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| Thursday - March 1, 2001 |
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Thai Boxing (Holland) Rayen Simpson vs (Belarus white Russia) Karpin (Holland) Smir Bennazouz vs (Kroatian) Sean Pulcjak (Holland) Ramon Dekker vs (Swiss) Marino Deflorin (Holland) Ernesto Hoost vs (Swiss) Xhavit Bajrami Ladies match (Holland) Illonka vs (Hungaria) Christina Horvai Vale Tudo fights (Holland) Ronny Rivano vs (Russia) Serge Bytchkov (Holland) Martijn de Jong vs (Brazil) Tulio Palhares (Holland) Alistar Overeem vs (Russia) Stasnuchik (Holland) Valentijn Overeem vs (England) Ian Freeman (Holland) Bob Schreiber vs (Canada) Gary Goodridge (Holland) Sem Schilt vs (Belarus White russia) Alexej Medvedev (Holland) Gilbert Yvel vs (Brazil) Carlos Baretto Vale Tudo Super Prestige fight (Holland) Ed de Kruyf vs (Germany) Fatih Vale Tudo Lady match Irma Verhoef vs (Russia)Natalia Bobkova |
Congratulations to Andrei Vieru of Oswego, NY - USA, he won the most recent FCF Guess Who Contest. Andrei wins FCF socks and a tank top. He correctly identified the following fighters...
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For FASTEST service call in your credit card order (516)922-1081 Or Click here to order securely online with your credit card or print off the order form & mail it in with your payment |
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From the event's promoter: Present * RETURN OF THE GLADIATORS II * UFCF & Washington State sanctioned Professional Kickboxing & Pankration March 3, 2001 - 7:00PM Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester, WA LINE-UP & FIGHTER BIO's
Tickets Available at: Lucky Eagle Casino 800-720-1788 www.luckyeagle.com Rochester, WA http://www.Pankration.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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From the event's promoter: New York Showdown 4 The return of Professional San Shou to NYC! A charity event to benefit St. Jude's Children's Charities Saturday, April 14, 2001 Norman Thomas High School Auditorium 111 E 33rd Street between Park Ave and Lexington Ave. Tickets available from NYKKA 43 W 24th street NY NY (212) 242-2453 Four championship matches including two professional San Shou championships. |
| Friday - March 2, 2001 |
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Jens Pulver Vs. Kaoru Uno By Joel Gold
Click here to see the pictures |
| Saturday - March 3, 2001 |
For FASTEST service call in your credit card order (516)922-1081 Or Click here to order securely online with your credit card or print off the order form & mail it in with your payment |
King Of The Cage 6| Sunday - March 4, 2001 |
From the event's promoter:
BAMA Fight Night XIII... Saturday March 10th, 2000 Fights start at 7:00pm (doors open at 6:00pm) South Plainfield Middle School 2201 Plainfield Ave. South Plainfield, NJ Can't see your favorite sport on TV? Come check out the action LIVE!!! * Shootfighting * Muay Thai * * Mixed Martial Arts * Grappling * Fight Night XIII features two 4-man Shootfighting tournaments with championship belts and titles on the line! Also, additional Shootfighting, Mixed Martial Arts, Muay Thai, and grappling matches are scheduled to be on the card. For further information: call (908) 352-0622 Or visit http://members.aol.com/shootfyter |
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This month we have a double survey question:
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Waipahu Gym, Waipahu, Hawaii - March 1, 2001 By Chris Onzuka - Chris@Onzuka.com Brennan Kamaka's event went on without a hitch. This was another successful event that featured some great up and comers, as well as some of Hawaii's more polished fighters. These kinds of events are badly needed in Hawaii in order to give Hawaii's fighters, who basically live in isolation, a chance to gain experience in an amateur setting. The theme of this event was Team Hawaii versus Team Washington. A team of fighters representing Hawaii took on a team from the Carlson Gracie Fight Team's Marcelo Alonso's school. Marcelo Alonso teaches out of Washington, so they represented that state. This allowed Hawaii's fighters to gain experience, without flying out of Hawaii. To start it off, Brennan featured two submission wrestling matches. The first match was exciting because it pitted two fast paced, lightweights together with a lot of action. After those two matches, the Pankration matches would lead the crowd into a frenzy. Both teams were well represented by tough and skilled opponents that could capitalize on one mistake and most of them ended up doing just that. The climax of the event was the close fight between Jesus Is Lord's Ron "The Machine Gun" Jhun and Marcelo Alonso's J. T. Taylor. Taylor is a kickboxer that learned ground work, so you had the puncher, in Jhun, taking on the kicker in Taylor. The match seemed to be leaning toward Taylor at the end of the first round, but Jhun came back and landed a knee to the mid section that set up a knee to the head, which ended the fight. Submission Wrestling Matches (1 Round - 5 Minutes): Lincoln Tyler (Relson Gracie, Hawaii) def. Rodrigo Lopes (Marcelo Alonso, Washington) Points 2-0 Kevin Smith (Marcelo Alonso, Washington) def. Bob-O Ostovich (Jesus Is Lord, Hawaii) Points 5-2 Pankration Matches (2 Rounds - 5 Minutes): 145lbs. Shane "Bam Bam" Cabillas (Jesus Is Lord, Hawaii) def. Alex Wong (Hawaii) Referee stoppage due to rear naked choke at 0:59 seconds in Round 1. 145lbs. Mark Ashton (Marcelo Alonso, Washington) def Troy Tamashiro (Hawaii) Submission via arm-bar from the guard at 2:44 minutes in Round 2. 
175lbs. Eric "The String Bean" Dahlberg (Marcelo Alonso, Washington) def. Kolo Koka (SWAT, Hawaii)
Submission via arm bar from the guard [Pictured at right] at 4:35 minutes in Round 1.170lbs. Dennis Ash (Marcelo Alonso, Washington) def. Nate Ah Loo (Team Waialua, Hawaii) TKO, verbal submission due to fighter not wanting to continue because he injured his knee getting taken down. 145lbs. Russell Medeiros (Jesus Is Lord, Hawaii) def. Joel Townsend (Marcelo Alonso, Washington) TKO, referee stoppage due to punches while standing at 3:09 minutes in Round 2. Main Event - 180lbs. Ron "The Machine Gun" Jhun (Jesus Is Lord, Hawaii) def. J.T. Taylor (Marcelo Alonso/Carlson Gracie Fight Team, Washington) TKO, referee stoppage due to knee to the head while standing at 0:13 seconds in Round 2. |
From the event's promoter:
HOOKnSHOOT QUAKE:Evansville, Indiana on March 10th, 2001 "This card has experienced a lot of flux, a lot of change, but we have finally put together a show we can be proud of" states promoter Jeff Osborne. "We are also going to continue our OFFICIAL SHOOTO matches this show. We are waiting to hear back from the SHOOTO committee about the latest card to announce the official SHOOTO, but we wanted to start building hype now - the show is a week away!" continues Osborne. (CARD SUBJECT TO CHANGE) FOR VACANT HOOKnSHOOT TITLES: (3x5 MIN) (LIGHTHEAVYWEIGHT) JOHN RENKEN (EXTREME CF) v. SCOTT HENZE (FREELANCE) (FEATHERWEIGHT) ICHAKU MURATA (Freelance) v. TRAVIS PHIPPEN (American JJ Academy) LADIES ABSOLUTE STYLE (2x5 MIN): JUDY NEFF v JESSICA ROSS CARD MATCHES: (3x5 MIN) (MIDDLEWEIGHT) JAY BUCK (CHICAGO FIGHT TEAM) v. KIM MASON (AMC PANKRATION) (3x5 MIN) (LIGHTWEIGHT) ANTHONY HAMLET (AMC PANKRATION) V. DANNY LONG (Jimtown Okinawan Karate Club) (2x5 MIN) (WELTERWEIGHT) JEFF CURRAN (PEDRO SAUER JJ) v. RYOJI YOSHIZAWA (JKD) (2x5 MIN) (MIDDLEWEIGHT) VIRGIL STRZELECKI (CHICAGO FIGHT TEAM) v. MIKE WILLUS (U of P) (2x5 MIN) (LIGHTWEIGHT) PAT BENSON (RODRIGO VAGHI JJ) v. JIM BRUKETTA (SILVERBACKS) ADCC 99 KG & up TRIAL 8 Man single elimination tournament - winner goes to Abu Dhabi 2001 & the Submission Wrestling World Championships. PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE: https://sabrina.super.nu/fightworld/order.htm HOTEL INFORMATION: We are back at our old hotel, the RAMADA LIMITED, in Evansville, Indiana. ADDRESS/PH: 2508 HWY 41 N, Evansville IN. 812-425-1092 Mention HnS and get an incredibly good rate - just $40 a night! |
| Monday - March 5, 2001 |
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From the event's promoter: Saturday, March 24th John Slidell Recreation Center Slidell, Louisiana 5 weight categories / men, women and children / Absolute Division for the Xtreme Combat Submission Championship Cup For more info call Rob Braniff / Xtreme Entertainment (504)847-0660 |
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From the event's promoter: Present RESULTS from: * RETURN OF THE GLADIATORS II * UFCF & Washington State sanctioned Professional Kickboxing & Pankration held Saturday, March 3, 2001 at the Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester, WA Match 1: Pankration (3 5-min rounds) Ryan Diaz def. Rick Neely - arm-bar submission; 0:30, rd.1 Match 2: Muay Thai (3 rounds) Josh Malone def. Scott Schaefer - KO; 1:39, rd. 1 Match 3: Pankration (3 5-min rounds) Charlie Pearson def. Anthony Hamlett - Hamlett unable to answer the bell for 3rd rd. Match 4: Kickboxing (3 rounds) Kim Mason vs. Danny Bennett - Majority decision DRAW Match 5: Pankration (3 5-min rounds for Pacific N.W. #1 ranking) Roman Roytberg def. Chris Monson - KO rd. 1 Match 6: Kickboxing (5 rounds for U.S. #1 ranking) Bambi Bertonacello def. Mary Kingsford - unanimous decision Match 7: Pankration (3 5-min rounds) Dennis Hallman def. Brent Russell - referee stoppage due to blows; rd. 1 For complete fight results, pictures, & MPEG videos go to http://www.PANKRATION.com AMC Kickboxing & Pankration 427 6th Street South Kirkland, Washington 98033 (USA) Phone: (425) 822-9656 Email: AMC@pankration.com |
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From Susumu's Gallery: Hello, Susumu's Gallery has added 17 pictures from Shooto event held on March 2. And we provide RealPlayer content which enables you to watch through all pictures of a show with one click. Please enjoy! Susumu's Gallery: http://come.to/susumu |
| Wednesday - March 7, 2001 |
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THE WEEK OF MARCH 5-9: by Eddie Goldman 
The purchase of UFC by the new Zuffa company certainly made waves in the world of mixed martial arts, but there may be some new high rollers entering this business very shortly. Find out who they are in the opening segment on Monday's "No Holds Barred" with a report on who may be coming to our dinner. You just may be very surprised.Because last week was so busy, with reports and interviews from UFC XXX, King of the Cage 7, and so much more, we still have to catch up with a series of interviews from the previous Saturday's Vengeance at the Vanderbilt kickboxing and grappling event in Plainview, New York, with mixed martial artists Matt Serra, Renzo Gracie, and John Weidler, and rising star kickboxer Tim Lane. So be prepared for this coverage this week. "No Holds Barred" can be heard every Monday through Friday, 3 to 5 PM New York time (Eastern Time - U.S.), only on eYada.com (http://www.eyada.com). Now there is an even easier way to listen to all the news and interviews we provide on "No Holds Barred" about mixed martial arts, grappling, boxing, kickboxing, and wrestling. We have a new, direct link that lets you play the show when it is on live, or play the archive after the live show. It is: http://www.eyada.com/redirect/redirect.cfm?id=20 Monday, March 5 -- The "Voice of the Octagon" Bruce Buffer completed a marathon weekend a week ago, announcing UFC in New Jersey on Feb. 23 and King of the Cage the next day in California. And before he gets too rested up, he will be traveling to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, to announce the 2001 Submission Wrestling World Championships, to be held April 11-13. Today Bruce once again shares his unique perspective on the combat sports with us. And Doug Fischer, editor of Houseofboxing.com, also joins us with his regular weekly analysis of the latest in the world of the "Sweet Science," including a ringside review of last Saturday's upset of Evander Holyfield by John Ruiz, as well as a preview of this Saturday's Shane Mosley-Shannan Taylor fight. Tuesday, March 6 -- Gene LeBell -- martial artist, master instructor, innovator, legend. 'Nuff said. Get your pink gi's ready as Gene joins us today. Also, in Arkansas, promoter Danny Dring has been putting on athletic commission-approved mixed martial arts shows under the name of Ringsport. This past November, while continuing to be a promoter (he has shows coming up on March 31 and April 7), Danny was himself appointed by Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to the athletic commission. Today Danny discusses this with us. Wednesday, March 7 -- Where, oh where, has Tulsa Lions Den fighter Mikey Burnett been? And when and where will he be fighting next? You can call him by his name today, as he will be our guest. Also, this Saturday, March 10, HOOKnSHOOT will be putting on another card entitled "Quake" in Evansville, Indiana. It will feature a mixed martial arts fight card as well as an eight-man submission wrestling tournament where the winner goes to the 2001 Submission Wrestling World Championships, to be held April 11-13 in Abu Dhabi. Today Miguel Iturrate of Fightworld.com joins us to tell us all about it. Thursday, March 8 -- UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture has been very busy of late, training for a title fight on May 4 against Pedro Rizzo, just having completed a disappointing stint in the Japan's Rings "King of Kings" tournament, and preparing to accompany longtime training partner Dan Henderson who will be fighting Renzo Gracie at Pride 13 on March 25 in Japan. Today both Randy Couture and Dan Henderson join us to keep us up-to-date with what they have been up to. Also, mixed martial artist Jacen Flynn just scored an upset win over Dean Lister at King of the Cage 7. Today Jacen joins us. And Chris Thomas of DojoTV.com joins us to recap last weekend's first annual Arnold World Gracie Submission Championships in Columbus, Ohio, part of the annual Arnold Fitness Weekend, as well as share with us what is new on his web site. Friday, March 9 -- Many of us rightly bitch and moan about the distorted or nonexistent coverage in the "mainstream" media of mixed martial arts. Today we speak to two journalists who get it right, and right at ringside. Todd Hester is Editor-in-Chief of "Grappling," a monthly mixed martial arts magazine available on newsstands all across America. Todd was at UFC XXX, and compares it to the first UFC he covered -- UFC I. Also, Josh Gross of "Full Contact Fighter" is a familiar face ringside at many events. He will be again be ringside covering the "2 Hot 2 Handle" mixed martial arts and Thai boxing card Sunday, March 18, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and then fly to Japan for Pride 13 in the Saitama Super Arena in Omiya, near Tokyo, on March 25. Both these frequent fliers join us today. |
| Friday - March 9, 2001 |
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From DSE/Pride: *PRIDE 13 Date: March 25 Place: Saitama Super Arena in Japan Two more matches have been announced for PRIDE 13 Mark Coleman vs Allan Goes Egan Inoue vs Guy Mezger Official Line Up previously announced: * Kazushi Sakuraba vs Vanderlei Silva * Igor Vovchanchyn vs Ken Shamrock * Renzo Gracie vs Dan Henderson * Masaaki Satake vs Tadao Yasuda One or two more matches will be announced in the near future. |
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From the event's promoter: The Extreme Challenge Trials, a qualifying event for the MMA Nationals, has two events scheduled next month. On April 7, the amateur event will be held at Stars & Stripes in Davenport, Iowa. On April 20, the qualifier is scheduled for the Knights of Columbus in Minneapolis, Minn. The Iowa event begins at 2 p.m., while the Minnesota event starts at 8 p.m. For more information and applications, email Monte Cox at Fiteiowa@aol.com or call Ed Connelly at 319 650-8585. Both shows feature tournament competition in five weight divisions -- heavyweight, 210-under, 190-under, 170-under and 150-under. Winners in each division will earn berths to the Nationals, which are scheduled for December. The winners at the Nationals earn pro contracts with Super Brawl, Extreme Challenge and USWF. Cost of the Trials is $25 per person if the entry is received prior to the week of the show. Cost is $35 after the early deadline. |
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From the event's promoter: COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa -- Masaya Kojima, who trains at the same camp as batamweight star Kaoru Uno, has been added to the RINGS USA card scheduled March 17 at Harveys Casino & Hotel. Kojima replaces Wataru Sakata, who was injured while competing in the mega King of Kings event last month. Kojima will face UFC veteran Jermaine Andre of St. Louis. The event is the fourth RINGS competition in the U.S. and will be televised by WOWOW-TV of Japan. The rest of the RINGS USA card remain intact with nine bouts, featuring eight veterans of the UFC... including Jeremy Horn, Matt Hughes, Bobby Hoffman and LaVerne Clark. Others with UFC experience are Phil Johns, Zane Frazier, Travis Fulton and Andre. Also featured on the card are promising newcomers Chatt Lavender, Joe Doerksen and Rich Franklin. Tickets for the event, which starts at 8 p.m., are on sale at the Harveys ticket center; order by phone at (712) 329-6000. RINGS USA March 17, Harveys Casino, Council Bluffs, Iowa ORDER OF BOUTS
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From the event's promoter: Fight Night at Newby's March 2, 2001 Newby's Restaurant - Memphis, TN Mixed Martial Arts Dirk Hamilton def. Joseph Bernidini - Rear-naked choke 2:26 rd. 1 Scott Marlin def. Richard Lee - Key lock 3:11 rd. 1 Jay Shackleford def. Clay Yarbrough - Arm-bar 3:29 rd. 2 Jason Turnage def. Jody Stephens - Arm-bar 2:19 rd. 1 Grady Hurley def. Neil Ferrill - Tap out from strikes 4:09 rd. 1 Cliff Riley def. D.J.Speck - Triangle 1:57 rd. 1 Charles Church def. Ricky Jackett - TKO strikes 1:57 rd. 1 Kickboxing Brandon Woo vs. Tojo Harris - split decision In the main event Harris dominates the first round with strikes. In the second and third round Woo totally controls the fight doing all the effective scoring by kicking Harris on the outside and tying him up on the inside. Harris is unable to score. The judges award Tojo Harris a split decision. |
| Monday - March 12, 2001 |
THE NEW FACE OF THE UFC by Joel Gold  Frank Fertitta, Dana White, Jens Pulver & Lorenzo Fertitta For years you have heard me rant about what needs to be done with this sport to take it to the top where it belongs. I have preached to all that would listen. To build a sport you need to build a foundation, that being the fighters. It is a pretty simple concept called promotion. Of course that is not the only thing that needs to be done to improve the sport, but for years my cries fell on deaf ears all the while trying to convince the biggest fight promotion in the U.S. to listen, with limited success. Well, my prayers have been answered by way of "ZUFFA!" No, it is not a new vitamin or a new concept car or even an Italian zoo, but the name of a bright future for fight fans around the world. ZUFFA is made up of 2 parts Fertitta and one part Sortini, in a fine mix of proven success. ZUFFA-Italian: to fight or scrap. English: UFC HAS BEEN SOLD! Lorenzo Fertitta and his brother Frank along with brother-in-law Blake Sortini have formed the company [ZUFFA] that has purchased Ultimate Fighting Championship [UFC] from the former owners, SEG. What to expect? "Growth and a commitment to the fighters," states Dana White, the new President who will run the day-to-day operations of the UFC. The Fertitta brothers along with brother-in-law Blake Sortini are no strangers to big business, as each are among the most successful businessmen in Las Vegas. With casinos and breweries as some of the successful businesses they own, these men are winners at what they do. Clearly it is Lorenzo Fertitta who is the brains behind the move into the world of Mixed Martial Arts…and why not? If ever there was a man who would get the Nevada State Athletic Commission to look favorably on the sport, it is Lorenzo, who sat on the Commission for 4 years and the last year served as vice chairman. Lorenzo is quick to point out the Commission will render no decision without doing their homework on the matter. I sat down with Loenzo Fertitta at his office in Las Vegas and talked about the future of the UFC and about the sport in general. It was clear that the man is a big fan and understands what needs to be done as owner of the future of Mixed Martial Arts. FCF: Lorenzo, what is your relationship with the UFC at this time? LF: Currently I am the managing member of Zuffa, LLC. Which is a partnership that was put together by myself, my brother Frank Fertitta and Blake Sortini, my brother-in-law. We purchased the assets of the UFC. FCF: How does someone like yourself get interested in buying the UFC. You currently own casinos here in Las Vegas [amongst many other holdings]; please give us a little background. How does it start? LF: Previously to getting involved in the Mixed Martial Arts world, I served on the Nevada State Athletic Commission for four years. During that time when I was on the Commission, Mixed Martial Arts was brought to us and introduced to the Commission a couple of different times. When it was brought forward to us, I started doing a lot of research on the sport. I literally rented every videotape and bought every videotape that I could possibly find. Watched all of them and during that time of investigation I went to a UFC fight in Iowa. At that fight, I met a gentleman named John Lewis, a Mixed Martial Arts fighter who has fought in the UFC and Extreme [Battlecade] and happens to live in Las Vegas; I started sharing some thoughts with him. He gave me the invitation to actually get on the mat and roll with him to learn more about what was happening in the Octagon. I came back to Las Vegas and took him up on that, and I would have to say that John Lewis opened my eyes to the world of Mixed Martial Arts and the UFC. I became avid about it, started rolling with him 3 times a week, doing private lessons, trying to learn as much as I possibly can and through that I became a fan. Watched every UFC, traveled to most of the UFCs, was introduced to a lot of the fighters in the UFC…kind of a whole Mixed Martial Arts community and I became enthralled with it. During that time, I met Bob Meyrowitz. I had been introduced to him numerous times and had built a relationship with him. It was brought to my attention that he had an interest in selling the UFC and I called him. I guess the rest is history. We put together a deal very rapidly and I think it worked out very well. FCF: When you were a member on the Nevada State Athletic Commission, I came out to Vegas along with the UFC and their lawyer. As it was told to me, there was to be a vote on whether the Nevada State Athletic Commission was going to approve the UFC. But a vote never did take place; can you tell me why a vote never happened and what was your feeling about the UFC at that time? LF: I think there lies miscommunication. As far as the Commission was concerned, there never was supposed to be a vote; it was only an agenda item for discussion. We had never even discussed Mixed Martial Arts. We had never talked about it. We knew nothing about it. All of a sudden, it showed up on our agenda and, for whatever reason, people were expecting a vote and that is just not how the process works. What you have to understand is the reason that Nevada is looked at as one of the premier regulatory bodies throughout the world is because they do the homework. And that was not necessarily a time for a vote, but the time that got the ball rolling to start doing the homework. What that means is myself and a fellow Commissioner and the head of the medical advisory board flew out to a UFC fight in Iowa and we started collecting data relative to Mixed Martial Arts, watching videos, reading publications and just trying to learn as much as we could about it, but I think that is where there was a little bit of miscommunication. There was never supposed to be a vote regarding Mixed Martial Arts. FCF: I would like to clarify; going back to the time when this matter came before the Commission, what were your feelings about the sport at the time? Did you even think it was a sport? Did you have a problem with the sport? There is some confusion on the matter. LF: One thing that I think I need to clarify is that there was never a problem. I never had a problem with the sport; it was…I don't think anyone necessarily had a problem with it. As I said before, it was just digesting it, trying to understand it better. The Commission is put in a position where, you have to make a decision and you are talking about something that the Commission holds very dear-which is safety-and it takes time to understand the safety aspects, of any sport. Boxing has evolved decade after decade and safety is something that I think has gotten better over time. Under this scenario, I think the Commission just wanted to understand it as best as possible. At the time, I had an open mind; I had seen most of the UFC fights when they were on cable. So I had been introduced to it through that. I think I had also seen a few of the Extreme Fighting [Battlecade] shows as well. Those shows, if you go back and look at them today relative to what we have now-which is a full fledged sport, worked totally different and I think that's what we need to do to educate people. When it was originally put on, there were a lot of things that were not in place. You did not have a full spectrum of rules and regulations that had been adopted by a state regulatory body. There were athletes that were certainly world class, but not every one on the card was world class and there were a few mismatches in there and I think that is what I remembered about the sport at the time. When I started to do more investigation and study it more, I was blown away at how much the sport had actually progressed and become a full fledged sport and how much the fighters had progressed and their level of athleticism, professionalism and I just developed a tremendous amount of respect for the guys who were getting in the ring and doing what they are doing. There is so much strategy involved. They are so much more evolved. It is not about guys getting in an octagon trying to hurt each other; it has nothing to do with that. I learned that it is about world-class athletes fighting with strategies that they had in mind, it is very technical. It is a beautiful sport and afterwards everyone shows great sportsmanship, everybody is well educated and all those things coming together really opened my eyes. FCF: How do we [meaning ZUFFA] take the sport to the next level? How do we turn that corner and educate new fans, not the fans we already have [the ones that keep this sport alive], but bringing in new fans, that is essential to the growth of this sport. How do you reach those fans and what is the next step of the UFC in doing so? LF: First of all, what I think everyone needs to understand is that we've got a great long-term vision for where we would like to take the sport, but it is going to take time. You can't change perceptions over night. Everybody needs to be very patient; I think, over time, if we all work together, people within the sport today in that community we can get to where we want to be. First and foremost, we need to try to erase from people's memories what they remember from those early shows because the population-I am not talking about people like me or the real fans out there that watch the UFC on a religious basis, I am talking about the general population-the last thing they remember about the UFC is the show they saw on cable in 1993 or '94. If we can try to erase some of the mis-preconceptions about that-because what you also have to understand is that there was a lot of noise out there with people mischaracterizing what it really was and what it was really about. So we need to try and erase that and we need to go through a whole process and a campaign of reintroducing people to the sport-I say that and use the term "sport" a lot because I think it is important, because this is a sport. This is not a spectacle; this is a sport. Now what that means is that we need to focus on the fighters. As much as I love the UFC-and essentially that is what I bought was those three letters and that logo-I understand that it's not necessarily just about the UFC but about the athletes. To make this sport bigger and more well accepted, we need to elevate it to the next level. The way that I believe that we elevate it to the next level is to create superstars. The way you create superstars is by creating super fights, so we are going to do everything we can to try to hold true to that promise as I mentioned, it can't happen overnight, but it is a process that we are putting in place now to focus on the athletes, focus on the fighters. The other aspect of that is we need to focus on the safety issues. I am very close to it because I spent so much time in boxing and seeing the safety issues in boxing and trying to help increase the level of safety in boxing. When I first saw Mixed Martial Arts, I didn't understand, because I wasn't educated. But I can say today as an ex-regulator and now an owner of the UFC, I fully believe that Mixed Martial Arts is a much safer sport than boxing. What people don't realize, I am not talking about the true Mixed Martial Arts fan, I am talking about the general public, everybody says; "Well they don't wear gloves like boxing." What the general public doesn't realize is that gloves weren't created to protect someone's head; they were created to protect someone's hands, so that you can hit someone harder and more often-that does more damage to someone. In Mixed Martial Arts, you cannot hit someone with the veracity that you can hit someone in boxing, thus creating brain damage and major, major injuries. I think what we need to do is get people educated to that and make them understand that this is a true sport that is safe and does have rules and regulations that are carried out by whatever state commission may be presiding over the fight just as boxing does. FCF: You are a big boxing fan, what got you interested in boxing? LF: I was born and raised in Las Vegas. Growing up, the thing that was different about Las Vegas relative to other major cities in the United States is that we have never had a professional sport franchised in the city, so my father couldn't take me to the Yankees' games when I grew up, or take me to see the Knicks; because of that, he took me to fights. It was about going to the fights in one of the small venues in Las Vegas or going to Caesar's Palace to see a fight or the Hilton to see a fight, so I became a very, very big boxing fan, studied a lot about boxing history. I followed the sport very closely and that is the sport that I have always loved my whole life. My father started in the casino business early on, in the 1960s, and he worked his way up through the casino business. In 1977, he saw an opportunity to open a small facility, 5,000 sq ft and the thing that was different about that was, it was positioned to cater to the locals, which had never been done before in Las Vegas-everything was either downtown or on the strip and in Las Vegas it catered to tourists. A lot of people thought it was crazy at the time because it had never been done, but looking back now he essentially created a whole new market which is the locals market Las Vegas which is a thriving market in Las Vegas. In 1993, we took the company public, my father retired and my brother Frank Ferrite III, Blake Sortini and myself carried the company forward. We were the majority shareholders. It is a New York Stock Exchange company and we've grown rapidly and been very successful over a number of years. In addition to that, we also have holdings in various other investments. In areas, one being the Gordon Biersch Brewing Company, which I bought an interest in 1995, and we grew that company rapidly. FCF: Is Gordon Biersch a franchise? LF: It is not a franchise. I originally started with 5 restaurants that I bought and we expanded that to 12 restaurants all located on the West Coast and we built a retail brewery, or commercial brewery where we sell our beer in retail stores around the West Coast. We recently sold the restaurants, but kept the ownership in the commercial brewery, so we still have that. And now, we own the UFC, so we are also in the fight promoting business. FCF: I read you also acquired new casinos recently. LF: Recently, we went through a big growth spurt, we acquired 3 casinos this year, all in the locals market in Las Vegas. FCF: Getting back to the boxing...how do you become a member of the Nevada State Athletic Commission? LF: As I mentioned before, growing up, I was a huge boxing fan and being on the Nevada State Athletic Commission is a very sought out position, being named one of the five members. Governor Bob Miller who I've known over a number of years, asked me to sit on the board. I had known him for a long time. He knew growing up I was a huge boxing fan and he felt I would do a good job, so he appointed me there. FCF: How long did you sit on the board? LF: I sat on the board for 4 years and the last year, I sat on the board as the vice chairman. FCF: Why are you no longer on the board? LF: I stepped down. The reason I stepped down was I took on a full time position with Station Casinos. Previous to being full time, I was on the Board of Directors and I ran Fertitta Enterprises. Fertitta Enterprises is a family office that runs other business interests outside of Station Casinos-there is no affiliation there. In August of the year 2000, I was asked to come aboard at Station Casinos and run the company as President and I felt that the time constraints that were going to be put on me were not going to allow me to do the job that I needed to do on the Athletic Commission. The Athletic Commission took some weeks literally 40-plus hours a week to do the job in the right fashion, and I just didn't feel that I could do both. Pictured: Lorenzo Fertitta talking with NJ State Athletic Control Board Chairman Larry Hazzard 
FCF: While being a member of the NSAC you were well respected, could you tell me some of the major cases that were bought before the Commission?LF: Certainly the ear-biting incident from Mike Tyson was the biggest that gained the most notoriety where we revoked his license and fined him a significant amount of money for that act. I also sat on the board when we voted to allow him to fight again a year later-I voted in favor of that. I also was involved again with Tyson after the Orlin Norris Fight. We held his purse up for hitting after the bell and I think everyone knows what happened there. FCF: Okay, the question that needs to be asked…what is the likelihood of the UFC coming to Vegas and getting approved by the Commission? LF: The true answer is, I really have no idea. Whether it will ever be passed, or what the timing will be if it will get passed. What I can tell you is that the Commission is made up of 5 very smart individuals who I know and whom I have served with. I can tell you they will do the homework, they have open minds and they will work on their own time frame and we will do whatever we can to try to help educate them, to try and answer any questions they may have, but as far as when, and if, Mixed Martial Arts will ever be in Nevada, I have no idea. FCF: As a smart businessman, you know for this to be a profitable company, you have to get back on mainstream cable again. What is the likelihood of this happening? LF: I really don't know when or if that will happen either. I can tell you that I am very hopeful, certainly with the fact that the State of New Jersey has approved Mixed Martial Arts. They regulate it no different than boxing. It is my belief that just the fact that the State of New Jersey has come forward and has embraced the sport the way that they have lends a tremendous amount of creditability to the sport and hopefully the world of cable will see that and understand that and make the sport available to everyone around the country. FCF: Are any talks underway? Have you made any communication letting the cable companies know there is a new owner in town? LF: There have been no meetings or communication with cable. FCF: With such a busy day, what kind of role will you play in day-to-day operations of the UFC? LF: I am going to have oversight role, giving direction as far as where we want the company to go, how we want the promotion to go. From a day-to-day standpoint, Dana White will be heading up the operation and executing the business, day-to-day. [We will have more information on Dana White in the coming months and the progress makes with the UFC] FCF: Why the name ZUFFA? What does it stand for? LF: The name of the company is ZUFFA. We came up with that name because my family has an Italian heritage and we wanted to have a name that related to what we were doing and the name ZUFFA means "to fight" or "scrap" in Italian. Leaving the interview, I had a good feeling about the future of the UFC. This company has the money to make things happen. Better pay to attract better fighters and a promotion campaign that needs to go along with it for essential growth. They seemed to be big fans of the sport as well as having great energy heading towards accomplishing their goals. It is too early to tell if all that is said will be done, but I witnessed the ball already beginning to roll in the right direction. My concern for the UFC as I see it now, is listing to bad advice as the previous owner did. Looking within the company for previous mistakes and bad advice and having the courage fix the problem will help with the growth of this sleeping giant. |
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THE WEEK OF MARCH 12-16: by Eddie Goldman 
Great fights, great fighters, terrible tragedies, and nagging scandals -- these are some of the component parts of the world of combat sports, and once again we will cover each and every one of these aspects this week. From Renzo Gracie and Mark Kerr to Marc Ratner to a live report from the 2001 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships to much, much more, we've got it all on "No Holds Barred" this week."No Holds Barred" can be heard every Monday through Friday, 3 to 5 PM New York time (Eastern Time - U.S.), only on eYada.com (http://www.eyada.com). Now there is an even easier way to listen to all the news and interviews we provide on "No Holds Barred" about mixed martial arts, grappling, boxing, kickboxing, and wrestling. We have a new, direct link that lets you play the show when it is on live, or play the archive after the live show. It is: http://www.eyada.com/redirect/redirect.cfm?id=20 Monday, March 12 -- We open today's busy show with a report from Japanese NHB journalist Tadashi Tanaka about another scandal in Japan possibly involving the mixed martial arts. Renzo Gracie joins us to talk about his fight in Pride 13 on March 25 with Dan Henderson. And Doug Fischer, editor of Houseofboxing.com, also joins us with his regular weekly analysis of the latest in the world of the "Sweet Science," including a ringside review of last Saturday's Shane Mosley-Shannan Taylor fight, as well as a discussion of a potential Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis fight, and the recent tragic situation involving veteran boxer Greg Page. Tuesday, March 13 -- Mark Kerr has been on top of three worlds -- mixed martial arts, wrestling, and grappling. Today he joins us to talk about his upcoming Superfight grappling match against Mario Sperry at the 2001 Submission Wrestling World Championships, to be held April 11-13 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Also, fighter Brian Gassaway will be returning to Pancrase in Japan on March 31, facing two-time former King of Pancrase Yuki Kondo. Today Brian joins us. Wednesday, March 14 -- Shonie Carter wants to fight -- in a ring or a cage, that is. Today he joins us to talk about his upcoming plans. Also, Matt Hughes is coming off two disappointing losses, in UFC and Warrior's War, and will try to return to the win column at this coming Saturday's Rings USA show. Today Matt joins us. Thursday, March 15 -- There has been much talk about the possibility of mixed martial arts being sanctioned in the state of Nevada, whose athletic commission is considered the most influential and most meticulous in all its work. Today we speak with Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, about this, as well as about the state of boxing and the recent tragic situation involving veteran boxer Greg Page. Also, it's do-or-die time in college wrestling, and veteran wrestling journalist and photographer Bob Mayeri is in Iowa City for the 2001 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which open today. Bob brings us a live report, as well as possibly some interviews with some of wrestling's notables. Friday, March 16 -- Joel Gold, publisher of "Full Contact Fighter," joins us today to share his unique perspective on mixed martial arts. We also continue our reports from veteran wrestling journalist and photographer Bob Mayeri, who is in Iowa City for the 2001 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which is in its second day. |
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From the event's promoter: WHEN: Saturday, April 14th, 2001 WHERE: South End Community Center, Springfield, Massachusetts CONTACT: Joe Cuff (860) 376-3563, jcuff@nagafighter.com WEBSITE: www.nagafighter.com TIME: Doors open at 6:30PM, 1st Match Starts 7:30 PM Sharp TICKETS: $25 General Admission, Limited Tickets we will sell out! Buy them ahead-a-time from Joe! The MASS DESTRUCTION- VALE TUDO HAS AN UNBELIEVABLE CARD. Over 15 incredible matches with many of the Northeast's top instructors competing. Here are just a few of the fighters: Kirik Jenness vs. Chris Roberts Founder of mixedmartialarts.com, MMA Debut Veteran of Dangerzone Lightweight Title Fight John Weidler vs. Mike Willus 4-0 in MMA, 2000 NAGA Champion 3-1 in MMA, Hook n' Shoot Veteran Single Fights Jeremy Libiszewski vs. Daniel Lima NAGA Veteran, Springfield Native Purple belt in BJJ under Edson Carvalho Gunnar Olsen vs. Jeff Williamson 2-0 in MMA, Div 3 wrestler 4-0 in MMA, former NAGA MW Champ Ken Kronenberg vs. TBA NAGA Superfight Champion Mike Brown vs. Steve Bowers Div 3 Wrestler, NAGA Veteran NAGA Veteran Nuri Shakir vs. Dawson Walton NAGA and Dangerzone Veteran 1-1 in MMA Ray Duval vs. Ed Carr NAGA Veteran 1-0 in MMA Justin Torrey vs. TBA 1-0 in MMA, 18 years old CHAMPIONSHIP BELTS FOR ALL WINNERS! Call Joe if you would like to get on the card! We only have 4 spots left. |
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RITC press release from John Petrilli: Rage in the Cage XXVI will be held on Saturday, March 24, 2001 at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix. Fight time: 7:00 PM Two Super Fights have been announced.
For more information, please visit www.rageinthecage.com or call 480-446-8127. |
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From the event's promoter: Who will take home the belts? (lightweight-heavyweight-absolute belts) and $1000 sponsorship money. There will be 4 divisions-beginner, novice,intermediate, and advanced. There will also be women's and kid's divisions. Last year Ralph Gracie's team took home the team trophy with (WERNECKJJ) Brazilian JJ Training Center of Sacramento taking 2nd. There will be a $5 spectator fee. For info contact Carlos Garcia or Raven Seymon of the the BRAZILIAN JJ TRAINING CENTER of Sacto. ca. at 916-3942755 fax:916-394-2757 or Roseville JJ& WRESTLING 916-716-2080 E-MAIL:CCgrappling info.@aol.com Our website is under construction presently it will be up shortly so you can download entry forms. Address www.sacbjj.com :Location:Kennedy High School 6715 Gloria Drive Sacramento Ca. |
| Wednesday - March 14, 2001 |
From DSE USA: PRIDE FC PPV Schedules in North America PRIDE 13 will be on PPV as PRIDE FC "Collision Course" on DIRECTV, Dish Network, BELL EXPRESS VU and Viewer's Choice Canada. DIRECTV SCHEDULES PREMIERE DATE: April 6 (Fri) 9:00pm - 12:00am, 12:30am - 3:30 am (EST) REPLAY DATES: 4/9(Mon), 4/11(Wed), 4/14(Sat), 4/22(Sun), 4/26(Thu), 4/27(Fri), 4/28(Sat),4/30(Mon) Dish Network SCHEDULES PREMIERE: TBA REPLAY: TBA BELL EXPRESS VU SCHEDULES (Channel 701) PREMIERE DATE: April 13 (Fri), 8:00pm- & 2:00am- (EST) REPLAY: 14(Sat), 20(Fri), 22(Sun), 11:00pm- & 2:00am- *Viewer's Choice Canada SCHEDULES PREMIERE DATE: April 13 (Fri), 9:00pm- (EST) REPLAY: TBA |
For FASTEST service call in your credit card order (516)922-1081 Or Click here to order securely online with your credit card or print off the order form & mail it in with your payment |
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with Gilbert Yvel By Josh Gross 
FCF: Gilbert, you've fought in Holland before, but this is the largest show that's ever taken place here. What's it going to be like fighting in front of so many of your hometown fans??GY: Most of the fights I've done have been in Holland, and I've only fought in the big shows with 5,000 to 6,000 people. This time there will be 4,000 more. It's my people - I have to win. Every fight I do I want to win. It doesn't matter if there's 10 people, 200 or 300 people, or one million people. It's going to be a little bit easier for me when I'm tired because I'll see my crowd around me, so it will be easier for me to fight better and harder. FCF: This show is huge for Holland. There have been shows in Holland before, but this appears to be the largest. What does it mean for the Dutch people to have both Thai Boxing and mixed martial arts on the same card? GY: This is fantastic for the people over here because every time they put on a big show here there were two people from the outside and the rest of the fights were Holland vs. Holland. On this card, all the fighters face someone from outside Holland so it will be great. It will be like Holland vs. the rest of the world. FCF: Is Thai Boxing still more popular than mixed martial arts in Holland? GY: No, not anymore. Every time they put a Thai Boxing fight here they always put two or three free fights on the card. On the boxing cards here in Holland they add Muay Thai and mixed martial arts fights on otherwise no one would come. The Thai Boxing is more accepted by the people than the freefight of the mixed martial arts. I think the people love the mixed fight more. FCF: You're facing another grappler in Carlos Barreto. He's not a big wrestler like Kazuyuki Fujita, but he's still very experienced. The rules are geared more towards the stand-up fighters with the two-minute rule that requires stand ups after the fight goes to the ground. Have you focused more of your training towards the ground game since your fight with Fujita? GY: The last couple of months I've trained very, very hard on the ground with Remco Pardoel. My ground training is going very good right now. No one has submitted me on the ground before, so I don't know why people think Carlos will submit me in our fight. I think it's going to be a standing fight because he's one-meter, 94-centimeters, which is very tall. When he shoots it will take him a long time to get low. FCF: Barreto isn't the best at takedowns. He wants to get the fight on the ground, but his strength isn't bringing the fight to the mat. Will you do everything you can to keep the fight on the feet? GY: Yeah, of course. I'm a stand-up fighter. What would I do on the ground? So I'll stand up and punch him. FCF: Do you have a prediction on the fight? GY: I'm going to knock him out, straight out, cold out. I will win by KO. FCF: Thanks and good luck. GY: Thank you. |
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From Sven Bean 
Two fighters who are making waves in the Mixed Martial Arts/NHB world for their striking abilities will be fighting in professional Muay Thai matches this Saturday, March 17th, in Los Angeles. Duane BANG! Ludwig and Pete "Secret Weapon" Spratt are both matched up on the upcoming Marconi Foundation fund raiser Muay Thai show. Ludwig is known for his great strikes thrown in the KING OF THE CAGE events and is also the current Extreme Sportfighting Lightweight Champion, while Spratt recently made a name for himself with winning the GSE Reality Combat Middleweight World Title against Rich Clementi.
The show is a black tie affair with all the proceeds going to charity. The audience will not be full of your typical "fight fans". The white linen covered tables will be surrounded by some of the most powerful and influential businessmen in L.A. There will be no tickets made available to the public, all the seats are paid for by participating corporations. WARRIORS CUP OF AMERICA promoter Jason Luevano has been brought in as matchmaker and has done a fine job with the card. Ludwig, who was recently crowned the I.M.T.C. North American Middleweight Champion, will be facing Pedro Solano Villalobos. Mr. Villalobos was featured in the current issue of INSIDE KUNG FU magazine in an article about his training in Thailand. Pete Spratt will travel from Dallas, Texas to face local favorite "Cowboy" Heath Harris in a pro 5 round Muay Thai bout.Other fighters on the card include ring veteran William Syrapai, and Dan "TANIS" Rawlings of Euclid, Ohio. Full results will be posted next week. |
| Thursday - March 15, 2001 |
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From DSE USA: "PRIDE FC 'Collision Course' (a.k.a. PRIDE 13) All Match Ups" Total 8 matches (including 5 previously announced match ups)
DATE: March 25th, 2000 GATE OPEN 15:00 FIGHT START 17:00 PLACE: Saitama Super Arena (Omiya, Saitama Pref., Japan) |
Mark Coleman
Allan Goes
Heath Herring
Sobolev Denis
Guy Mezger
Egan Inoue
Vitor Belfort
Bobby Southworth
Masaaki Satake
Tadao Yasuda|
From the event's promoter: Fight Card @ The Abyss in Houma, Louisiana March 31, 2001 PRO CARD DARREN DESALVO (LA) VS. JEREMIAH O'NEAL (TX) MIKE HERRING (MS) VS. ROB MORRIS (AL) RICH CLEMENTI (MS) VS. DANNY PAYNE (TX) GSE WORLD LT. HEAVY WEIGHT TITLE BOUT CHAD COOK (AL) VS. ROBBY NEWMAN (MS) AMATEUR CARD JIMMY TERREL (MS) VS. FILI PESE (TX) JOSHUA MCDONALD (LA) VS. GLENN SMITH (AL) KELLY LASSEIGNE (LA) VS. DAVE WHITNEY (LA) SHANNON HOLGATE (LA) VS. JAMES WAKEFIELD (LA) CHARLES CHURCH (LA) VS. NATHAN SANCHEZ (LA) DAVE BENEFIELD (LA) VS. SEAN ROOP (LA) AARON WILLIAMS (MS) VS. TBA For more fight or ticket information you can go to www.globalsportsent.com or call GSE at 504-486-6759 or the Abyss at 504-857-9866. See you there! |
| Friday - March 16, 2001 |
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with Gary Goodridge By Josh Gross 
FCF: This is your first fight since Pride 11, which means you've been inactive for much longer than usual. Because of that long lay off is there anything different you did in preparation or did you follow your usual routine?GG: Actually, I did a few things different. Instead of running and doing a lot of stuff on cardio machines I went back to lifting weights because my opponent in Pride 11 wouldn't cooperate and go to sleep when I hit him. I decided that I'd go back to the weights, and instead of doing the cardio machines, running up hills and doing the dinosaur training that I do, I'd do exactly what I needed to do in order to win the fight. You need to condition, do more grappling and you need to increase your target mitts and sparring practice in order to get the cardio in a position that you need, rather than running up and down hills. FCF: Do you think with your added size cardio becomes more of a concern, or did you just train more cardio than normal? GG: You know what - I'm definitely stronger, so my game is really not to outlast my opponent; it's to put my opponent to sleep. Before everything is said I want my opponent to be sleeping. I don't want to go the distance with anybody. I want it to be done. I'm training for a five-minute fight, and it's going to be done. I'm going out there to put my opponent asleep - period. FCF: So you've decided on a game plan for a five-minute fight. What happens of the fight goes longer than five-minutes? GG: Well I don't think anyone can handle five-minutes with me standing up. If I go on my back I can lay there for an hour, but I don't think anyone can handle five-minutes standing up with me now that I'm 260lbs. 
FCF: Your opponent, Bob Schrijber, is very well known in Holland. He's also known for having problems with dirty tactics during some of his fights. Would you want to match him, like an eye for an eye, if he is dirty against you or will you take the high road and fight clean?GG: Well, no I think when you start looking to gouge people in the eyes and pinch their nuts and do things that are illegal tactics you start not seeing things that are easy submissions or an easier strike. I am just looking forward to a good fight. I hope we fight clean. I'd like to knock him out really easy. You know, if he pokes me in the eye or does something like that 'se la vie' you know. If he gets nasty I'm sure my corner will jump in and start beating him. If he decides to get dirty then it all depends on if I'm frustrated or not, then we'll see if I get dirty. FCF: At this point in your career what are you looking to for: the pleasure of knocking someone out or an uncollected goal somewhere out there? GG: Being 35-years-old and being involved in the sport for going on six years now, I think that at this stage of my career I think I just want to look for knock outs. I'm not saying I'm the best fighter in the world or that I'm the greatest and no one will beat me; I'm saying that I'm looking for knock outs on my feet or do what's easiest to mangle my opponent. FCF: Thanks, good luck on Sunday. GG: You're welcome. |
| Saturday - March 17, 2001 - Happy St. Patrick's Day! |
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MMA event ever to hit its shores By Josh Gross AMSTERDAM - The tickets are gone - all 9,000 of them - and tomorrow the largest mixed martial arts event to ever hit Europe will rock the sold out Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam. Headlined by MMA powerhouses Gilbert Yvel, Carlos Barretto, Valentijn Overeem and Gary Goodridge along with Muay Thai legends Ernesto Hoost and Roman Decker the card promises to be an exciting one. The countdown to fight time kicked off with the rules meeting Saturday morning in a packed Falstaffzaal ballroom at the Hotel Novotel. Seated at a raised table, the 2 Hot 2 Handle organizers discussed various rules, production and weigh-in issues with the fighters and managers in attendance. Speaking on behalf of the show were Michel Groen, Bas Boon and Ap Echteld. Promoters Ron Nyqvist and Mark Deweert were not in attendance, yet their presence has been strong the week leading up to the show. The organizers hammered the point home that they would not tolerate any lack of respect in the ring from either the fighters or corner-men. Three examples were cited that could lead to disqualification and loss of purse: 1) The corner cannot stand on the ring apron, 2) The corner may not hit or pound on the ring mat, 3) Any alleged illegal tactics by a fighter will be reviewed by tape after the fight. The mixed martial arts fights will consist of two 10-minute rounds and, like Pride, stand ups from ground fighting will be up to referee discretion. Initially the rules called for mandatory stand ups after 2-minutes however the promoters felt that it would be best left for the referee to decide. The Gilbert Yvel vs. Kazayuki Fujita fight in Pride 12 was used as an example of what 2 Hot 2 Handle did not want to happen. Expect the stand ups to be fast and furious leaving grapplers like Carlos Barreto at a disadvantage. The final order of fights is as follows:
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with Ian Freeman By Josh Gross 
FCF: Ian how is your injury, and could you elaborate on exactly how it happened?IF: The injury was sustained seven days before my UFC 27 fight against Tedd Williams. I had three fights after that and basically carried the injury the entire time. What I should have done was rested until I was fully healed, but I'm one of these guys when offered a fight I can't turn it down. Because of my background being a street fighter before a professional fighter, I'll never duck a fight or turn it down. When I was fighting Osami Shibuya I heel hooked him and popped my cartilage. I realized it was time to rest it because it was going to get to the point where if I didn't rest it I'd probably never fight again because I was quitting fights half way through because my ribs were hurting. People are not going to want me, so I rested it, saw specialists and got treatment. I'd say it's 99-percent healed now. I've trained hard, but I haven't had a fight since popping my ribs. Hopefully it will hold up against (Valentijn) Overeem. FCF: You spoke about your street fighting experience. Do you think there is a point, as a professional fighter, where you look towards the future and stop taking fights when they're offered just because it's a fight? IF: When I first changed from a street fighter to a professional fighter it was a big jump. I had to learn to be more controlled and not take everything so personal. Before, every fight was personal. Any time a guy wanted to fight me it became a fight to the death so-to-speak. It was far to personal, but now I'm sort of looking at it where I need to look forward instead of back. I have had offers of fights, not being rude, against lesser opponents and I had to turn them down because it's not going to get my career anywhere. However, anytime someone's offered me a name opponent I've jumped at the chance. FCF: You've had the opportunity to fight in bigger shows. The 2 Hot 2 Handle show appears to be a big step forward for European mixed martial arts, especially here in Holland. What do you think the status of mixed martial arts in Europe is and where does it go in the future? IF: In Europe, obviously this show is unbelievable with 9,000 tickets already sold. It's one big show, but in the UK I'd say we're about 10-years behind. It's ridiculous. I'll give you an example: There have been 30 UFC's, yet you can only buy up to UFC 4 in the shops. Holland isn't that far from the UK, so hopefully it will catch on and things will progress some more. FCF: Is the lack of exposure in the UK due to a lack of interest from the fans, or is it because of political reasons? IF: It's more political powers. I tried to run a show there. I had everything organized. We had over 2,000 tickets sold already and it was the government who stopped it because they said it was barbaric. Obviously, it's just ignorance to the sport and I think every country has that. They will allow stand up fighting; they will allow ground fighting, but they won't allow a combination of the two with punches on the ground. That takes a lot of the excitement away, but hopefully it will catch on eventually. FCF: Your opponent, Valentijn Overeem, just made it to the finals of the King of Kings tournament. He has very good stand up skills and is very dangerous on the ground. What do you expect from him in your match? IF: I think he'll take me to the ground straight away. I'd be surprised if he decides to stand up with me. Hopefully he does because that's my forte, and I'll stand toe-to-toe with any man. I love a good battle. He watched my fight with Bob Shrijber and in the end he said he was really impressed with my stand up, so I think it will go to the ground. Like I said I think I've gotten over this injury and I feel like I can move my hips a lot more, so I'm not as sluggish on the floor as I have been. If people watch my fights, and they don't look at the injuries I have, they think 'he's ok, but can't move to well for a heavyweight'. The reason is I haven't been able to move. The way I've been moving lately I've been really fast on the floor. You'll see a different Ian Freeman. I want to go into this fight with a lot more pace. FCF: Do you have any prediction on how the fight will play out? IF: I never go into fights with a prediction. I went into one fight with Bob Steins in a pancrase fight, and had everything mapped out before hand. It just didn't work out. He throws a right kick, I throw a right hand and knock him out - that was my only game plan. When I went in there it didn't work. We were in the clinch for about 30-seconds and didn't know what to do. I just thought 'do what you do best' and I knocked the guy out. Since that fight I said never, ever go in with a game plan. I'm just going to go in there and stay on my feet. If he tries to take me down I'll try and stay on my feet. If it does go to the ground then I'll fight. I'm just gonna take it as it comes. FCF: Thanks, good luck on Sunday. IF: Thank you. |
From the event's promoter:
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa -- Officials for the RINGS USA event here at Harveys Casino on Saturday were working hard late Friday night to get the site ready."The casino had another event in the same ballroom on Friday night, so we couldn't get in until midnight," said promoter Monte Cox. "Of course, you always like to get set up the day before, but it wasn't possible this time." "The ring was set up first, followed by the lighting and then the staging. "This would have been no problem if the show wasn't being televised," Cox said. "But a late start puts pressure on the TV guys...they have to run cable and test out their equipment." RINGS USA is shown on WOWOW-TV in Japan. All the fighters showed up early Friday with the exception of LaVerne Clark and Chatt Lavender... who ironically are scheduled to fight each other. Bad weather could have contributed to one of the delays as Lavender was making the long trip by car from Tennessee. "I'm not too worried about it," Cox said. "Both these guys were real excited to be on the show...they'll show up." The final lineup: Rich Franklin vs. Travis Fulton Curtis Brigham vs. Naoyuki Kotani Zane Frazier vs. Bobby Hoffman Brett Al-azzawi vs. Matt Hughes Chatt Lavender vs. LaVerne Clark Kerry Schall vs. John Dixson Jermaine Andre vs. Masaya Kojima Griffen Reynaud vs. Jeremy Horn |
| Sunday - March 18, 2001 |
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By Josh Gross ROTTERDAM - A raucous crowd of over 9,000 fans filled the Ahoy arena to watch top Dutch MMA and Muay Thai fighters take on some of their counterparts from across the globe. The hometown crowd left with smiles on their faces as fan favorites Gilbert Yvel, Valentijn Overeem and Ernesto Hoost walked away with victories. Also, Muay Thai legend Roman Decker officially retired from Muay Thai competition after destroying Swiss fighter Marino de Florin. Results Mixed Martial Arts Fights: 
Gilbert Yvel (Ned) defeats Carlos Barreto (Brazil) by KO 2:20 of round one. Barreto had Yvel mounted a minute into the fight, yet the referee chose to stand up the fighters. Once back on the feet, Yvel clearly KO'd Barreto with a left hook to the chin, yet when Barreto pleaded to keep fighting the judges at ringside cleared it. Yvel immediately pounced and blasted the Brazilian with a flying knee, effectively KO'ing Barreto for the second time.
Gary Goodridge (Canada) defeats Bob Schrijber (Ned) by toe-hold submission 2:32 of round one. Goodridge didn't throw three strikes the entire fight, none were right punches, yet managed to submit the tough Schrijber.Sem Schilt (Ned) drew Aliaksei Miadzvedzeu (Belarus). The fight featured the seven-foot Schilt on his back nearly the entire fight. Miadzvedzeu, a silver medalist Olympic wrestler, took the lanky Dutchman down 22 times during their 20-minute contest. Schilt landed a few knees and punches yet the fight was ruled a draw. Valentijn Overeem (Ned) defeats Ian Freeman (UK) by TKO 1:50 of round one after a cut above Freeman's right eye. Fatih Kocamis (Germany) defeats Ed de Kruiyf (Ned) by KO 7:00 of round one. Martijn de Jong (Ned) defeats Tullio Costa (Brazil) by TKO from doctor stoppage 6:00 of round one. Allister Overeem (Ned) defeats Stasnuschik (Russia) by KO 0:53 of round one. (Mix Fight - One 10-minute round) Serge Bytchkov (Russia) defeats Ronny Rivano (Ned) by arm-triangle submission 4:40 of round one. (Female Mix Fight - One 10-minute round) Natalia Bobkova (Russia) defeats Irma Verhoef (Ned) by decision. Muay Thai Fights: Ernesto Hoost (Ned) defeats Xhavit Bajrami (Switzerland) by decision (K-1 rules). Roman Decker (Ned) defeats Marino de Florin (Switzerland) by KO 0:10 of the fourth round. Rayen Simson (Ned) defeats Karpin (Russia) by decision. Gilbert Ballentine (Ned) defeats Ridoun Assrouti by TKO from referee stoppage 2:55 of the third round. (Female Muay Thai Fight) Ilonka Elmont (Ned) defeats Christina Horvai (Hungary) by decision. Samir Bennazouz (Ned) defeats Sean Pulcjak (Croatia) by KO 0:27 of the fourth round. |
| Monday - March 19, 2001 |
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From the event's promoter: at this RINGS USA event COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa -- When mixed martial arts began, judges were rarely needed as a lack of rules, including no time limit, enabled most fighters to finish their opponents. It was a combination of rules that produced the same results Saturday at the RINGS USA: Battle of the Best event at Harveys Casino & Hotel. "In RINGS, you can only punch to the body when on the ground, so submission fighters can concentrate more on submissions," promoter Monte Cox said. "But there is also a rule that stands the fighters up if no progress is made in 30 seconds... this enables the strikers to get back on their feet more and try for the knockout." All nine bouts ended without a judges decision. There were six submissions, two TKOs and one stoppage due to injury (a broken hand). There were many impressive performances... by veterans and newcomers alike. UFC regulars Jeremy Horn, Matt Hughes and Bobby Hoffman showed off their skills, as did future stars Joe Doerksen, Rich Franklin, Kerry Schall and Japan's Naoyuki Kotani. However, the top bouts of the night featured Jermaine Andre vs. Masaya Kojima and Chatt Lavender vs. LaVerne Clark. Andre, a UFC vet, showed some great athletic ability en route to winning, while Lavender pulled the upset with an armbar over Clark, a 5-time UFC regular. Official results...
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In this issue...|
From Susumu's Gallery: A Japanese major sports newspaper, Sankei Sports reported today that the Japan delegation a for ADCC 2001 has almost been decided. Since there was no selection tournaments in Japan this year, every Japanese martial arts fan wonders what is going on for ADCC 2001. The names of athletes listed up are as follows: Naoya Uematsu, Takanori Gomi, Tetsuji Kato, Eric Paulson from Shooto Kiyoshi Tamura, Tsuyoshi Kosaka from Rings Akihiro Gono, Sanae Kikuta from Pancrase Hiroyuki Abe, Masutatsu Yano from RJW Kaoru Uno, Akira Shoji from Keishukai Takumi Yano from Ugokai Yoshiaki Yatsu from SPWF 5 more athletes recommended by Japanese Amateur Wrestling Association Susumu's Gallery: http://come.to/susumu |
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From the event's promoter: THIS WEEKEND !!! By John Petrilli RITC XXVI Saturday March 24, 2001 Fight Time: 7:00 PM Celebrity Theatre Phoenix, Arizona RITC XXVI is shaping up to be one of the most exciting fight cards ever. Homer "Rock" Moore is back and scheduled to fight Jacob Henness in Super Fight #1. Super Fight #2 has Shane Johnson trying to get back into RITC Championship contention against top challenger Allan "A-Dawg" Sullivan in a much awaited slugfest between two of the most exciting fighters in Arizona. Super Fight #3 will feature 6'2" / 365 pound Justin Lyon against 6'1" / 355 pound Jake Austin in a fight that will rock the state. The Main Event will showcase 18 year old sensation Edwin Dewees, from Team Brausa, against two time UFC veteran Christophe Leininger in a David vs Goliath showdown. Also on the card: Farrell Frisby vs Team Todd Medina Fighter Bill Cameron vs Team Todd Medina Fighter Shawn Upshur vs Michael Barney Marty Salamon vs George Tellez Mike Berardi vs Henry Lopez Ted Opaliniski vs Mike Hoag Jeremy Roath vs Jim Johnson Tom Gabauer vs Bill Lyman Plus 5 - 10 more action packed fights. Don't miss out !!!! Tickets are available at all Ticket Master locations (480-784-4444) or at the Celebrity Theatre Box Office. For more information, visit www.rageinthecage.com or call 480-446-8127. |
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From the event's promoter: "BATTLE FOR THE NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP BELT" KRUSE-EBAY AUCTION PARK AUBURN, IN. 6PM APRIL 28 Eight of the top 135 lb. fighters in the country are going to square off on the evening of April 28. A Champion will be crowned with a Championship Belt that will knock your socks off! Don't miss this night of action! Many amateur fighters from across the country will be fighting for the right to say that they are the DZ Amateur Tournament Champion in their respected weight division. For more information go to: www.the-dangerzone.com Any interested amateurs please contact us and get involved. We do have opening in some weight catagories. 135 lb Professional Fighters: Joe Cuff MA., Jeremy Bolt IN., Itchaku Murata Japan-OH., Ben Bowden TX.,Travis Phippen MO. Matt Hamilton AR., Dan Swift PA., Steve Hallock OH. Dan The Beast Severn will be on hand to sign autographs. This is the most action packed cage fighting event in the country! Tickets are $15-$50 and will be on sale March 28. all info is on our web site. As of March 16 these are the confirmed amateur fighters below: 135-below Pablo Anchando 136-150 Mike Rooney 151-165 Brian Densberger, Tom Bowers, Alan Woolums, Josh Kaine 166-180 Kyle Craig, Roger Sexton 181-195 Jeff Ignawski, Chris Skrzypek, Rusty Pontz Dan Severn-Becky Levi The Danger Zone Inc. www.the-dangerzone.com |
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From the event's promoter: Jamie Levine put on a spectacular card as the toughest amateurs battled it out for a spot on a future WEF card! The event went smoothly as arguably, the best card of amateurs ever laid it on the line for the crowd. Actually, a bit of drama ensued when local police attempted to shut down the trials. Ace promoter Jamie Levine, stepped outside and showed the police the permits, licenses and other paperwork necessary. The police were unable to shut down the trials since Jamie Levine had covered all his bases prior to the fight. The trials then went on without a hitch. Jose Gonzalez vs. Frank Fowler Jose wins the first match of the night in 2:20 of the 1st round by TKO. Bill Perez vs. Ray Totorico Perez dispatches tough Totorico in 3:19 of the 1st round with an armbar. Antoine Coleman vs. Jeff Myers Coleman, making his debut, dishes out a tremendous beating on Myers. A most exciting match, it ended at the beginning of the 3rd round. TKO. Charles "Crazy Horse" Bennett vs. Rob Irizarry In an amazing match, Crazy Horse takes the win at 1:43 of Round 3. Rob was fully mounted and had to tap due to Crazy Horse's pounding strikes. Rob, at one point had Crazy Horse in an armbar but Crazy Horse picked up Rob and slammed him down....hard!! Crazy's strength isunbelievable! John Hosegood vs. Chris Williams John takes the win at :53 seconds of Round 1 with a guillotine choke. Alex Galuzian vs. Larry Breazeale Galuzian wins at 1:00 of round 2 by KO. Todd Carney vs. Ariftioef Brito Todd wins this very much anticipated match. Both fighters are known for their superb striking abilities and they didn't dissapoint fans as they traded heavy shots and went toe to toe! Todd landed 2 solid knees that knocked Brito out momentarily. Todd mounted him and as Brito came to, Todd delivered solid shots that KO'd Brito! As Brito was being helped up, someone from the crowd yelled something to the effect of "You got knocked the F**k out!" Brito, believing it was Carney who yelled it, tried to go after him and had to be physically restrained! What a fight!! James Crunkilton vs. Daniel Wade This was the best fight of the night!! Crunkilton wins by unanimous decision after an all out war! During the course of the fight, James floored Wade on 3 different occasions. Wade received 3 standing-8 counts but showed a tremendous amount of heart and continued. Rich "Cleat" Crunkilton vs. Zviad Abuseridze In the Main Event, Cleat faced 4-time World Freestyle Wrestling Champion Zviad Abuseridze. Cleat frustrated Zviad as he stopped 5 of Zviad's shots with sprawls and knees. At one point, Zviad was so frustrated that he picked up Crunkilton and threw him out of the ring!!! Luckily, Jamie Levine was there to catch him, preventing any serious injury. An infuriated Cleat stormed into the ring and traded shots with Zviad. Zviad once again tried to throw Cleat out of the ring when Cleat had an armbar. Eventually, Crunkilton sunk in a triangle at 1:17 of round 2 forcing Zviad to tap. Roberto Martinez Promotions Associate World Extreme Fighting |
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From the event's promoter: Quick results March 17,2001 - Houston, Texas Bushi Ban Self Defense Academy By Lee Coates Submission Wrestling Grand Championship Finals Semi-final Kevin Rouse def. Sam Guerra - ankle lock - 1:05 Finals Kevin Rouse def. Anthony McMillan - Neck crank/choke - 13:22 Women's Absolute Submission Wrestling Finals Finals Debra Bly def. Andrea Grishman - side choke - 0:40 Men's Absolute Submission Wrestling Finals George Paz def. Rich Clementi - decision in overtime Free Fighting Grand Championship Quarterfinals Edwin Allseitz def. Brian Lawyer - rear choke - 6:26 Juan Guitierrez def. Jarrett Simpson - keylock - 3:42 Semifinals Allsietz def. Guitierrez - rear choke - 2:15 Clementi def. Jeremy Jimenez - arm-bar - 2:15 Final Clementi def. Allsietz - chicken wing from guard - 3:36 Crowned 2001 Dungal Champion |
| Tuesday - March 20, 2001 |
From the event's promoter: Action-packed, "no-holds-barred" competition Sunday, April 29, 2001 6:00pm Colusa Casino Williams, California KING OF THE CAGE---THE BIGGEST, THE BADDEST, THE BEST Hosted by Eddie Bravo and emceed by "The Voice of the Octagon" Bruce Buffer, "King of the Cage 8" attacks with a vengeance, presenting yet another incredible fight card in a line of now legendary King of the Cage fight cards. Already renowned for bringing the best domestic and international mixed martial arts competitors into the cage, "King of the Cage" will rock Northern California at the Colusa Casino in the city of Williams, one hour north of Sacramento. See 10 matches that will be all-out wars including Vernon "Tiger" White of the Lion's Den in perhaps his fiercest match ever as he looks to defend his King of the Cage World Light Heavy Weight Championship against number one contender Marvin Eastman (John Lewis Jiu Jitsu). Will Eastman declaw the Tiger? Show up and see. In another main event Gil Castillo (14-0) of the Caesar Gracie Academy looks to dethrone another Lion's Den member as he challenges reigning King of the Cage World Middleweight Champion, Joe Hurley (11-0). And in the third match of the tri-main event, NHB legend Jerry Bohlander faces Judo specialist from Japan, Toshi Oyama (fresh off of his 17 second KO of Mike "Rhino" Bourke at KOTC 7). Also scheduled on the card---Pride fighters from Japan, Koh and Daijiro Matsui, Kelly Dullanty of Striker Sports, Martin Armendares of the Caesar Gracie Academy, and Brazilian black belt legend Andre Pentenares representing John Lewis Jiu Jitsu. From: Team King of the Cage LESS THAN 500 TICKETS ARE LEFT! GET YOUR TICKETS NOW! KING OF THE CAGE The originator of the 5-minute round and the best in mixed martial arts competition Sunday, April 29, 2001 6:00pm Colusa Casino Williams, California
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| Wednesday - March 21, 2001 |
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From DSE USA: KEN SHAMROCK, PULLED OUT FROM PRIDE-13 Wednesday, March 21st, Japan time, DSE announces withdrawal of Ken Shamrock from the fight and replacement by Tra Telligman at the PRIDE-13 on 3/25. On March 9th, DSE was informed by Ken Shamrock and reported by Dr.Cassey* that his neck injury, originally incurred during a WWF pro wrestling show in '98, took a turn for the worse during his training. Since then DSE, Ken and Dr.Cassey have been discussing this issue based on the medical examination report and reached to the conclusion of his withdrawal from the fight. Upon a request from DSE and recommendation by Ken, Tra Telligman** will be facing to Igor Vovchanchyn on the 25th. DSE would like to express appreciation to both Tra Telligman and Igor Vovchanchyn who accepted the difficult decision on such a short notice.
*Ref.: Letter from Dr. Cassey. Ken Shamrock, who is a patient under my care was seen in my office on March 7th with complaints of bilateral upper extremity pain as well as radiculopathy. Mr.Shamrock underwent exhaustive testing and was noted to have findings consistent with a cervical radiculopathy. Because of the radicular symptoms he was experiencing in both upper extremities, it was felt that it was not in his best interest to proceed with a fight at this time. We recommended that he undergo cervical epidurals as well as physical therapy. John J. Cassey, M.D. |
**Tra Telligman| Thursday - March 22, 2001 |
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From the event's promoter: Fans, Supporters, Competitors, and Instructors, 
"America's Premier Submission Grappling Tournament" returns to the Big Apple this weekend, Sunday March 25th! If you attend or compete in only one submission-grappling tournament this year...do not miss The Grapplers Quest New York City at the City College of New York.Come and see 43 Divisions of non-stop grappling action for Men, Women, Children, and Executives...plus the much-anticipated Superfight Absolute Division! If you haven't registered already, you can still register at the door for $65 (cash only) and spectator tickets will be available at the door for $15. The much anticipated Professional GQ Superfight Absolute is heating up as well with the following invitees:
Cash prizes of $1,000 for 1st Place, $500 for 2nd Place, $250 for 3rd Place, and $125 for 4th Place. ================== Event Information: ================== The Grapplers Quest New York City Sunday, March 25th City College of New York 138th Street and Convent Avenue http://www.Grapplers.com ================================================ Download Tournament Information, Rules, and Directions at: http://www.grapplers.com/article_images/grapplersquestpack.doc |
| Friday - March 23, 2001 |
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For those fans who want to wait until the Pay-Per-View airing, we will NOT put up any Pride-13 results on our main news page, we will provide links to subpages with the results and/or any other articles that may give away the results.< So, there will be no reason to stay away from your beloved FCF News! |
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The Smiling Gracie By Josh Gross 
TOKYO--Comebacks, either from defeat, injury or both, can be the most trying experience any fighter will ever face. Both Renzo Gracie and Dan Henderson head into their fight on March 25th hoping to exorcise the demon that can eat away at the core of any fighter--self-doubt. Although neither will admit it, and judging by their confidence at Thursday's press conference, both fighters are eager to put ugly losses in their last appearances behind them.Renzo faces the tougher battle of the two. The animated Brazilian not only faces a hungry opponent, he'll also have to deal with the memory of a dislocated elbow and disheartening loss against Kazushi Sakuraba at Pride 10. "I'm better now, that's the truth" said Gracie in his thick Portuguese accent. "I passed through a test, and I ended up with my arm broke. I remember sitting at home thinking 'Man, I have my arm broke. I am out of shape and I'm home for two months doing nothing. Where can I go now? What can I do now?' I cannot go back, only forward and here I am today to fight again." Was there ever a doubt he'd be back? Of course not, but it's only human nature to question oneself after things don't go right. Representing every ounce of toughness and respect his family name carries with it, Renzo denied the urge to take a baby step after his injury. "Pride asked me if I want to fight someone less tough, someone to get me going again and I said 'no'. They asked me whom I want to fight and I said (Vanderlei) Silva. They thought I was crazy, but I said 'Silva, I want to fight Silva.'" For now, any thoughts of a Silva fight must be put on the backburner because looking past Henderson could result in a second consecutive defeat. Like many wrestlers, Henderson has had great success in mixed martial arts and Gracie recognizes that. "Wrestling is a sport that you have to embrace to love. There's no money in it. There's nothing but passion, so they're pretty good fighters. They're basically like jiu-jitsu guys when I was growing up. We embraced it and loved it for the sport. So by dedicating yourself to that you're going to be a tough guy. Without a doubt the guys from wrestling doing mixed martial arts today are tough." Henderson's toughness is unquestioned and the possibility of Gracie losing is a very real one. Despite a severe weight difference--he weighed in at 174lbs--there is no hesitation for a man many consider the most progressive fighter in the Gracie clan. 
"I believe that the weight is a big factor, but I think I can overcome it. I'm used to fighting bigger guys. Maybe I can use it as an excuse if I lose," he said as laughter filled the room. "I was bigger. I got up in my training to 190lbs, but I did so much training in the last 20 days my weight dropped tremendously."Considering a 20-plus-pound weight advantage and excellent wrestling skills Gracie could have a hell of a time against Henderson, yet the 34-year-old remains undaunted. "It's going to be tough. There's not such thing as a fool in the ring anymore. It's going to be hard to hit him, take him down and finish him. I see a guy like Henderson and I really enjoy fighting him. It's not about weight. I'm not worried about if I lose what I'm going to do next. I'm going to keep fighting until the promoters say they've had enough of me." The urge to fight to bigger guys has been a Catch 22 for Gracie. While he's had some success it's not nearly the amount he could have as a lightweight. At this point it appears as if he's intent on fighting over 170bs. No matter the outcome on Sunday it does not look like we'll see Renzo lose the urge to fight anytime soon. "I like to fight. It doesn't matter where it is. You put me in an elevator I'll do it. You put me on the street I'll do it." You want a sure bet? I can guarantee you that win or lose he'll be smiling after the show. "I can tell you one thing for sure. I want to end this fight like I am looking at you here--handsome as always." Classic Renzo. |
| Saturday - March 24, 2001 |
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Return of the Hammer By Josh Gross 
TOKYO - It's been 10 months since we last saw Mark Coleman strap on his gloves and steamroll his way through last May's Pride Grand Prix. Coleman's victory over Igor Vovchanchyn in the finals skyrocketed him back to the top of the heavyweight division; regaining all credibility he lost since his heydays in the UFC."I'm excited to get back in there," Coleman said. "It's been a long time and it's time to get back in there. Due to circumstances out of my control I haven't fought sooner, but things have come together for me now and it's time to get back in the ring." A focused, hungry Mark Coleman is a scary thought for any opponent standing across from him. While many wanted to see a rematch versus Vovchanchyn or a classic battle against fellow pioneer Ken Shamrock, Pride signed a smaller Allen Goes to take on the "Hammer". "He has potential to pose a risk to me," Coleman said about Goes. "He's very dangerous in submission and is a well rounded fighter. He comes from Brazil, so I know he's got a strong heart. It's going to be a tough fight." Goes, one of the founding members of the "Top Team", is very dangerous from his guard. Although Coleman has spent countless hours training to pass the guard, and has been one of the more successful men to do that, he doesn't seem confident in his ability to get by Goes' legs. 
"I was very one dimensional in the beginning. With no rules I didn't really need to know a lot, but when they added rules and took away the head-butts, I needed to learn submission and learn stand-up. However, I don't think I'll try to pass Goes' guard. I'll probably try to score some points inside the guard. I know this is entertainment, and I don't like to get booed. So if not much is happening I'll try and stand back up."By all accounts, Coleman wants this fight on his feet. Unless something freaky happens, the chances of Goes taking Coleman down aren't high. "A knockout is the only thing I don't have in my book, so I'm going to try and knock him out. I don't think he can take me down, but he may come out throwing big haymakers because he doesn't care if he gets taken down or not. If anything, he may try to jump into the guard." A major concern for Coleman is his cardio. The 10-month layoff has to weigh heavily on his mind, and any doubt he may have about his shape heading into the fight could cause a big problem. "I think I'm in good shape, but it's been such a long time we'll have to wait and see. We'll see what kind of rust I have, but I feel good and confident that I'm going to get the win." Despite Coleman's mental uncertainty, his physical appearance is better than ever. He's fighting at 224lbs, a weight he's not been since the Olympic years of 1992 and 1996. He's down nearly 25lbs from his largest fight weight roughly two-years ago, and down 11lbs from his Grand Prix weight. Don't expect him to be any less powerful, and as an added bonus Coleman could be quicker than ever. 
Even though Coleman didn't sign his fight with Goes until a week before the show, his training has been consistent. He headed to Pat Miletich's school in Iowa at the very end of his training for one week to fine tune any rough edges."He's a great coach," the Ohio native said about Miletich. "He knows what he's doing. The work had been done, and although there's not much you can do in a week he boosted my confidence. He feels I'm ready for a war on my feet, and he gave me the thumbs up on my stand-up game so, I'm going to try and take it to Goes." All that remains to be seen is whether the Mark Coleman that emerged at the Pride Grand Prix can reemerge at Pride 13. We'll find out tomorrow.
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| Sunday - March 25, 2001 |
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By Josh Gross An action-packed show with surprising results... Click here for the results (if you just can't want to wait for the Pay-Per-View broadcast) |
| Tuesday - March 27, 2001 |
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Larry Hazzard Sr. And his thoughts moments after UFC XXX in Atlantic City By Joel Gold THOUGHTS ON UFC XXX COMPARED TO UFC XXVIII... 
They were both very exciting. I have to say that this one was a little more exciting because you had a few more knockouts, a few more dramatic things to occur, but the skill level in this one too was maybe a little bit...a step higher than the other, that is probably why you had so many knockouts. This is the nature of the sport. You get knockouts in boxing. It is a combative sport. Our focus has to remain the health and safety of these competitors. We don't want to kill it. I think it was good. I think the fans had an exciting time and I think it is catching on. It is really catching on. You had a full house here. Nobody is complaining so...COMMENTS ON THE STATE OF OUR SPORT IN NJ, ARE WE STILL ON A TRIAL BASIS... 
It is a new sport. This is only the second time that we had this particular organization. This is only the third or fourth event. So, yes it is still in a trial period. It is not like it is not working. We are constantly, all of us, the Commission, the organizers we are all trying to refine the sport and make it as safe as we possibly can without taking away the excitement of the sport. There are a few other things that I think we all want to look at, but right now I think we are on safe ground and I think the sport is moving forward. I think right now it is catching on. I don't think that it is in any danger right now, but again we have to watch very closely and we have to constantly do our homework to make sure that we are doing as much as we could to touch all the safety bases, because the worst thing that we could have is for something to happen before we really get off the ground; so that is where we have to be careful.THOUGHTS ON CONCERNS THE COMMISSION MAY HAVE ON THE SPORT... We are looking at a couple of jaw fractures that seem to take place. We don't get as many jaw fractures in boxing, as we do here. That maybe we have to look at getting a little bit more padding on those gloves without taking away the fighters ability to manipulate. I think that could happen and we might see a little improvement there. I have a meeting planned for April 2nd I believe, and me and the members of my medical staff will be meeting with the organizers to sit down and discuss some ways that we can improve on the sport, safety aspects even more because that is what everyone wants. That's what everyone wants. We are working hard to make it happen, make it work and I think it could work. THE ONLY JAW FRACTURES THAT I CAN RECALL WAS JOHN LEWIS BACK IN UFC XXVIII... I think we had one or two jaw fractures tonight. We are going to look at that, if there is anything we can do, because that glove is kind of little...so we want to look at that. There have been studies done and maybe we won't have to do anything, maybe it is just one of those things. [Editors note: There were no reported post-fight jaw fractures at UFC XXX.] ARE YOU NOT A BELIEVER THAT PADDING ON BOXING GLOVES IS TO PROTECT THE PERSON THROWING THE PUNCH? I think it is to protect both, the glove itself, because you know in certain fights...boxing, heavyweights use bigger gloves. I think it is for both. The wrapping on the hand is for the fighter delivering the blow, but I think the padding on the glove has an impact on the target so to speak. SO, ARE WE HEADING DOWN THE RIGHT ROAD...IN A POSITIVE LIGHT RIGHT NOW? Oh, yeah, oh, yeah. Absolutely. |
FCF Picture Of The Day: Singer Sammy Hagar (with "Toothpick" Tony in the background) |
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From Susumu's Gallery: Hello, Susumu's Gallery has added 39 pictures from Pride 13 held on March 25, and 20 pictures from Shooto held on March 21. I think it is needless to say that please enjoy. Susumu's Gallery: http://come.to/susumu |
From the event's promoter:
Event: REDEMPTION IN THE VALLEY: No-Holds-Barred Cage FightsWV Promoter: Ron Tucker Event Sponsor: WEF, Jamie Levine, President Event Date: Saturday, April 21, 2001 Place: Wheeling Civic Center, Wheeling, WV Time: Fights start at 7 p.m. Tickets go on sale March 28 at www.ticketmaster.com Web Site: www.worldextremefighting.cc No-holds-barred cage fights will rock the Wheeling Civic Center, Wheeling, WV on April 21. Fourteen matches will take place in a steel cage. Internationally acclaimed no-holds-barred champion, Dan "The Beast" Severn will face-off against Jonathan "Lock 'n Load" Wiezorek as the main event. Pittsburgh native and cage-fight veteran Eric Hibler will take up the challenge against Richard "Mad Man" Crunkilton in a featured bout, and the night's super fight will feature Din "The Dominator" Thomas. There are few rules and lots of action inside the cage. Fighters may use any form of hand-to-hand combat which may include boxing techniques, kicking, elbow and knee strikes and wrestling techniques. Matches are won by knockout, by one of the fighters giving up (signaled by the contestant "tapping out", that is tapping on the mat), by the referee stopping the match, or by the judges' decision. Fights are generally three four-minute rounds. Title fights are longer. The few rules that are part of the contest prohibit the fighters from eye gouging, groin strikes and biting. Even though it is easy to follow the action, the fighters are extremely skilled and do whatever it takes to win or just survive. Area contestants include the Pittsburgh, PA Practical Fighting Concepts camp: Eric Hibler, Andy Cooper, Cris Custer, Don Kaecher and Bill Vucick. Other area contestants include West Liberty's own Brandon Lee Hinkle challenging Rich Franklin, the IFC Heavyweight Champion and WEF veteran with a 6-0 record all by kick-to-the-head knockouts. Todd Carney, Moundsville, will take on Charles "Crazyhorse" Bennett of Florida in a much-anticipated rematch. Ron Tucker of Moundsville is matched against Kevin Hulk Hogan, and Weirton's Jeff Wales Vs Josh Raferty. Gwen Wood, 7-time WV Toughwoman contest champ, will also step into the cage. Card is subject to change. |
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From the event's promoter/John Petrilli: Dewees decisions Leininger Brausa Academy 18 year old sensation Edwin Dewees earned a hard fought decision over highly respected MMA veteran Christophe Leininger in the Main Event. These two warriors battled on nearly equal terms for the entire match with Edwin prevailing for his 11th consecutive RITC victory. Watch for Edwin to compete in KOTC 8 next month. The Super Fight between Homer Moore and Kauai Kuphiea had the house rockin' with several standing ovations as both participants landed numerous "bombs" throughout the fight. A crowd of nearly 2,000 enjoyed 19 action packed fights in a super smooth RITC production that went off exactly as planned. Special guests included Todd Medina, Chris Brennan, Romi Aram, Zane Frazier and former boxing champion Michael Carbajal. The Todd Medina NHB Fighting Team went 2 - 0 for the evening and the Brausa Academy posted an 8 - 1 - 1 record. The brings the Brausa Fighting Team record to 101 - 11 - 1 over the past 13 events maintaining their 90% win rate. Results: Fight #1 Ryan "The Goblin" Brown ( 167 lbs ), Jeet Kune Do defeated by submission ( arm bar ) 1:00 Rd 1 Manuel Barcenas ( 172 lbs ), US Marine Corps Fight #2 Shawn "Nuke" Upshur ( 152 lbs ), Brausa Submission Fighter defeated by submission ( choke ) :55 Rd 1 John Upton ( 141 lbs ), Wrestler Fight #3 Michael Chavez ( 175 lbs ), Savage Te Dawg Pound defeated by submission ( choke ) 2:44 Rd 1 Jesus Salazar ( 175 lbs ), Freestyle Fight #4 Farrell "Full Moon" Frisby ( 149 lbs ), Brausa BJJ defeated by submission ( choke ) 2:23 Rd 1 Andy "AJ" McCormick ( 145 lbs ), Wrestling / JJ Fight #5 Tom "Atomic" Gabauer ( 190 lbs ), Brausa BJJ draw ( 1 - 1 - 1 decision ) Carlos Antillon ( 192 lbs ) Fight #6 John "Top Wop" Lansing ( 164 lbs ), Brausa BJJ / Wrestling defeated by submission ( choke ) 2:20 Rd 1 Fred "No Special Effects" McMillan ( 165 lbs ), Freestyle Fight #7 Aki Nagano ( 171 lbs ), Brausa BJJ / Boxing defeated by TKO 2:33 Rd 1 Daniel Truax ( 163 lbs ), Streetfighter Fight #8 Bill "Cannon" Cameron ( 168 lbs ), Brausa BJJ defeated by decision ( 3 - 0 ) Justin Antle ( 160 lbs ), US Marine Corps Fight #9 Juan Ayala ( 158 lbs ), The Todd Medina NHB Fighting Team defeated by submission ( choke ) :38 Rd 3 Jerry Parsons ( 165 lbs ), Jeet Kune Do Fight #10 Brian "Tsunami" Ikegami ( 166 lbs ), Brausa Submission Fighter defeated by submission ( knee bar ) :53 Rd 1 Cesar Ortiz ( 164 lbs ), Savage Te Dawg Pound Fight #11 Ted Opaliniski ( 215 lbs ), Brausa BJJ defeated by submission ( choke ) Trinity "T-Bone" Boykin ( 216 lbs ), Submission Fighter Fight #12 Del Hawkins ( 130 lbs ), Savage Te Dawg Pound defeated by submission ( strikes ) 1:32 Rd 1 Justin Popovich ( 153 lbs ), Freestyle Fight #13 Mike "The Mangler" Berardi ( 182 lbs ), Brausa BJJ defeated by KO :52 Rd 1 Andrew "The Convict" Kliewer, Streetfighter Fight #14 Frank "The Realist" Ritz ( 149 lbs ), Brausa BJJ defeated by decision ( 2 - 1 ) Julian Samaniego ( 148 lbs ), Vale Tudo Fight #15 Bill Rohlf ( 199 lbs ), The Todd Medina NHB Fighting Team defeated by submission ( choke ), 2:10 Rd 1 Jeremy "Hardcore" Halferty ( 235 lbs ), Brausa BJJ Fight #16 Timothy Credeur ( 192 lbs ), Millennia Jiu-Jitsu defeated by submission ( arm bar ) 1:54 Rd 1 Kevin Denz ( 195 lbs ), Savage Te Dawg Pound Fight #17 ( Super Fight ) Homer "Rock" Moore ( 200 lbs ), Team Phoenix defeated by decision ( 3 - 0 ) Kauai "The Hawaiian Assassin" Kuphiea ( 280 lbs ), Kick Boxing Fight #18 ( Super Fight ) Justin "A-Dawg" Lyon ( 365 lbs ), Savage Te Dawg Pound defeated by submission ( strikes ) 2:15 Rd 1 Jack Austin ( 320 lbs ), Leininger Academy Fight #19 ( Main Event ) Edwin "Babyface" Dewees ( 190 lbs ), Brausa BJJ defeated by decision ( 3 - 0 ) Christophe Leininger ( 200 lbs ), Judo / JJ Next Event: Rage in the Cage XXVII Saturday April 28, 2001 Tickets are available at all Ticket Master locations (480-784-4444) or at the Celebrity Theatre Box Office. For more information, visit www.rageinthecage.com or call 480-446-8127. Please note that a RITC Forum link has been added to the above web site. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions regarding RITC please post a message here. |
| Thursday - March 29, 2001 |
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From the event's promoter: VLADIMIR MATYUSHENKO Faces FALANIKO VITALE at UCC 4! Montreal (Canada)- The Universal Combat Challenge (UCC) is set to make it’s triumphant return to the beautiful city of Sherbrooke, Quebec. On May 12th, fight fans will once again be witness to the most action packed battles ever to hit Canadian soil. Promoters Stephane Patry and Pete Rodley have assembled a fight card that is guaranteed to once again blow the roof off the Sherbrooke Sports Palace while taking the UCC and it’s fighters to new heights of popularity. UCC 4 : Return of the Super StrikersTM will proudly host four main event title bouts plus seven UCC challenge bouts featuring some of the most exciting UCC warriors ! WORLD MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP- OUIMET vs. FONTINELLE The DEMOLITION MAN will be making his return to Canada to defend his UCC World Middleweight title against #1 challenger Donald Ouimet. Ouimet easily disposed of Muay-Thai fighter Dirk Waardenburg at UCC 3 to earn this crack at the gold. Ouimet is undefeated in MMA competition and is planning on keeping it that way. Fontinelle is known for his exciting brand of fighting and earned the nickname "DEMOLITION MAN" by being an incredibly aggressive, "in your face" warrior. The champ always shows up looking for the KO but Ouimet feels that his boxing training has given him the skills to go to war with Fontinelle and end on top. It’s Canada vs. Brazil... who will go home with the belt? May 12th we find out... CANADIAN MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP- VIGNEAULT vs. ST-LOUIS At UCC 3 Jason St.Louis silenced his critics and stunned the 3,200 fans in attendance with his brutal KO victory over David "The Crow" Loiseau to become the new UCC Canadian Middleweight Champion. Now the "Ontario’s Bad Boy" returns to make his first defense against # 1 contender Steve Vigneault. Known as the Lion heart, Vigneault made his UCC debut with a stunning 15 second victory (a record that still stands). At UCC 2 Steve narrowly missed winning the MW title in an epic battle against David Loiseau. After an impressive victory at UCC 3 Steve is ready to challenge the ever focused Bad Boy and bring the title back in his home province of Quebec. St. Louis , who is undefeated in the RING OF FURY, feels more than ready for this challenge and is planning on keeping the belt on Ontario turf with another amazing win at UCC 4. WORLD LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP- MATYUSHENKO vs. VITALE The vacant UCC World Light Heavy Weight title is on the line in a true world class battle. RAW team representative Vladimir Matyushenko is one of the most feared men in the game and has never been submitted or knocked out in his MMA career. Known as "The Janitor", Vladdy has devastated opponents in Japan, USA and Canada and now has plans to continue his reign of terror at UCC 4. There is one man that is hoping to rain on his parade of terror..... Falaniko Vitale is a young gun from the JESUS IS LORD GYM and is Hawaii's most promising fighter. Vitale has been piling up victory after victory in his native land as well as in KING OF THE CAGE competition. These warriors are known for having explosive hands and well balanced ground game but only ONE can emerge as the new World LHW champ. Its gonna be war at the Sports Palace as these SUPER STRIKERS battle it out! Plus 7 other exciting UCC challenge bouts! Don’t miss it! Tickets are available by calling the Admission Network at 1-800-361-4595 (Canada) Or at the Sherbrooke Sports Palace (819-821-5850) Stephane Patry, president UNIVERSAL COMBAT CHALLENGE |
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From Susumu's Gallery: Hello, 
Susumu's Gallery has added 40 pictures from Annual Combat Wrestling Tournament held on March 20th. Rumina Sato appeared for the first time after the drastic loss to Kaoru Uno. Every martial arts fan in Japan had been worrying about Sato because he had been completely silent to the public after the loss. Now I am relieved that he won Combat Wrestling tournament again. His technique and strong attitude to win are still healthy. Enjoy Sato's cool face after a long while.Susumu's Gallery: http://come.to/susumu (Warning: Susumu's Gallery has a Pride 13 picture on the opening page) |
| Friday - March 30, 2001 |
From the event's promoter: International Fighting Championships Presents WARRIOR'S CHALLENGE XII Table Mountain Casino, Fresno, CA April 11, 2001
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