quarterback Brett Favre.
While he certainly is a tough athlete, it is somewhat surprising
that a quarterback rather than a lineman or linebacker was chosen
as number one. I know one football coach who even called football
'11 wrestling matches going on at once.' The quarterback can
often evade the smashups that happen almost every play on the
line.
Third
on this list is now former UFC 170-pound champion Matt Hughes.
His inclusion, and with such a high ranking, has both its good
and bad points for the combat sports. On the good side, it presents
mixed martial arts as a legitimate sport, and its athletes as
legitimate, something many politicians still haven't figured
out or don't want to figure out. On the bad side, this is by
far the highest ranking given any mixed martial arts fighter,
and the only one on this list of 25.
The
publication of this magazine coincided with Hughes's first-round
submission loss to B.J. Penn at UFC 46 on Jan. 31 of this year.
Zuffa's Joe Silva is quoted as saying: 'I don't want him fighting
people that aren't real challenges.' And: 'It's not that he'd
just win -- he'd freakin' wreck them. Without a doubt he's the
toughest fighter pound for pound in this sport.' While Hughes's
inclusion here is a plus, there is also an element of embarrassment
to Zuffa given the timing of this list, and the lack of any other
mixed martial arts fighters even being included on this list.
No
embarrassment accompanies this inclusion of Olympic and World
Champion Greco-Roman wrestler Rulon Gardner at number 11. Given
his wrestling accomplishments, including defeating Alexander
Kareline at the 2000 Olympics, and his survival and recovery
from his February 2002 snowmobile accident that nearly left him
frozen to death in a Wyoming forest, this is actually a low placement
for Gardner on this list. But at least this magazine got it partially
right by including America's best-known active wrestler here.
Also
on the list, at number 20, is martial artist Jet Li. Two politicians
and former combat sports athletes, Sen. John McCain (number 5)
and Secy. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (number 21) also make the
list. While McCain, who boxed and wrestled in his youth, is mainly
listed because of his experience as a prisoner of war during
the Vietnam War, it is interesting that he is ranked two places
lower than a fighter in the UFC, which he tried to ban for many
years, and succeeded in some states. Rumsfeld, a former wrestler
both at Princeton and in the Navy, is also listed because of
his role as Secretary of Defense during so many international
conflicts.
The
whole list is at:
http://mensjournal.com/feature/0403/toughguys.html/
USA
TODAY'S TEN TOUGHEST ATHLETES
USA
Today has usually been among the most consistent source of news
about the combat sports in the mainstream media. At a time when
many mainstream publications are dropping or cutting back such
coverage, USA Today has regular coverage of boxing, mainly written
by Dan Rafael, and also wrestling, mainly written by Gary Mihoces.
Now,
however, USA Today has been releasing a list of what it calls
'The 10 toughest athletes.' Thus far it doesn't look like they
asked many combat sports journalists for their opinions.
So
far numbers ten through four have been revealed. They are:
The
top 10
No. 10: Jockey Julie Krone
No. 9: NBA's Shaquille O'Neal
No. 8: Golfer Tiger Woods
No. 7: Golfer Annika Sorenstam
No. 6: NHL's Scott Stevens
No. 5: NFL's Ray Lewis
No. 4: Cycling's Lance Armstrong
While
Ray Lewis was a two-time Florida state high school wrestling
champion, he is obviously on this list because of his excellence
as a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens. With only three places
to go, and athletes in cycling, basketball, and even two from
golf -- golf !!! -- included, a clear lack of appreciation for
the combat sports is reflected on this list.
Although
their list is obviously complete, USA Today is still running
a readers' poll about who are the toughest athletes. This can
be seen at:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ten-toughest-survey.htm/
THE
BEST LIST, FROM TWENTY YEARS AGO
In
1984, before Alexander Kareline hit the wrestling scene, before
boxers like Mike Tyson, Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins, and James
Toney were pros, and when no-holds-barred fighting and the Gracies
were virtually unknown outside Brazil, wrestling historian Mike
Chapman wrote a book entitled 'Toughest Men In Sports: Looking
For The Mental Edge.' In it he profiled what he called ten of
the toughest men in sports.
They
were: Muhammad Ali, Bruce Lee, Dan Gable, Rocky Marciano, Jack
Dempsey, Dan Hodge, Gene Tunney, Wayne Baughman, Frank Gotch,
and Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace.
Four
of them -- Ali, Marciano, Tunney, and Dempsey -- were from boxing.
Four were from wrestling -- Gable, Hodge, Baughman, and Gotch.
Two, Lee and Wallace, were from the martial arts.
No
doubt such a list would be updated today. And perhaps one day
we will ask Mike Chapman to do so. But even though this book
was written 20 years ago, its top ten still makes more sense
than these lists mentioned above.
This
book, 'Toughest Men In Sports,' is still available. It can be
ordered on the web page of the International Wrestling Museum
and Institute at:
http://www.wrestlingmuseum.org/
Perhaps the writers at Men's Journal and USA Today should have
read such a book before compiling their lists. But when has the
mainstream media ever bothered to research properly its coverage
of the combat sports?
Source:
ADCC |
Interview:
'BIG DOG' Ricardo Almeida!
by: Chad Beatty
Q: You
are only in your mid 20’s and you fought in Pride, Pancrase,
the UFC, Abu Dhabi and the Mundials. In addition, you have a
loyal base of students and fans around the world that support
you, what is it like to be so successful at such a young age?
A: I try not to think too much about the titles and medals…I
measure my success day by day. I love teaching and my ultimate
goal is to have a school that is a Mecca for anyone who wishes
to learn martial arts and its philosophy. I have no desire to
form a dominant MMA Team. I feel Jiu Jitsu is a complete art
and I wish to pass on the essence of what has been whith me most
of my life. Watching my students grow on and off the mat is my
greatest gratification. I want it to be a safe place for kids,
away from drugs and violence. A site where anyone that comes
leaves with the feeling they can’t wait to come back.
Q:
You seem like a different athlete today than you were 3 years
ago. What has changed? A: Well, on the mats…I have become
a professional. When I first began fighting MMA I was an amateur
among professionals. I now understand better what it takes to
compete at such high level. Off the mats, I got married and had
a son, this whole experience has completely changed the way I
see things. I am much more focused on anything I set out to do.
Plus my wife gives me unconditional support, I couldn’t
do most of the things I do on my own.
Q:
You are keeping a busy schedule; how do you balance your professional
fighting career and your teaching at the academy? A: It is challenging
but I try to work my schedule around it. I make sure all team
practices do not conflict with class schedule. When it is class
time I want to be 110%, I have very dedicated students and I
feel they deserve my best each minute of each class.
Q:
I hear a lot of excitement around the possible opening of a new
academy; can you give us the scoop on that? A: Myself, together
with Ally have decided for the Hamilton area, we feel it is somewhat
centered in New Jersey and has access through major highways.
We don’t want any place with difficult access since we have
regular students who drive up to two hours to train with us.
I would like to make it like a Disneyland of Jiu Jitsu where
everyone can come and play…kids, couples and entire families.
Q:
Are there any other big projects you are working on? A:I feel
the new school is my major project right now. I am already beginning
to introduce grade levels within the belts and more structured
classes than you usually find at BJJ schools. I have been brainstorming
about better ways to teach, ethics inside the school many new
things that are unprecedented in most BJJ schools. The students
are loving it and we are already seeing results.
Q:
Ten years ago a person was lucky if they could find a BJJ academy;
today it seems like they are popping up in every town. What makes
your academy/instruction stand out from the rest? A: I think
the unique aspect of my teaching style is I am the most curious
student in class. I am always looking to learn new more efficient
ways to teach…I have realized teaching is far from merely
recounting techniques. Each time you teach a new technique to
a different technique to another student it is like you are learning
it all over again. He will learn it and apply it in his own pace
at his own preference. With each new student it is as if we were
together creating a new self-defense and development program.
Q:
Tell us a about your start in Jiu-Jitsu. Who was it with, why
did you start… A: I first took a lesson when I was 15 years
old at Gracie Barra in Brazil. I immediately fell in love with
it. It was like my second family, for many people it was their
only. I remember there were no formal rules of conduct or etiquette,
however you just felt in the air and by others behavior how you
should act. I remember I didn’t really have a conversation
on the mat until I was a purple belt, and two-time national champion.
There was something that most schools don’t have a very
strong work ethic where the students knew they needed each other
to get better but they didn’t compete to see who would look
better in the eyes of the teacher. They all understood their
place within the “family” and did not try to “force”
their way up the ranks. Every one competed but it wasn’t
the main goal. If you were from Gracie Barra you knew you would
do well and the important thing was being there Monday thru Friday
pushing each other to the limits. The competitions fostered discipline
and kept kids away from drugs and trouble. It is that atmosphere
I try to have at my school.
Q:
I know most of your close students know the story, but where
did the nickname the “Big Dog” come from? A: Well to
make it short, “Big Dog” was a character in a Brazilian
soap opera when I was young; he was almost like Don Corleone.
I used to always be at the head of what whatever was going on
at this beach across the street from my house. Whether it was
organizing barbecues, surfing contests or soccer games I was
helping organize it. The lifeguards at this beach called me “Big
Dog” as a joke. Some Jiu Jitsu peers came to the beach and
learned the nickname and it has been with me since. if I had
to pick my nickname “Big Dog” would not be the one.
But it worked out alright look at the school logo.
Q:
How do you handle your belt promotions; do you have set techniques
or a minimum time frame for each belt? A: The backbone of BJJ
belt system is practical application, so essentially when a blue
belt can wrestle with purple belts, be able to defend himself
and mount some offense he is ready for next level. More recently
I have adopted a more individual approach to each student. How
to you grade a 50 year old student who is attending class regularly,
has a super attitude in class, supports the school and students;
against a 22 year old kid who is a great athlete, learns techniques
very fast, probably can dominate the 50 year old guy in Randori
(live training) but is always late for class and has little discipline
towards training? I base the belt ranks on personal development
and practical expertise.
My
main goal is to introduce minimum requirements for advancement
through belt system still this year. This will help students
better access their development and instructors to better manage
classes.
Q:
What is your favorite type of competition to fight in and at
what weight? A: I think it has changed through the years, from
sport BJJ into grappling and now MMA. As far as weight class
I like open weight, unfortunately in MMA it might be somewhat
dangerous to regularly compete outside your weight class.
I
just love to compete. Competition to me is not a contest against
the guy across the ring, it is like he isn’t even there.
It is a contest against myself, when I get out there I already
know everything I have to do and I do it. If I am not the victor…well
props to my opponent, head up, analyze mistakes and lets go at
it again. Competition is, like the belt system, about personal
excellence. Most people are too attached to winning or not loosing.
This is why most professional sports are a shame in our society.
Q:
Submission grappling seems as though it continues to grow in
popularity in the U.S. We have the NAGA, Grapplers Quest, the
West Coast tournaments; what are your thoughts on the future
of the sport? A: I think the future may not be as bright as it
can be, there will always be the competitions, but it may never
be more than wrestling with submission holds. In my opinion,
submission wrestling is following a path where it has no identity
or structure, It doesn’t really stand for anything. The
promoters have done a great job so far of building the sport
now it is time to take it further. Build relationships with local
schools, have refereeing seminars and workshops, create a standard
uniform and code of conduct inside the schools that is congruent
with expected behavior at tournaments. Make it more user friendly,
more family oriented.
Q:
You have put in some great performances in the ADCC in the past,
can we expect to see you in the future? A: I love ADCC. You get
to compete against handpicked fighters who are the best at what
they do. For as long as I am competitive at that level I will
always go back.
Q:
You named your son (Renzo) after Renzo Gracie. What has Renzo
(Gracie) meant to you in life. A: Renzo Gracie has become a very
close friend and a mentor. When I moved to the USA from Brazil
in 1997 I was only 20 years old. Initially our relationship was
that of Teacher X Student. However we spent so much time together
training, working out and teaching that in many ways we became
peers. I have had the privilege to corner Renzo in most of his
fights since then and it is a great honor to me that such a highly
regarded BJJ and MMA community member would trust my humble advice
over so many other available resources. Nonetheless, I will always
see Renzo Gracie and Carlos Gracie Jr from Gracie Barra as my
teachers and admire them with utmost respect.
Q:
One last item, you seem to be building a competitive and talented
group of students. For people that aren’t very familiar
with your school, tell us a little about some of your senior
students that you have competing/training in the different styles:
BJJ, Submission, Vale Tudo. A: Although competition is not our
main focus during classes we do have a very strong competition
team and we have specific competition practices outside regular
classes.
Competition
is not for anyone, it can bring the best and worst in people,
we are very careful and take an individual approach when encouraging
students to compete. All competition sessions are open to students
who wish to participate and support the team. I will not mention
individual names because I would not be able to mention everyone
that contributes, when we see myself and other guys fighting
it is a team effort and I do not wish to place one student above
another. We have a lot of potential in the training room and
I feel it is time some students realize how good they have become.
I wish to put together a team to go represent the school at the
world championships in Brazil this coming July. It is a big project
but I feel the students are ready and I trust most if not all
of them will place very high.
Q:
Thanks for your time Ricardo. Any final thoughts? A: Remember
the principles of Maximum Efficiency (through minimum effort)
and Mutual Benefit. Allow these two principles to guide your
martial arts training and your life outside the dojo. They were
brought to us by Dr Jigoro Kano the founder of Judo over 100
years ago and are as contemporary as ever.
Thank you for your time and see you in class.
Source:
ADCC |
PANCRASE:
Latest Rankings!
as of 2/14/2004
[Open-weight]
the 10th Open-weight K.O.P. Josh Barnett (U.S.A./New Japan Pro-Wrestling)
#1 Yuki Kondo (PANCRASEism)
#2 Semmy Schilt (Holland/Golden Glory)
#3 Yoshiki Takahashi (PANCRASEism)
#4 Sanae Kikuta (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#5 Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#6 Nathan Marquardt (U.S.A./Colorado Stars)
#7 VACANT
[Super
heavyweight(221lbs. and over)]
the 1st Super heavyweight K.O.P. VACANT
#1 Semmy Schilt (Holland/Golden Glory)
#2 Ron Waterman (U.S.A./Team Impact)
#3 Tim Lajcik (U.S.A./Gladiators Training Academy)
#4 Keigo Takamori (Pancrase MEGATON) *IN!
#5 Sehaku (RJW/CENTRAL) *DOWN from #4
#6 Jun Ishii (Chojin Club) *DOWN from #5
#7 Jimmy Ambriz (U.S.A./New Japan Pro-Wrestling) *DOWN from #6
#8 KENGO (PANCRASEism) *DOWN from #7>
[Heavyweight(199lbs.~under
221lbs.)]
the 1st Heavyweight K.O.P. Yoshiki Takahashi (PANCRASEism)
#1 Tsuyoshi Ozawa (Zendokai)
#2 Katsuhisa Fujii (UFO)
#3 Jason Godsey (U.S.A./I.F. Academy)
[Light
heavyweight(181lbs.~under 199lbs.)]
the 3rd Light heavyweight K.O.P. Yuki Kondo (PANCRASEism)
#1 Sanae Kikuta (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#2 Ricardo Almeida (U.S.A./Renzo Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy)
#3 Akihiro Gono (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#4 Nilson de Castro (Brazil/Chute Boxe Academy)
#5 Daisuke Watanabe (PANCRASEism)
#6 David Terrell (U.S.A./Cesar Gracie Academy)
#7 Yuki Sasaki (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#8 Keiichiro Yamamiya (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#9 Osami Shibuya (PANCRASEism)
#10 Ikuhisa Minowa (freelance)
[Middleweight(165.7lbs.~
under 181lbs.)]
the 4th Middleweight K.O.P. Ricardo Almeida (U.S.A./Renzo Gracie
Jiu Jitsu Academy)
#1 Nathan Marquardt (U.S.A./Colorado Stars)
#2 Izuru Takeuchi (SK Absolute)
#3 Crosley Gracie (U.S.A./Ralph Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy)
#4 Kazuo Misaki (Pancrase GRABAKA) *UP from #5
#5 Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism) *DOWN from #4
#6 Eiji Ishikawa (Pancrase GRABAKA)
#7 Hidehiko Hasegawa (SK Absolute)
#8 Shonie Carter (U.S.A./AIKI Training Hall)
#9 Yuichi Nakanishi (freelance)
#10 Jake Shields (U.S.A./Cesar Gracie Academy)
[Welterweight(152.5lbs.~
under 165.7lbs.)]
the 1st Welterweight K.O.P. Kiuma Kunioku (PANCRASEism)
#1 Koji Oishi (PANCRASEism)
#2 Takafumi Ito (PANCRASEism)
#3 Kenichi Serizawa (Wajutsu Keishukai Suruga Dojo)
#4 Satoru Kitaoka (PANCRASEism)
#5 Hiroki Nagaoka (MMA Dojo DOBUITA)
#6 Yuji Hoshino (Wajutsu Keishukai GODS)
#7 Takuya Wada (SK Absolute)
#8 Heath Sims (U.S.A./Team Quest) *IN!
[Lightweight(141.4lbs.~
under 152.5lbs.)] VACANT
[Featherweight(under
141.4lbs.)] VACANT
Source:
Mr Oitate |
Quote
of the Day
"Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is active;
it is concentrated strength."
Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton, 1803-1873, British Novelist, Poet
|
Catching
UpWith Rogério 'Minotouro'
By: Gleidson Venga / Team TATAME
Rogério
'Minotouro' Nogueira underwent surgery on his arm shortly after
his fight against Kazushi Sakuraba, on PRIDE's New year's event.
Nogueira has had a chronic problem with his arm for some time,
and it was bothering his training before the fight.
Rogerio
told us 'My preparation for the match with Sakuraba was complicated,
because many times I got banged up in my training sessions, and
my arm was hurting real bad. That´s why I set the pace
at the beginning of the Sakuraba fight, I was trying to end that
quickly, with no more risks', he explained.
After
his return to Brazil, 'Minotouro' went to São Paulo, had
the surgery there and he´s recovering now. 'My healed last
week. All the time, I´m trying to flex my arm, keep it
loose, stretching it to make sure it will be rehabilitated for
good', said Nogueira, who´s not back to training yet. 'I´m
in the final phase of my recovery and in March I might be back
to training. As soon as an opportunity comes from Pride, I´m
in. No hurry, because I only want to fight again with my arm
100% recovered'.
Source:
ADCC |
|
Ryan
Bennett - Former UFC Broadcaster Speaks
At
6 and 11 PM San Luis Obispo, California time he’s updating
area residents on the ups and downs of the sporting world, but
when he’s not behind the desk, fans of the world’s
toughest sport can be getting his gospel on his weekly radio
show or calling fights for the IFC and WEC. A UFC veteran that
never fought in the Octagon, Bennett has become one of the most
comprehensive and sought after fight reporters in this business,
and like any good gabber, his opinions don’t hide.
Derek
Callahan: What do you like about the organizations you work for?
Ryan
Bennett: I just like organizations who treat the sport with respect.
Luckily all the guys I have worked for, UFC, IFC, and WEC, understand
the sport and treat the fighters with respect. Dana White, Paul
Smith, and Scott Adams have all been in the fight game for a
very long time and they do a great job. Watching the up and coming
fighters is a lot of fun, because I get to see them before they
get into the big shows like the UFC or Pride.
DC:
How the WEC and IFC differ?
RB:
Good question. I think they differ this way. WEC is happy to
stay put in the state of California. They are happy to put shows
on at the Palace Casino in Central California and bring in fighters
from all over the States. The IFC on the other hand really goes
worldwide. They have done shows all over the world.
I
think WEC gets the best up and coming fighters in the United
States, while the IFC brings in guys from Brazil and the travel
all over the world like Russia, Brazil, Hawaii, etc. They are
both tremendous organizations who understand putting on exciting
shows for fans. They understand the audience they cater too and
are both successful because of it. They also don't go over budget.
Believe me most start up promotions spend WAY too much money
on their shows, while WEC and IFC understand budget and that's
why they have been able to stick around.
DC:
What’s been your most memorable interview?
RB:
Two stick out in my mind. UFC 38 in London when Ian Freeman didn't
know his father died before his fight against Frank Mir. Freeman's
family purposely didn't tell Ian his father died the night before
because they knew how big of a fight it was.
Freeman
was in the ultimate zone and Mir had no chance with everything
leading up to that fight. Freeman gave a tearful, heart felt
speech that was truly incredible. He dedicated the fight to his
dad. It was a very special night. Also Murilo Bustamante's interview
just after winning the UFC title for the first time over Dave
Menne. So much emotion, he spoke from the heart in his broken
English. Those two come to my mind. Oh yea, how could I forget
Phil Baroni. You never know what's going to come out of his mouth.
He's hilarious.
DC:
How were you able to work through rough spots when you first
began broadcasting?
RB:
I was lucky because my rough spots were worked out early in my
career with my t.v. background. Once I started working for this
sport of MMA, my rough spots were already taken care of.
DC:
What qualifies you for your job? How did you come to it?
RB:
Once again, this is what I do for a living. So instead of going
to interview Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O'Neal, I interview Tito
Ortiz or Randy Couture. I probably get a bigger kick interviewing
the MMA guys than sports guys. The MMA guys are more personable.
DC:
I know you've broadcasted for the ‘big budget’ sports,
how does work for them differ from work for MMA?
RB:
Sports and MMA actually are closely tied together. You may have
bigger crews for TV Sports compared to MMA. That's the big difference.
I tell you what though, the UFC Production crew works for ESPN,
or HBO, Fox etc. The directors and producers actually work for
ESPN as well as the UFC shows.
I
have worked on the other side of the fence as well for some "other"
interesting MMA promotions. I remember doing one fight with my
friend Jeff Thaler, and we had a head set WITHOUT the ear piece.
Basically I'm sporting the Bobby Brown, microphone, my prerogative,
WITHOUT headphones, so we can't even hear each other over the
crowd!!
We
are yelling in the microphone just to hear each other because
there is no earpiece. He makes a point and I was like...."What
I can't hear you!" GREAT TV!!
DC:
Your favorite guy to work with and why?
RB:
I don't have just one. I've worked with MANY great guys. I really
miss Mike Goldberg because he is flat out hilarious. Him and
I click like brothers. Jeff Blatnick is a blast because he is
the living legend of MMA broadcasters. I always enjoy doing the
shows with him. I finally had a chance to work with Quadros and
that was a blast. Jeff Whaler is technically sound and I learn
something from him in every broadcast. Chemistry wise, Big Poppa
Schnake and I click. Schnake is hilarious and I really feel we
will be working a lot in the future together. Chemistry is the
big thing and if you can find two guys that have "it"
it's awesome and Papa and I have "It".
Source:
Sherdog |
Dana
White UFC President
By Arnold "The Sushiboy" Lim
Fresh
off a strong UFC 46 “Supernatural” event that took
place at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, the president of the Ultimate
Fighting Championships Dana White was kind enough to spend some
time with the “Sushiboy” Arnold Lim and talk about
the up and downs of the UFC. As always Mr. White was forthcoming
and professional and had a lot of interesting things to say about
the state of MMA in North America, the true fighters of the sport
of MMA and the one fight that he would make, if he could make
any fight he wanted regardless of contracts of finances. Which
fight is that you ask? Read on and find out.
Dana
White: How are you?
MMARR:
Good thank you, I know you are a busy man. I appreciate you spending
time with us today.
DW:
My pleasure buddy. ****Yawns****
MMARR:
Are you a little bit sleepy today?
DW:
I am a lot a bit sleepy…
MMARR:
Didn’t get much sleep last night?
DW:
Nope, haven’t been getting much sleep at all for the last
three years…
MMARR:
First of all I wanted to talk a little bit about the UFC. It
has been approximately three years since you took over the UFC.
Where have you seen the sport gone in the three years since Zuffa
has taken over [The UFC]?
DW:
Sanctioned, back on PPV, first ever time on free T.V, Selling
out major arena’s, getting major media attention, Jay Leno,
Carson Daly, Jimmy Kimmel etc... we are on our way.
MMARR:
In your opinion if you had to grade the job that you yourself
and Zuffa has done with the UFC since you guys have taken over,
what grade would you give yourself?
DW:
I don’t know, as far as grading myself. We have done everything
that we have set out to do almost, the TV deal is the last piece
of the puzzle. All the goals that we set for ourselves in the
first five years, once we secure a TV deal, we will have achieved
every goal that we set out to achieve in the first three years.
As far as grading myself, I have always said this before, mixed
martial arts is in it’s infancy right now, Zuffa, myself
and everyone who is involved right now is a very, very, very
small part of a big picture. It is going to take years and years
and years for this sport to become big and mainstream. I wouldn’t
grade myself. As far as goals that we have achieved that we set
for ourselves for the first five years, we have achieved them
all already except for the TV deal.
MMARR:
Is a TV deal essential to the UFC and MMA in North America or
is there any way that MMA or the UFC specifically can reach profitability
and or the Main Stream Media without a TV deal?
DW:
It can be done without a TV deal but to really make serious,
serious money and make this thing really work we need a TV deal.
MMARR:
In your opinion… I think it is widely known that the UFC
at this point is not a profitable business. How long do you feel
that it would take, I know that there is no timetable, but before
MMA and or the UFC specifically can become profitable?
DW:
There are some shows out there that are making money. I know
promoters out there that are making money right now. We have
got this thing dialed in pretty close right now with the UFC,
the biggest thing that we have always done is we have always
paid the fighters more then this market will support. We have
always taken good care of the fighters. But we almost got this
thing dialed in, we have got the UFC almost running at a break
even or making some money right now.
MMARR:
Can you talk about any specific shows that were profitable and
or extremely unprofitable?
DW:
What do you mean? Talk about which shows were profitable which
shows…
MMARR:
Were there any specific shows that you guys did really well on,
and any that you did really poorly on?
DW:
That is hit or miss sometimes, what I found out in the last three
years is it depends on what Market you are in. We never did well
in Bosier City [Louisiana] , we never did well in Miami. We do
very well in Las Vegas, we did very, very well in Atlantic City,
the last time we were there, and we did well in the Mohegan.
So those are the three places that I will do shows in now. If
you see me doing shows somewhere else, something is going on.
We got a great deal or something is up if I go anywhere other
then New Jersey, Mohegan, or Vegas.
MMARR:
You spoke about going to those other places. Is there any chance
of…. being a Canadian myself I would love to see you in
Canada. I know that Canada isn’t the biggest place, and
might not be on the radar anytime soon but…
DW:
They are on the Radar…. I would love to go to Canada. The
problem is the exchange rate right now. So that is really what
would keep us from going to Canada.
MMARR:
So the exchange right now has been advantageous for Canadians
going to America right now, so if the exchange rate closes or
changes the way it has in the past, can we expect you to come
to Canada and if you come to Canada, what city would you be interested
in coming to?
DW:
I don’t know that, I haven’t investigated it that deeply
yet, but I am interested in going to Canada. If the exchange
rate did change then yes, I would probably be interested in going
to Canada.
MMARR:
There is also probably the biggest market in your area and where
a lot of the fighters come from the L.A. area. We all know that
there are some problems getting out there, what are the chances
of seeing the UFC in L.A. or any time soon or in the future?
DW:
Say that again?
MMARR:
I understand that the L.A. area is something that the UFC would
be interested in going to, it is a big area, and I have heard
the numbers were approximately 60% of the Vegas crowd come from
the California area. What are the chances of seeing L.A. on the
UFC radar any time soon and what is stopping you guys if anything?
DW:
When California does open, the UFC will be the first show to
do it. The first MMA show to do a show there.
MMARR:
What will it take for California to open up and why is California
not opening up?
DW:
There is a lot of political shit that is going on right now that
I would rather not get into but California will open up.
MMARR:
In your opinion since you have taken over, or should I say Zuffa
has taken over, what is the best thing that Zuffa has done for
MMA and or the UFC?
DW:
Say that again? I am having trouble hearing you…Ok there
now I can hear you…
MMARR:
I am going to move closer to my phone, since, the UFC or Zuffa
took over the UFC, what in your opinion was the crowning achievement
in Zuffa’s stay as the owners of the UFC. What is the best
thing that you guys have ever done?
DW:
I don’t know… we have done a lot of things, all the
mainstream coverage we get now, being back on PPV the first ever
free TV show, sanctioning, we have done a lot of things, it is
all good.
MMARR:
What in your opinion would be the biggest mistake or the biggest
regret that the UFC has.
DW:
The biggest mistake that we ever made was going over on the PPV
for UFC 33. It still sticks in the back of my mind and I worry
about it every show.
MMARR:
Speaking of the PPV, you have a lot of the “Hardcore”
fans complaining about the preliminaries being hit and miss.
Sometimes they are shown sometimes they are not, even if there
may or may not be a little bit of time available for that. Are
you guys saving the prelims or is it something that you have
planned to do or something that just didn’t work out.
DW:
No, we are not saving the prelims for anything. Sometimes things
work out sometimes they don’t. I can’t make everybody
happy all the time but I will always try.
MMARR:
Jens Pulver was a champion in the UFC, we saw him over quite
a few years doing well. He left the UFC under somewhat dubious
circumstances; will we ever see Jens Pulver back in the UFC?
DW:
That is a possibility, if Jens gets a couple of key wins, beats
a couple of top guys in his weight division you can definitely
see Jens Pulver back.
MMARR: So it is
more of a matter of his [Jens Pulver's] two losses rather then
any sort of so called blackballing that people have talked about?
DW: Yeah, Jens isn’t
blackballed. Jens and I are friends. I talk to Jens all the time.
MMARR: At UFC 38
back at England, Lee Murray and Tito Ortiz had some problems.
Not many people saw what happened. I was just wondering if you
knew what happened. Is it actually true, or something that you
saw?
DW: I didn’t
see it, I wasn’t there. I have heard 27 different stories
about what did happen from people that were there. Everyone who
was there had a different story of what happened, so I don’t
know. I couldn’t answer that honestly.
MMARR: Is it your
understanding that Lee Murray did punch Tito [Ortiz] though?
DW: I knew that
they did get into an altercation. Again, if you talked to five
or six people that were there, they all have different stories.
Everyone is drinking, and you are out of a bar, and stuff like
that happens. Nobody knows what happened, nobody really saw what
happened. The only ones that really know what happened are Tito
and Lee, and it was an unfortunate incident. It wasn’t professional
at all, not something that professional athletes should be doing,
fighting out in the streets in London… Lee is in the UFC
now, Tito is in the UFC, and we will see what happens. If they
ever do hook up, it is going to be in the Octagon, not out in
the street somewhere.
MMARR: You spoke
about Miami, and Bossier City being difficult markets that you
guys have entered. How about London, that is a recent place that
you guys have entered….
DW: London was awesome,
London was a dynamite market for us, and we had a blast over
there. We were well received by the fans, and I would love to
go back to London.
MMARR: Do you see
anything in the future of going back to Europe?
DW: The problem
with London was, I couldn’t come to terms with Sky T.V,
neither could Vince McMahon. Vince McMahon just left Sky T.V
too.
MMARR: Let’s
talk about Eddie Bravo. He was recently replaced as the post
fight interviewer and changed to the unofficial scorecard keeper.
Was there a special reason for that? Why was he moved?
DW: Eddie is working
on his interviewing skills. I mean… Joe Rogan is great at
what he does, and we are happy with Eddie. Eddie is not going
anywhere, he is going to be there.
MMARR: Do you think
that Eddie’s public admittance and or public acceptance
of smoking Marijuana, and his talk of hookers taint his public
persona, or that of the UFC, in any way?
DW: I have never
heard him talk about hookers, but no, I don’t think
it taints him in
any way.
MMARR: So that in
no way had anything to do with the fact that…
DW: No not at all.
MMARR: We have seen
on several occasions, UFC fighters going over and participating
in Pride. We have seen Chuck Liddell go over 3 odd times. At
UFC 44, Takada [Nobuhiko, President of the Pride Fighting Championships]
even came over to the UFC and proclaimed very publicly, that
we would see Sakuraba [Kazushi] and Fujita [Kazuyuki] in the
UFC. It seems that you guys are doing the sending, and that you
aren’t getting anything back in return.
DW: I could not
agree with you more…
MMARR: Yeah?
DW: I could not
agree with you more…
MMARR: What is happening?
Are Sakuraba and Fujita, who he mentioned specifically, going
to be coming to the UFC any time soon?
DW: No. I just asked
them the other day about Sakuraba and they said, “Sakuraba
is going to take six months off, and then they would need him
to fight for them when he came back.” So you are right,
they went on national T.V, and said that they would. I am waiting.
MMARR: Do you have
any interest in bringing over a guy like Fujita?
DW: Uhh… I
am more interested in Sakuraba, but yeah I am open to anything.
MMARR: Is there
anyone else in the Pride organization that you would be interested
in bringing over specifically?
DW: I like “Cro
Cop” [Mirko Filipovic], Dan Henderson. There are a lot of
guys from Pride that I would definitely be interested in. Vanderlei
Silva… like I said, Sakuraba…
MMARR: At the Pride
Grand Prix, the Pride announcers said that you had made a public
bet that Chuck Liddell would win the tournament…
DW: It wasn’t
that he would win the tournament; I bet him that Chuck Liddell
would beat Vanderlei Silva if they fought.
MMARR: So nothing
came of the bet because they never fought.
DW: Right.
MMARR: I See...
DW: That was for
him and Vanderlei Silva, I would never bet for him to win the
whole tournament.
MMARR: Yeah, I thought
that was a tough bet…
DW: Yeah.
MMARR: We just saw
Vitor Belfort defeat Randy Couture, like I said before, under
somewhat dubious circumstances. What are the chances that we
will see them face off again in the near future?
DW: Randy and Vitor?
MMARR: Yes.
DW: We are hoping
for June.
MMARR: After that
takes place, I guess it is the winner of Tito and Liddell against
the winner of those two?
DW: Yes.
MMARR: Any Chance
that we will see…I know you talked about them not keeping
their part of the deal but Vanderlei [Silva] down in the UFC
or one of your guys…
DW: Absolutely,
what I would love to see happen is, whoever comes out the winner
of these two fights, fight Vanderlei.
MMARR: Would you
be willing to do that in Pride? Or would you only be willing
to do that in the UFC?
DW: I think they
owe me. So we probably have to do it in the UFC, but I am open
to anything.
MMARR: Not many
people can get behind the scenes and see what fighters are really
like in the UFC and Pride. In your opinion, who are the real
fighters of the world of MMA? Who are the guys that don’t
back down, who are the guys that fight on short notice, who are
the guys that will step up when no one else will?
DW: Chuck Liddell,
Randy Couture… Phil Baroni will fight anybody anytime. Lee
Murray seems to be that way. There are a lot of guys out there
that are like that. B.J Penn just moved up in weight and took
on you know… the nastiest guy in the sport. There are a
lot of guys out there.
MMARR: What do you
think happened to Matt Hughes? That is not the Matt Hughes that
we have grown accustomed to seeing. Do you think that…
DW: Very, very weird.
He didn’t even fight the choke…
MMARR: Do you think
it was a matter of burnout?
DW: I don’t
know. I haven’t talked to him. I have been trying to get
a hold of him and I haven’t been able to.
MMARR: If you could
make any fight happen. Any fight regardless of contracts, financial
situations or promotions, what fight would you make.
DW: if I could make
one fight what would it be?
MMARR: Yes.
DW: Chuck Liddell
and Tito Ortiz.
***We both laugh***
MMARR: Good answer.
We have had both UFC 46, and 47 in Vegas, are we going to see
48 in Vegas as well?
DW: yup.
MMARR: How about
49, do you have any word on Vegas?
DW: No. 49 wouldn’t
be in Vegas. Ahh… wait a minute. Yeah. 47 is going to be
in Vegas which will be in April. June would be 48, and then 49
in September will be in Vegas too.
MMARR: Will they
all be in the Mandalay Bay?
DW: Yeah and that
is the way we are looking at it now, and anything can change
on any given day. Things can change on any given day, but 8 is
definitely in Vegas.
MMARR: In your opinion,
what is the biggest upset in MMA that you have ever seen?
DW: Umm, well I
think a lot of people were shocked about BJ [Penn defeating Matt
Hughes at UFC 46] but that fight had upset written all over it
though. Everybody thought that B.J was such a huge underdog,
and Matt was just killing everybody, and the way he went out
and beat Frank Trigg… common sense would tell you that Matt
Hughes was going to win that fight, but it had upset written
all over it.
MMARR: Are there
any matches for UFC 48 that you can talk about? UFC 47 is pretty
much set...
DW: UFC 48 we are
obviously hoping for a Randy Couture and Vitor Belfort rematch.
Ken Shamrock will fight on that card. We have some ideas, but
we will have to see how this next show pans out. We have some
ideas though for some good fights.
MMARR: You mentioned
Ken Shamrock. What are the chances of us seeing him fight Tank
Abbott?
DW: Very good.
MMARR: So is that
the fight that you are trying to put on for UFC 48?
DW: No, not really,
we have got a few different options.
MMARR: I want to
talk about Tank Abbott a little bit. Tank Abbott came back into
the UFC, I understand that You were one of the people who wanted
to bring him back, what are your thoughts? Do you think the Tank
Abbott experiment, or so called experiment, was a failure with
his three losses? Do you think that he really helped the UFC?
What are your thoughts on Tank Abbott?
DW: No, I don’t
think it was a failure. Tank Abbott… both fights that he
fought, on two of our biggest gates ever on the east coast, were
Tank Abbott. We did a million two for our gate at Atlantic City
last time we were there at the Convention Centre, and we did
a million dollar gate, which was our biggest gate ever at the
Mohegan, both with Tank Abbott on the card.
MMARR: So you think
Tank Abbott had a lot to do with that?
DW: Oh definitely….
and as of right now… I mean ticket sales mean a lot to us.
MMARR: Tell us about
Murilo Bustamante, obviously he is not fighting in the UFC anymore.
Is that purely a money issue?
DW: Yeah, he decided
he wanted to walk away from the title. He figured that he could
get more money in Japan. He left, then he never even fought for
like 2 years. Then he came back and got two straight losses.
MMARR: Do you think
that if Murilo Bustamante called you today and said, “Hey
I would love to fight for your belt again”, or “I would
love to be your champion again.” Would you ever have him
back?
DW: Sure, I like
Murilo.
MMARR: Ryan Bennett
used to be an announcer, why was he let go?
DW: Why was Ryan
Bennett let go…..I think one of the issues with Ryan Bennett
was when we were putting together the….Ryan is a great guy,
always professional and we still have a good relationship with
him now. One of the big problems with him was, when we were putting
together the production, is that he was too big. When he stands
next to some of our heavyweight fighters, he makes our heavyweights
look like little guys. So from a production standpoint, using
someone smaller, matches up better with the fighters so the fighters
don’t look tiny. That was one of our main issues with Ryan
Bennett, and then we were going with the whole female experiment.
You know… we wanted a good looking female sportscaster/interviewer.
You know, the production part of the UFC is still a work in progress.
Ryan Bennett is always professional, has always been great, we
still have a great relationship with him.
MMARR: Why were
the celebrities in attendance read out on the Pay Per View broadcast?
DW: That was a mistake.
MMARR: Oh I see,
so that was NOT on purpose?
DW: No, that was
not on purpose at all. We had a production meeting, and it was
said at the production meeting that it was for the in house [audience],
and to fit it in wherever it could be fitted into the show. They
hadn’t done it yet, so Lorenzo [Ferttita co-owner of the
UFC] jumped on the headset and said, “Hey do this thing”.
For some reason, I don’t know, they thought it meant do
it live on TV.
MMARR: I guess that
is what you meant by "The production is still a work in
progress".
DW: Well you know,
it is a live TV show. It is live, things happen man, mistakes
are going to happen.
MMARR: You have
another person an announcer that you let go…
DW: Osbourne…
MMARR: Yeah, the
same time as Ryan Bennett, why was [Jeff] Osbourne let go?
DW: Umm, I don’t
think there is any specific reason you know, and to be honest
with you, I really don’t want to get into why guys were
let go. I don’t think it is fair to them to talk about why
some guy was let go.
MMARR: I understand.
DW: It would be
like if you got fired from your job, and somebody wanted to do
a public “Why was he let go?”
MMARR: Absolutely….ok
then lets talk about something related, there seems to be a modicum
of bad blood at this point, is that because he was let go?
DW: Between who?
MMARR: Between the
UFC and Osbourne.
DW: Not at all,
I have seen Jeff a few times. I talked to him on the phone a
couple times, I know he and Joe Silva [Matchmaker for the UFC]
are very good friends. There is no animosity on our part, and
I have never felt any from Jeff Osbourne, so I don’t know.
MMARR: Carmen Electra
was the first of the girls to kind of enter the scene. Let me
ask you this. Uhh…Why Carmen Electra?
DW: Well at the
time, the way the whole Carmen Electra thing happened was, Lorenzo
and I did our first Press conference in New York for UFC 30.
Two guys showed up, Joel Gold [Full Contact Fighter] and Eddie
Goldman.
MMARR: OUCH!!!
DW: Those are the
two guys that showed up for the press conference. The next time,
same thing, so we said “we need a hook”. “We need
someone that is going to stir up some interest in the media and
blah, blah, blah”. So we were looking at her, Shannon Elizabeth,
and a couple other girls that we were thinking about bringing
on. We went and met Carmen in L.A. and had dinner with her, and
the minute we met her, we knew that she was the right fit. We
hired her, brought her on, and the next one we had was UFC 32
at the meadowlands. We held our press conference at ESPN zone,
and all the media showed up. Carmen Electra helped put us on
the map, she did exactly what we paid her to do.
MMARR: Where do
you see the sport of MMA ten years from now?
DW: In ten years,
I see it being much more main stream. Three years ago, people
thought this was human cock fighting, it was death matches and
everything else, but….
MMARR: Death matches!!!
****Laughes***
DW: Already, just
in three years, you notice when these guys go on and do interviews
on Jimmy Kimmel, and all that stuff, that whole angle is gone
now. People don’t have to say “Oh is this a death sport?”
“Do you think it is human cock fighting?” They don’t
even talk about that anymore. They talk about the fights, they
learn about the athletes, and they talk about the fight that
is coming up. So I think we are already starting to overcome
that whole “This isn’t a real sport” type deal.
So I see this sport thriving, and doing very well in ten years.
MMARR: Speaking
of talking about fights, what is your favorite fight in UFC history
or any MMA history?
DW: I have had a
lot of favorite fights, I mean, there has been a lot of great
fights that I have really, really enjoyed. Randy Couture Vs Pedro
Rizzo 1 was an awesome fight. I mean, those guys went at it.
I mean, you want to talk about two warriors with heart and the
will to win, that fight was awesome. Afterwards, Couture had
to have rehab on his legs, he got kicked with so many leg kicks.
Controversial decision, it was just bell to bell an awesome fight.
I really liked Pedro Rizzo vs. Josh Barnett, I thought that was
an awesome fight. But… I would have to say my all time favorite
fight, where the energy was insane, and the hype was unbelievable,
when the two fighters started walking I felt like I was at the
most big time championship I had ever been at in my life, was
Ken [Shamrock] and Tito [Ortiz].
MMARR: I thought
you might say that one. Speaking of Ken Shamrock, he is also
a pro wrestler. Is there any chance, any chance whatsoever, that
we would be able to see maybe a Ken Shamrock Vs Brock Lesner,
or Bill Goldberg?
DW: I would love
to do that. I would love to do any of my guys Vs a top boxer.
I would love to do it. But to put a deal like that together is
tough. I wouldn’t go after guys like the guys K-1 are going
after. I would want somebody real and legit and who is on top
right now.
MMARR: What are
your thoughts on Bob Sapp?
DW: He He He…I
have stated publicly that he is not a real fighter. He is a nice
guy, but he is not a real fighter by any means, a pro wrestler
in my book.
MMARR: You are happy
for him but he is not a real fighter?
DW: Right, he is
a pro wrestler.
MMARR: When all
is said and done, when everything falls away. You as the president
of the UFC, what would you specifically most like to be remembered
for?
DW: I don’t
really care about being remembered. The only way I want to be
remembered when I am dead, is that I was a good dad. That is
all I care about. As far as being remembered, I am not interested
in that. I don’t care about being remembered for what I
did for work. I enjoy what I do, I love this sport, I love a
lot of the guys in this sport. I don’t know, hopefully we
can….Lorenzo and I have this dream about making this sport
big and making it mainstream, making it be what we know it can
be. When I die all I want to be remembered as is a good dad to
my boys, that is all I care about.
Dana White and Kevin
Randleman playing with Mr. White's son
MMARR: When you
spoke about you and Lorenzo taking the sport where you guys know
it can be… If the sport just does not get to quite where
you guys are comfortable, how long do you think the Fertitta’s
would be willing to shell out all this money for the UFC? Is
there a timetable? Or is there a time that… do you guys
have 5 years or 10 years to get everything done?
DW: Anytime you
put together a startup business… this was definitely a start
up business when we bought this company. The only thing we bought
was the name, the Ultimate Fighting Championships. Bob Meyrowitz
had stripped everything down, there was nothing left, he had
sold everything. We had to go out and attain all the rights back
to the UFC. So you know, there is always a five year plan when
you have a business, and we are more then right on track with
our five year plan.
MMARR: Last of all,
do you have any last words for the fans of MMA and the UFC fans
around the world? The hardcore fans are the best, and the most
critical of any fans I have known anywhere. Some of them, sometimes
they say some pretty crazy stuff, but they do support the UFC.
DW: I would agree,
I would have to say every time, every time I have ever gone to
the fans and said, “Hey we need to do this, we need to do
that” they have always been there. I have proven time and
time again, and I always will, that I am here for the fans. I
will always be there, I am not some guy that’s you know,
unreachable… unattainable. I will always get out there and
talk to the fans and I think we have the greatest fans in the
world. They are critical, but hey, I have no problem with that.
(A)- I am not out there to win any popularity contests, and I
know what I need to do, and I do what I need to do. (B)- I have
got some pretty thick skin, it doesn’t bother me. I look
at it, I see the stuff that people say, “Hey you know what,
we could do better”, and I get that. There are the other
guys that just… you know... are trying to be goofy. I don’t
pay any attention to that at all. It doesn’t faze me one
way or the other.
MMARR: Well I would
like to thank you very much for the time that you spent with
us today, I really appreciate it, I know you are a busy man.
DW: It was a pleasure.
MMARR: Thanks very
much.
DW: Good interview
too, good questions.
MMARR: I hope to
see you at the next UFC.
DW: I’ll be
there.
Source:
MMA Ring Report |
YOSHIDA
RETURNS TO JUDO COMPETITION
The Kakuto website is reporting that Yoshida will return to his
roots in Judo. They report that the gold medalist in Judo will
re-enter Judo competition
Yoshida
will enter a tournament held on February 22 with his protege
and fellow Pride fighter Nakamura. Also Sportsnavi has an article
in Japanese about the situation as well.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
BARONI'S
FUTURE EXPECTED TO BE RULED ON TODAY
We should have a pretty good idea about the future of Phil Baroni
today. The Connecticut Athletic Commission is expected to rule
today; whether, Baroni will continue his suspension of one year,
or if the suspension could be cut in half to six months.
Baroni
came on MMAWeekly Radio yesterday and said,"I have a good
feeling about it. I think I may be able to compete as soon as
June, but we will wait and see."
As
far as future opponents, Baroni doesn't really care who he fights
next as long as he gets to fight. The suspension has been tough
on him, but if he could pick an opponent- it would be Evan Tanner.
A fight the fans would really like to see is Phil against Lee
Murray, but others feel Baroni is on a collision course with
Jorge Rivera.
Baroni
also broke down the upcoming Chuck Liddell vs Tito Ortiz fight.
Phil said the big question for Chuck is conditioning. Will Chuck
be in tip top shape for Tito? Baroni said he knew Tito would
be in great shape so it was up to Chuck to get there. Baroni
said he has trained with both fighters, and thought they were
very even as far as grappling goes.
"I
don't know if Tito can hold Chuck down. Chuck was able to take
Randy Couture down in the second round. Tito couldn't take Randy
down in five rounds."
Baroni
says this fight could go either way and is looking forward to
watching the fight and seeing what happens. If you missed the
interview catch it in our radio archive.
MMA
fighter and Bostonian Jorge Rivera joined the radio show as well
and pounded home the BoSox point of view as it was a Boston vs
New York theme on the show. "The New York Bad Ass"
himself, Phil Baroni, predictably took his father's side to even
the odds against the Bean Town duo of Rivera and Bennett.
All
the baseball discussion was worth the listen to get to the MMA
talk. Rivera, coming off a loss to Lee Murray at UFC 46 said,
"I got caught." Jorge wanted to take the fight to the
ground and pound on Murray but made a mistake and got caught.
Rivera blames himself for the loss and would like another shot
at Murray to prove his worth.
Baroni
had some choice words about Rivera's last performance and to
hear all of what was said, get yourself a Premium Membership.
For the low price of five dollars a month, you get access to
the radio archive, the video archives including one on one interviews,
press conference coverage, Tips of the Week from the best fighters
in MMA ,and so much more.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
NEWEST
MMA TEAM: GERMAN TOP TEAM
Press Release
Shidokan
Germany will create a "German Top Team" with Fighters
from all around Germany in March 2004. So far the Team has contact
to various Grappling and MMA Champions, e.g.:
•
Chute Boxe Representative Mario Stapel
• Shooto Japan Veteran Daniel Weichel
• ADCC Veteran and Luta Livre Black Belt Andreas Schmidt
• BJJ Black Belt Michael Haselein
• "Ultimate Submission Showdown"- and ADCC Veteran
Peter Angerer
• German SHIDO Grand Prix Champion Franco De Leonardis
• UGC Champions Daniel Ackermann and Björn Friedrich
• Fighters from all major german fight teams and many many
others.
The
idea is to create a strong and powerfull MMA Team, representing
Germany in top events around the globe. The GTT will be officially
created in Mid-March, sending two of its fighters to UK's top
Cagefight event "Ultimate Combat" only one week later.
Peter
"Yamatodamashii" Angerer will compete in a Welterweight
World Title Eliminator at UC 9 on March 28th in Chippenham against
Frenchman Jess Liaudin, representing the GTT on a huge international
stage. Also his team mate Franco De Leonardis will be on the
show against England's Dave Campbell. So the signs are set to
form Germany's finest Fight Team of all times!
On
www.german-top-team.com a Website of the Team with bios of all
fighters and trainers will be online at the end of March 2004.
Promoters and Events who are interested in contacting the GTT
and book fighters for international shows should send an e-mail
to info@german-top-team.com. We will have fighters for matches
in all disciplines of Grappling and MMA available.
Sincerly
yours,
Mr.
Bruno-Herve Rico
Manager GTT
Source:
MMA Weekly |
Strength
Without Size:
Can You Get Stronger Without Getting Bigger?
By Matt “Wiggy” Wiggins, MMAWeekly.com
It
seems as if every few days, I either get an email or read a question
on an online forum about gaining strength without gaining any
size (and in turn, bodyweight). It generally goes a little something
like this:
“I’ve
been practicing (insert your favorite martial art here) for a
few months now. I’m in decent shape, and have okay conditioning,
but am getting tossed around on the mat. I would like to start
working out to get stronger, but I don’t want to gain any
weight. What should I do?”
So,
can you work out to get stronger without an increase in hypertrophy
(i.e. – increase in muscle mass) resulting in an increase
in bodyweight?
Yep
– you sure can. However, before I get into some of the “hows,”
let me quickly cover a few of the “whys.”
First
and foremost (PAY ATTENTION – this is important!!), I don’t
care what kind of workout program you’re on, because if
you’re not taking in an excess of calories, you won’t
gain any weight. bodyweight gain or loss is pretty simple –
it’s all about simple mathematics. We all know that calories
are what fuel, replenish, restore, and build our bodies. We ingest
calories everyday by eating food, drinking certain liquids, and
consuming certain supplements.
We
burn calories everyday by simply being alive and performing our
daily activities. By “daily activities,” I mean everything.
I’m not just referring to any training you might be doing,
but anything you do during the day – walking to your car,
typing on a keyboard, carrying in a bag of groceries, etc. In
addition, there are all the activities that your body performs
without you telling it to – breathing, digestion, your hear
beating, and many more. All of these activities result in calories
being expended (burned up) by the body.
(INTERESTING
USELESS FACT: All food contains a certain amount of calories,
right? Did you know that celery actually contains negative calories?
This is because, on average, the body burns up more calories
on the digestion of celery then it takes in from it in the first
place.)
So,
what you’re looking at is a ratio: calories in (how many
you eat) vs. calories out (how many your burn up). If your calories
in are greater in number than your calories out (i.e. –
you eat more than you burn), then you’ll gain weight. If
your calories out are greater in number than your calories in
(i.e. – you burn up more than you eat), then you’ll
lose weight. If your calories out and your calories in are pretty
much even, then your bodyweight will stay relatively constant.
Sounds
pretty simple, doesn’t it? Well, that’s because it
is. Take in too many calories = gain weight. Burn up too many
calories = lose weight. Now I can go into greater detail (which
I will probably do in future articles), but for the purpose of
the topic at hand, it isn’t really necessary. As long as
you have the gist of the argument, you know what you need to
know.
To
figure out about how many calories you should be eating, the
first thing you should do is calculate your “Daily Caloric
Maintenance Level.” This is just what you’d think it
is – the number of calories per day you need to ingest in
order to maintain your current bodyweight, in its current condition
(i.e. – at its current bodyfat percentage level), at your
current activity level.
Do
a quick Google search and you will come up with a variety of
online calorie calculators. Try a few of them out. BEWARE: Don’t
be surprised if you get a wide range of results. This will happen
simply because some calculators are more accurate than others.
As a general rule of thumb, the calculators that require you
to input more personal information are generally more accurate.
Once
you have a general Maintenance Level figured, you can then adjust
it up or down. Again, as a general rule of thumb, to gain weight,
add 500 calories to your daily caloric intake. To lose weight,
subtract 500 calories per day. One pound is roughly equal to
3500 calories, and 500 calories/day x 7 days/week = 1 lb. per
week (this goes for gaining or losing). To keep your bodyweight
constant, don’t add or subtract anything to your Daily Caloric
Maintenance Level.
This
is the point in which you can begin to “tinker” with
your diet a little. Experiment some. If you’re not gaining/losing
weight like you’d like, don’t be afraid to make a few
subtle changes to your diet. Add a few calories here, subtract
a few calories there. As long as you don’t make drastic
shifts one way or the other, you should be able to figure it
out without too much trouble.
NOTE
– All of the above takes into account that your activity
level remains constant. If your training sessions (martial arts,
skills, strength, conditioning, GPP, or otherwise) radically
change in length, frequency, intensity of effort, or any other
factor, then your Daily Caloric Maintenance Level will need to
be adjusted accordingly.
Okay,
now that we’ve got the diet plan down, let’s take a
look at strength training. Again, for the sake of the topic at
hand, we’ll assume that you’re looking for an increase
in overall brute strength (as opposed to strength-endurance,
conditioning, localized muscular strength or muscular endurance,
etc.).
As
such, there are a few basic tenets that you’ll need to incorporate
into your workouts: compound (multi-joint) exercises, heavy (either
near-maximal or ramping up to near-maximal) weights, low reps,
low to medium set count, and plenty of rest. If you incorporate
all these things into your program, you can’t go wrong.
There
are a variety of different methodologies out there which work
well: Pavel Tsatsouline’s “Power to the People, Westside
Barbell’s “Conjugate Method,” the good ole’
tried and true “5 x 5,” Bryce Lane’s “Have
it All” version of Charles Staley’s “Escalating
Density Training,” and even my own “Singles & Doubles.”
Which
one do you pick? Well, they all work. They all work in different
ways, and they all produce somewhat different results, but time
and experience has shown that they all work. How are they different?
Well, that’s the subject for an article in the very near
future…
But,
for now, here is what you can take home: lift heavy, use few
reps, and not too many sets. Get plenty of rest, don’t wear
yourself out (so as to avoid overtraining), and eat a sensible
diet that is at or around your Daily Caloric Maintenance Level.
Your results will be dramatic increases in brute strength, without
any undesired increase in bodyweight.
As
usual, if you’ve got any questions or comments, feel free
to email me at wiggy@workingclassfitness.com or ask in the Soundoff
Forum.
Train
Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
RODRIGO
GRACIE WANTS SAKURABA AND TO FIGHT FOR UFC
Rodrigo Gracie was a featured guest on MMAWeekly SoundOff Radio
show Wednesday. Rodrigo is coming off a nice win over Hayato
"Mach" Sakurai in Pride Bushido and is "happy
with the outcome but wanted to finish Sakurai." Discussing
the fight itself, Gracie said he was surprised with how tough
Hayato's guard was to pass. Rodrigo thinks Sakurai got fatigued
trying to keep him from passing his guard. He said Hayato was
strong and although it was his toughest fight, Gracie was never
in any danger during the fight.
Rodrigo
is not under any contract with any organization at the moment.
He likes to fight at 186 pounds but thinks 170 may better suit
him if he were to come to the UFC. He commented on liking the
way the UFC notifies fighters well in advance of the event rather
than Pride's usually short notice. Rodrigo wants to get more
experience and continue to become a better fighter this year.
Looking at possible future fights, Gracie said he would like
to fight BJ Penn and Matt Hughes, but he wants to fight Sakuraba
"really bad." He added, "I'm the Gracie that's
gonna beat him that's for sure."
Rodrigo
talked about the Gracie name and the pressure and expectations
that go along with it. He is Renzo's first cousin and Royce's
second cousin. He compared it to if Michael Jordan's son played
basketball. "We're all in the same boat," he added,
"if one Gracie loses it affects the whole family."
Source:
MMA Weekly |
UNO,
PULVER AND OTHERS HEADLINE SHOOTO CARD
Caol Uno and Jens Pulver will both be fighting on the upcoming
Shooto card in March. Uno is returning to Shooto for the first
time in a while. Uno was competiting in the UFC and has now returned
home to Japan to compete.
Shooto
decided to matchup Uno for his comeback fight agajinst the "Shooto
Wrecking Machine" Tatsuya Kawajiri. Kawajiri is ranked #2
Welterweight in Shooto's Top 10. Kawajiri has an impressive record
of 10-2-1.
Petersen
reports that the winner of the upcoming March 22nd show in Tokyo
will most likely face the current Welterweight champion Vitor
"Shaolin" Ribeiro for the title.
Meanwhile
Jens Pulver, coming off an exhibition match against Eddie Yagin
in SuperBrawl will be competing on March 22nd as well, against
Noaya Uematsu.
Here
is part of the card for March 22. The entire card has not been
announced.
Shooto
in Tokyo March 22nd
Naoya
Uematsu vs. Jens Pulver
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Caol Uno
Akitoshi Tamura vs. Eiji Murayama
Source:
MMA Weekly |
PETER
AERTS VS STEVE "DR. DEATH" WILLIAMS IN MMA
Zach Arnold reports that K-1 fighter, Peter Aerts will fight
his first MMA match on March 14th. Arnold says the fight has
potential to draw huge ratings on Nippon Television.
Williams,
a former college wrestler at Oklahoma, spent a ton of time in
professional wrestling, including wrestling in the old WWF. Williams
actually competed in the shoot match tournament in the WWF in
a toughman type contest.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
SILVA
WANTS KONDO
The following comes from the Kakuto website. "The opponent
I'd like to fight in May is Kondo. Silva who defeated Minowa
with only 9 punches showed his will to fight against "The
last assassin" Kondo.
PRIDE
Middleweight Champion Vanderlei Silva was at the event "Valentine
is Vanderlei?" for only women of PRIDE official club. Silva
was given Valentine chocolates by about 10 women chosen from
about 100 women.
Even
if Silva end up the fight with Minowa very brutally, he was surrounded
with beautiful women and satisfied. He made a service, folding
their shoulder, kissing their instep and saying "Arigato
(Thank you)" when he was given chocolates.
About
the Heavyweight GP (opening in April) which he was rumored to
fight in, he answered, "I will think about it after I go
back to Brazil."
Source:
MMA Weekly |
Japan
wants an opponent to Shaolin
After conquering the Shooto Welterweight's belt, Japan wants
to find an adversary for Vitor Shaolin. The first names on the
list, Caol Uno and Jens Pulver are also confirmed at the upcoming
Shooto edition that happens in March. They will fight for the
chance to dispute the title with Shaolin.
Last
time of Uno at Shooto was in December of 2000, when KO'd Rumina
Sato. After that Uno switched to UFC, where has three wins, a
draw and three loss. One to Brazilian Hermes França and
the other one to American Jens Pulver, that was defeated by Eddie
Yagin during the SuperBrawl disputed on last January 7th in Hawaii.
Source:
Tatame |
Zé
Mário now wants Pride Grand Prix
After the fast victory over Ivan Bencic during last Pride Bushido,
Zé Mário Sperry is back in Rio de Janeiro and comments
that besides his last contract fight with Pride, he already received
invitations for three other more. Zé Mário also
is cheering for an invitation from Pride to join the Pride Grand
Prix Heavyweight's card that happens in April. "There are
16 athletes, one from each team, and I hope there is a gap for
me," said the leader of Brazilian Top Team during exclusive
interview that you may check out in the end of the day here at
TATAME.com.
Source:
Tatame |
|