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FCF NEWS
April 1, 2007
ICON SPORT RESULTS
Trigg displayed great timing and took Lawler down at will in the first round by slipping under punches. Lawler showed a great butterfly guard, which neutralized Trigg on the ground. As the fight went on, Trigg tired and Lawler started landing punches, which bloodied Trigg. By the end of the second round, both fighters were spent and fighting on pure heart. Trigg pressed the action and smothered Lawler with punches, but Lawler showed great take down defense and smiled at Trigg’s punch-knee combinations. Just when it looked like Trigg was going to press forward and win the decision, Lawler reversed Trigg, putting him in the corner and unloaded with vicious hooks that crumbled Trigg to the canvas to re-capture the title. The Icon Sport middleweight title curse continues. Lawler looked in the best shape of his life and appears to have regained the fire that he had early in his career.
Also returning to the ring was the enormously popular, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, also a former Icon champ, he is looking to rebound after his loss to Trigg and get back into title contention. Miller did just that, with his trademark style, the ground technician used his striking skills to dispatch Urbana with a huge punch from the guard that curled his opponent.
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April 1, 2007
MARCELO GARCIA TO FIGHT MMA
Garcia’s agenda is pretty full: today he is be in California to compete at the Pan-American Jiu-Jitsu Championship; one week later, he will be defending his title in the 77kg category at ADCC 2007 in New Jersey; two weeks after that, he will fly to Ohio to make his MMA debut in Gracie Fighting Championship together with Brazilian mates Vinicius Pezão, Ronaldo Jacaré and Daniel Moraes.
Gracie Fighting Championship
April 1, 2007
PANTHER FIGHT LEAGUE RESULTS
American Top Team Coaches Lead Team to 3-2 night at Panther Fight League’s Inaugural Show. Held March 31st, 2007
This being Conan’s first fight since returning from prison, the choice of his opponent being Jonathan Ivey makes sense from a crowd pleasing point of view. Ivey is known for such antics as bouncing off the ropes ala WWE to catch opponents off guard and sure enough in this fight Ivey even tried the “point to the ceiling to see if the opponent will look up” maneuver. Ivey also had the odds against him to make returning legend Conan look bad or even win in front of Conan’s crowd. What was surprising is Ivey actually looked good for a heavyweight as both fighters went for leglocks and clinch knees. Conan basically out-gassed Ivey in the second round, finishing the fight by TKO.
It was a mixed night for hometown heroes ATT in general. Trainer and Abu Dhabi Worlds ’05 vet Marcos “Parrumpinha” won an unsurprising steamroll over Dan Funes for his MMA debut. ATT’s Ben Stark was declared “KO’d” after Jirka Hilvati’s spinning side kick to Ben’s ribs crumpled the light heavyweight so quickly it appeared Ben’s ribs may have been broken, Wolfpack/ATT’s Roger Krahl impressed many going toe to toe with Team Trauma’s Jeremy May, and Din Thomas/ATT’s Jams Sutcliff did a great job of making Eban “The Big O” Oroz look like he is ready for his own shot at the limelight.
Look for a full report in the next issue of Full Contact Fighter. Full Results
April 1, 2007
ECC 5 RESULTS
Halifax, NS – March 31 - History was made tonight at the Halifax Forum, as approximately 4,500 fans came to see the first three Extreme Cage Combat titles being awarded, as well as the first female MMA fight ever in Atlantic Canada.
For Hollett, this was a step up in competition and he made it look easy, dominating the more experienced Francois in only 20 seconds. “He was tapping on me, I looked up at the ref and said he’s tapping, he’s tapping, I kept hitting him and he tapped again and ref finally stopped it.” Hollett will take another step up in competition against tough Canadian light-heavyweight Jason Day at the Maximum Fighting Championship on June 22 in Edmonton, Alberta. The semi-main event was a Canadian ECC lightweight title fight between two 4-0 lightweights, in Pictou County, Nova Scotia’s Jason MacKay and Sean Krysa of Georgetown, Ontario. Unfortunately the bout was marred by controversy. The first round saw some great action with MacKay getting the better of the standup and Krysa scoring the takedowns. Krysa stood up out of MacKay’s guard and MacKay did an effective reverse butt scoot or crab walk while landing some nice up-kicks and foot stomps from this position. Round two saw much of the same and late in the round, Mackay landed an up-kick while Krysa was still on his knees. Krysa was unable to continue and the kick was surprisingly deemed an accidental foul. Krysa could not recover from the blow and it was ruled that the fight would go to the judges’ scorecards. All three judges scored the fight 19-18 for Jason Mackay. Neither Krysa nor MacKay wanted the fight to end this way. “I trained a lot of up-kicks, but I timed it wrong obviously.” Continued MacKay, “that’s not the way I wanted to win the title.” A disappointed Krysa plans to appeal the decision with the Nova Scotia Boxing Authority, “First off, even if it went to the decision, I felt I won the fight, secondly it shouldn’t have went to the decision, it should have been a disqualification or at the very least a no contest, I would have been happy with a no contest,” said a very disappointed Krysa after the fight.
Round two saw Cunningham going for the takedown once again, but MacDonald was too strong. MacDonald once again went down into Cunningham’s guard. After only ten seconds Referee Hubert Earle stood the fighters up; this was immediately followed by a MacDonald right hand that dropped Cunningham. MacDonald pounded away at Cunningham until the ref stopped the fight at the 2:24 mark of the second round. “The omoplata was tight, that’s why I can’t lift my right arm right now,” said MacDonald post fight. This was the recognition I had been looking for to win a title against a fighter who is as respected as Rowan.” In the first ever female fight in Atlantic Canada, Valerie Letourneau of Montreal took on Tannaya Hantelman of Halifax. The ladies demonstrated every bit of skill as the male fighters pleasing the crowd with a great fight. Hantelman got an early takedown and landed some effective strikes within Letourneau’s guard. The fight was on the ground for nearly a minute, but the remainder of the fight was a technical stand-up battle. Both ladies threw numerous punches and kicks with Hantelman throwing effective knees from the clinch to end the first round. In the second round Letourneau pressed the action and it was apparent that she had more power. Late in the second round Letourneau landed a flurry of punches against the cage that had Hantelman out on her feet. The ref was forced to stop the fight at the 4:02 mark. Letourneau looked very impressive in the victory. “It was a very technical fight which is what I wanted” said Letourneau post fight. Next up for Letourneau will be a fight for the TKO promotion in Montreal on June 1 where she looks to make more history. “I’ll be the first women’s fighter in TKO. It will be at the Bell Centre, a very big place,” said the enthusiastic French-Canadian. ECC 5 “Night of Champions” was another successful event in front of a boisterous Halifax crowd. The 11-fight card saw great action inside the hexagon cage. Extreme Cage Combat 5 “Night of Champions” Results • Roger Hollett def. Ricardeau Francois – Submission (punches) :20 R1
April 2, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: NICK THOMPSON AND SAM SHERIDAN
April 2, 2007
PRIDE 34 CARD UPDATE
The official Pride website is reporting that two more fights have been confirmed for the organization’s upcoming April 8th, “Kamikaze” event, to be held in the Saitama Super Arena, Japan. Japanese heavyweight Yoshihiro Nakao (5-1) will take on the Brazilian Top Team’s Edson Drago (9-1). Nakao is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Kazuhiro Nakamura at September’s Pride Absolute 2006, while Drago will be looking to look back on track, after incurring his first career loss to Pawel Nastula last July. In another heavyweight match-up, the veteran Don Frye will return to Pride for the last card to be directed by Dream Stage Entertainment. Frye (18-5-1) will take on Britain’s James Thompson (12-6), who was knocked out in last bout against Eric “Butterbean” Esch in February’s Cage Rage 20. Frye, who has spent most of the last 3 years competing for K-1 Hero’s, is coming off a KO win over Min Soo Kim at the promotion’s event last October. The announcement confirms 8 bouts now for Kamikaze, with the card’s highlights including Ricardo Arona set to take on Thierry Sokodjou and Jeff Monson scheduled to fight Kazuyuki Fujita.
April 2, 2007
AMANDA BUCKNER INTERVIEW - PART 2 Interview with Amanda Buckner Part 2 Part 1 was posted on March 28 and is available in the News Archives By Keith Mills
Amanda Buckner is an IFC and Ring of Fire Champion, Abu Dhabi '05 Submission Fighting Worlds vet, and has faced most of the top-ranked female fighters in North America including Jennifer Howe and Tara LaRosa. FCF: You were quoted as saying something to the effect of 'I feel a strong pressure to represent women and what they are capable of.' Do you think you accomplished that? AB: I think I did. I think I represent women well as far as the ideas I try to get across and as far as my fight goes I felt like that. I felt it looked like a skilled fight between two fighters. That is my goal every time I go out, win or lose. It sucks to lose, don't get me wrong, but I would rather lose a fight that looked like an amazing fight between two skilled fighters, than have a win in a sloppy match where people might say women aren't at that level yet. The fight between Julie (Kedzie) and I may have been short but I think we looked like two skilled people fighting. FCF: Please describe that fight. AB: It was a pretty short fight. I didn't go in with a specific gameplan. I knew she had a pretty strong striking background and thought my wrestling and jiu-jitsu was a little more experienced than hers. I didn't go in saying I wanted to take it to the ground. We ended up clinched after a couple short exchanges and I found myself in a position for a good takedown. I landed in good position and tried to stay aggressive. When I stood up in her open guard I landed a hard shot I could tell kind of rocked her a little bit. She kind of stood up with her head sticking out a little bit and I just grabbed for the guillotine.
April 2, 2007
THE NORTHERN TOUCH
FCF caught up with Mark Bocek after his most recent win last week at King of the Cage Canada’s “Capital City Chaos” event in Hull, Quebec, where the Ontario fighter defeated Garrett Davis in the first round with a rear naked choke. Taking on Davis in the main event, Bocek was able to end the Marcus Soares trained fighter’s 7 fight winning streak to extend his own MMA record to 4-0. “After I got him down, I tried a little ground and pound and then I stood up,” Bocek says in recalling the fight with Davis. “He kind of kicked me away with his feet on the hips, I kind of just threw his leg by, went to his cross side, turned his knees, took his back and then I sunk in the choke. He’s a tough guy, he’s strong and he fought well.” After watching his card’s main event, KOTC Promoter Ken Kupsch believes Bocek may be one of the Nation’s better lightweight fighters. “Davis took this fight on less than two weeks notice after we lost Jake Short to an injury,” says Kupsch in sharing his thoughts on the fight. “Davis is a great fighter and he came to win. By watching the fight, you could tell that Davis is a very skilled fighter, but Bocek is on another level. I don't believe we have a Canadian fighter that can beat him. I expect we will see Bocek take on some of the best ranked KOTC fighters next. We're very proud of both these guys, they are fierce competitors and have determination and ability to rise to the very top.” The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor has now defeated Mark Colangelo, Kevin Manderson, John Mahlow and the aforementioned Davis to begin his MMA career, and is looking to take on some of Canada’s more notable lightweights. “Sam Stout, Mark Hominick, Fabio Holanda, Chris Horodecki,” Bocek tells FCF in listing off some opponents he would like to fight next. “I want to fight any of those guys.” Most of Bocek’s desired opponents compete for TKO when fighting in Canada, an organization Bocek fought for in his MMA debut.That said, the Ontario fighter has enjoyed his time so far with KOTC Canada, a promotion he has fought for now twice. “I was treated very well, as always,” Bocek tells FCF. “KOTC is a great event, I like fighting for them and I get along well with Pete Rodley. The attendance was pretty good for a Wednesday night, good energy, can’t wait to do it again.” Up next, Bocek will head to the Abu Dhabi grappling trials in May, before heading back into grappling competition. “I’ve got Abu Dhabi coming up in May,” says Bocek. “So that’s the focus now, but after that it’s right back to the MMA. That’s what I love to do, and that’s why I got into this sport.” After defeating Ricardeau Francois in 20 seconds via submission due to punches this past weekend at Extreme Caged Combat 5, Roger Hollett (5-0) can now begin preparing for his next fight with Jason Day (14-6). The bout is scheduled to take place at the Maximum Fighting Championship 12, “High Stakes” on June 22nd in Edmonton, Alberta, and will feature two of the Nation’s better 205 pound fighters. Since losing to MFC Light-heavyweight Champion Victor Valimaki at MFC 10 last September, Day has been on a tear, winning 5 fights in a row, including a guillotine choke victory over Francois at KOTC “Amplified” in November. The pre-fight hype for this bout is already building, as Day has been quoted saying in a few interviews he believes he can beat Hollett in under two minutes. After the Nova Scotian fighter knocked out Edmonton Eskimo football player Mike Maurer at MFC 11 in February, Hollett responded to Day’s comments in his post-fight, in ring interview, telling Day to sing a contract and prove it. First up for the MFC organization though is the promotion’s upcoming MFC “Unplugged” event on April 20th in Edmonton, which will be headlined by heavyweight Scott Junk taking on Dominic Richard. Ultimate Cage Wars “Anarchy”, April 7th Winnipeg, Manitoba will host the latest installment of Ultimate Cage Wars, an event promoted by International Fight League fighter, Krzysztof Soszynski. The card will take place this Saturday, April 7th at the Winnipeg, Convention Centre. Of the 12 scheduled bouts to take place, some of the more notable bouts include; Kevin Manderson taking on Jason Tatlow, Jordan Mein vs. James Martinez, and Aaron Tregear fighting Graydon Tannas. Upcoming Canadian MMA Events:
April 3, 2007
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April 3, 2007
K-1 PARTNERSHIP
At March 27th’s press conference for K-1’s Dynamite USA!, event host EliteXC announced a partnership with four other prominent MMA promotions around the world. The president of K-1’s parent company, Sadaharu Tanikawa, named Strikeforce, BodogFight, Korea’s Spirit MC, and England’s Cage Rage as “supporters” in the event. “Pro Elite from day one has always been about being inclusive,” Elite CEO Doug DeLuca elaborated. “Here we are today with some of the finest mixed martial arts promotions around the globe, standing shoulder to shoulder to agree to collaborate, to share fighters, and to grow the sport of mixed martial arts.” Two of the promotions mentioned prominently when the partnership was announced, Strikeforce and BodogFight, seem to have a varying understanding as to what the agreement entails. Strikeforce promoter Scott Coker confirmed to FCF that there had been a verbal agreement to share fighters and fighter footage, but the agreement went no further than that. When asked for details on the exact nature of the collaboration, BodogFight released this statement: “Bodog Entertainment is a global digital entertainment company and we are constantly looking for business opportunities that provide first-rate entertainment to consumers. Bodog has communicated with many organizations in the past including K-1 / FEG, but we have not entered into any agreement with K-1 / FEG. Hence the Bodog name was not mentioned in the press kit distributed at the K-1 / FEG press conference in Los Angeles on March 27th.” At the press conference, Elite CEO Doug DeLuca stressed that a future deal outlining further collaboration between the companies is a possibility, but not certain. For now, it may be premature to call the assembly of companies a “partnership”. When asked for comment about Bodog’s statement, DeLuca told FCF “there is no formal business arrangement at this time. Everyone in the alliance has agreed to work together and help one another whenever possible.”
April 3, 2007
ULTIMATE FIGHT NIGHT PREVIEW
A live installment of the UFC’s Ultimate Fight Night is headed straight for the Palms Casino Resort’s Pearl Concert Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada this April 5th. The card is armed to the teeth with talent that the UFC picked up recently through The Ultimate Fighter and less recently through the old long-shot system. There’s also a heavy international tint to this card, with four Japanese fighters rounding out a nine-bout event. On paper it isn’t the most ground breaking event that the organization has had, but as fans settle into the new landscape that the UFC has plowed for the sport, it becomes easier to pick and choose what talent to support and what to let drift off to less prominent venues. Starting at the top, at least one fighter in the main event shouldn’t be getting the rub anytime soon. The words Joe and Stevenson have become synonymous with consistency and all he had to do was start his career at age 16 and slog through a hit list that includes Jens Pulver, Edwin Dewees and most recently, Dokonjonsuke Mishima. Unlike boxing, professional mixed martial artists who have been giving and taking punishment since high school don’t always age at an exponential rate. Stevenson is just now in his prime and ready to enjoy it. If one of his more recent victims in Yves Edwards wasn’t able to keep him at bay and out-strike him, there isn’t much of an indication that Melvin Guillard will be able to either. While Guillard is stronger than Edwards, he isn’t technically sharper on his feet and Stevenson is still stronger to boot. Although he’s also surging with two straight wins (Rick Davis and then more impressively, Gabe Ruediger) Guillard’s tools may not be what’s needed to fix the mess he may find himself in if he isn’t able to land on Stevenson early and often. Now that Stevenson is through with Mishima, the Japanese import will get another shot in the Octagon against Kenny Florian. Coming off of a loss to the new UFC Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk, Florian finds himself in a must win spot if he still wants to be considered in that spot up top with the likes of Sherk, Stevenson and despite some recent skids, Edwards. So it’s crunch time for Florian and Mishima is a tough test. Din Thomas once told me that when he fought him, Mishima “felt like steel.” That sums up the cagey veteran, who won’t be an easy comeback for Florian. Both coming off losses, the fight seems more important for Florian because with under 10 fights still, each loss is that much bigger a percentage of his career. Mishima has lost to the best and is still here and that’s could be his biggest asset going into this fight. Drew Fickett fights Keita Nakamura and the big question here is, can the Japanese UFC sophomore hit another rear-naked choke? Nakamura has won 13 fights in his time, and earned seven submissions. All of them have been executed the rear-naked way, but now that he begins to step up in competition it may not be so straightforward. It sure looks like Nakamura can snake his way around anyone, but that consistency also might mean over-reliance on a single move. That could be as devastating for a fighter as a go-to move can be essential. And for Fickett, it’s an interesting time to go about getting a win. 2-2 dating back to his miraculous rear-naked choke (see, he can do it too) win over Josh Koscheck, round out Fickett’s last four, but a loss last December to Karo Parisyan, was a blow for any hopes of significant advancement in the near future. A win can have him one step closer to navigating what have been choppy waters, but a loss will maroon Fickett among the rest of the almost-heirs to the welterweight division. The rest of this card has potential bright spots through seeing how some have developed. Antoni Hardonk has another chance to show increasingly polished skills against Justin McCully. Hardonk is perfect in the UFC thus far, with a TKO win over Sherman Pendergarst last November. He’s had only limited time to plan for McCully, a late replacement for original opponent Frank Mir. The tacit courtesy that last minute-replacements get another fight for their efforts, win or lose, hasn’t flown in the UFC so if McCully -- who won twice in 2006 after a three year absence -- wants to see this type of stage again, he will need desperately to look good against the favored Hardonk. It took a while for Forrest Petz to really catch on as someone to watch because the lighter weight divisions have always been so stacked, from the likes of a dominant stalwart like Matt Hughes all the way to a durable do-it-all like Chris Lytle. Petz seemed like more of an outskirts type of contender, but he has a chance to work his way in against Kuniyoshi Hironaka. An old win over Nick Diaz is equally impressive as a new win over Renato Verissimo. A loss to Jon Fitch can surely be chalked up to the fact that he had to fight Jon Fitch, a formidable welterweight thus far 5-0 in the UFC. Seth Petruzelli is coming off of a close loss to Matt Hamill from back in October. ‘The Silverback’ is fighting out of Orlando, FL and is continuing his 205-pound campaign against Wilson Gouveia. Gouveia, who in another life beat Jon Fitch, further exposed Wes Combs in his last outing. It was a win that the American Top Team light-heavy was in desperate need of after a one-sided loss to Keith Jardine two bouts ago. The card is rounded out by Rich Clementi taking on Roan Carneiro, a lightweight who claims his favorite technique is the anaconda choke. ‘No Love’ was impressive on Spike TV, but submitting Ross Pointon in his first bout of ’07 announced his presence with optimism. A likable veteran, it’s good to see him back in this type of competitive environment where credit is given where credit is due. Thiago Tavares is the only undefeated fighter on the card and that goose egg will be tested by Naoyuki Kotani. He’s lost to Clementi, Yves Edwards and other talented lightweights but does hold the experience card over his opponent. Whether or not the natural skills that have taken Tavares to such a sterling record will hold up against Kotani is another story, but a win for either of them would be a big help to carving out the landscape of fringe contenders in the lightweight division.
April 4, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: BJ PENN, SAM SHERIDAN & ROGER HOLLETT
April 4, 2007
ACROSS THE POND: BRITISH MMA NEWS
Will you be back to defend your title at Cage Rage this year? “I hope so but unfortunately it seems that some of the changes that have occurred might preclude me from doing so. I personally like Dave and Andy [Cage Rage promoters] and want to support them where I can, so if politics don’t get in the way, then I’m there.”
Were you disappointed to not be able to fight Daijiro Matsui? “I am disappointed when I wake up and it's not a Friday, so I'm just disappointed full stop.” How do you see the 185 pound division in Pride versus the UFC? “I see some really good potential match ups, but with me in Pride I see the Pride 185 division as far superior. [Laughs]” Who would you most like to fight in 2007? “Every fight is a challenge so I am happy to fight whoever Pride puts in front of me. I am not arrogant enough to think I still don't have a lot to learn, so I hope the fights in 2007 will be ones that allow me to grow as a fighter.”
April 4, 2007
BEAUPARLANT AND IFL DRAGONS
April 5, 2007
PRIDE 34 UPDATE
The official Pride website is reporting that Bazigit “Volk” Atajev will be unable to fight Gilbert Yvel as scheduled this weekend at Pride 34 “Kamikaze,” due to what the statement reads as “an internal disease.” The fate of the Dutch veteran’s (29-12-1) status as to whether or not the promotion will find an opponent for Yvel in time for Saturday has yet to be determined. Yvel has won his last two fights, including a TKO stoppage of Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Fabiano Scherner at Cage Rage 17 last July. In his last Pride appearance at the Total Elimination Absolute 2006 event last May, Yvel was knocked out by Russian Red Devil member Roman Zentsov. The bout for Atajev would have marked his first return to the Pride ring since 2002, when he was knocked out by Alistair Overeem at Pride 24, his only career loss thus far. Among the victories in his 12-1 record, the Russian fighter has wins over Roman Zentsov, Aaron Brink, and Tsuyoshi Kosaka.
April 5, 2007
KOTC "DAMAGE CONTROL"
King of the Cage has announced several notable fighters will compete at the promotion’s May 26th, “Damage Control” event, which will take place at the UIC Pavillion, in Chicago, Illinois. KOTC Lightweight Champion Clay French (9-2) will take on Buddy Clinton (9-3), in French’s first bout since defeating Mac Danzig for the title by majority decision in January. Clinton has won two fights in a row since he failed in his title bid against Danzig last August, defeating Corey Garner and Donald Sanchez in November and January respectively. Pride and UFC veteran Jeff Curran (28-8-1) is slated to fight John Mahlow (7-7). Curran has won 3 fights in row since losing to Hatsu Hioki by decision at Bushido 12 last August and most recently, submitted Donny Walker with a 3rd round rear naked choke at KOTC “Hard Knocks” in January. Mahlow will be looking to get back on track, after losing his last 3 bouts in a row. Another Illinois veteran, Brian Gassaway (23-16-1), will take on Derrick Keasley (4-4). Gassaway is coming off a rear naked choke submission loss to John Alessio at World Extreme Cagefighting 25 in January, while Keasley, recently dropped a unanimous decision loss to Kimo Woelfel at last weekend’s ICON Sport 50.
April 6, 2007
UFN RESULTS
By Kelsey Mowatt
April 7, 2007
UFC 69 PREVIEW
Saturday, April 7th: Houston, Texas- Veterans and up-and-comers highlight Zuffa’s first foray into the Lone Star State. With tickets virtually sold out for the event, the Las Vegas company should take home another big dollar payday in its busiest year yet. The main event, a holdover from the endgame of The Ultimate Fighter Season 4, features its welterweight winner, Matt Serra, taking on the now-healthy champion Georges St. Pierre. The co-main event, a battle between former TUF 1 roommates Josh Koscheck and Diego Sanchez, may put a rest to the war of words that has been escalating rapidly in the build up to the fight. Main Card Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra Quebec native Georges St. Pierre has had a storied “rush” to the top echelons of the sport, defeating virtually every welterweight put in his path since his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC 46: Supernatural. The one man who schooled him on an armbar transition, Matt Hughes, fell late last year, relinquishing his title and giving St. Pierre his dream. His opponent, Matt Serra, shares a jiu-jisu coach with him in Renzo Gracie. Serra is a longtime veteran of the UFC, having made his debut at UFC 31 in the first Zuffa-run show. The two have briefly met on the mats of the Ultimate Training Center in Las Vegas, but it is unknown if they have crossed paths before at Renzo’s school. Conventional wisdom says that St. Pierre’s height and reach advantage are the determining factor in this fight. Serra, who gives up four inches to his Canadian counterpart, has fought a great deal of his career at lightweight and is generally a small framed welterweight. St. Pierre on the other hand, walks around a close to 200 lbs and is big for his weight class. As oft reported, Serra must get this bout to the ground to make an impact. Barring a lucky haymaker, Serra has to assert himself on the ground, where he is most effective. The question for this fight will be whether Serra uses his striking to set up takedowns. St. Pierre will most likely circle out and throw his pinpoint strikes, but should the Long Island native divert St. Pierre’s attention en route to a takedown, a la Randy Couture, the fight will be competitive. Otherwise, he will sustain a lot of damage on his way in. Diego Sanchez vs. Josh Koscheck Apparently, welterweight Koscheck has managed to get inside Sanchez’s head, as he shoved Koscheck at the weigh-ins earlier today. Koscheck has made no bones about his dislike for his opponent following their appearance on TUF 1. The normally meditative Albuerque native has been uncharacteristically vocal as the fight has neared. In their first meeting, Sanchez dominated Koscheck in a one sided three round bout to determine the first welterweight Ultimate Fighter winner. Since then, Koscheck has aligned himself with American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose and walked the path of a professional fighter. After a hiccup against Drew Fickett at Ultimate Fight Night 2, he has won his last four bouts in dominating fashion. Sanchez is undefeated and has been one of the TUF products that has lived up to the hype, passing every test of his ability with flying colors. Having recently aligned himself with Oscar De La Hoya, he will most likely try to showcase his skills. If he is not able to finish Koscheck with punches, he may spend a majority of the fight on his back working for submissions. In the past, Koscheck’s chin has been suspect, and it is certain he will fall back on his wrestling ability as he has in the past. Roger Huerta vs. Leonard Garcia Lightweight Huerta has looked impressive in his first two outings, stopping Jason Dent at UFC 63 and John Halverson at UFC 67. He is a fast paced, well-rounded fighter who likes to take the fight to his opponent wherever the action takes him. When FCF last spoke to him, he was virtually finished with at Augsberg College in Minnesota, where he was studying business. Opponent Leonard Garcia will most likely be counting on his aggressiveness to draw him into a submission, which he has finished most of his fights by. If Garcia can stay calm under fire and lock Huerta in early, we could see an upset. Mike Swick vs. Yushin Okami Middleweight Mike Swick is another veteran of TUF 1 and a product of American Kickboxing Academy. He is a tremendously gifted striker and has some of the fastest hands in the division. After injuring his hands on David Loiseau’s fortress-like striking defenses at UFC 63, he is back in the game. So far, he’s had a tough go of it trying to secure a title shot at the middleweight belt due to time and politics. Lately, he’s taken a more congenial stance, staying content to put away the contenders who cross his path. Facing him is another fighter undefeated in the UFC, Japanese vet Yushin Okami. Okami has looked extremely impressive in all of his UFC appearances and has worn down his opponents with a brutal mix of kickboxing and ground and pound. A truly international fighter, Okami has fought 22 times in just five years, sampling the fighters of Pride, Pancrase, and Rumble on the Rock. Though Okami has only lost three times (four if you count his savaging at the hands of Anderson Silva), they have all been against top tier competition. Can Okami hang when tested to his limits? This is a candidate for fight of the night, and will determine the 3rd contender position in line behind Nate Marquardt and Rich Franklin. Kendall Grove vs. Alan Belcher Middleweight Grove is the winner of the third installment of TUF, taking home an extremely close decision from Team Quest fighter Ed Herman at the finale. Grove has vastly improved his striking game, gaining a TKO victory over UFC newcomer Chris Price on the undercard of Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3. A new stalwart of Team Punishment, Grove benefited tremendously from Ortiz’s coaching, but wasn’t truly tested in his first outing after winning the show. His opponent, Alan Belcher, lost against Yushin Okami in his UFC debut, but quickly halted Jorge Santiago’s run at middleweight contention with a tremendous high kick KO. Grove’s chin is suspect when tested directly, and with Belcher’s striking skills, may take this fight to the ground fast to secure the W. Undercard Brad Imes vs. Heath Herring It goes without saying that heavyweight Herring is looking to erase the memory of his UFC debut, a lopsided decision loss to Jake O’Brien at UFC Fight Night 8. A holdover from the purchase of the defunct World Fighting Alliance’s fighter contracts, Herring’s true potential in the cage will be solidified with this bout. Having fought some of the best fighters in the world, this fight is a step down for him on paper, but he would be unwise to count out Imes. “The Hillbilly Heartthrob” surprised most insiders when he made it to the finals of the TUF 2, fighting a gutsy three round war with winner Rashad Evans. Despite being dropped twice in the fight, Imes hung in there and banged till the bell against Evans. This will be his ace in the hole when he faces the biggest challenge of his career. Herring has a tendency to fall apart if his game plan goes south, and Imes could exploit this to win. Though a little early to tell what Imes’ specialty is in the world of MMA, if he can avoid Herring’s bombs and take him down, we could see a repeat of Herring’s last fight. Thales Leites vs. Pete Sell In yet another middleweight scrap, Brazilian import Thales Leites takes on the hard punching Pete Sell. Leites is a submission specialist and will do everything to stay away from Sell’s striking. Sell recently suffered a loss against Scott Smith at the TUF 4 finals by highlight reel KO, and will look to avenge his misfortune early. If he is not careful, he could be caught early with a submission. Marcus Davis vs. Pete Spratt An out and out war of strikers, this welterweight competition should contain fireworks. Yet Davis, a former boxer, will likely take this fight to the ground. In his last win over Shonie Carter at UFC Fight Night 7, he displayed a newfound comfort on the ground, controlling Carter throughout their fight. Spratt, a UFC vet, has not appeared to have evolved in his ground game, preferring to stand and strike. Unless his sprawl has improved since his showing on TUF 4, he could find himself on the losing side of a decision. Luke Cummo vs. Josh Haynes Originally tipping the scale at over 300 lbs, new welterweight Haynes has shed a person to meet Long Islander Cummo at 170 lbs. A brawler with tremendous heart, Haynes won over fans for his never quit attitude and bullied his way to the TUF 3 finals against Michael Bisping, where he lost decisively. Matt Serra student Cummo has had mixed results since stepping into the Octagon, losing a majority decision to Jonathan Goulet after nearly stopping him with a punch in the second round. The question will be how well Haynes has adjusted to his new weight, and if his strength and speed are calibrated to Cummo’s pace.
April 7, 2007
PRIDE 34 PREVIEW
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. After nine years and over sixty events, Dream Stage Entertainment will hold its final Pride event on Sunday, April 8, where it will be broadcast same-day on PPV in the U.S. All subsequent Pride shows will be promoted by PRIDE FC Worldwide Holdings, LLC owned by the Fertitta brothers. To many hardcore fans, DSE’s swan song marks the end of an era. Great moments in the sport of MMA have taken place inside the Pride ring, and regardless of who owns it, there are sure to be many more. With that said, lets look at the match-ups for Pride 34: Ricardo Arona vs Rameau Theirry Sokoudjou Sokoudjou scored a major upset at Pride 33 when he knocked out Brazilian Top Team fighter and Pride veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Now, The Judo player turned MMA fighter faces Nogueira’s BTT teammate and Top 5 205 lb fighter Ricardo Arona. Sokoudjou will look to keep himself on the outside, moving in and out of range to attack with leg kicks while preparing to counter the inevitable takedown attempts. Sokoudjou will also have to look out for Arona’s leg kicks, which he used to startling effect against Wanderlei Silva. But will Arona really stand and trade with Sokoudjou? He’s certainly capable. Despite leaving his chin recklessly unprotected, Arona has stood toe to toe with and beaten Murilo “Ninja” Rua, Dan Henderson and Wanderlei Silva. It is still more likely, though, that Arona will be looking to take Sokoudjou to the mat where his superior jiu-jitsu can be put to good use Whatever the case, with the chance to avenge his teammate, you can bet that Arona will be in top shape and looking to punish Sokoudjou. Shinya Aoki vs Brian Lo-A-Njoe This fight looks like its intended to give Aoki another clip for his highlight reel. Aoki is a top 10 lightweight; Lo-A-Njoe has a 3-5-3 record with two fights in the last five years. Do the math. Aoki’s submission wizardry should be in full display in this match. In a way it will be like bird watching; you’ll get the chance to see something beautiful but you better have your camera ready because if won’t last long. Kazuyuki Fujita vs Jeff Monson Fujita’s two greatest attributes are his granite skull and his indomitable fighting spirit. His victory over James Thompson was the perfect display of both. After taking a beating for eight minutes, Fujita landed a flurry of punches that ended when a right hook crashed into Thompson’s jaw and knocked him out. Monson’s last fight was his unanimous decision loss to former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. In that fight, Monson’s single source of offense, his submission game, was negated when he couldn’t keep Tim Sylvia down long enough to apply it. Against Fujita, Monson may find himself in a similar position. Fujita has only been submitted once in his MMA career and that was to number one ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, after Fedor knocked him senseless with punches. The intangibles seem to split their favor between the fighters. Monson has been the much more active fighter, going 14-1 since 2004 compared to Fujita’s record of 4-1 during that time which includes two opponents who were making their MMA debut. However, Fujita has more experience fighting in large Japanese productions, having fought in New Years Eve shows for both K-1 and Pride. He’s also fought the top two heavyweights in the world in Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Fedor Emelianenko. Zelg Galesic vs Makoto Takimoto Galesic is coming off a quick knockout of Mark Weir to cap a four fight win streak in Cage Rage. Takimoto has a record of 2-3 in Pride. He is one of the many Judo imports fighting in Pride and, like many of them, has shown limited MMA versatility. Galesic looks to have a successful Pride debut. Don Frye vs. James Thompson While a shade of his former self, Frye is still chugging along on his forty-three year old train. Fighting for K-1 since 2004, Frye makes his return to Pride against James “The Colossus” Thompson. Thompson has had a rough year. He dominated Kazuyuki Fujita for eight minutes before Fujita caught him with a right hook and knocked him out at Pride: Total Elimination Absolute 2006. Since then, Thompson has gone 1-3, with his last fight a knockout loss to Eric Esch in Cage Rage. Look for both fighters to stand and trade punches. If Thompson can fight with discipline and avoid the kind of reckless mistakes that have left him unconscious in previous fights he will be a tough match for Frye, who, if pressed, will be running on fumes by the end of the first. Yoshihiro Nakao vs. Edson Drago Drago is 9-1 with a loss to Pawel Nastula at Pride: Critical Countdown Absolute 2006. He will no doubt be coming into this fight with an eye toward redemption. His fast and powerful hands are a classic counterpoint to Nakao’s wrestling background. Drago is the more well-rounded fighter and has finished the majority of his opponents within the first round by KO or TKO, however, it remains to be seen how Nakao’s superior experience at kissing will factor into the fight. Eric "Butterbean" Esch vs. Wagner da Conceicao Martins (aka Zuluzinho) The “King of the four round fight”, Butterbean has transformed his boxing success into MMA success. He has gone 9-2-1 since losing his debut to Genki Sudo, winning five fights by submission. “Zulu” last fought in May of 2006, losing by armbar to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Despite an eight inch reach disadvantage, Zulu is a good match-up for Butterbean, who can use his ring generalship to keep pressure on Zulu and counter Zulu’s sloppy attacks with powerful overhand rights. Bazigit "Volk" Atajev vs. Gilbert Yvel Atajev was forced to withdraw due to injury. It is unknown if Yvel will have an opponent in time for Sunday. At the time of this writing, Wanderlei still has not been cleared to fight by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Pride 34: Kamikaze Ricardo Arona vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Wanderlei Silva vs. TBA [pending Silva's medical clearance]
April 8, 2007
UFC 69 RESULTS
Toyota Centre, Houston, Texas- Ultimate Fighting Championship 69 “Shoot-Out” 2007 is fast becoming the year of upsets. Only the meteoric rise of the sport can compare to some of the spectacular upsets the MMA community has witnessed this year. Despite being counted out by virtually everyone, welterweight Matt Serra shocked everyone by standing with the champion and delivering one of the more memorable TKO stoppages in recent history. Zuffa president Dana White announced the addition of Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira to the ranks of Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweights, further deepening the Pride presence in the division. From the beginning of the main event fight between Matt Serra and UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St.Pierre, Serra proved willing to stand in the pocket with St. Pierre, throwing hard hooks to his body as “Rush” attempted to capitalize on his lowered head. St.Pierre managed to keep him at bay for most of the first, throwing the left high kick that brought him the belt, but could not give Serra pause in his forward motion. Serra stalked forward, irritating St. Pierre with hard outside leg kicks. As the intensity of their exchanges began to peak, the two then traded hooks in the pocket and both connected. A second flurry saw St. Pierre walk right into an anvil of an overhand right, sending him staggering back to the cage on legs of jello. Serra jumped on the opportunity, but stayed patient, throwing another right hook that caught St. Pierre as he slipped on the canvas. St. Pierre immediately got up, but unwisely chose to stand again in the pocket, Again, Serra caught him with an overhand right, then another, as St. Pierre dove for Serra’s right leg. Serra immediately sprawled and cocked his right hand as the two righted themselves. With pinpoint accuracy, Matt’s right cross hit the mark, knocking St. Pierre to the canvas and setting up a stoppage via strikes from the mount at 3:25 of the first round. After their much-hyped hatred of each other found an outlet in the Octagon, welterweight American Kickboxing Academy product Josh Koscheck took undefeated Diego Sanchez completely out of his game. Though it was a purely tactical affair, Sanchez’s training with boxer Oscar De La Hoya seemed to fall by the wayside, as Josh wound up his devastating right cross. Time and time again, Diego was shut down by Koscheck’s jab as he charged in, and popped with the cross as he moved back. Surprisingly, Koscheck only took the bout to the mat once, putting a period on the first round as it became clear he was in control. A booing audience serenaded the two fighters for the majority of the bout, and continued as the Unanimous 30-27 Decision was handed to Koscheck. For his part, Koscheck couldn’t care less, as he had given his nemesis his first career loss. In a bout reminiscent of Stephan Bonnar vs. Forrest Griffin I, lightweights Roger Huerta and Leonard Garcia staged a three round slugfest that electrified the audience. Though Garcia sustained a tremendous amount of punishment from Huerta, spending a majority of the bout eating punches and elbows against the cage, he never lost his smile, or his tenacity. Where most fighters would shrink away, he fought his way back to standing and traded wild, looping punches with “El Matador”. Huerta showed himself as one of the most relentless competitors in the division, willing to take as much punishment as his opponents can give to dish out his own. With only a month to prepare for the fight, Garcia made a name of his own and will surely be back with his abundance of heart. Middleweight Mike Swick’s run at the middleweight belt came to a sudden halt after the first round of his bout with Japanese vet Yushin Okami. After a protracted period of feeling each other out, Okami twice connected with his straight right, frustrating Swick. In response, Swick launched a flying knee that was caught, setting up a clinch that brought Okami out on top against the cage. Okami spent the rest of the round on top, dealing out punishment and narrowly missing a kimura. Between rounds, Swick looked positively rattled, having shown poorly in his big show hometown debut. While Swick managed to rally twice in the next two rounds, connecting with flurries of punches, Okami simply clinched and took the AKA fighter to the mat. As Okami scored again with his straight right, Mike once again found himself on the mat absorbing punishment on the bottom. Despite reversing in the final 30 seconds, Swick had done too little, too late. Okami won a Unanimous Decision and declared himself the next middleweight champion. Kendall Grove proved to be too much for Alan “The Talent” Belcher, dominating him on his feet and on the ground. After abusing Belcher with a series of knees and elbows from the clinch, Grove easily took Belcher to the ground and pounded him mercilessly. As Belcher attempted to turn away from the strikes, Grove sunk in a “D’Arce” choke, rendering Belcher unconscious at 4:42 of the 1st round. The Ultimate Fighter Season 2 Alum Luke Cummo outclassed TUF 3 alum Josh Haynes with crisp kickboxing skills, landing an overhand right that KO’ed Haynes at 2:45 of the 1st. UFC 69 Full Results: Matt Serra def. Georges St. Pierre at 3:25 of the 1st Rd by TKO. Josh Koscheck def. Diego Sanchez at 5:00 of the 3rd. Rd. by Unanimous Decision (30-27 3x). Roger Huerta def. Leonard Garcia at 5:00 of the 3rd Rd. by Unanimous Decision (30-27 3x). Yushin Okami def. Mike Swick at 5:00 of the 3rd Rd. by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27). Kendall Grove def. Alan Belcher at 4:42 of the 2nd Rd. by Submission (D’Arce choke). Heath Herring def. Brad Imes at 5:00 of the 3rd Rd. by Unanimous Decision. Thales Leites def. Pete Sell at 5:00 of the 3rd. Rd. by Unanimous Decision. Marcus Davis def. Pete Spratt at 2:57 of the 2nd Rd. by Submission (Ankle Lock). Luke Cummo def. Josh Haynes at 2:45 of the 2nd Rd. by KO.
April 8, 2007
IFL RESULTS
Moline, IL -- The International Fight League returned to the Mark of the Quad Cities on Saturday night, where Pat Miletich’s Silverbacks had home-field advantage over Ken Shamrock’s Lions and Igor Zinoviev’s Red Bears took on Maurice Smith’s Tiger Sharks, in front of 5,308 enthusiastic fans. Silverback facuns made their presence felt as the 2006 IFL World Team Champions kept their playoff hopes alive by defeating the Lions 4-1. The Tiger Sharks also kept in playoff contention, tying themselves for fifth place with the Silverbacks, as they sent the Red Bears back to Chicago with a 4-1 loss. Chicago Red Bears vs Seattle Tiger Sharks Lightweight The lightweights opened up the night with a three-round war that left both fighters with heavily marked faces. Corey scored early and often with knees from the clinch, attacking both the midsection and the head. Lierley got the better of the punching exchanges, tagging Corey with several crisp jabs. The second round was back and forth. Corey hurt Lierley with a knee to the head and had Lierley covering up, however, Corey was unable to finish and Lierley came back with punches, chasing Corey across the ring and forcing him to play defense for the rest of the round. In the final round, Lierley caught Corey with a right straight that buckled him. Lierley pressed but Corey came back with a big hook that hurt Lierley. Corey could have sealed the round with a strong follow-through on his tired and hurt opponent, however, tired himself, he failed to seize the opportunity. The judges awarded Lierley with a split decision victory in what was the Red Bears’ vs. the Tiger Sharks’ “Fight of the Night.” Welterweight A competitive fight through the first two rounds, both fighters were busy on the feet, throwing jabs and crosses as they felt each other out. Blackburn won the first round when he dropped Miller with a punch. Miller opened the second round loading up his punches. He landed a nice hook that left Blackburn covering and hurt, however, much like his teammate Mike Corey, failed to go in for the kill (which is very unlike Miller). Blackburn quickly recovered and landed some nice inside leg kicks and hurt Miller again with a hook. Blackburn followed with a takedown and was able to get mount on Miller but was unable to do any damage. Going into the final round it looked like Miller might have been behind on points. He certainly came out ready to finish. Throwing heavy bombs, Miller came right at Blackburn. Blackburn looked a little flat coming out of his corner and was quickly on the defensive eating a flurry of hooks. The round ended with Miller raining down punches from on top of Blackburn. Miller dominated the final round, maybe scoring a 10-8 round, but the first two rounds were close. The judges felt that Miller had done enough to win the fight and awarded him the unanimous decision victory. Middleweight Kading came in as a last minute replacement for Chris Albandia, who was sick with food poisoning. Despite his strong wrestling pedigree, Kading chose to stand and trade with Marunde, landing several hard crosses. Kading, however, kept his chin dangerously unprotected. Marunde took advantage, corking Kading with a right straight right on the button. Marunde followed his opponent to the ground, punching his way to a TKO at 1:35 of round one. Light-Heavyweight Moore opened the fight in a big way, landing a solid hook that stunned Goes and forced him to cover up. The Pride veteran recovered and began pecking away at Moore with jabs and low kicks and attacking with knees from the clinch. Moore answered with uppercuts and a flurry of body shots. In the second round Goes continued to poke at Moore with quick jabs and more low kicks. Known for his jiu-jitsu, Goes credited Mo Smith with helping him develop an effective stand-up game. It was certainly working for him in this fight as a low kick midway through the second round sent Moore to the canvas, his ankle injured. Goes followed up with punches for the referee stoppage at 2:56 of round two. Heavyweight Andy controlled the majority of the fight both standing and on the ground. Maciejewski was never able to get off against his opponent, his timing always just a little off. Andy pressed the attack, keeping Maciejewski off balance with jabs and scoring points with takedowns and ground control. He didn’t do much damage from the top, but Andy bested Maciejewski in every aspect of the fight, eventually sinking a rear-naked choke at 3:11 of the second round. Tiger Sharks win 4-1 Quad City Silverbacks vs Reno Lions After winning the coin toss, Ken Shamrock and his team decided to start the match with the welterweights. Welterweight After two exciting rounds, the crowd did their best to rev up their star. Markham did not disappoint. He managed to put his fists on Healy. Much like in the second round, Healy tried to save himself by shooting in. Markham defended the takedown, setting in motion the gears for the final act. Unable to get to safe ground, Healy was forced to stand with Markham, absorbing more punishment as he back pedaled. A right hand sent Healy staggering. Markham moved in for the kill, battering Healy with a vicious combination that knocked him out at 1:47 of the third round. Middleweight McGivern was able to impose his game plan, taking Molina down and controlling him for much of the fight. Molina was game, working, with some success, to get back to his feet, however, McGivern put him back on the mat every time. A methodical, dominating, unanimous decision winning performance by McGivern, which Ken Shamrock described as “a wrestling match”. Light-Heavyweight “The Ultimate Fighter” reality T.V. participant Sam Hoger filled in for the injured Mike Ciesnolevicz, taking on cagey veteran Vernon “Tiger” White. Both fighters scored takedowns in the first round. Hoger was the busier fighter, attempting a kimura and landing some ground and pound. In the second round, Hoger locked in a tight guillotine that looked like a fight finisher. Having been in the ring with Sakuraba, Goes and Sperry, White was poised as he worked patiently to escape. After popping his head out, White took Hoger down. Hoger gave up his back and soon tapped out to a rear-naked choke at 3:25 of the second round. Heavyweight “Big” Ben Rothwell has enjoyed the much deserved “favorite” status throughout his IFL career. That status was no different Saturday night. With a reach advantage and heavy, disciplined hands, Rothwell was expected to add another knockout to his highlight reel. Apparently, Roy Nelson didn’t get the memo. He stood toe to toe with Rothwell, his confidence building with each passing minute. Rothwell started strong, buckling Nelson with punches. Later, during a takedown attempt by Nelson, Rothwell was deducted a point for holding the ropes. When the action resumed, Nelson was reinvigorated. He began to take charge, putting pressure on Rothwell, whose timing was thrown off. The second round saw Nelson continue to find Rothwell with his punches. For his part, Rothwell was tagging Nelson as well, but with blood pouring from his mouth and nose, Rothwell looked the worse for wear. Both fighters entered the final round with their gas tanks nearly empty. Rothwell was able to re-establish the timing he had lost in the first round and got the better of the stand-up exchanges. Nelson, barely able to hold up his hands, took Rothwell down. Rothwell popped right back up and began firing off shots. Nelson returned fire. As the final bell sounded, both fighters had nothing left. They had left it all in the ring. Now it was up to the judges, who, despite the point deduction, awarded Ben Rothwell the split decision victory. Bart Palaszewski vs John Gunderson Fan favorite “Bartimus” Palaszewski spent the majority of the first round on his back. Palaszewski slipped in a guillotine choke as Gunderson went for a takedown. Palaszewski pulled guard in an attempt to finish Gunderson but was unable to secure the hold. Gunderson retaliated with a Kimura attempt form side control.
Gunderson landed a couple of spinning back kicks in the second round. Palaszewski came back with a nice body punch of his own before taking down his opponent and finishing the round strong by staying busy on top. The third round was all Gunderson as he took Palaszewski down and kept him down for the majority of the round. It looked like Gunderson had done enough to win but the judges saw differently, scoring it 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 in favor of Bart Palaszewski Silverbacks win 4-1 Superfight UFC and PRIDE veteran Jeff Curran defeated a very game Kevin English. Curran was a big step up in competition for the Indiana-based fighter, who was clearly out-classed. After a lengthy feeling out process, the two exchanged punches. Curran landed a right straight that dropped English and later hurt English again with a knee to the face. In the second round Curran hurt English again, this time with a one-two punch combination that had English shooting in for a takedown. Curran sunk in a guillotine choke that forced English to tap at 1:12 of the second round.
Full Results Tiger Sharks def Red Bears 4-1 Shad Lierley def Mike Corey by split decision (29-28-28-29-29-28)
Bart Palaszewski def John Gunderson by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) Superfight Jeff Curran def Kevin English by guillotine choke 1:12 Rd 2
April 9, 2007
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April 9, 2007
PRIDE 34 RESULTS
SAITAMA, Japan–It was a bittersweet night as the Pride Fighting Championships said goodbye to Dream Stage Entertainment and its CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara at the Saitama Super Arena on Sunday. There was plenty action and emotion in the ring, as none of the eight fights on the card went passed the first round. Beloved former Pride superstar Kazushi Sakuraba made an appearance, entering the ring with Sakakibara and Kiyoshi Tamura to announce his intentions to fight his long-time rival in the Pride ring sometime in the future. Sakuraba could be seen wiping tears from his eyes as Sakakibara spoke of him. In the opening fight it was a match-up of striker versus grappler when Zelg Benkei Galesic took on Makoto Takimoto. Galesic has been called the “Little Cro-Cop” and he wasted no time showing off his arsenal of sharp jabs and kicks. Takimoto absorbed several low kicks before clinching and using a leg sweep to get Galesic to the mat. A failed armbar attempt led to Galesic standing over Takimoto, foot stomping him. After a referee stand-up Galesic unloaded on Takimoto, throwing a barrage that knocked Takimoto down. Following up with foot stomps, Galesic was tripped up by Takimoto. The Judo expert wasted no time, securing a kimura for the tapout at 5:40 of round one. It wouldn’t have felt like a real goodbye to DSE without a fighter from the original show. After Bazigit Atajev was forced to withdraw from his bout with Gilbert Yvel, Pride stalwart Akira Shoji was brought in at the 11th hour as a replacement. It was a fitting match for Shoji, who over the course of ten years has fought many fighters who were much larger than him. While it would have been great to see Shoji overcome the bigger man, it wasn’t to be. After scoring a takedown, Shoji found himself defending against, of all things, an ankle lock from Gilbert Yvel. While Yvel struggled to secure the lock, Shoji went for a toe hold. As Shoji switched to heel hook, Yvel gave up on his ankle lock and sat up into Shoji’s guard. From here he pounded on Shoji with powerful punches that forced the ref to step in and stop the fight. One of the more heated stare downs in recent memory, James Thompson and Don Frye engaged in an aggressive head-rubbing as they muttered un-pleasantries before walking back to their corners. When the bell rang both fighters came right at each other. Frye threw the first punch, knocking Thompson down. Surprised, Frye was slow to respond. Back on the feet, Frye and Thompson grabbed each other behind the head and began pounding each like a couple of hockey players. Thompson got a takedown and took Frye’s back, hurting him with punches as Frye fought to stand. Frye managed to get to his feet but Thompson continued to batter him, forcing him into the corner where a dazed and exhausted Frye was fighting on muscle memory, absorbing a disturbing amount of punishment before turning away, prompting the referee to step in and call the fight. Thompson wins by TKO.
Ricardo Arona vs Sokoudjou Sokoudjou started as one would assume, digging loud snapping leg kicks into Arona’s thigh. After eating a few of them Arona made his move. Catching Sokoudjou’s next low kick, Arona pressed for the single leg takedown. Sokoudjou showed off his great balance and athleticism in defending the takedown. After breaking free Sokoudjou landed a devastating uppercut that dropped Arona like a rock. Sokoudjou followed up with a kick to head as the ref jumped in to stop fight. Its official, Sokoudjou is the real deal, and a fine addition to an already stacked 205 pound division. Kazuyuki Fujita vs Jeff Monson Billed as “UFC vs PRIDE” on the PPV, this match-up between solid blocks of muscle was the main event of the short but exciting night of fights. Monson was able to make it his fight, taking Fujita down and working toward a submission. It took some doing as Fujita stuffed several takedowns, keeping Monson on all fours while landing knees to the head and body. Monson was patient and methodical as always. He got Fujita’s back more than once and was able to capitalize midway through the round when he snuck his arm under Fujita’s chin, eventually securing the rear-naked choke and forcing Fujita to tap out. After the fights were finished Pride GM Nobuhiko Takada and DSE CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara entered the ring, bringing many of Pride’s best and brightest in with them for a final send-off. It was a touching moment as each fighter took the mike to say thank-you and goodbye to Sakakibara, who was visibly moved by their words. And so as the camera pulled back and the crowd of fighters bowed in all four directions the final note of DSE’s swan song passed sweetly into the night. It seemed to hold for a moment, and by some magic it crossed over from the T.V. screen and into my living room. I listened intently and the sound mixed with the images in my mind’s eye, where I keep a special highlight reel of all my fondest Pride memories. It will never be sold in stores, never be viewable on YouTube. No, I’ll keep this to myself and play it whenever I need inspiration. DSE did great things with Pride, as will the Fertitta brothers, and the Pride Fighting Championships will live on. Full Results Jeff Monson def Kazuyuki Fujita by rear-naked choke 6:47 rd.1 Not televised on American PPV:
April 9, 2007
GFC: MONSON VS. SIMS
The Gracie Fighting Championships official site is reporting that Jeff Monson fighting Wes Sims will headline the promotion’s upcoming May 19th event, “Evolution”, to be held in Columbus, Ohio. Fresh off a win over Kazuyuki Fujita at this weekend’s Pride 34, Monson will head to the event with a record of 22-6. Since losing to Daniel Gracie at the International Fight League’s event last June, Sims has won seven fights in a row, elevating his record to 18-8-1. In his most recent bout at Palace Fighting Championship 2 in March, Sims fight with Van Palacio was declared a No-Contest, after Sims was unable to continue due to a knee strike to the groin. No other bouts for the GFC May 19th card have been confirmed yet by the promotion.
April 9, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: BODOGFIGHT COMMISSIONER JEFF OSBORNE
April 9, 2007
THE NORTHERN TOUCH
The Winnipeg Convention Centre hosted the latest installment of Ultimate Cage Wars Saturday night in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the 7th card the promotions has now held since 2004. Despite a solid line-up of competition for the sports fans dollar, UCW still managed to attract a crowd according to its promoter and match-maker Krzysztof Soszynski. “Our show was probably the best one we ever had,” Soszynski tells FCF. “The fights were unbelievable. Our crowd was a little smaller than we normally have due to the Woman's World Hockey Championship semifinals and the UFC as well as a few concerts. We had about 1500 fans, but they all had a great time and all got their moneys worth. “ In one of the cards more notable match-ups, Jason Tatlow faced off against Joe Doerksen trained fighter Kevin Manderson. “Jason Tatlow vs. Kevin Manderson was a great fight,” says Soszynski. “Tatlow has grown into a very well rounded fighter. He showed good stand up skills and his takedown defense was pretty good, his ground game is excellent. Manderson showed how much his kickboxing has improved by throwing inside leg kicks and good combos, his wrestling is excellent and he has great cardio. This was a great back and forth fight, Manderson was using his hands to set up the take downs and Tatlow was working hard in the clinch and working for submissions from the bottom. In the second round after a take down, Tatlow secured a kimura from the bottom, Manderson tried to defend by straightening out his arm. That's where Tatlow applied a straight arm lock, Kevin’s elbow popped out and popped back in, he had to tap.” The impressive win for Tatlow elevates his record to 6-2, while Manderson’s falls to 11-7-1. Team Tompkins fighter Aaron Tregear came out from Ontario looking for a win to lift his record above the .500 winning mark against Calgary’s Graydon Tannas. “The Tannas vs. Tregear fight was great,” Soszynski tells FCF. “Tregear showed why he is becoming one of the best young 170 lbs fighters to come out of Canada. He has improved his ground game tremendously, securing a rear naked choke in the second round for the win.” Soszynski also made note of three bouts that made his personnel highlight list, Victor Daychief vs. Brian MacEachern, Bill Boland taking on John Dodson, and a memorable KO from Bob Keleman. “The fight of the night was an absolute 3 round war between Victor Daychief and Brian MacEachern,” says the UCW promoter in recalling the best fight of the Anarchy card. “I will not say it was a Bonnar, Griffin because I don't think there will ever be one of those, but this was close. The fighters received a standing ovation after each round, it was an amazing fight. Bill Boland and John Dodson put on an absolute technical clinic for 3 rounds. Both fighters’ ground game was amazing to watch and both fighters demonstrated great stand up skills. Boland won a very close decision and it could have gone either way. The fans appreciated their hard work, these two also received a standing ovation. The knock out of the night goes to Bob Keleman, (against Curtis Demarce) this was the sickest KO I have ever witnessed. Left high kick right on the chin, wow!” Of the 11 fight card, one of the fights featured the event’s first ever women’s bout between Sarah Kaufmann and Alexis Davis. “The first ever woman's fight was between Sarah Kaufmann vs. Alexis Davis,” says Soszynski. “This fight was another war, both girls showed great technical skills, I was very impressed and so was the crowd. Kaufmann is a machine she just does not stop, she is definitely the best female fighter in Canada. Alexis showed great heart in the fight and she is a very well rounded fighter, this was her first fight and she did a very good job, we will definitely bring back both these girls.” UCW will hold its next event, “Natural Invasion”, on June 23rd. Upcoming Canadian MMA Events Maximum Fighting Championship “Unplugged 3”- April 20th, Crowne Plaza, Edmonton, Alberta
April 10, 2007
ART OF WAR CARD
In a press release sent out by the Art of War promotion today, the organization announced some of the upcoming line-up for their May 11th card, to take place in Austin, Texas, at the Austin Convention Center. Headlining the event will be a heavyweight match-up between Wes Sims (18-8-1) and Chris Guillen (8-6). The Gracie Fighting Championship is also scheduled to have Sims compete one week later at their “Evolution” event, on May 19th against Jeff Monson. According to Sims, whom FCF contacted this afternoon, both the GFC and Art of War are aware that he is scheduled to fight twice in 8 days. “I’ll just have to cruise through Guillen in Texas and move on to Columbus for Monson,” says Sims. “I was supposed to fight Jeff before but then the Gracie Fighting Championship postponed it and then moved it to the 19th, so now I’m also set to fight at Art of War.” Also scheduled to compete on the Art of War card is UFC veteran David Loiseau (14-7), who will be taking on Freddie Espiricueta (2-2). Loiseau, who not too long ago fought for the UFC middleweight championship, will be looking to end a 3 fight losing streak. The release also announced that Alex Andrade (5-3) will fight Brandon McDowell (20-16), while local Austin fighters Ryan Larson, Matt Thompson, and Kamal Shalorus are all slated to compete.
April 10, 2007
RING OF FIRE 29 CARD
Ring of Fire announced this week via a press release, the line-up for the promotion’s upcoming event that will be held on April 28th, at the Broomfield Event Center in Broomfield, Colorado. Coined “Aftershock”, ROF 29 will feature 3 title bouts and for the first time in the event’s history, the fights will take place in a cage instead of a ring. At 205 lbs, Eliot Marshal (3-0) will challenge Marcus Sursa (2-2) for the ROF Lightheavyweight Championship. In Marshal’s last bout at ROF 28 in February, the BJJ Black belt stopped Damir Mihajlovic with strikes in the first round. Sursa is coming off a triangle choke submission loss to Stefan Struve at World Extreme Fighting 19 last June. ROF Flyweight Champion (145 lbs.)Christian Allen (4-2), will look to defend his title against Ryan Hass (3-1). Allen defeated Joe Doherty by triangle choke at ROF 21 in February 2006, before being sidelined by a back injury for the remainder of the year. Most recently for Hass, the Des Moines fighter was stopped by Mike Adams at Victory Fighting Championships 16. Tyler Toner (pro-am 5-0) will defend his ROF Young Guns Championship against Scott Jorgensen (pro-am 3-1). Toner is coming off a Split Decision victory over Joe Jesser at ROF 27 in December, while Jorgensen most recently defeated Apollo Martinez in October by armbar at the USA MMA Pacific Northwest Invitational. In one of the cards super-fights, Ultimate Fighter competitor Mike Nickels (3-1) will fight lightheavyweight Carpaccio Owens (2-1). Nickels defeated Wes Combs by TKO at the TUF 3 finale last June in his last bout, while Owens stopped David Hagen by TKO in January, at the Georgia Fighting Championships. Also scheduled for ROF 29; Donald Cerrone will take on lightweight Anthony Njokuani and Luke Caudillo is scheduled to fight Dennis Davis at 155 lbs.
April 11, 2007
NSAC OVERTURNS DIAZ VICTORY NSAC Overturns Diaz’s Win vs. Gomi, Suspends Him for 6 Months By FCF Staff The Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director, Keith Kizer, confirmed to FCF today that the NSAC has suspended Nick Diaz today for six months, retroactive to February 24th, and fined him $3000for testing positive for a banned substance, Delta-9-THC. Due to a broken orbital bone that Diaz incurred in his February 24th bout with Gomi, the fighter was already suspended for medical reasons for six months. Unfortunately for Diaz, the announcement today contained further distressing news for the fighter, as the NSAC has also decided to overturn Diaz’s gogoplata submission victory over Gomi at Pride 33 to a No-Decision. This determination was based on the Commission’s conclusion that the Delta-9-THC Diaz tested positive for, may have had a performance-enhancing effect.
April 11, 2007
FROM THE EVENT'S PROMOTER: IFL PRESS RELEASE
Two Hour “Best Damn Sports Show Period” Special Features Pitbulls-Wolfpack Matchup NEW YORK, April 11, 2007- Fox Sports Net will provide same-night, tape-delayed coverage of Friday’s International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI) matchup between two of the league’s unbeaten teams, the New York-based Pitbulls and the Portland-based Wolfpack, from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The two-hour program begins at 11 p.m. in most markets. The “Best Damn Sports Show” themed show marks the first time FSN has broadcasted same-day coverage of IFL action. Friday’s show features five bouts, including the league’s first rematch between light heavyweights Matt Horwich of the Wolfpack and Jamal Patterson of the Pitbulls, as well as an intriguing welterweight bout between Portland’s Mike Dolce and Delson Heleno, termed by Pitbulls coach Renzo Gracie as his “secret weapon.” The card also features the following bouts: • Lightweights Ryan Schultz vs. Joey Sampieri The evening also represents the coaching debut of Olympic Gold Medalist Kevin Jackson, who will serve as substitute coach for the Wolfpack team while Matt Lindland competes overseas. The upcoming IFL on FSN schedule, with dates and times on each Regional FSN network, can be seen at http://www.ifl.tv/TV-Schedule.html. Viewers can also check their local schedule at http://msn.foxsports.com/tv/schedule. The FSN schedule will continue each Friday, following the order of IFL events through the season. The Scorpions-Dragons bout, also set for Friday at Mohegan Sun, will be shown on May 11 on FSN. The FSN coverage is in addition to the 22, two-hour episodes of “International Fight League Battleground,” seen on over-the-air MyNetworkTV nationwide every Monday (8 p.m. ET/PT). Pitbulls vs. Wolfpack Same Night IFL Action on FSN – p.2 In all, more than 66 hours of original IFL programming are scheduled to run on the two networks, which together reach more than 95% of U.S. television households. The remaining schedule of matchups on each FSN debut date is as follows through May: April 20, Condors vs. Sabres (Los Angeles, March 17) Each of the nine regular season IFL events will consist of four teams – each with an athlete in all five weight classes competing. The team that wins the best three of five match setup will be declared the team winner for the match, similar to collegiate and high school wrestling meets. The IFL also differs from other MMA organizations in that the bouts are held in an oversized five-rope boxing ring with three, four-minute rounds, each designed to create the most compelling in-arena experience for local fans. Each of the 12 IFL teams for 2007 will compete in three regular season events; the teams with the top four overall win-loss team records will advance to the semi-finals, which will be held on Thursday, August 2, at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. The 2007 IFL Finals will then be held at The Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 15.
April 12, 2007
HOLLYWOOD SHOGUN
"The name of my character will be Philippe, he will fight the good guy played by Cam Gigandet,” explained Shogun, who along with his brother Murilo “Ninja” Rua, had the opportunity to learn some movie tricks when he met one of his fans, actor and fellow martial artist, Chuck Norris, in Las Vegas. “I think it’s going to be a very nice opportunity in my career,” said Mauricio. When asked about the payment, the Chute Boxe fighter said: “For sure I make more money as fighter. Fighting is my priority and I love what I do, but maybe it’s a new way. Who knows?” The movie's release in the U.S. and Canada is reportedly planned for October 2007.
April 12, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: MARCUS DAVIS AND WILSON GOUVEIA
April 12, 2007
STOUT AND HOMINICK RETURN TO U.S.
April 12, 2007
CFFC 4 PREVIEW
While fight fans are eagerly sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for a classic battle between Kimbo Slice and “Merciless” Ray Mercer at the Cage Fury Fighting Championships 5 in June, there are many more epic battles taking place this very Friday when CFFC IV takes over Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. Felix Martinez has loaded his fight card with members of the CNY Bombsquad and Team Rhino -- two clubs that turn out nothing but sharks, who quickly put away their opponents when they smell blood in the water. These guys all train hard, have good technique and love to finish the fight when they sense an opponent is stunned.
In the main event, Jose Rodriguez will represent Team Rhino as he takes on the CFFC Middleweight Champion Dan Miller. The last time Miller entered a CFFC-cage he defeated Lance Everson in quick fashion with a big slam and a rear-naked-choke. “I know he's a southpaw, and that he's a very experienced fighter. I also know that he's never fought anyone remotely like me, so it's going to be interesting for him,” McCory said. “I fight and train with guys like him all the time. He's obviously got the experience on me, and from what I hear he's pretty crafty. But I am quite crafty myself, so it will be an interesting match-up.” McCory enters the fight undefeated at 8-0 with many TKO’s to speak of. He’s lengthy with a monstrous reach and fights with a devastating combination of intelligence and blind rage. “I didn't get the KO-bonus last time, so I'm definitely a little fired up over that,” he said. “I see myself smashing him and taking home the bonus. Then again, I always see myself smashing someone before a fight, and that's what always happens.” CFFC Lightweight champ Al Buck, the first recipient of the “Shelby Walker: Heart of a Lion” award, will step in the ring with another Miller, Jim, the younger brother of Middleweight champ Dan Miller. Buck is coming off a win over Malachy Friedman at CFFC II and an injury to his hand that’s kept him from the ring for a few months, but he’s back and feeling great about his first title defense. “I’m training at a tremendous level right now and working really hard,” Buck said. “I feel like my game is top-notch right now and anybody coming to fight me, whether it’s just for a fight or to try and take the belt away, they’re going to have to work real hard.” Miller is one of the hardest working 155-pounders out there. He went the distance, three rounds, with Frankie Edgar at Reality Fighting 14 just two or three months before Edgar debuted in the Ultimate Fighting Championship against Tyson Griffin. “I told Felix from the CFFC that I wanted the best fighters they could bring me and Jim Miller is one of the best out there,” Buck said. “I deserve [to fight the best] not only to test myself, but to give the crowd what they deserve. I never plan to have my fights not be exciting, in fact a lot of the time they end up being the most exciting fight of the night -- that’s what I plan on this one being too. He’s supposed to be the ‘East-coast Sensation.’ I guess we’ll find out this week.” The last title fight of the night will be in the Bantamweight division, where current belt holder Nick Cottone will be challenged by Clint Godfrey, but before the champions start throwing punches the final fight on the main card is sure to have everyone on their feet. “A lot of guys go out there and they don't make it personal. They look at it like it's a competition, but it's not a competition, to me it's a fight,” Aquino said. “I think my fights should be illegal because I really want to hurt the other guy. I mean I'm really trying my best to hurt him.” Aquino’s fight philosophy runs parallel to that of current UFC champion Chuck Liddell – avoid takedowns, be a better boxer than everyone else and you'll win 90 percent of the time. Even against an accomplished striker like Nissim Levy, as he did in his last fight at CFFC III.Charles too believes that no one can hang with him when it comes to striking and should be more than happy to stand off with Aquino. Just as the Aquino-Levy fight ignited the crowd at CFFC III, look for this Charles-Aquino match-up to really heat things up at CFFC IV. Backing up Rodriguez from Team Rhino will be Jay Coleman, Chris “The Story” Ligouri and Tom Gallicchio. Ligouri has been terrorizing the New Jersey talent since returning from the UFC and on this night will look to do the same to Dorian Price from Team Severn. Gallicchio, often the intimidator, is coming off a loss to Chris Reedy at Extreme Challenge 75 and after suffering the first loss of his career he will be looking to get right back on that horse at CFFC IV against Doug Gordon, but the fighter who calls himself “Darkman” never goes down easy. “I am a working fighter and my performance is always important to me. I dedicate myself to making sure I give 110 percent, but I would give 210 percent if I could,” Gordon said. “I am always out there making sure my fans are proud to be my fans, but my main thing is I may not win them all … but I sure as hell will let them know I was there.” “Being a father always motivates a person to achieve something, but when you have as many kids as I do it goes beyond food and clothes,” he said. “You want your kids to have the extra things, and knowing that there is definitely the possibility in this sport of making a decent income, you just have to make your way up there.” While the fight card is sure to deliver some dream match-ups with quality competitors entering the cage for 15 total bouts, it will be a nightmare sitting in the first row as the UFC’s Diego Sanchez drops by for a special guest appearance. Title fights, tons of talent and hard hits from start to finish -- that’s what the Cage Fury Fighting Championships are offering this Friday night. TITLE FIGHTS CFFC Middleweight Title NABC Welterweight Title CFFC Lightweight Title CFFC Bantamweight Title MAIN CARD Middleweight Fight Welterweight Fight Lightweight Fight Heavyweight Fight Middleweight Fight Lightweight Fight Welterweight Fights Light-Heavyweight Fight Middleweight Fight *Fight card subject to change without notice
April 12, 2007
FROM THE EVENT'S PROMOTER: IFL PRESS RELEASE
Grassroots events programs and clinics, joint promotional opportunities part of initial focus NEW YORK and COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., April 11, 2007 – The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, and USA Wrestling, the National Governing Body for wrestling in the United States, today announced a strategic partnership between the two organizations aimed at increasing the awareness level and creating unique grassroots programs and branding opportunities for both groups. “This is a great day for the IFL and for the sports of Mixed Martial Arts and wrestling,” said IFL Commissioner and Co-Founder Kurt Otto. “This partnership will give us the platform to reach a very passionate demo with one of the most respected National Governing Bodies. This cooperative program will help us further our mission to expose these great IFL athletes to a larger audience and show how they can use their wrestling skills as part of MMA.” “USA Wrestling is proud to partner with the IFL in this project,” said Rich Bender, USA Wrestling Executive Director. “Wrestling is a core discipline of MMA and many of the greatest athletes in the sport have a strong wrestling background. This will help us expose wrestling fans and athletes to a much larger audience and grow this Olympic sport by reaching an expanded audience.” Currently no less than 30% of IFL coaches and athletes come from a wrestling background, many with international and college success. They include Olympic medalist Matt Lindland (Nebraska), two-time Olympian Dan Henderson, past national champion Don Frye (Arizona State) and current athletes Wayne Cole (Oklahoma), Jay Hieron (Nassau Community College and Hofstra University), Ryan McGivern (Iowa), Mike Whitehead (Missouri), Aaron Stark (Wisconsin), Ryan Schultz (Nebraska), Reese Andy (Wyoming), Shad Lierley (NYU) and others. The partnership will include joint USA Wrestling/IFL clinics and information sessions featuring IFL athletes and coaches and USA Wrestling staff in strategic locations, beginning with the Fan Festival held alongside the USA Wrestling World Team Trials in Las Vegas, Nevada, June 9-10. This event will determine the U.S. teams for the 2006 World Championships in the Olympic disciplines of men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle and men’s Greco-Roman wrestling, as well as the newly recognized discipline of Grappling. More details concerning the World Team Trials clinic will be published shortly. Also in the planning process is a multimedia awareness campaign developed to promote both organizations as well as a discount program for USA Wrestling members to attend IFL events nationwide. Each of the nine regular season IFL events will consist of four teams – each with an athlete in all five weight classes competing – for a minimum of 10 bouts per card. The team that wins the best three of five match setup will be declared the team winner for the match, similar to collegiate and high school wrestling dual meets. The IFL also differs from other MMA organizations in that the bouts are held in an oversized five-rope boxing ring with three, four-minute rounds, designed to create the most compelling in-arena experience for local fans. Each of the 12 IFL teams for 2007 will compete in three regular season events; the teams with the top four overall win-loss team records will advance to the semi-finals, which will be held on Thursday, August 2, at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. The 2007 IFL Finals will then be held at The Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 15.
April 13, 2007
BURKMAN VS. PARISYAN UFC Confirms Burkman Vs. Parisyan for UFC 71 By FCF Staff The official Ultimate Fighting Championship website has added Josh Burkman vs. Karo Parisyan to the promotion’s upcoming May 26th, UFC 71 card that will be held at the MGM Grand Arena in Parisyan still remains a top the welterweight rankings, 7th in the world according to FCF, with a record of 16-4. Most recently, the Armenian Judoka defeated Drew Fickett by Unanimous Decision in a thrilling bout at Ultimate Fight Night 8 in December. Prior to that, Parisyan lost to Diego Sanchez by Unanimous Decision at UFC Fight Night 6, last August, in what was later named Full Contact Fighter’s fight of the year. Before losing to Sanchez, Parisyan had won 5 bouts in a row, defeating Matt Serra, Nick Thompson, Shonie Carter, Chris Lytle and Nick Diaz. UFC 71 will be headlined by the Lightheavyweight title fight between current UFC champ Chuck Liddell and Quinton Jackson.
April 13, 2007
BODOGFIGHT WEIGH-INS
Friday, April 13, St. Petersburg -- In a somewhat subdued press conference, the fighters of BodogFight's "Clash of the Nations" fielded a short round of questions before stepping on the scales. Number-one ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko sidestepped questions about his future with the BodogFight organization, as well as the ceding of Pride to Zuffa control, remarking instead about his change in training regimen to compete with opponent Matt Lindland's speed. Lindland spoke of his preparation with Team Quest, as well as working with wrestlers from Colorado Springs who match Fedor's size.
In response to a question about UFC President Dana White's remarks that organizations like BodogFight were "a joke," Calvin Ayre sardonically told the audience, "I'm shaving my head tomorrow. This event is for the fighters. I'm a fan, and I like all the organizations." As of this writing, heavyweight Kristof Midoux has not yet weighed in, as a flight delay caused him to miss the scheduled weigh-ins. Official Weigh-In Results Main Card Fedor Emelianenko 230lbs. vs. Matt Lindland 212lbs. Eddie Alvarez 169lbs vs. Nick Thompson 170lbs. Aleksander Emelianenko 255lbs vs. Eric Pele 277lbs. Andrei Semenov 185lbs. vs. Jorge Santiago 186lbs. Amanda Buckner 135lbs. vs. Hitomi Akano 136lbs. Roman Zentsov 233lbs. vs. Kristof Midoux ?? Undercard Undercard Pre-PPV Fights
April 13, 2007
GFC: JACARE VS. JACKSON
Since skipping training for ADCC 2007, Jacare's focus is on MMA and training to beat Jackson in their upcoming fight. The GFC "Evolution" show will take place on May 19th at the Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
April 14, 2007
BODOGFIGHT RESULTS
Saturday, April 14, St. Petersburg, Russia -- Nestled between cold rows of tenement complexes in the former capital of Russia, the Ice Palace hosted BodogFight’s second PPV offering, “Clash of the Nations”. In an unexpected twist of affairs, Russian premier Vladimir Putin confirmed his affinity for MMA by dropping in shortly after the event kickoff, sending a surge of excitement through the partisan crowd. Welcoming him to the big fight than the unlikely duo of Jean-Claude Van Damme and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlosconi, who sat at his sides and chatted throughout the PPV Card. It was a small diversion from the true star of the evening, Fedor Emelianenko, whose visage was plastered over the entire city in the buildup to the fight. Upon his arrival, the audience screamed their approval as walked towards the ring, his Pride belt by his side. It was his first fight on Russian soil since becoming an international superstar. Standing across from him was 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist Matt Lindland, who bravely stepped up two weight classes to face the feared heavyweight. Lindland had weighed in at 212lbs the previous day, Fedor had come in at 230lbs; certainly not a large heavyweight, but not the staggering 30lb difference that many expected. “It’s not about the size, it’s about the skill,” Lindland declared at the pre-fight press conference. “A lot of people are scared of him, but I’m not intimidated. I’m going to come right at him.” To his credit, Lindland delivered on his promise to a T. Right from the bell, the Team Quest original took the fight to “The Russian Experiment”, delivering a huge overhand left to the eye of Emelianenko, backing him into the corner. Seizing the window of opportunity, Lindland got double underhooks against the ropes and began to set up a takedown. Emelianenko’s right eyebrow had been cut decisively, bleeding generously on the two. It was the following moment that marked a crucial turning point in the fight. As Lindland began to hoist Emelianenko up to deliver him to the canvas, Emelianenko instinctively grabbed the ropes. Referee Troy Waugh quickly admonished the Pride champ, instructing him to let go, but as Lindland continued to crank Emelianenko over his shoulder, the rope grabbing continued. It was unclear how many times Emelianenko grabbed them, but when Lindland finally took him off of his feet, Emelianenko quickly reversed him in midair on their way to the canvas. It didn’t take long for Emelianenko to spring to his feet from Matt’s half guard, hoping to land one of his missile-like hooks. Surprisingly, Lindland responded by trapping Emelianenko’s left ankle and looking for a heel hook. Emelianenko retorted by attacking Lindland’s legs, but quickly gave up on it, returning to half guard. Lindland seemed to have little answer for Emelianenko’s transition to mount position, and as Lindland attempted to roll out of danger, Emelianenko segued into an armbar. Lindland gave his all to wrench free of the hold, but remained stuck as Emelianenko bided his time. “I didn’t feel like the armbar was very close,” Lindland explained. “So I was waiting to make an adjustment to get on top rather than just counter the armbar. He made a very nice adjustment to finish it.” The finish, a joint popping crank of Lindland’s arm, brought the tapout at 2:38 of the first frame.
“I came out there with a serious game plan, Lindland said later. “I got into a nice position that I had planned on getting in to. We were told explicitly before the fight that guys would be penalized for using the ropes. I’d seen it all night. Referees were pulling guys hands off the ropes and takedowns were being finished because of that. That’s where I wanted to be: on top of that fight. I made a mistake and he capitalized on it. He’s a fantastic fighter and I would love to re-match him.” Unfortunately, Emelianenko was unavailable for comment about his use of the ropes, as Premier Putin invited the lion’s share of winners back to his palace for a post fight celebration. Post fight, ref Troy Waugh said he would be watching the replay to re-assess the infraction. “It was tough,” said Waugh. “He’s there, I’m trying to peel him off, it was a tough, tough call. I feel confident in the call.” In the evening’s co-main event, challenger Nick Thompson played a smart game, using his reach and straight punches to sting MFC Welterweight champion Eddie Alvarez throughout their fight. “I think Eddie expected I was going to try to take him down,” Thompson explained. “He’s really good at sprawling and brawling. So we decided I was going to use my length, using my jab to frustrate him.” Though Alvarez was relentless in his attack, tagging Thompson several times with straight rights to the body and winging hooks, Thompson stayed in the pocket and countered with jab-cross combos. Generously using the ropes to lean out of harm’s way, Thompson took away Eddie’s fast hands and returned fire with a right cross that caused Alvarez’s eye to swell rapidly late in the first. His preparation for the rope work? Watching Ali-Frazier fight tapes. “I’ve actually become really comfortable on the ropes just goofing around,” Thompson said after the fight. “Against a lot of guys, I’ll lay on the ropes and use that to create my angles.” Alvarez quickly took the fight to the ground in the second, but was unable to capitalize before Thompson made his way back to his feet. After ringside commentator Colonel Bob Sheriden loudly declared “Alvarez is kicking it into second gear”, Thompson literally stopped in his tracks, crying out, “What about me? I’m about to kick it into third gear”, as Alvarez chased him backwards.
Kick it into third he did, dropping Alvarez with a short left hook after narrowly escaping a high kick. Thompson nearly connected with a kick as Alvarez met the canvas, but clinched the win by pounding on Alvarez at the edge of the ring. Referee Troy Waugh called a stoppage at 4:32 of the second, making Thompson the new MFC Welterweight champ. “It’s been four years of sacrifice after sacrifice,” Thompson said on the bus home. “It all came down to a 25 minute fight, and it was really emotional.” In a super-heavyweight showdown, ink laden Aleksander Emelianenko and Eric Pele made a short go of it, as Pele desperately attempted to bob his way out of certain unconsciousness via Emelianenko’s right hook. Pele smartly took some of the spring out of Emelianenko’s step, landing several big outside leg kicks in the opening minutes, but was rocked early with said hook. Emelianenko looked more like a Muay Thai fighter than ever, throwing a flurry of fast punches before clinching with Pele and firing off a devastating series of knees. Pele had one shining moment as he timed one of Emelianenko’s flurries, connecting with a big right hook as Emelianenko paused, but the punch didn’t leave a mark. After another flurry caused Pele to turn his back to Emelianenko, Pele squared up to meet a straight left that dug into his skull and sent him down. After a few right hand bombs, the bout was called at 4:04 of the first. Middleweight Jorge Santiago rebounded from a bad stretch in the UFC, overcoming Andrei Semenov’s heavy hands to unload a perfect combo that dropped Semenov. After nearly succumbing to a series of big hammerfists and an extended armbar at the hands of the Russian, Jorge gave him a taste of his own medicine. Jorge quickly gained top position in the second, extending an armbar and later a rear naked choke before Semenov hoisted Santiago off his back. While working his ground and pound, Santiago connected with an upkick that badly disoriented Semenov. After a restart from their feet, the American Top Team product landed a picture perfect right cross, left hook, right uppercut combo that felled the Russian at 4:28 of the 2nd. Heavyweight slugger Roman Zentsov was taken down at will by Canadian Kristof Midoux, but endured no punishment from the bottom. A missed armbar attempt and subsequent scramble gave Midoux the mount, but it wasn’t long before his lackadaisical attack brought the two back to their feet. After catching a leg kick from Midoux, Zentsov peppered him with punches as Midoux dove for his leg. As the bell rang, Midoux slumped over a la Mark Kerr, incapacitated. Unable to answer the second bell, Zentsov walked with the TKO victory. In undercard action, Bill “The Butcher” Mahood relentlessly attacked Steve Steinbess, never allowing him to use his kickboxing skills. Time after time, Mahood cinched the takedown and flung punches at Steinbess, who was forced to play defense. Despite reversing Mahood at the last moment of the bout, Steinbess was far too behind in the scorecards to compete, giving Mahood the Unanimous Decision victory. Brazilian Rodrigo Damm’s aggressive style put him ahead early, backing up lightweight Santino Defranco with winging hooks. After Santiago ate one of the hooks, he rushed to clinch and quickly found himself mounted by the jiu-jitsu ace. Damm inventively trapped Santiago’s right arm between his legs and snaked his way to Santiago’s upper back. Though it wasn’t a classic rear naked choke, Damm slapped it on with his arm lock still in place, bringing the tapout at 1:58 of Round 2. In a lumbering, Toughman-like bout, Heavyweights Josh Curran and Jarno Nurminen completely shot their proverbial wads in the first round. The rest of the fight, a series of toe-to-toe slugfests and unsightly views of Curran’s down-sliding trunks, caused more laughter in the stands than exhilaration. Holding his hands above his head in utter exhaustion, Curran let out a barbaric yawp and took Nurminen down, mounting him easily. Pounding away from the top, Nurminen tapped from the strikes at 2:53 of the 3rd. Julie Kedzie stood and traded with the game Julia Berezekova , but took the fight after catching a few shots in the first. A slick transition from guard to mount saw Kedzie lock up a triangle from the position, where she pounded her foe until the ref rescued Berezekova at 2:49 of Round 2. Ray Steinbess also used his superior jiu-jitsu skills to negate opponent Dmitry Oganov’s crisp strikes, hip tossing the new comer shortly after clinching. Scooting his hips to the right, Steinbess first worked for an armbar, then used his legs to pull himself to Oganov’s back. Oganov briefly fought to get out of the ensuing rear naked choke, but Steinbess had already sunk it in, bringing the tapout at 3:00 of the 1st. In a major miscommunication, referee Troy Waugh misheard UFC vet Derrick Noble as he attempted to defend welterweight Eric Oganov’s strikes. After narrowly sinking a guillotine choke, Noble found himself on the wrong end of a flurry of strikes from his Russian counterpart. According to Noble, Waugh asked him if he was okay to continue. When he said yes, Waugh stepped in to stop the bout, claiming he had heard no. Afterwards, Waugh acknowledged his mistake, but the bout went to Oganov at 2:55 of the 2nd. Middleweight Andy Foster didn’t have much of a chance as opponent Amar Suloev caught his low kick attempt, KO’ing him with a right hand that put him out on his feet. After four late blows, the bout was called at 0:26 of the first. Bodog “Clash of the Nations” Full Results: Josh Curran def. Jarno Nurminen at 2:53 of R1 by submission (strikes) Rodrigo Damm def. Santino Defranco at 1:58 of R1 by submission (rear-naked choke) Bill Mahood def. Steve Steinbess at 5:00 of R3 by unanimous decision Roman Zentsov def. Kristof Midoux at 5:00 of R1 by TKO (Midoux unable to answer the bell for R2) Amanda Buckner def. Hitomi Akano at 5:00 of R3 by unanimous decision Jorge Santiago def. Andrei Semenov at 4:28 of R2 by TKO Aleksander Emelianenko def. Eric Pele at 4:07 of R1 by KO Nick Thompson def. Eddie Alvarez at 4:32 of R2 by TKO Fedor Emelianenko def. Matt Lindland at 2:38 of R1 by submission (armbar). Julie Kedzie def. Julia Berezekova at 2:49 of R2 by TKO (strikes) Ray Steinbess def. Dmitry Samoilov at 3:00 of R1 by submission (rear-naked choke) Eric Oganov def. Derrick Noble at 2:55 of R2 by TKO Amar Suloev def. Andy Foster at 0:26 of R1 by KO
April 14, 2007
IFL RESULTS
(April 13th, Mohegan Sun Arena, Connecticut) A decent-sized crowd and some exciting fights. That about sums up the IFL event tonight at the Mohegan Sun Arena, an event that saw Carlos Newton’s Dragons dominate Don Frye’s Scorpions, while Renzo Gracie’s Pitbulls defeated Matt Lindland’s Wolfpack (with Lindland’s BodogFight bout in Russia the following day, Kevin Jackson filled in as coach). Highlights of the event included: • Shane Ott’s quick Kimura over the more-experienced Chad Griggs. If you blinked, you missed it. Dragons vs. Scorpions LW: Wagney Fabiano vs. Cam Ward WW: Gideon Ray vs. Gabe Casillas MW: Brent Beauparlant vs. Seth Baczynski LHW: Wojtek Kaszowski vs. Mike Whitehead HW: Shane Ott vs. Chad Griggs Wolfpack vs. Pitbulls LW: Ryan Schultz vs. Joe Sampieri WW: Mike Dolce vs. Delson Heleno MW: Gerald Harris vs. Fabio Leopoldo LHW: Matt Horwich vs. Jamal Patterson HW: Devin Cole vs. Bryan Vetell Preliminary Bout
April 15, 2007
PRIDE LW GP POSTPONED
Pride officially announced this week via a press release and the promotion’s official website, that the upcoming Lightweight Grand-Prix, that had been scheduled to take place on May 20th, has been postponed. The statement quoted new Pride FC Worldwide owner Lorenzo Fertitta; “"We are still in the state of transition with only a month away from May 20th,” Fertitta said in the announcement. “This is our very first PRIDE show under the new organization, and to make it a memorable event for all the fans, it does not give us sufficient time to prepare our promotion and production." No official date has yet been announced for the Grand-Prix’s opening round that will feature 16 lightweight competitors. One of the men that will be competing in the event when it takes place will be Satoru Kitaoka (18-8-7), who solidified his position in the tournament by submitting Fabricio Monteiro (16-4) in the second round with a triangle choke at the DEEP card, Friday night, in Tokyo, Japan. Kitaoka has won 4 fights in a row now, and has notable career victories over Carlos Condit, Paul Daley and Kurt Pellegrino. In other action from the DEEP card this weekend, former Ultimate Fighting Championship Middleweight Champion Murillo Bustamante (14-6-1) knocked out Ryuta Sakurai (14-11-4) in the first round. The fight was the second time these two have met, as previously in their 2005 fight at Pride Bushido 6, Bustamante defeated Sakurai by unanimous decision.
April 15, 2007
EXTREME FIGHTING INTERNATIONAL RESULTS
SPRINGFIELD, Ma. – Despite a card filled with many first-time fighters, Keith "Silver Dragon" Gordon put on a quality first show at The Hippodrome. There were first-round KOs, some spectacular slams by Louis Thouin and Juan Santana, and Jerry Spiegel – a guy not too many fighters take seriously, except his opponent – gave Carlos Barros all he could handle in their heavyweight fight.
Team Silver Dragon was the “home team” for this show in Springfield and no fighter had a bigger fan base than Louis A. Thouin III (0-1). His opponent, Travis Lerchen (1-0), was booed relentlessly by Thouin fans sitting in his own corner, but Lerchen was not intimidated by the crowd or Thouin’s American-flag-bearing entrance. He survived a vicious slam in the opening seconds of the fight and was able to regain his feet in time to hang the much shorter fighter with a standing guillotine at 1:09 R1. Juan Santana (1-0) overcame a seven-inch height difference to defeat Sandro Carrasquillo (0-2) with an exciting first-round KO. Similar to Thouin, Santana delivered a fierce slam that rocked the ring as well as his opponent. After the slam, Santana returned to his feet and pushed Carrasquillo’s legs aside in order to lunge forward with a brutal KO-punch. It was the first knock out of the night. Randy Smith (1-0) won over the crowd after spending most of the first round on his back. Johann Van Woerden (0-1) was a strong fighter and imposed his will on Smith for the first four minutes of the fight, but as the rounds went on it was clear to see that Smith had the better cardio. Smith was urged to fight-on by his coach Ryan Citoli, following a knee to the groin in Round 2, and by not taking the full five-minutes to recover he was able to steal Round 2 and 3 with superior striking from a gassed opponent. Justin Torey (6-0) caught Elias Rivera (2-2) with his hands down in the heavyweight title fight. While laying on the ground, Rivera reached with both hands for Torey’s legs as Torey stood over him. Torey took full advantage and threw an unblocked punch to end it in Round 1.
Justin Torey def. Elias Rivera by KO with a first-round KO. Main card Aaron Newman def. Justin Gould by Unanimous Decision after two rounds. Brendan Weafer def. Tim Macy by TKO in R1. Chris Simmons def. Barrington Douse with a rear-naked choke in R1 Matt Zaccarias def. Timmy Vance by armbar in R2. Juan Santana def. Sandro Carrasquillo with a first-round KO. Travis Lerchen def. Louis A. Thouin III by guillotine choke at 1:09 R1. Frank Latina def. Corey LaPlant by guillotine choke at 3:00 R2. Jerry Spiegel def. Cesar Barros by Unanimous Decision after two rounds. Randy Smith def. Johan VanWoerden by Unanimous Decision in overtime. Nick Corrigan def. Josh Spearman at 1:34 R1 by armbar submission.
April 15, 2007
STRIKEFORCE / ELITEXC
Strikeforce and EliteXC announced via a press release today several more match-ups for the upcoming “Judgment Day” card that will take place on June 22nd. The event, which will take place in San Jose at the HP Pavilion, will be a joint effort between the two MMA promotions, a strategic partnership that facilitated EliteXC to have Frank Shamrock take on Renzo Gracie back in February, despite Shamrock being signed to fight Phil Baroni with Strikeforce. The June 22nd event will be headlined by this highly anticipated middleweight fight between Shamrock (22-8-2) and Baroni (10-7). Also confirmed for the card is a fight for the vacant EliteXC middleweight championship between Joey Villasenor (25-5) and Pride veteran Murilo “Ninja” Rua (12-7-1). Villasenor looked extremely impressive at the Elite XC debut card in February, dominating David Loiseau to earn the unanimous decision victory. Rua is coming off a triangle choke submission win over Mark Weir last September at Cage Rage 18. Several other bouts have been confirmed for Judgment Day; Cung Le will look to make it 4-0 against the tough veteran Tony Fryklund (14-8), Carter Williams (3-1) will fight former UFC heavyweight Paul Buentello (22-9), and “Crazy Horse” Charles Bennett (18-13-2) is scheduled to fight Victor Valenzuela (2-0-2).
April 15, 2007
CFFC RESULTS
• Tamdan "The Barn Cat" McCory was the underdog on many people's lists when he defended his N.A.B.C. Welterweight title against Nuri Shakir. He didn't expect Shakir to be as crafty as he was, shutting down his striking and wrestling abilities through most of Round 1, but in the next round, McCory turned things around, softening up Shakir with a hard takedown, followed by a quick ground-and-pound, and a rear-naked choke. He submitted Shakir at 3:22 of Round 2 to remain undefeated at 9-0. • Team Rhino made a big pickup, adding the undefeated Alexis Aquino to their team. Aquino was unable to get the best of Erik "Chainsaw" Charles while striking, so he came out in Round 2 looking for a takedown and a submission, he got both, taking advantage of Charles' weaker grappling abilities and submitted him at 2:25 of Round 2 by rear-naked choke.
CFFC Middleweight Title Fight N.A.B.C. Welterweight Title Fight CFFC Lightweight Title Fight CFFC Bantamweight title Chris Ligouri def. Dorian Price by side choke at 0:55 of R1 Anthony Morrison def. Spencer Paige by unanimous decision John Howard wins his pro debut over Josh Rossaan at 1:17 of R3 by triangle Jay Coleman def. Rocky Johnson by TKO at 2:02 of R3 Brian DeMuro def. Carlos Nieves with an ankle lock at 0:57 of R2 Doug Gordon def. Tom Gallicchio by guillotine choke at 0:20 of R3 Eric Henry def. Lionel Cortes by unanimous decision
April 16, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: KIRIK JENNESS
April 16, 2007
THE NORTHERN TOUCH
The Exhibition Pavilion in Lethbridge, Alberta will host the 23rd installment of Rumble in the Cage 23 this Friday, and the card is set to feature several of Western Canada’s more notable fighters. Canadian Martial Arts Centre lightheavyweight Jason Day (14-6) will take on American Aaron Rosas (6-0). Day will be looking for his 6th consecutive victory, a streak that dates back to last September, when the CMAC fighter lost to Victor Valimaki at the Maximum Fighting Championship 10. Since then, Day has defeated Shane Lightle, Marcus Hicks, Shawn Marchand, Ricardeau Francois and most recently, Scott Arnold, at RITC 21 on New Year’s Eve. In Rosas last fight, the undefeated Texan fighter stopped Anthony Trotter by TKO at No Love Entertainment, “Ultimate Fight Night”, in October. At middleweight, Dan “Torture” Chambers will look to get back on the winning track against Denver’s John Sabericagori. After winning 6 fights in a row last year, all coming way of strikes, the hard hitting Chambers was defeated by the accomplished grappler Sean Locke at MFC 11 in February. Lightweight Jason Tatlow (7-3-1), who just defeated Kevin Manderson at Ultimate Cage Wars on April 7th, will jump right back into the action against Calgary’s Brad Cardinal (2-2). After a two year lay off from competition, Tatlow has won 4 of his 5 fights since returning to action. Cardinal most recently defeated Cole Milner by TKO at RITC 18 last September. CMAC 145 lb. veteran, Justin Tavernini (12-8) is set to fight Montreal’s Mathieu Boncoeur (3-1). Since losing to Ivan Menjivar at UCW 4 last May, Tavernini has won 4 fights in a row, including a recent win via armbar submission over Paul Ebejer at RITC 21. After losing in his MMA debut, Boncoeur has won 3 fights in a row, most recently stopping Rene Tardif by TKO at Ultimate Generation Combat 17 in March. In another welterweight bout of note, Saskatoon’s Elmer Waterhen (9-8-1) will take on another CMAC fighter in Neil Berry (6-5). Waterhen is coming off a recent loss to TJ Grant at King of the Cage “Capital Chaos” on March 28th, while Berry stopped Jesse Loyer by TKO at RITC 21. Here is the rest of the card for RITC 23: Mark Johnson 155lbs CMC vs. Jose Rodriges 155lbs Sheers
This Friday, the MFC will host its third “Unplugged” event at the Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe in Edmonton, Alberta. The main event will feature Hawaiian heavyweight Scott Junk (4-1) taking on Vancouver’s Dominic Richard (3-0). Junk is the latest fighter to sign with Pro Camp, a team of fighters that includes Ultimate Fighting Championship veterans Victor Valimaki and Jason Macdonald. Since losing in his MMA debut to former UFC heavyweight champ Ricco Rodriguez, Junk has won 4 fights in a row, including a recent 10 second KO win over Johnny George at ICON Sport 49 in January. The undefeated Richard most recently stopped Chris Bilodeau with strikes at Valley Fight 2 in March. Pro Camp welterweight Ryan McGillivray (3-0) will take on another undefeated fighter in Kyle Ayotte (3-0). In McGillivray’s last fight at MFC 11, the fighter submitted Aaron Gallant in the first round with an armbar. At that same event, Ayotte submitted Mike Bell in the first round with a rear-naked choke. Here is the rest of the MFC Unplugged 3 card; heavyweight Ryan Jimmo vs. Dwayne Lewis, Edmonton Police officer Ryan Lawley will make his MMA debut against Tim Blanchard, Mike Bell will fight Jordan Pisko, Josh Kyrejto vs. Garrett Curran, Kevin Dolan vs. Dave Pogson, Ryan Heck vs. Adam Macdonald, and Mike Tubbs will meet Mike Sorenson. Upcoming Canadian MMA Events Maximum Fighting Championship “Unplugged 3”- April 20th, Crowne Plaza, Edmonton, Alberta
April 16, 2007
SHIELDS / BODOGFIGHT SEASON 3
The third season of BodogFight’s reality MMA television fight series will premiere Tuesday night, April 17th on ION television. The show has returned to Costa Rica for its latest offering and will feature FCF’s 5th ranked welterweight Jake Shields (16-4-1) taking on Ray Steinbess (9-2) in the opening episode. In Shield’s last fight at Malice at the Palace I in September, he defeated Steve Berger by TKO on route to his 5th win in a row. Steinbess is coming off a rear-naked-choke submission win this past weekend over Dmitry Samoilov at BodogFight’s PPV event in St. Petersburg, Russia. Of course the Costa Rica fight was taped on a previous date. Steve Berger (17-15-2) competed once more in the BodogFight ring, taking on Piotr Jakacynski (2-0-1) at the Season 3 event. In Berger’s last fight in BodogFight Season 2, “St. Petersburg,” Jorge Masvidal defeated the UFC veteran by Unanimous Decision. Some of the other fighters that will take to the ring during BodogFight’s season 3 include, Eddie Alvarez, Trevor Prangley, Alex Stiebling and Nick Thompson.
April 17, 2007
JOE DOERKSEN Doerksen Wins Japanese Debut at DEEP, Now Looks to Pride By Kelsey Mowatt Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Joe “El Dirte” Doerksen, made his debut fighting on Japanese soil this past weekend a successful one, as the “Fighting in Japan has been a dream for quite some time,” Doerksen tells FCF. “It is nice to finally go there and have a chance to compete. It was a great experience and I look forward to going there again soon. Competing for Deep was kind of confirmed at the last minute, but I knew for some time that it was a possibility, so I was ready. I really liked the event, and the fans. It was a pretty cool experience.” His Korean opponent Kim submitted to a Doerksen triangle choke at 3:35 of Round 1, giving the Canadian fighter his 6th win in a row. Considering his last fight was against well known Miletich fighter Ryan McGivern at the International Fight League’s event last November, in stark contrast, Doerksen confesses he knew little about his most recent opponent. “I knew nothing about my opponent going in except that he had done well against some pretty tough fighters in the past,” says Doerksen. “The fight went as well for me as I could have hoped. Early finish, with no injuries. Nice way to start in a new organization.” The loss for Kim drops his record to 3-3, his first since losing to Akihiro Gono at Pride Bushido 10 last April. Prior to his fight with Doerksen, Kim had recently knocked out Yuya Shirai at Deep 27 in December. Although Doerksen’s opponent for his next fight has not yet been announced, he will be competing at Colosseum 5 in his hometown of “I will be doing a local show in my hometown in five weeks,” Doerksen says in discussing his upcoming schedule. “After that I expect to fight for Pride within the next few months.”
April 17, 2007
GFC CARD Gracie Fighting Championship Announces Full Card for “Evolution” By FCF Staff The Gracie Fighting Championship’s official MySpace page has the full card posted for the promotion’s upcoming May 19th event, “Evolution”, which will take place in Some of the more notable bouts scheduled for the upcoming GFC card are follows; Cesar Gracie fighter Steve Heath (10-4) will take on King of the Cage veteran Thomas Denny (22-14), Alex Fierra (12-5) is set to fight Brandon Lee Hinkle (13-8), Bushido veteran Chris Brennan (18-12-1) will meet the undefeated Adam Disabato (3-0), and 2005 ADCC champion Ronaldo de Souza ”Jacare” (4-1) will take on UFC veteran Jeremy Jackson (9-5). GCF” Evolution” Line-Up Jeff Monson vs. Wes Sims Thomas Denny vs. Steve Heath Alex Fierra vs. Brandon Lee Hinkle Chris Brennan vs. Adam Disabato Ronaldo de Souza vs. Jeremy Jackson Daniel Moraes vs. Matt brown Vinicious Malgahaes vs. George Bush Leopoldo Serao vs. Robert Wince Rafeal Dias vs. Phil Cardella Nissen Osterneck vs. Chris Meyers Damian Maia vs. Ryan Stout
April 18, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: STEPHANE PATRY
April 18, 2007
FURY FC 3
After the huge success of the first two editions of Fury FC, where Thiago Silva (Chute Boxe/ Gold Team) won a 16-man tournament and was presented to the world of MMA as new Brazilian phenom in the 93 kg weight class, promoter Victor Costa decided to repeat the formula, this time doing a 83 kg tournament. "Once again my goal is find who is the best 83kg fighter in Brazil. In order to do that, I’m bringing representatives of the biggest teams in the country and along with some surprising new teams," Costa said. Fury FC 3 will take place on May 19th at the Sírio Libanês Gymnasium in São Paulo. The first six names confirmed are: - Leandro Batata (Nova União) "We will announce the last two names soon," said Costa, who will promote the second stage (Fury FC 4) on August 4th in Rio de Janeiro bringing in eight more big names; names like Daniel Acacio (Chute Boxe), Rodrigo Ruiz (Brasa), Eduardo Pamplona (Gracie SP), Maycon Pesso (Lotus MMA), André Mikito (De La Riva Team), Michele Verginelli (Verginelli Team) and Sérgio Soares (GBCT). COMPLETE CARD (subject to change): Fury FC 3 - First stage of the Under-83kg GP 83kg GP - Confirmed names: Athletes who will probably participate:
April 18, 2007
ACROSS THE POND: BRITISH MMA NEWS
Pointon Gets Ready for his Cage Rage Debut It’s been a rollercoaster ride for Britain’s Ross Pointon ever since he was chosen to appear in the third season of The Ultimate Fighter. While Pointon won over fans with his guts, good humour and willingness to fight anyone, he suffered a series of losses both on the show and in his subsequent bout against Rich Clementi at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 9 in January. Now he’s preparing to make his first appearance at Cage Rage on April 21st, an event which is going head to head with the UFC up in Manchester on the same night. His opponent is British Lightweight champion Abdul Mohamed, who is going up to his old division at welterweight to meet Pointon. FCF: What do you know about Abdul Mohamed? FCF: You started fighting as a heavyweight, now you’ll be fighting Mohamed at welterweight. How have you come down so far? FCF: Your background is in San Shou, is your stand-up the strongest part of your game? FCF: Are you still working with Braulio Estima? FCF: What were you doing in the U.S.? FCF: Are you happy to be fighting at Cage Rage rather than the UFC? FCF: You have your own gym in the UK. FCF: Have more people come to the gym since "The Ultimate Fighter" was shown in the UK? FCF: What do you hope to achieve in 2007?
April 19, 2007
UFC 70 PREVIEW
Andrei Arlovski/ Fabricio Werdum David Heath/ Lyoto Machida
April 19, 2007
IRELAND AND LEE AT KOTC
After impressing many in their Pride debuts at Pride 33, “Second Coming,” in February, James Lee and Jason Ireland will be returning to King of the Cage for their next bouts. KOTC have announced that the two fighters are set to compete at the promotion’s upcoming “Explosion” event, which will take place at the Soaring Eagle Casino, in Mt.Pleasant, MI, on June 15th. Mash Academy fighter James Lee (9-2) is scheduled to fight Aungla Nsang (3-2). In his last bout, Lee introduced himself to many MMA fans world-wide in dramatic fashion at Pride 33, by submitting Travis Wiuff in 39 seconds with a guillotine choke. Lee has not lost a fight since 2003, when he was defeated by Dean Lister at KOTC 29, since that loss, he has won 8 of his last 9 fights, with a recent bout against Roy Pariente being declared a no-contest. Nsang has already fought 3 times in 2007, going 1-2. On March 31st he fought two times at the Cage Fighting Championships, defeating Shawn McCaulle by armbar, and then losing by Unanimous Decision to Julio Palino. The veteran lightweight Jason Ireland (16-7-1,) will take on Mike O’Donell (2-1). Despite losing by armbar to Joachim Hansen at Pride 33, Ireland looked impressive, pushing his highly regarded opponent with a gritty performance. Prior to his fight with Hansen, Ireland had won two fights in a row, defeating Jimmy Boyd and Jason St.Louis at KOTC “Mass Destruction” and “Insurrection” respectively. O’Donell is coming off an armbar win over John Koppenhaver at the Gracie Fighting Championship last March. O’Donell’s last fight before that was two years prior, when he lost by TKO to UFC veteran Forrest Petz at KOTC 34 in 2004.
April 19, 2007
UFC 72: FRANKLIN VS. KAMPMANN
The official Ultimate Fighting Championship website is reporting that Rich Franklin will take on Martin Kampmann at UFC 72, on June 16th. Although the site is still referring to the event as an “international” one, with no specific location named, it has been widely reported that the UFC intends to hold the event in Belfast, Ireland. The former middleweight champion Franklin will bring a record of 22-2 to the green Island, while the Danish fighter Kampmann holds a record of 12-1. In his last bout against Jason Macdonald, Franklin appeared to be back on track since losing his title to Anderson Silva at UFC 64 last October. Franklin stopped the veteran Macdonald by TKO at UFC 68, on March 3rd, in Columbus, Ohio. Kampmann also competed on that night, surviving an early onslaught from Andrew McFedries, only to render the Miletich fighter unconscious with an arm-triangle choke at 4:06 of round one. The win gave Kampmann his third victory in a row competing in the UFC, continuing a winning streak that dates back to 2004, when, in his only career loss, Kampmann was defeated by Andrei Semonov at the M-1 Middleweight Grand-Prix. We will have a full story on Martin Kampmann in an upcoming edition of FCF, click here to subscribe.
April 19, 2007
FROM THE EVENT'S PROMOTER: IFL PRESS RELEASE
Southern Calif. Condors Assistant Debi Purcell, undefeated submission star Jeremy Williams, undefeated Brazilian Olympian Antoine Jaoude, Philadelphia native Justin Levens and MMA legend Allan Goes all featured in this week’s episode NEW YORK, April 19, 2007- The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, will take fans into the camps of both the Seattle Tiger Sharks, coached by kickboxing and MMA legend Maurice Smith, and the Southern Calif. Condors, coached by Brazilian world champion Marco Ruas, Monday, April 23, at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. CT/MT). “IFL Battleground,” the series chronicling the league, airs every Monday night on MyNetworkTV. Some of the highlights seen during this week’s 11 bouts include: • Condors’ assistant coach Debi Purcell (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) who shows her training methods with the team along with some in the ring action from some of her previous fights. Debi tells what it’s like training and sometimes competing with men. Viewers can find their local MyNetworkTV affiliate at www.mynetworktv.com/local_stations.html. Each of the 12 IFL teams for 2007 will compete in three regular season events; the teams with the top four overall win-loss team records will advance to the semi-finals, which will be held on Thursday, August 2, at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. The 2007 IFL Finals will then be held at The Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 15.
April 20, 2007
CAGE RAGE 21 RESULTS
Second on the bill, Vitor Belfort had little trouble with the inexperienced Ivan Serati, who had no answer for Belfort’s hand speed. After tasting Belfort’s punches Serati decided to clinch, but was taken down and ended up being pounded on the floor until the referee saved the battered Italian after 3:47 of round one.
In title fight action, London’s James Zikic claimed the vacant Light-Heavyweight World Title by taking a close majority decision over Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos. In the first round Cyborg landed leg kicks almost at will, tenderising Zikic’s left thigh, but in the second the Brazilian seemed to have blown out and Zikic came back boxing, clearly taking the second round and edging out the third to win the belt.
The match between Murilo “Ninja” Rua and Alex Reid came to an abrupt halt when a low kick from Reid impacted with Rua’s knee and split Reid’s shin open in a huge cut that gushed blood, forcing the doctor to stop the fight after just 28 seconds.
Defending his British Welterweight belt, Paul Daley stopped late replacement Paul Jenkins in the second round. Despite having only three days to prepare for the fight, Jenkins started the first round well, working his kicks and dominating positions on the floor when he managed to get Daley to the canvas. However, he was knocked down late in the round and was lucky to survive a barrage from the champion. The end came in the second when Daley drove a left hook into Jenkins’ gut that dropped him to the floor, unable to continue. The most brutal KO of the night belonged to Abdul Mohamed, who threw a spinning back fist that caught his opponent Ross Pointon clean and dropped the TUF3 alumnus out cold in the opening round of their welterweight match. Mohamed has obviously expanded on his wrestling background and as his skill set becomes more rounded, so Mohamed is becoming ever more dangerous.
Alex Owen forced Brad Pickett into a jujitsu contest for most of their fight and gave Pickett scant openings to throw strikes. Owen made repeated attempts to secure submissions and held Pickett in a triangle body lock for most of the third round while he chopped away with punches from the back, earning the majority decision in the process.
Full Results Gary Turner def. David “Tank” Abbott by TKO (ref stoppage – strikes) 2:31 R1 Vitor Belfort def. Ian Serati by TKO (ref stoppage –strikes) 3:47 R1 James Zikic def. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos by majority decision James McSweeney def. Michael McDonald by majority decision – K-1 Rules Murilo “Ninja” Rua def. Alex Reid by TKO (ref stoppage – cut) 0:28 R1 Mark Weir def. Daijiro Matsui by unanimous decision Mark Epstein def. Roman Webber by KO 4:27 R1 Paul Daley def. Paul Jenkins by KO 0:49 R2 Abdul Mohamed def. Ross Pointon by KO 3:20 R1 Cyrille Diabate def. Ryan Robinson by armbar 1:16 R1 Alex Owen def. Brad Pickett by majority decision Xavier Foupa-Pokam def. Tom Watson by Kimura 2:27 R2 James Evans-Nicolle def. Sunnat Ilyasov by majority decision
April 20, 2007
ACROSS THE POND: BRITISH MMA NEWS
Sapp Out of Cage Rage – Tank Steps Up To Bat Forty-eight hours before he was due to weigh in, Bob Sapp is out of the headline fight at Cage Rage 21. “It’s for personal reasons,” said promoter Andy Geer, “which he wouldn’t and couldn’t really explain over the phone, so we had to take the decision and replace the main event.” That can not have been a decision taken lightly, since it was at such short notice that Sapp’s face is on all the posters and event programs. However his replacement is likely to be a popular choice, since its heavy hitting veteran David “Tank” Abbott, who got the call two days ago and got on the plane hours later to fly to London. Abbott was laconic and relaxed at the press conference, so much so that he appeared on the verge of nodding off at one point, although that could just be jet lag. Asked what he was doing when he received the call, Abbott replied, “I was actually drinking vodka, but I always train a little bit and I’m ready to fight. I feel good. What do I know about him? I know he’s down there. The first time I’ve seen him was about five minutes ago.”
His opponent, Gary “Smiler” Turner, was gracious to his last minute replacement, saying, “First I want to thank Tank for saving the main bill. Fair play, he gets on a plane, he comes over, he doesn’t know anything about me. He knows I’ve been training to fight Bob Sapp. What can you say? What a star!”
Asked if his training for Sapp would translate against Tank, Turner replied, “The preparation I had to fight Bob compared to fighting Tank, basically he’s exactly the same but ten times quicker. Tank’s got much more accurate shots than Bob, not quite as heavy but they’re sharper and more painful. I actually think it’s a much tougher fight. I’m glad I’ve put a lot of work preparatory for Bob because I’m going to need every scrap of it against Tank.”
Second on the bill, Italy’s Ivan Serati looked confident as he prepares for the biggest fight of his career against Vitor Belfort. “I’m ready to fight such a well established fighter, and I’m ready for the battle, it’s going to be a good match,” said Serati through a translator. Belfort did not look as imposing on the scales as he did when he last fought at Cage Rage. Whether his training has been incomplete or if he’s looking past the inexperienced Serati will be seen tomorrow. Despite his high profile, Belfort is not fighting for the vacant Light-Heavyweight World Title and when asked if he wants to fight for the belt, he replied, “I’d like to fight for any title, I’m ready. I focus on this fight. The future belongs to God and I’m here to do my job.”
The title will instead be contested by Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, from Brazil, and James Zikic., from London. The English fighter is coming off a three year absence from the cage and had better have worked all the ring rust off in the gym as Cyborg is certain to come after him fast and hard tomorrow night.
Alex Reid sported a ninja costume prior to his fight with Murilo Rua, while Tom Watson came out wearing ski goggles, a taunt to his opponent Xavier Foupa-Pokam who was accused of poking Reid in the eyes at Cage Rage 19. Foupa-Pokam did not looked pleased, but Watson has the skills to back up his provocation, with a background in professional boxing, good ground and pound and a very aggressive, fast paced style that may take Foupa-Pokam out of his comfort zone.
Full Fight Card: David “Tank” Abbott (239.5 lbs) VS. Gary “Smiler” Turner (235.5 lbs) Ivan Serati (202.5 lbs) VS. Vitor Belfort (204.5 lbs) James Zikic (201 lbs) VS. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (204 lbs) Michael McDonald (215.5 lbs) VS. James McSweeney (235.5 lbs) – K-1 RULES Maurilo “Ninja” Rua (184.5 lbs) VS. Alex Reid (182.5 lbs) Daijiro Matsui (181.5 lbs) VS. Mark “The Wizard” Weir (182.5 lbs) Roman Webber (204.5 lbs) VS. Mark Epstein (204.5 lbs) Paul Jenkins (169 lbs) VS. Paul Daley (169.5 lbs) Ross Pointon (169.5 lbs) VS. Abdul Mohamed (169.5 lbs) Cyrille Diabate (202.5 lbs) VS. Ryan Robinson (202.5 lbs) Alex Owen (143.5 lbs) VS. Brad Pickett (145 lbs) Tom Watson (184 lbs) VS. Xavier Foupa-Pokam (182 lbs) Sunnat Ilyasov (176 lbs) VS. James Evans-Nicolle (184.5 lbs)
April 20, 2007
UFC 70 WEIGH-INS UFC 70- “Nations Collide” Weigh-in-Results By FCF Staff and James Hoy FCF Correspondent James Hoy was on location in UFC 70 Official Weigh-in Results: Gabriel Gonzaga (243 lbs) vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (225 lbs) Lyoto Machida (199 lbs) vs. David Heath (205 lbs) Elvis Sinosic (205 lbs) vs. Michael Bisping (204 lbs) Fabricio Werdum (233 lbs) vs. Andrei Arlovski (238 lbs) Assuerio Silva (241 lbs) vs. Cheick Kongo (229 lbs) Matt Grice (155 lbs) vs. Terry Etim (154 lbs) Junior Assuncao (155 lbs) vs. David Lee (155 lbs) Victor Valimaki (203 lbs) vs. Alessio Sakara (204 lbs) Dennis Siver (167 lbs) vs. Jess Liaudin (168 lbs) Edilberto Crocota (169 lbs) vs. Paul Taylor (169 lbs)
April 20, 2007
UFC 72 NEWS UFC Confirms Belfast, Ireland for UFC 72 Location, Announces Griffin Vs. Ramirez By FCF Staff In a statement that has been posted on the official Ultimate Fighting Championship website, the organization confirmed yesterday that the location for the upcoming UFC 72, “Victory” card will indeed be The main event for UFC 72 will feature former UFC middleweight champ Rich Franklin against Martin Kampmann.
April 20, 2007
RAZOR INJURED
Though the nature of the injury didn’t warrant surgery, McCullough was told that the window of recovery wouldn’t allow him to train fully for the fight. “I believed I had the option of May or June,” McCullough said. “[The injury] had almost gone away. The doctor was like, ‘you need to take it easy, you need to heal.’” The search for Crunkilton’s opponent is now underway, with Jamie Varner mentioned as a possible opponent for the Coconut Creek-based fighter. Varner is rumored to be on the UFC 73 card already, facing Jorge Gurgel, who himself recently recovered from knee replacement surgery. McCullough mentioned August as a possible date for his return to action, with the winner of May’s fight facing him for his first title defense. “I’m kind of in limbo,” he lamented. “I was looking forward to fighting.”
April 22, 2007
UFC 70 RESULTS
The UFC had done a great job transporting the American format over to the UK including impressive sound and video systems -- if you watched this show on TV with the mute button on, it’s very unlikely you would be able to spot it’s not in Las Vegas. The crowd’s response to the fighters was electrifying, particularly for new hero Michael Bisping. Despite some tentative main event fights, the undercard was excellent and those fighters should be commended for going all out and not being fazed by the capacity crowd. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Gabriel Gonzaga It was Gonzaga’s turn to get the upset tonight and what a spectacular way to do so. The Brazilian tore through Filipovic, using his size and gameplan to outstanding effect. Speaking after the fight he said: "I was right mentally and physically and I knew the knockout would come." After showing that not only was he happy to trade, but that he could put Filipovic on the back foot with strikes, Gonzaga managed to get the fight to a place where he could do some real damage -- inside Filipovic’s guard. Although the Croatian trapped Gonzaga’s arms initially, he wasn’t able to deal with the elbows that came slipping through and started to make some real damage -- including a cut to the forehead. In a strange decision, ref Herb Dean stood the fighter’s up -- much to Filipovic’s relief. The fighters began to trade and a trademark high kick was thrown. But in a surreal moment, it was the Croatian falling back down to the mat, victim of a kick that wouldn’t look out of place in his own highlight reel. He was hit so hard and fast he collapsed awkwardly over his own leg and he received a couple unanswered punches while unconscious -- let’s hope the injury does not keep him out very long. Andrei Arlovski vs. Fabricio Werdum A disappointing fight with both fighters doggedly sticking to their game plans to get the win, Arlovski was rightly wary of going to the floor with Werdum and won a close decision by being more aggressive in the stand-up battle and preventing his opponent from scoring by stuffing his takedowns. Speaking after the fight, Arlovski addressed the booing crowd, apologizing for not finishing the fight. He said: “It felt great to win, I fought a smart fight.” Michael Bisping vs. Elvis Sinosic Opening up the fight with exchanges of strikes, both fighters looked very comfortable despite the huge amount of pressure on them to perform. But that quickly changed when Bisping caught Sinosic’s foot off a kick and found success in pounding away from inside the Aussie’s guard. Sinosic had no reply and was looking bloodied and tired from eating repeated elbows and punches -- he didn’t get up until he had to meet the bell for the second round. Going in to the second, it looked like Bisping was going to win a stand-up battle, until Sinosic fired a knee that sent him crashing to the floor. Sinosic managed to get side control and lock up a decent Kimura, but Bisping was able to get free. Maintaining control, Sinosic ended up with Bisping’s back and turned him over to try and get a rear-naked choke. Just as it looked like we might see another upset, the Brit was able to free himself of Sinosic’s hooks and turn into his guard to pound on the winded Australian for the TKO victory at 1:20 of round two. On the impressive recovery of Sinosic, Bisping said: “He managed to put me in a submission in round two and I didn’t see the shot coming. He took a lot of punishment and he’s a tough kid.” David Heath vs. Lyoto Machida A tentative showing from both fighters, neither seemed to find their rhythm and while Machida strikes looked effective he was only willing to throw them as a counter to Heath’s attacks. Heath, obviously wary of falling into a trap, was nowhere near as aggressive as fans are used to seeing him. After two extremely uneventful rounds, Machida woke up in the third to secure the victory, taking it to the ground and dishing out some effective strikes -- including a volley of painful looking knees to the body for the unanimous decision, a decision which the crowd vocally disagreed with. Assuerio Silva vs. Cheick Kongo Going in to this fight, it was very obvious where the strengths of these fighters laid. Kongo is of course an excellent kickboxer and throughout the fight landed some impressive, flashy combinations -- though they were not enough to take out the extremely tough Silva. Speaking after his majority decision victory, Kongo said, “I think it was an incredible fight for the crowd to watch. I didn’t expect it to be so difficult and I’m just so tired.” Silva knew he needed the fight to be on the ground and did a great job of picking up his opponent and slamming him down several times, but he was not able to capitalize on his hard work and seemed at a loss as to what to do with Kongo when he did have control of him. Kongo looked abysmal on the ground and was not going anywhere until the referee stood them up -- something he should be aware of for future bouts. At the final bell, Kongo took the majority decision for an aggressive kickboxing display, but his game would definitely benefit if he would work on making his takedown defense and grappling as good as his striking. Under card Matt Grice vs. Terry Etim In a great win for Etim that might see the introduction of a new Brit into the UFC fold; in fact, both fighters did themselves a lot of favors. Grice’s striking and ground-and-pound looked excellent and he is definitely one to watch for the future. The American wrestler dominated the round but came unstuck in the dying moments after getting stuck in two guillotine chokes -- the first sapping him of his strength and the second knocking him out for good. Etim said he was delighted with the win and the experience of fighting in front of a British crowd was “unbelievable.” Cleuder ”Junior” Assuncao vs. David Lee After a disappointing debut loss for both fighters, they were each looking to start fresh and get a solid victory. Assuncao, who was clearly much better prepared for this fight, said, “The first time I was in the UFC, I was given twelve days notice and I did it as a favor. This time around they’ve returned the favor and it means a lot to me.” Assuncao smashed the Brit around for the first round, looking comfortable and in control. He ended the fight with a rear-naked choke at 1:55 into round two. Victor Valimaki vs. Alessio Sakara In another quick fight, Sakara was able to utilize quick uppercuts from the clinch and superior striking to dismantle the Canadian. It could have been even quicker, but the fight was restarted after Valimaki’s mouthpiece was dislodged during a series of solid blows -- the look on Valimaki’s face told you he was done. The Italian went in for the kill and stopped it for good with a great series of strikes at 1:44 of round one. Jess Liaudin vs. Dennis Siver In a great victory for the London-based Frenchman, Liaudin survived being taken down off a kick to secure an armbar on Siver at just 1:21 of the first. After the fight, Siver said, “It’s fantastic! It’s been along time coming. I’ve wanted to fight in the UFC since I was 16 and I sent an application form in 1994 which was rejected.” Edilberto Crocota vs. Paul Taylor “Relentless” Paul Taylor made a fantastic impression on the crowd and UFC management with a dominating victory in the opening bout. Crocota looked very tough, but Taylor’s striking was hugely impressive, and he simply outgunned the Brazilian boxing champion. The referee stopped the fight at 37 seconds of round three, but Paul had to be pulled off his opponent -- explaining where he got is nickname.
April 23, 2007
THE NORTHERN TOUCH
Rumble in the Cage held its 23rd card this weekend, Saturday night in Lethbridge, Alberta, and the hometown crowd was treated to witnessing several of its local fighters come away victorious. Canadian Martial Arts Centre bantamweight Justin “Houdini” Tavernini stopped Mattieu Boncoeur by TKO, extending Tavernini’s record to a combined pro-am one of 13-8. Tavernini has won 5 fights in a row, with his last loss coming at Ultimate Cage Wars last May against K-1 Hero’s veteran, Ivan Menjivar. The loss drops Boncoeur’s record to 3-2. Dan “Torture” Chambers further entrenched his growing reputation for being a noted striker, by stopping Mitchell Gillis with strikes. Of Chambers 7 professional victories now, all have come way of strikes. The win pushed Chambers record to 7-2, and gets the Lethbridge fighter back on track after losing his last bout to Sean Locke at the Maximum Fighting Championships 11 in February. The loss for Mitchell sets his record at 1-2. Tim Tamaki earned another win for the CMAC team, as he submitted Josh Machan with a mounted triangle choke. The win for the veteran Tamaki leaves his combined pro-am record at 9-10-1, while Machan’s slips to 1-5. Jason Tatlow continued his resurgence as he submitted Calgary’s Brad Cardinal with an armbar. Since returning to MMA competition in late 2005 after a two year lay off, Tatlow has now gone 4-1. The win extends his overall record to 7-2 while Cardinal’s falls to 1-3. Jason “Dooms” Day was unable to compete in the main event against Aaron Rosas as scheduled, due what he told FCF was a viral infection. Up next, the lightheavyweight Day will begin preparing for his upcoming bout with Roger Hollett at MFC 12 on June 22nd. In other action from Saturday nights RITC: Neil Berry won by armbar submission over Elmer Waterhen, Andrew Buckland knocked-out Gerald Okanee, Sean Bauer by TKO stoppage over Vern Parkhurst, Bob Keleman submitted Dylan Ferguson with a triangle choke, Brock Allen won due to a guillotine choke submission on Shane Guertin, Carlos Espinioemore worked his way to a Split Decision victory over John Porterfield, and Jackson Jones submitted Kelly Dyck with a rear-naked-choke. MFC Unplugged 3: Junk, McGillivray Win for Pro-Camp The Maximum Fighting Championships held their 3rd “Unplugged” event this past Friday in front of a sold out crowd at the Crowne Plaza in Edmonton, Alberta. A series of cards the MFC promotes within a smaller venue and with an emphasis on up and coming fighters. The show was headlined by a heavyweight main event bout between Scott Junk and Dominic Richard. Junk is the latest addition to the Pro Camp ranks, a fight team that also features such notable fighters as Jason Macdonald, Victor Valimaki, and Fabio Holanda. Despite the pair of heavyweights falling out of the ring on two different occasions, once the action resumed in the ring, Junk was able to finish Richard by verbal submission due to strikes in the second round. The win for Junk extends his record to 5-1, and the MFC has announced that the Hawaiian fighter will compete for the MFC Heavyweight title on June 22nd. Another Pro-Camp up and comer fighter, Ryan McGillivray, was able to maintain his undefeated record, by submitting Kyle Ayotte in the first round with an armbar. The win leaves McGillivray with a record of 4-0, while his opponent Ayotte experienced his first career loss, leaving his record at 3-1. MFC Unplugged 3 Results: Mike Sorenson defeated Mike Tubbs via Decision Rd 3
The Multiplex in Vernon, BC will host King of the Cage Canada’s “Megiddo” event this Saturday, and there are several bouts scheduled for the card that certainly have considerable appeal. From a Canadian perspective the TJ Grant (6-0) vs. Gary Wright (5-0) bout features two of Canada’s better up and coming welterweight fighters. Grant most recently defeated Elmer Waterhen at KOTC “Capital Chaos” in March, while Wright defeated Myles Merola by submission due to punches at Valley Fight 2 on March 3rd. Also scheduled for the card is a match-up between two Canadian veterans in Jason St.Louis (11-10) and Kajan “Rajin” Johnson (6-7). This could turn out to be the fight of the night, as both men have been known to be aggressive, well rounded and entertaining fighters. KOTC has also announced a heavyweight match-up for the card between Ruben “Warpath” Villareal and Edmonton’s Tim Hague. Upcoming Canadian MMA Events King of the Cage- April 28th, Multiplex, Vernon, British Columbia
April 23, 2007
UFC 71 UPDATE
The official Ultimate Fighting Championship website is reporting that two more bouts have been added to the upcoming UFC 71 event that will take place at the MGM Grand Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 26th. The card, which is to be headlined by the highly anticipated rematch between UFC Light-heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson now has 4 bouts confirmed. A bout between welterweight contenders Josh Burkman and Karo Pariysan was also announced last week. Sean Salmon (9-2-0) will make his second appearance in the Octagon against light-heavyweight Eric Schafer (8-3-2). In his UFC debut against Rashad Evans at Ultimate Fight Night 9 in January, Salmon was giving Evans some difficulties until the “Ultimate Fighter” winner knocked him out with a highlight reel kick to the head. Prior to that loss, Salmon had gone 9-1, with his only other loss coming to another UFC fighter in David Heath. Schafer is also coming off a loss to a TUF finalist in Michael Bisping, who stopped him in the first round for the TKO win at UFC 66 in December. Schafer had won 4 fights in a row prior to that loss, including an impressive submission win over Rob Macdonald at UFC 62 last August. In the other light-heavyweight fight that has been confirmed for the card, James Irvin (12-3) will take on the highly touted Brazilian Thiago Silva (10-0). Irvin is coming off a TKO win over Hector Ramirez at UFC 65 last November, and has not been defeated in four fights. Irvin has gone 2-2 competing in the UFC thus far, with losses to Mike Kyle and Stephan Bonnar, and wins over the aforementioned Ramirez and Terry Martin. The undefeated Chute Boxe fighter Silva recently knocked out Tatsuya Mizuno in the first round at the Pancrase 2007 Rising Tour 2 in February. Of Silva’s 10 victories, six have come way of KO or TKO since the fighter started competing professionally in 2005.
April 23, 2007
FROM THE EVENT'S PROMOTER: IFL PRESS RELEASE
Las Vegas Hilton to Host its First-ever MMA event; Ken Shamrock’s Nevada Lions, led by rising stars John Gunderson, Roy “Big Country” Nelson and Vernon White to take on Don Frye’s Tucson Scorpions led by Mike Whitehead and Chad Griggs; Second matchup to pit Renzo Gracie’s New York Pitbulls, led by Jamal Patterson and Delson Heleno, against Carlos Newton’s Toronto Dragons NEW YORK, April 23, 2007 – The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, announced today that it will move its June 16 regular season event from Reno, Nev., to Las Vegas. The event will be held at the Las Vegas Hilton, marking the first time an MMA event will be held at the hotel. Tickets for the event, which range in price from $50 to $200, will go on sale April 28 through the Las Vegas Hilton Box office, Ticketmaster or at www.ifl.tv. “We were presented an opportunity for this breakthrough event in Las Vegas, and we felt it is an opportunity we could not pass up,” said IFL CEO and co-founder Gareb Shamus. “Our steady progress throughout our first year of existence (the first IFL event was only held April 29, 2006) has resulted in some great opportunities that we could not have predicted, and this move to work with the Las Vegas Hilton for this event is the latest one. It is a very exciting day for us, our athletes and for all the MMA fans in Nevada.” The event at the Las Vegas Hilton will be the final of nine regular season IFL events, with at least one of the four playoff berths on the line. The 10-bout card will feature Ken Shamrock’s Nevada Lions, featuring rising stars John Gunderson (Medford, Ore.), Las Vegas native Roy Nelson and heavy hitter Vernon White (East Palo Alto, Calif.), against the Tucson based Scorpions, who have heavyweight Chad Griggs (Tucson, Ariz.) and light heavyweight Mike Whitehead (Central Point, Ore.) on their roster. The first place New York Pitbulls, led by rising stars Jamal Patterson (Hoboken, N.J.) and Delson Heleno (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), take on Carlos Newton’s Toronto Dragons with lightweight standout Waggney Fabiano (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), in the second set of fights.
April 24, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: SEAN SALMON AND SVEN BEAN
April 24, 2007
BODOGFIGHT PREVIEW
Episode two of BodogFight’s Season 3 “Costa Rica” will feature two fights in the lightweight and bantamweight division. At 155 lbs, Rafeal Dias (7-1) will take on Sweden’s Sami Aziz (2-0). The American Top Team fighter Dias has won four fights in a row, and has not lost a fight since May of 2005, when he dropped a Unanimous Decision to Steve Kinnison at Freestyle Combat Challenge 19. Two months later at Absolute Fighting Championship 13, Dias avenged that loss, submitting Kinnison with a rear-naked-choke in the first round. At BodogFight Day 1 last August, Dias submitted Henry Matamoros for his 7th career victory. Despite being the less experienced of the two in MMA action, Aziz is desribed by the Bodog site as a world class wrestler with Olympic experience. In the second bout this week, 145 lb. fighter Brad Pickett (9-3) will face off against JJ Sims (1-1). The British fighter Pickett lost this past weekend to Alex Owen by Majority Decision at Cage Rage 21, his fight with Sims was of course filmed on a prior date. Prior to the loss to Owen, Pickett had won 4 of last 5 fights, including a notable win over Japanese fighter Hiroyuki Abe at Cage Rage 16 last April. Sims hails from Nevada, and clearly does not have an experienced MMA record like his opponent Pickett. The Bodog site states that Sims had his first pro MMA bout only two months after he began training. Episode 1 of BodogFight Season 3 featured FCF’s fifth ranked welterweight fighter in the world, Jake Shields, against Ray Steinbess. Knowing, and stating as much in his post fight interview, that he would have a more clear advantage over Steinbess in a match on the ground, Shields immediately took the noted striker Steinbess to the mat. It didn’t take long before the Cesar Gracie trained fighter secured a tight guillotine choke on Steinbess for the first round submission. The victory for Shields elevates his record to 17-4-1, while Steinbesses’ drops to 9-3. In the other fight last week, Steve Berger and Piotr Jakaczynski gave new meaning to the term “slugfest”, engaging in an all-out, stand-up war for three rounds. Despite Berger having a knee injury that appeared to limit his takedown abilities and mobility, and an early broken nose that Jakaczynski incurred early in the bout, the two welterweights battled on non-stop for 15minutes. In the end Berger was awarded the Split Decision victory in what was truly a thrilling fight. The win pushes Berger’s record to 19-15-3 while Jakaczynski’s falls to 2-1-1. Season 3 “Costa Rica” is the latest fight series offering from BodogFight that can be viewed every Tuesday and Saturday on the ION Television Network or via the promotion’s official website. The third season will also feature future bouts with notable fighters such as Trevor Prangley, Eddie Alvarez, Alex Stiebling and Nick Thompson.
April 24, 2007
ACROSS THE POND: BRITISH MMA NEWS
Fights Announced for Cage Rage 22 Cage Rage has released the preliminary line-up for their next show, scheduled for July 14th in London. Top of the bill, Eric “Butterbean” Esch will meet the British heavyweight champion Tengiz Tedoradze. Esch is coming off three wins in a row, most recently his submission of Zuluzinho in Pride. Tedoradze is a Greco-Roman wrestler by trade, so his style may not translate well to the bulk of Esch – Tedoradze loves to suplex his opponents but there’s no way he’ll be able to secure a grip around Esch even if he could lift him. The British champ will have to bring some new tricks to the table, and not make the mistake of standing in Butterbean’s line of fire that saw James Thompson come undone. Second on the bill is the return of the man acknowledged as the father of MMA in Britain – Lee Hasdell. Whilst he hasn’t competed since April 2004, Hasdell was fighting in RINGS as early as 1996 and has tangled with the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Gilbert Yvel. As a promoter he held the first MMA events in the UK in the 90s, but in recent years Hasdell moved away from the sport and made a very comfortable living as a bodyguard, while running his martial arts school in Milton Keynes. It will be the return of a British legend when Hasdell steps into the cage. His opponent is three time world BJJ champion and three time ADCC winner Mario Sperry. The Brazilian’s last match was his loss to Tsuyoshi Kosaka at Pride 31, but with his level of submission experience, Sperry should give Hasdell an interesting night. Fresh off his TKO of Tank Abbott, Gary Turner returns to face former British heavyweight champ Rob Broughton. Broughton lost to Tedoradze on a cut in December, but he was being manhandled and out punched prior to the doctor’s stoppage and Broughton’s slightly unpolished striking skills may not be sharp enough against the K-1 veteran Turner. If Turner gets past Broughton, he will be in prime position for a shot at the British belt. In more heavyweight action, James McSweeney will look to follow up his K-1 rules win over Michael McDonald with a win under MMA rules against Mark Buchanan. McSweeney’s jump knees in the Thai clinch are terrific and he’s a big guy with even bigger punches, so expect Buchanan to try to bring him to the floor to avoid those bombs coming his way. Down a class at lightheavyweight, Mark Epstein will meet Paul Cahoon in a battle of strikers that promises to be short and sweet. Last weekend at Cage Rage 21 Epstein asked for a rematch with the man who took his lightheavyweight British title, Ian Freeman, but the Machine has announced his retirement, leaving the belt vacant, so there’s the possibility that this fight will crown the new champion. One of the most exciting bouts announced is the welterweight meeting of Ross Mason and Marius Zaromskis on the undercard. This one promises fireworks galore, since both men are technically polished Muay Thai stylists, only too happy to let their fists and feet do the talking. Zaromskis match against Damien Riccio at Cage Rage 20 was the fight of the night so hopefully he’ll be able to match that performance against the very tough Mason, who will want to get back on target after losing by heel hook to Jess Liaudin in December. Undefeated Ronnie Mann, 10-0-1, will challenge Robbie Olivier for the British featherweight title. At 13-7-1 Olivier is the more experienced and will be hungry for a scrap, as he’s coming off a quick submission loss to Masakazu Imanari in his unsuccessful attempt to unite the British and World titles. Mann lacks Imanari’s lightning fast submission skills and unorthodox style, but like Olivier, he is a very well rounded competitor and neither man has any obvious gaps in their arsenals. This may come down to who wants the belt more and who has the bigger heart. Promoter Dave O’Donnell has announced that Cage Rage is trying to bring Vitor Belfort back again, either to take on his countryman Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos or to challenge newly crowned world lightheavyweight champion James Zikic. Given Belfort’s pedigree, he’ll be a heavy favourite against either man and while Zikic showed incredible durability in his win over Cyborg this past weekend, you can’t condition your chin against someone with Belfort’s power. Cage Rage 21 Fight Card Eric “Butterbean” Esch vs. Tengiz Tedoradze Mario Sperry vs. Lee Hasdell Rob Broughton vs. Gary Turner Herb Dean vs. Dave Legeno Mark Buchanan vs. James McSweeney Paul Cahoon vs. Mark Epstein Ronnie Mann vs. Robbie Olivier Marius Zaromskis vs. Ross Mason Ross Pointon vs. Dean Bray Joe Mac vs. Jeremy Bailey Michael Johnson vs. Damien Riccio
April 25, 2007
WHAT'S IN THE CURRENT ISSUE OF FCF
April 25, 2007
RING OF COMBAT PREVIEW
When: April 27th. Ring of Combat’s lightweight, welterweight and middleweight Tournament of Champions will culminate this Friday, and for local heroes James “Binky” Jones, Jay Coleman (replacing an injured Phillipe Nover) and Marc Stevens – three of the six remaining fighters in what began as a 24-man pool of competitors – it’s a chance to keep those ROC belts on the East Coast. But you better believe Team Quest submission stud Ian Loveland, fierce ground-and-pounder Todd Moore and razor-sharp Muay Thai fighter Jason House are going to give them hell once the referee says, “Go!” Thus far, we’ve seen knockouts, brawls and plethora of tapouts, so you can definitely expect more of the same this time around. Here’s a look at the match-ups: Lightweight Tournament Welterweight Tournament Middleweight Tournament Preliminary Bouts
April 25, 2007
RICHARD STEELE TO PROMOTE MMA
MMA has had another well known figure in the world of boxing crossover to the “other side”, as it was announced today via a press release, that Hall of Fame Boxing referee Richard Steele will join the sport of MMA as a promoter. The new organization, Steele Cage Promotions LLC, will be a partnership between Steele and Las Vegas businessmen Steve Oshins and Ed Swindle. Further, “Steele Cage” events will be sanctioned under the International Fighting Organization, and two IFO belts will be on the line at the promotions premiere card. The first Steele Cage event will take place on July 7th in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the Orleans Arena. The promotion’s official website, www.steelecage.com, has several of the bouts scheduled for the event posted. Marvin “The Beastman” Eastman (13-7-1) will be competing for the IFO middleweight title against Rob Kimmons (12-2). Eastman is coming off a KO loss to Quinton Jackson at UFC 67 in February, while Kimmons was victorious in his last fight, submitting Jasper Mayfield at Titan Fighting Championship 7 on March 23rd. At 145 lbs., Brandon Shelton (8-0) will take on Stephane Vigneault (9-4) for the IFO featherweight title. Shelton most recently defeated Rob Meehan by armbar submission at Cage Combat Championship Fights in February, while Vigneault lost by TKO to Damacio Page at TKO 24 in January. Several other non-title bouts have been confirmed for the card, which also feature some notable fighters. Former UFC middleweight contender David Loiseau (14-7) will fight Chilo Gonzalez (9-7), Zac George (9-1) will take on Thierry Quenneville (10-5) in the featherweight division, lightweight Lee Gibson (9-2) is scheduled to meet Sergio Perez (5-1), Richard Ho (5-1) will fight Damacio Page (8-3) at 145 lbs., at heavyweight, Kelly Gray (1-0) will take on James Funny (0-0), and welterweights Tony Barker (4-0) and Chris Kennedy (3-3) will do battle. Similarly to the Art of War MMA promotion, Steele Cage events will be broadcast on Mark Cuban’s HDNet, a high definition television network.
April 26, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: RORY SINGER AND MIKE CIESNOLEVICZ
April 26, 2007
MAY IN MMA
The month of April has been a dream for the hardcore MMA fan, in a span of three weeks we were all treated to 3 Ultimate Fighting Championship events, one Pride card, and a compelling offering from BodogFight on the 14th. Throw in a Cage Rage, ICON Sport, some International Fight League action, and one can pretty safely say that there has been a ton of world class fights to watch as of late. Although the May schedule doesn’t feature as many offerings from the MMA titans like the UFC or Pride, there are a couple of notable fights coming up that die hard fans would be well served to follow. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, depending on the hit your bank account took last month paying the cable bill, some of the great fights below may not be coming to a television near you anytime soon. May 18th, Shooto, Tokyo, Japan: Hatsu Hioki vs. Antonio Carvalho These two 145 lb. fighters will battle for a title shot against Shooto champion Takeshi “Lion” Inoue at Shooto’s upcoming event that will take place at the Korakuen Hall. Hioki’s stock is quickly rising around the world, as many are beginning to take notice of the up and coming Japanese fighter. The 12-1-1 Hioki demonstrated his evolution as a fighter in his last fight, a Majority Decision victory over UFC veteran Mark Hominick at TKO 28 in February. Hioki had long been respected for his ground game, submission skills that allowed him to defeat Hominick for the Team Tompkins’ fighter’s Featherweight title in their first encounter last May. This time around, Hioki surprised many by demonstrating a sound stand-up game, utilizing his lanky frame and extensive reach advantage against Hominick on route to his title defense. Hioki also holds notable wins over Joe Pearson and Jeff Curran. Carvalho has not fought since last May due to the fact the Canadian fighter injured his knee in his TKO loss to Inoue at Shooto, “Devilock”. Prior to that, Carvalho stopped Japanese legend Rumina Sato with strikes in the second round at Shooto’s 2006 February event. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Professors Shah Franco and Sylvio Behring is also an accomplished striker, and holds an earlier record over the current champion Inoue as well. The key in this bout could very well be Hioki’s reach advantage, and whether or not Carvalho can close the distance striking to either damage the Japanese fighter from the inside, or initiate a takedown in an attempt to defeat Hioki from the top position on the mat. Regardless of the strategy, this bout features two of the world’s better 145 pound fighters, and should be an outstanding match-up. May 19th, Gracie Fighting Championship, Columbus, Ohio: Ronaldo Souza vs. Jeremy Jackson Ronaldo Souza “Jacare” it appears will be competing more often in MMA bouts, as his upcoming fight with UFC veteran Jeremy Jackson will be Jacare’s 4th bout in a year. Prior to 2006, the Brazilian fighter who has a record of 4-1 had only competed twice, once in 2003, and once in 2004. So what’s the big deal you may ask? Jacare is a highly decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion, having won the BJJ Absolute World Championship twice and the 2005 ADCC Championship as well. Since returning to the MMA ring last year, Souza has gone 3-0, most recently defeating Haim Gozali at Jungle Fight Europe in December. The fight is a classic striker vs. grappler match-up, as 5 of Jackson’s 9 victories have come way of strikes. The “Ultimate Fighter” participant is certainly more than capable on the mat however, as 2 of his last 3 victories came due to submission. That said, there is likely little doubt that Jackson will look to keep the fight standing when he faces Jacare, and the fight will probably be determined by whether or not Souza can get the fight to the mat without absorbing any telling blows. Then again, no one expected Gabriel Gonzaga to knock-out Mirko Filipovic with a head kick last weekend. The Jackson, Jacare bout will offer a lot of insight as to where the Brazilian is at in terms of his transition to frequent MMA competition, and whether or not Jackson is ready to take another run at competing in high profile bouts consistently. May 26th, King of the Cage, Chicago, Illinois: Clay French vs. Buddy Clinton Clay French will look to defend his King of the Cage Lightweight Championship for the first time when he meets KOTC veteran Buddy Clinton at the UIC Pavillion. French, who has an impressive record of 10-2, became the first man to beat Mac Danzig in three years on January 19th, when he stopped Danzig’s 11 fight winning streak by Majority Decision. The Reinhardt fighter’s only losses have come against Justin James and the highly regarded Shinya Aoki. Most recently, French defeated Dom Bjerke by TKO due to strikes at the Courage Fighting Championships in January. Clinton, whose record is 9-3, has won two fights in a row since his failed bid to defeat Danzig at KOTC “Rapid Fire” last August. Despite the Unanimous Decision loss, Clinton earned favorable reviews for going the distance against the former champ. During his 8 year career, Clinton has won 8 of his fights via submissions, most recently a victory over Corey Garner at KOTC “Mass Destruction”, came way of a knee-bar. Clinton’s only other two losses came against Shonie Carter and Takefumi Hanai. This lightweight title bout between two well accomplished fighters could very well end up being a great show for Chicago fans. Of course May 26th will feature UFC 71 and the highly anticipated rematch between Quinton Jackson and Chuck Liddell, but until then, the aforementioned bouts plus other upcoming action should tie over the die hard MMA fan. There’s the Red Bears vs. the Silverbacks at the IFL on May19th, World Extreme Cagefighting 27 on May 12th, Art of War 2 on May 11th, among many others, to at the very least, wet your MMA appetite.
April 27, 2007
UFC UPDATE
The official Ultimate Fighting Championship website is reporting several new fights that have been added to the promotions upcoming events in May and June. UFC 71 will take place on May 26th in Las Vegas, Nevada, while on June 16th the organization will head to Belfast, Northern Ireland, for its 72nd card. On FCF Radio yesterday, “Ultimate Fighter” veteran Rory Singer confirmed what the UFC site now reports, that he will take on Jason Macdonald at UFC 72 in a middleweight clash. Singer (11-6) is coming off a submission loss due to strikes vs. rising contender Yushin Okami at UFC 66 in December. Prior to that, Singer went 2-0 in his first official UFC bouts, defeating Ross Pointon and Josh Haynes. Macdonald has also gone 2-1 in the UFC, submitting Ed Herman and Chris Leben before losing to Rich Franklin by TKO at UFC 68 in March. The Canadian veteran will head to Northern Island with a record of 18-8. In another middleweight bout scheduled for UFC 72, Scott Smith will fight Ed Herman. Smith (12-3) most recently stopped Trevor Miller in the first round by TKO at the Palace Fighting Championships in March. Competing in the UFC, Smith has gone 1-2, defeating Pete Sell, while losing to Patrick Cote and David Terrell. Herman (11-4) is also coming off a recent win, as at UFC Fight Night 9 in January, the Team Quest fighter submitted Chris Price in the first round with an armbar. Prior to that, the TUF competitor lost his first two official UFC fights, dropping a close Split Decision to Kendall Grove at the TUF Season 3 finale last June, as well as this aforementioned loss to Macdonald. The UFC 71 card also continues to near completion, as the event now has 5 fights confirmed. The latest bout to be posted on the UFC site is a lightweight battle between Din Thomas and Jeremy Stevens. Thomas (22-6) has won his last two fights in the UFC, most recently defeating Clay Guida by Unanimous Decision at UFC Fight Night 9. Stevens will be looking to impress when he takes on the 10 year vet Thomas, as he will be making his UFC debut. To listen to the latest edition of FCF Radio where Singer discusses his upcoming bout with Macdonald, head to the shows archive page to download the show.
April 27, 2007
BRAZILIAN XFC TRIALS
XFC BRASIL -77kg: -83kg: -93kg: +93kg:
April 28, 2007
RING OF COMBAT RESULTS
(April 27th, Tropicana Casino & Resort, Atlantic City) A jiu-jitsu fighter from Baltimore shined, a ground-and-pound machine from Texas dominated, and a wrestler from upstate New York gave just as good as he got. The Ring of Combat Tournament of Champions culminated tonight with "Binky" Jones, Todd Moore and Marc Stevens each coming away with crowns to cap off an evening of crowd-pleasing action. Some highlights of the event included: Full results: Lightweight Tournament Final Welterweight Tournament Final Middleweight Tournament Final
Preliminary Bouts
Good via doc stoppage – Charles couldn’t answer the bell for R2 due to a broken foot. Erick Tavares (Rhino Fight Team-191lbs) vs. Mike Massenzio (Jerry Jones-189lbs) Nardu Debra (Insight-159lbs) vs. Ido Pariente (Team Pariente-157lbs) Shennen Maceo (Team Tiger Schulmann-139lbs) vs. Steve DeAngelis (Rhino Fight Team) Dan Karnbauer (Real Combat Fight Club-205lbs) vs. Brendan Barrett (Ronin/Wat/Rhino-205lbs) Khristian Geraci (Pittsburgh Fight Club-148lbs) vs. Joey Spataro (Evolution Combat Club-147) Carmine Zocchi (Rhino Fight Team-171lbs) vs. Brian McLaughlin (Hudson Valley Jiu-Jitsu-171lbs)
April 28, 2007
RORY MARKHAM
Markham (11-2) recently underwent a minor procedure to repair a hole in the retina of his eye. He said the injury was impact induced over time and in February, he finally got the chance to take care of it. During that time off, Markham got a chance to dabble in one of his other passions -- acting. "It was the most fun I've ever had over a four-week period in my life. I played a bounty-hunter-type guy, sort of a half-Indian tracker. It was a great experience and definitely where I'm going after fighting, unless my face starts looking like a catcher's mitt," he said. The movie is opens in theaters Friday, May 4 and is called The Life and Death of Bobby Z starring Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix, Just Cause) and Paul Walker (Fast and the Furious, Running Scared). Markham plays a bounty hunter and Pat Miletich was the on-site Fight Coordinator. "[Pat] is one of the funniest guys I've ever met. Every day on the set he couldn't stop making me laugh," he said. Markham believes fighting and acting are both forms of artistic expression. "I've always said that fighting is a creative process and a work of art -- I stand behind that whole heartily. Anything action where you can express your inner-most angst is a form of art." At Markham's last "art session" he hopped in the ring with Pat Healy from Ken Shamrock's Nevada Lions. Markham won his first fight since the 2006 IFL Championship by KO in the third round. "I felt great for my fight against Healy. I peaked perfectly. It takes time to do that, especially for an intense battle like the one I had with Healy. I wasn't even short of breath," Markham said. The fight with Healy came right after Markham's first IFL loss to Chris Wilson and while some have trouble rebounding from their first loss, Markham found ways to grow from it.
While in 2006, Markham seemed simply unbeatable, in 2007, even more of the mixed martial arts world's "Untouchables" have been tasting defeat. Just last weekend, Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic was upset by Gabriel Gonzaga and a few weeks earlier The Ultimate Fighter Show 4 winner Matt "The Terror" Serra knocked out George St. Pierre.
April 28, 2007
MAY 12 WEC CARD
World Extreme Cagefighting has announced the card for its upcoming May 12th event that will take place at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The promotion has of yet; still not found an opponent for Rich Crunkilton, who was scheduled to fight Rob McCullough, however, the WEC lightweight champ had to withdraw due to injury. Jason “Mayhem” Miller (18-5) will make his debut fighting for the WEC, as the middleweight fighter will take on Hiromitsu Miura (4-3). Miller recently defeated Hector Urbina at ICON Sport 50 in March, stopping Urbina with strikes in the first round. Miura was also victorious in his last bout, as at the K-1 Hero’s event last October, he defeated Ryo Takigawa by TKO. The event will be headlined by a light-heavyweight title fight, as current WEC champ Doug Marshall (4-2) will look to defend his belt against Justin McElfresh (5-1). In his last bout at WEC 23 last August, Marshall knocked out Lodune Sincaid in the first round. McElfresh is also coming off a win, in November at Extreme Fighting Organization 13, he submitted veteran Ron Fields with an armbar. Here is the complete line-up for the May 12th, WEC card; Middleweight Bout Lightweight Bout Bantamweight Bout Welterweight Bout Lightweight Bout
Light Heavyweight Bout Middleweight Bout Lightweight Light-Heavyweight Title Bout
April 28, 2007
FROM THE EVENT'S PROMOTER: IFL PRESS RELEASE 
April 29, 2007
REALITY FIGHTING DOMINATION RESULTS
CONCORD, N.H. – Saturday started out a little rainy, but in the late afternoon the fight fans poured into the Everett Arena, excited and ready for Reality Fighting Domination. It was a spectacular night of fights as Kipp Kollar presented 15 quality fights with three title matches. It was a packed house, from the bleachers to the penalty box, and a crowd limited to a maximum of 1,900 enjoyed the intense competition between fighters, as well as two big knockouts that happened in the opening seconds of their bouts. The card was enjoyable from start to finish, it had good match-making and was filled with fighters who really gave it their all. Glenn Brown showed excellent ring maturity for only his second fight. His wrestling background has been the backbone of his success in MMA so far, winning by submissions in both fights. In this fight, he outmaneuvered Tim Alexander for two rounds, staying busy on the ground, always looking for a submission and avoiding punishment. He survived a big slam, while refusing to let go of an arm bar attempt, and fought his way out of a strong guillotine choke. He submitted Alexander with an arm bar at 1:49 of R2.
Nate Kittredge, a friend and former wrestling opponent to Brown, became the Reality Fighting Middleweight Champion with a TKO win over Jesse Peterson at 4:48 of R1. Kittredge loves a good fight and always brings it full-speed ahead as if his opponent can’t hurt him, they can only contain him. Kittredge is undefeated after four fights. A 47-year-old, first-time fighter named Dennis Siggins stole the show with a win over Jessie Reidhaar. Siggins took the fight on about a week’s notice when Kollar contacted him about finding a 170-pounder for Reality Fighting Domination. Siggins, who trains fighters at his home but has never gotten in the ring himself, seized the opportunity and won over the crowd with his intense determination. His cardio was top-notch, he stayed busy throughout the fight, and won by applying a solid standing guillotine that then tightening it by quickly jumping-guard and winning by submission at 2:13 of R2.
The biggest knockout was in the main event as Justin Hammerstrom put his welterweight belt on the line against Mike Campbell. Hammerstrom was struck immediately by a fierce high kick that both started and ended the fight in under five seconds. It was a decisive victory for Campbell, but his inability to stop attacking an already beaten opponent soured the win.
TITLE MATCHES Welterweight Championship - Mike Campbell def. Justin Hammerstrom by KO at 0:04 of R1. MAIN CARD Nate Lamotte def. Myron Williams by KO at 0:04 R1.
April 29, 2007
GABRIEL GONZAGA
Gabriel Gonzaga is a thankful man. He has every reason to be. After suffering a personal tragedy prior to his debut at UFC 56 that left him deeply shaken and unfocused, Gonzaga has emerged to provide another shocking upset in the world of MMA. Like the other members of the upset club, Gonzaga was written off as easy fodder for his marquee opponent. UFC brass surely envisioned his bout with Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic as a step on the Pride vet’s ladder to Randy Couture. The way Gonzaga sees it, Filipovic bought in to conventional logic. “I think he underestimated me,” he told FCF. “Like him, the whole world underestimated me, because they didn’t know me. Now, I think they look at me in a different way.” After viewer’s eyes registered the owner of the KO high kick as Gonzaga’s, a sea change of opinion was in order. “What people didn’t understand is that I was going to win this fight,” Gonzaga says. “I have been waiting for this chance my whole life, and the opportunity showed up, and I didn’t want to lose it.” Since the fight, Gonzaga has been overwhelmed by the amount of attention he has received. After operating mostly under the mainstream radar, the shift is a welcome change. “My last few days have been the best,” Gonzaga says of his post fight days. “Many UFC fans are coming to talk to me and shake my hand and get photos. That feels good after all the hard work I’ve done in my career.” Two months prior to the fight, Gonzaga sat down with his trainers to begin the hard work of breaking down Filipovic’s game. “We were looking for his weak points, and we were trying to avoid his strong points, his kicks,” the heavyweight said. As evidenced by his performance, Gonzaga followed the plan step by step. Filipovic was never able to create the distance for a striking barrage, as Gonzaga poured on a series of straight rights that forced the Croatian to circle away. The one kick Filipovic managed to fire off was quickly seized upon for a takedown. Post-fight, many fans second guessed referee Herb Dean’s decision to stand the two up. Gonzaga had landed several nasty elbows to Filipovic’s head during their tenure on the ground, but Dean’s call didn’t jar Gonzaga significantly. “I think he could have let the fight go a little big longer, because I was pounding him on the ground, but I understand the spectators want to see a knockout,” he says. “But we got stood up, and when he was standing….things happen for a reason.” While the rest of the world could have never guessed the fight’s ending, Gonzaga didn’t see it going any other way. Gonzaga is now the owner of a title shot in the UFC heavyweight division, but his dispatch of the top 10 fighter doesn’t make him think about his placement among the top echelon of the sport’s elite. “I don’t think about this right now,” he says. “The spectators come up with a lot of rumors, but I know that Randy Couture is the champion, and I just want to fight for the belt.” In his post-fight comments, Couture openly admitted that he felt Filipovic was a better style match-up for him, but looked forward to facing Gonzaga in August. Gonzaga won’t say whether he agrees with the five-time champ. “I think Randy is an excellent fighter, he doesn’t need to prove anything to anybody,” he says quickly. “He has a lot of history in the UFC, he knows what he’s talking about, but I’ve been training for this and it would be a big honor to fight Randy.” Whether he is able to steal the title away remains to be seen, but the root of Gonzaga’s thankfulness becomes clear when he speaks of the organization that gave him a second chance. “I know they are bringing big superstars to MMA,” Gonzaga says, “but I grew in the event and I want to prove to them they were not wrong when they trusted me in the beginning,” Gonzaga concludes, “I am going to be heavyweight champion of the UFC.”
April 29, 2007
TOTAL FIGHT CHALLENGE RESULTS
Hornbuckle opened the fight with his usual intensity, running across the mat and throwing a big kick before shooting in for the takedown. Hornbuckle looked like he was going to dispatch yet another opponent in under a minute (he’s done it in three of his last seven fights) when he went for a rear-naked choke, however, Shaw was quick to escape and brought the fight back to the feet, where he landed several hard punches and a knee to the head that hurt his opponent. Hornbuckle saved himself by taking Shaw to the ground, where the two fighters exchanged reversals, both escaping from the mount in what was a blistering first round. Hornbuckle opened round two more cautiously than round one, circling his opponent and landing a few jabs and low kicks. Shaw absorbed the shots and returned fire. As he stepped in to throw a right hand, Hornbuckle shot in underneath and took Shaw to the mat. In side control, Hornbuckle set up for some ground and pound but instead snuck in an arm-triangle choke that forced Shaw to tap at 2:53. In the co-main event, Jesse Chilton was able to hold off Dan Lamping’s takedown attempts while scoring points with low kicks before scoring a takedown of his own. On the ground Chilton looked for submissions, eventually finding one when he sunk in a guillotine choke for the tapout at 2:27 of round one. With two submission victories in TFC and six-fight win streak overall, Chilton may be in line for a shot at Hornbuckle’s newly minted belt. Crowd favorite Jared McMahan survived an early barrage from Ulysses Rocha who rocked him with a kick to the head. The blow knocked McMahan to the canvas. Many referees may have stopped the bout right there but the fighters were allowed to continue, and, in this case, it proved to be the right call as McMahan quickly recovered and took over the fight. After a crowd pleasing suplex, McMahan’s superior ground game left Rocha with few options. McMahan moved to the mount where his stiff punches caused Rocha to give up his back and fall victim to a rear-naked choke at 3:47 of round one.
Aaron “The Tower of Power” Kreke made short work of Jim Peterson, cracking a knee on Peterson’s jaw just seconds into the fight. As he went down, “The Tower” followed, exploding on his fallen opponent with a vicious flurry of punches that bounced off Petersons head, forcing the referee stoppage just thirty-one seconds into the fight. 3-0 in his short career, Kreke continues to impress. York Ash and Roberto DeLeon took turns nearly finishing each other in the first round of their fight. Though neither could end the fight, both fighters wore themselves out and spent much of the second round in a sloppy haze. Despite their exhaustion, both fighters stayed busy. Ash took over late in the second, landing a stiff right straight that hurt DeLeon and forced him against the cage, where he wilted to the mat like a dying flower. Surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly) Ash was too tired to finish his opponent and the fight went to round three, where Ash surprised us again by catching DeLeon in a triangle armbar at 1:11. Brandon Munson overpowered a very game Jeremy Morrison en route to a submission victory. Throughout round one, Munson slammed Morrison to the mat, getting mount each time and raining down punches until Morrison could escape to his feet. In the second round, Munson took Morrison down again and worked for an armbar, which Morrison escaped. On the feet, Morrison was able to land a few punches before securing a takedown of his own. After escaping a triangle attempt and getting back to his feet, Morrison started to look like he might turn the fight around; however, Munson scored a final takedown where he was able to secure the keylock that finished the fight at 3:42 of round two.
Jeff Case found himself underneath a very aggressive Mike Camba early in the fight. Not one to sit and take punches, Case used a very active guard to temper Camba’s ground and pound. Indeed, it worked as Camba opted to give up his position standing above Case to go for a toe hold. Despite the objections from his cornermen, Camba continued to attempt the hold. It proved an ill-fated decision. After a quick game of footsy, Case took Camba’s back and sunk in the rear-naked choke for the win at 3:42 of round one. Full Results Professional Fights Welterweight Championship Bout Jesse Chilton def Dan Lamping by guillotine choke 2:27 Rd 1 Amateur Fights Angel Kariofillaf def David Derigotis by unanimous decision
April 29, 2007
K-1 RESULTS
K-1 returned to Hawaii after a two-year hiatus. This time the event did not feature MMA bouts, but it did feature the world’s best kickboxers. There were some delays and limited distribution of press credentials for local and national media sources that normally cover events in Hawaii. This reporter received a pass for myself and my photographer, but we could not get ringside access and were placed at the top of the riser seats, which is behind the floor seating.
Logistics aside, K-1 lived up to its record of high percentage of fights ending in a KO. Out of 14 fights, every fight ended via KO or TKO except for four. One of the matches that reached a decision was a war between Ernesto Hoost disciple, Jerrel Venetiaan, taking on Australia’s Peter Graham. Great exchanges by both fighters took place throughout, but Peter Graham’s size seemed to be a major factor in the fight. In one of the preliminary bouts, Mighty Mo Jr, whose likeness to his father was unmistakable, stepped into the ring, unfortunately for “Little Mo” he was on the wrong end of spinning back kick. Preliminary Fight Preliminary Fight Reserve Fight The tournament quarter finals saw Mighty Mo breeze through a large opponent in Kyoung Suk Kim and Jan Nortej come back from Julius Long’s accurate punching to finish a tired Long. The Ernesto Hoost-trained Patrick Barry fired off some devastating leg kicks, and after staggering Goodridge a few times, a flurry of punches and kicks resulted in a huge gash above Goodridge’s eye causing the doctor to stop the fight. Newcomer, Aleksandr Pitchkunov showed off great boxing skill and fluid kicking to pick apart Tatsufumi Tomihira, who showed the heart of a lion. K-1 USA GP 2007 Tournament Quarter Finals K-1 USA GP 2007 Tournament Quarter Finals K-1 USA GP 2007 Tournament Quarter Finals K-1 USA GP 2007 Tournament Quarter Finals Super Fight The semi-finals featured Mighty Mo looking for a spot to land his patented over hand right and Nortej did a good job of defending it until the second round. Mo pushed Nortej into a corner and landed the over hand right, followed by a left hook that sent Nortej to his knees and Mo added another vicious right hook to seal the deal. Patrick Barry did not look as impressive against Aleksandr Pitchkunov in their fight. Pitchkunov continued his active punching campaign and rocked Barry a few times, almost finishing him in the second round, but somehow Barry survived. Pitchkunov looked weary, but continued to pound on Barry winning the unanimous decision, tiring himself further. K-1 USA GP 2007 Tournament Semi Finals K-1 USA GP 2007 Tournament Semi Finals Super Fight
The only local fighter to participate in the main card was Mike “Rocky” Malone, who faced a giant who destroyed his last opponent in Hawaii. Hong-Man Choi destroyed 6’ 8” 400lbs+ Akebono in his last appearance in Hawaii. Choi towered over Mike Malone, who weighed in just over 200lbs. Malone ran around the ring and tried to stay outside of Choi’s power. Choi’s knees sent Malone to the canvas twice. Choi also landed a hook after Malone landed his own hook of his own. In the second round, Malone taunted Choi while running around the ring avoiding Choi’s strikes. Unfortunately for Malone in the second round, Choi started landing a couple more strikes and after a kicking exchange, Malone cut his shin to the bone and could not continue. Super Fight This match was a technical battle between two highly skilled combatants with exchanges of punches and kick combinations. The hype of the fight was Bonjasky’s flying knees pitted against Feitosa’s Brazilian Kick. Unfortunately, both fighters kept a tight guard due to the level of their opponent. The technical battle continued throughout all three rounds with Bonjasky edging out Feitosa for the decision. K-1’s bad boy from Morocco took on the “Japanese Cannon” in Fujimoto. Hari established his speed off the bat firing off some quick punches and kicks. A perfectly timed straight left hand sent Fujimoto to the canvas at the opening of the round. After Fujimoto stepped in to press Hari, Hari landed a knee and a right hook that set up his devastating left kick to the head that KO’d Fujimoto to earn Hari the K-1 Heavyweight championship. The tournament finals was as expected with Pitchkunov coming into the bout battle weary after two wars and Mo pressing the action with his power and size. Pitchkunov continued to stick and move, but Mo’s power punching and pressure took its toll on Pitchkunov. Pitchkunov had his moments and landed a spinning back kick that dropped Mo and cut his head. Mo came back to send Pitchkunov to the canvas a few times in the bout, but Pitchkunov fought back and landed another spinning back kick, which caused both of them to go down. In the end, Mo’s pressure and combination of body and head punches took their toll and sent Pitchkunov to the canvas a few times and finally for the last time to earn him the tournament championship.
April 30, 2007
BODOGFIGHT
Tuesday night’s episode of BodogFight Season 3 “Costa Rica” will feature fights in the welterweight and heavyweight division. Team Quest fighter Jeremiah Constant (4-1) will step into the ring with Norwegian heavyweight Dan Evensen (5-2), and both men likely won’t be dropping down to the compete at 205 pounds any time soon. Constant is listed on the BodogFight site at 6’1, 252 lbs., while Evensen comes in at 6’5”, 248 lbs. Contstant has won all four of his fights by submission, most recently, at Full Contact Fighting Promotions last August, he submitted Jack Armstrong with a rear-naked-choke. After winning his first five bouts, Evensen has dropped his last two, in October he was defeated by Dan Bobish at Xtreme Fight Series 2. The action at 170 will pit Philadelphia’s Stephen Haigh against Japan’s Tatsuya Wada. Haigh comes into the bout with a combined pro-am record of 8-4, and most recently defeated Toraji by Unanimous Decision at the Mixed Fighting Championship 7 last summer. Haigh is the owner and head instructor of Philadelphia’s Fight Factory, and began competing in MMA in 2000. His opponent Wada (13-7-8) is a veteran of the Shooto and Pancrase organizations and has competed against numerous notable opponents including Carlos Condit, Jorge Santiago, Koji Oishi, Dave Strasser and Kuniyoshi Hironaka. Most recently he defeated Nao Yoshida by submission at the Pancrase “Blow Out Tour 10” in December. In last week’s Costa Rica episode, American Top Team fighter Raphael Dias edged out a Split Decision victory over the extremely tough Sami Aziz, in what was yet another thrilling bout for Season 3. Resilient British fighter Brad Pickett recovered from several telling bows to eventually stop JR Sims by TKO. The Nevada fighter Sims was less than enthused however with the stoppage, maintaining that it was pre-mature. BodogFight Season 3 “Costa Rica” is available for viewing on the ION Television network as well as the Fight Network. Episodes can also be downloaded via the promotion’s official website. |
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Two-time ADCC and jiu-jitsu world champion, Marcelo Garcia is ready to make his MMA debut. Considered among the most technical ground fighters in the world, Garcia will make his debut against Marcus Avellan on May 19 in the Gracie Fighting Championship in Columbus Ohio. "I believe he will repeat the same success in MMA that he did in submission grappling and jiu-jitsu. Ronaldo Jacaré and Marcelo Garcia will make history in MMA -- in fact, they are helping each other train," said Garcia’s manager Wallid Ismail.
Preparing for his Pride debut on April 8th, Full Contact Fighter caught up with rising star Zelg “Benkei” Galesic from his training camp in Thailand. Galesic is coming off the biggest win of his career, a 20-second KO of Mark Weir that earned the fighter his first title, the Cage Rage British Middleweight Championship. He was scheduled to take on Daijiro Matsui at Cage Rage 20 in December, but was sidelined by an injury in training. Now Galesic is set for his first outing on Japanese soil, alongside his Trojan Free Fighters team-mate, James “The Colossus” Thompson, who’ll be meeting Don Frye. Galesic’s opponent will be Makoto Takimoto, the gold medallist in judo at the 2000 Olympics. Takimoto now trains in MMA with Japanese fan favourite Hidehiko Yoshida. Galesic is not without honors either, having won two World Tae-Kwon-Do Championships, making their match a classic striker versus grappler contest. Galesic’s nickname, Benkei, refers to a famous warrior from Japan’s feudal era, Saito Musashibo Benkei, who was renowned for his strength and loyalty to his lord, which should warm the hearts of the Japanese audience.
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This Sunday, April 29th, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian MMA fighter Fabiano Ilha will host a trial for the new MMA event Xtreme Fighting Championship (XFC), which will take place in California on June 30th. "We will make four tournaments in four different categories [77kg, 83kg, 93kg and over 93kg], to choose a Brazilian representative in each one of those categories. We received more than 100 applications and selected 16 great talents. From what we've heard about these new talents, we believe it's going to be a great show," said Marcus Vinícius de Lucia, the technical director of the event who is also owner of Beverly Hills Jiu-Jitsu Academy. According to Vinícius and Iha, the fights will consist of a single 10-minute round. In order to win the $1000 prize, the champion of all four categories will have to fight twice.
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