March 1, 2007
WEC TITLE FIGHTS

Three Title Fights Highlight Impressive March 24^th WEC Lineup
By FCF Staff

The World Extreme Cagefighting’s March 24^th card is shaping up to be an extremely impressive lineup, a further testament to the direction the organization is taking under Zuffa ownership. The event, which will take place at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada , will be highlighted by three title fights. WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber (17-1) will look to defend his 145 pound crown against the undefeated Dominick Cruz (7-0). The Californian Faber won the promotion’s title in January at WEC 25 by stopping Joe Pearson in the first round with strikes.

The night’s second title fight will feature WEC Bantamweight Champion (135 lbs.) Eddie Wineland (12-4-1), looking to defend his title against Chase Beebe (9-1). Wineland has won his last nine fights in a row, a streak that includes a KO win over Antonio Banuelos at WEC 20 last May. Beebe has won his last four fights with his only career loss coming to Matt Fiordirosa, who defeated him by unanimous decision at the Xtreme Fighting Organization 12 last August.

The final title bout will see Canadian John Alessio (18-10) take on Carlos Condit (19-4) for the WEC Welterweight belt, in a fight between two well established fighters. Most recently, Alessio defeated Brian Gassaway in January by rear naked choke at WEC 25, a nice rebound for the UFC veteran who was defeated by Thiago Alves last October at Ultimate Fight Night 7. Condit has won his last four bouts in a row, including a first round rear naked choke submission win over Kyle Jensen at the WEC’s last event.

The upcoming WEC card will also feature some other fights of considerable interest, with several other UFC veterans slated to compete. Joe Riggs (25-9), who was knocked out by Diego Sanchez at UFN 8 in December, will try to get back on track against middleweight Hiromitsu Miura (3-3). The Japanese fighter is coming off a win, as Miura defeated Ryo Takigawa by TKO at K-1 Hero’s October event last fall.

Erik Apple (9-0) will face off against veteran Brock Larson (20-1) in what should be another great welterweight fight on the card. The King of the Cage announcer Apple is coming off a TKO win over Ray Elbe at Total Combat Entertainment 16 last September. Larson, whose only career loss, was to Jon Fitch in 2005, defeated Keita Nakamura by unanimous decision last December at UFN 8.

Also scheduled for the March 24^th card; featherweight Tommy Lee will fight Cub Swanson, Scott Norton will take on Alex Serduykov in a welterweight bout, LHW Steve Cantwell will meet Brian Stann, and Jesse Moren will fight Micah Miller in the 145 lb. bracket.

March 1, 2007
VITOR BELFORT SPEAKS OUT

Wanderlei has a weak chin
Photo by Marcelo Alonso
 

Belfort

Ready for his upcoming fight at the Cage Rage 21, which will be held on April 21^st in London , Vítor Belfort talked with us about the results of Pride 33 and analyzed the bout between Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson, who defeated Belfort in the first edition of Pride Las Vegas.

"Actually I was expecting this result; in my opinion Henderson was not the underdog in this fight because Wanderlei does not have a good chin.  Wand didn’t make a mistake, Henderson was just better than him, period. The KO doesn’t leave any doubt, nobody can complain.   Henderson showed a much more complete game than Wanderlei," said Belfort asking for a rematch against the new champion: "Dan Henderson is an amazing fighter, but if Pride gives me this opportunity of a rematch, the outcome will be different from the first bout," The Phenom guaranteed.

Vitor also analyzed the bout between Rogerio “Minotouro” Nogueira and Thierry Sokoudjou. “Rogerio’s case is completely different. Being knocked out in the third round and in 17 seconds is totally different.  Rogerio was clearly unlucky.  I believe that if the bout went to the ground, Rogerio would have submitted him and I believe if Pride makes a rematch, he will win,” evaluated the black belt.

Vitor also talked about his opponent for the upcoming Cage Rage 21 and how he is training for the bout: “I don’t remember his name, but I know he is a European champion.  I will fight to win this bout, because he is a tough fighter, he has a good wrestling game and has a heavy hand,” said Belfort .

March 1, 2007
FROM THE EVENT'S PROMOTER: IFL PRESS RELEASE

MyNetworkTV Presents “Countdown to Battleground”

Excitement Builds for Broadcast Premiere of Mixed Martial Arts Programming

New York, March 1, 2007 – MyNetworkTV, the broadcast home of the International Fight League, announced today that it will present “Countdown to Battleground” on Wednesday, March 7 at 8 p.m. (EST/PST). The one-hour special will give audiences a sneak preview of the new MyNetworkTV show, “IFL Battleground.”

The program is designed to introduce audiences to the IFL and mixed martial arts, as well as the athletes and teams that make up the league.  “Countdown to Battleground” will include interviews with the fighters and the five legendary coaches, Ken Shamrock, Renzo Gracie, Pat Miletich, Bas Rutten and Frank Shamrock.  Audiences will also get a taste of the action-packed fast-paced competition through recaps of recent IFL events. 

“We are excited to bring viewers a taste of the powerful battles, intense rivalries and inspiring stories that will be featured this season on ‘IFL Battleground,’” said Greg Meidel, President, MyNetworkTV. 

“We are looking forward to exposing these great athletes and our legendary coaches and the sport of MMA to the largest TV audience ever,” said Gareb Shamus, co-founder and CEO, International Fight League.  “This preview will give viewers an intense glimpse of the action and the personalities that will be coming every Monday night starting March 12.”

MyNetworkTV is a primetime general entertainment broadcast television network.  Targeted to Adults 18-49 and broadcast television’s only all Hi-Definition network, it reaches over 95% of the country. MyNetworkTV provides its affiliates 12 hours of programming Monday through Saturday.  Currently, MyNetworkTV airs Twentieth Television’s dramas “Wicked Wicked Games,” starring Oscar-winning actress Tatum O’Neal, and “Watch Over Me,” with Dayanara Torres, Casper Van Dien and Catherine Oxenberg.  For more information, please visit www.mynetworktv.com.

International Fight League™ (IFL) is the world’s first professional mixed martial arts sports league. IFL has its headquarters in New York , NY and offices in Las Vegas , NV .  For more information about IFL, please see:  www.ifl.tv.

March 2, 2007
UFC 68 PREVIEW

UFC 68 Preview:  The Uprising - A Night of Comeback Fights
By Peter Parsons

The comeback is the theme as the Ultimate Fighting Championship makes its first foray into Ohio at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus for UFC 68 on Saturday night, March 3.  The sold out crowd will watch as Randy Couture comes out of retirement to fight Tim Sylvia for the heavyweight title.  As well, Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin come back to fight for the first time since losing their respective titles.

Former two-time UFC heavyweight and two time light-heavyweight champion Randy “The Natural” Couture is coming out of retirement to fight current heavyweight champion Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia in the night’s main event.  Couture is coming back after announcing his retirement in the Octagon following his KO loss to Chuck Liddell last February at UFC 57.

At 43, age isn’t the only thing that Couture has to overcome against the 30 year old Sylvia.  Size may be the major factor as Couture is giving up six inches and approximately 40 pounds to the 6’8, 265 pound champ.

During Sylvia’s last title defense against Jeff Monson, which coincidently Couture was commentating Octagon-side, the 5’9” Monson failed on multiple double leg shots to get Sylvia to the mat.  Couture needs to get the fight in the clinch and utilize his Greco roman skills to take the giant down.  Conversely, Sylvia will look to use his reach, keep the fight standing and look for the KO.

Matt Hughes is the most dominant champion in UFC history having defended his welterweight title for a record seven times.  Hughes lost his title to Canadian superstar Georges St. Pierre at UFC 65 in November of last year.  This will be Hughes’ first fight back against “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 4 runner up Chris “Lights Out” Lytle.  A victory for Hughes over Lytle will set up the rubber match against St. Pierre .

Hughes can not make the mistake of looking past Lytle.  The father of four, Lytle fought for years while holding down a full time job as a firefighter.  Coming off of the TUF 4 show, Lytle recently devoted himself full time to MMA.  He has had success as a pro boxer and is well versed in the submission game.  The well rounded Lytle will want to use his boxing as much as possible against Hughes, but will inevitably have to use his jiu-jitsu game from his back to fend off Hughes’ dominant ground and pound.

Rich Franklin is coming off of a devastating KO loss to middleweight champion Anderson Silva.  The Cincinnati, Ohio native Franklin will have the home town fans behind him as he faces the red hot Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald.  The Canadian MacDonald is now 2-0 in the UFC, coming off of back to back upset submission victories over Team Quest standouts Ed Herman and Chris Leben.

Franklin will likely want to keep the fight standing against MacDonald who has won his last four fights by submission.  MacDonald will look for the clinch where he usually scores his takedowns from.  This fight could be a battle of attrition as both fighters are known for their outstanding cardio.

Light-heavyweight contenders Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Jason Lambert are coming back after devastating knockouts at the hands of Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans respectively.  Both fighters were on major rolls up until their last fights.  There is a lot on the line in this battle as one of these warriors will suffer two losses in a row while the other will begin their ascent back up the light-heavyweight ladder.

Also on the main card, heavy hitting Miletich fighter Drew McFedries will take on kickboxer Martin Kampmann of Denmark.  Both fighters left lasting impressions in their last outings in the Octagon.  McFedries stepped up a weight class on short notice to take on light-heavyweight Alessio Sakara.  He took the former pro boxer Sakara’s best shots and rallied back with devastating power scoring the first round TKO over the Italian Sakara.  Kampmann won a unanimous decision over Brazilian Thales Leites in a fight where he dominated Leites, picking him apart with accurate strikes.  It will be the precision striking of Kampmann versus the power punching of McFedries in a fight that has fireworks written all over it.

In preliminary action, TUF 3 star Matt Hamill makes his return to the octagon taking on fellow Ohio native Rex Holman in his UFC debut.  Luigi Fioravanti takes on American Kickboxing Academy sensation and FCF top 10 welterweight Jon Fitch.  In lightweight battles, American Top Team member Gleison Tibau takes on Ohio native Jason Dent and Indiana native Jason Gilliam takes on Jamie Varner of Phoenix, Arizona .

UFC 68:  The Uprising full card:

Main Card:
Tim Sylvia vs. Randy Couture
Matt Hughes vs. Chris Lytle
Rich Franklin vs. Jason MacDonald
Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Jason Lambert
Drew McFedries vs. Martin Kampmann

Preliminary Card:
Matt Hamill vs. Rex Holman
Jon Fitch vs. Luigi Fioravanti
Gleison Tibau vs. Jason Dent
Jason Gilliam vs. Jamie Varner

March 2, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: PETE SELL

New episode of FCF Radio In our latest broadcast, we talk with Pete "Drago" Sell. Click here to listen/download.

March 2, 2007
JON FITCH
Jon Fitch, Swinging in the Dark:
The fighter talks about his MMA beginnings, his upcoming bout and his place in the UFC’s welterweight division
By Dustin Lee DePue

It’s easy to overlook a fighter like Jon Fitch if you’re not, as he puts it, “a diehard” fan of the sport.  Even though he’s had four fights in the UFC (UFN 2, 4, 5 and UFC 64) only one of those, the bout on UFC 64, has actually made it onto the air.  Throw in a stocked welterweight division with an uber-talented and seemingly invincible champion (Georges St. Pierre), a longtime veteran and beloved former champion (Matt Hughes), a Jiu-Jitsu phenom with the skills to beat anyone in the world (BJ Penn), a hungry young talent whose career blossomed on cable T.V. (Diego Sanchez) and an exciting, never-say-die Judo wizard whose beaten the best of the rest (Karo Parisyan) and you’ve got a shadow a mile long that any up-and-comer has to step out of  to be noticed.

For Fitch, it’s just another challenge to overcome.  “You’ve got a lot of so called experts out there who have only been watching the sport for a year or two who probably don’t know me,” Fitch tells FCF. “But, you know, my time will come.  As long as I stay focused on the technique and the work and not worry about any of that other crap everything else will take care of itself.”

Hard work, it seems, is what Fitch is all about.  A wrestler and four-year letterman at Purdue, Fitch was in the midst of earning a degree in Physical Education when he realized that he didn’t want to become a teacher.  Still, he finished his degree and received his teacher certification in Indiana so that he would have something to fall back on while he planned a way to fuel his competitive desires and still make a living.

“I really wasn’t wanting to compete in the Olympics and try to make the Olympic team.  I knew some guys who were trying to do that, go that route and their bodies were racked and they had no money.  It didn’t seem like a smart career path at the time.”

Then, Fitch caught a glimpse of what the future might hold for him.  Through Purdue’s assistant wrestling coach and MMA fighter Tom Erikson, Fitch met and occasionally trained with MMA stars Mark Coleman and Gary Goodrich. Their ability to make a living off of fighting quickly caught his attention.

“Honestly, one of the big things that first interested me was the financial aspect,” says Fitch. “Those guys got paid an incredible amount of money.  At the time I didn’t realize that most guys didn’t make that kind of money.  I figured I’d have a couple of fights and step into that kind of payday.”

Thus Fitch plunged headfirst into MMA.  With little training and no real team of fighters to consistently train with, Fitch wasn’t growing enough as a fighter.   After losing two of his first four fights with little money to show for it, Fitch made the decision to move California to train with the American Kickboxing Academy .

“I moved to California and gave myself 3-5 years.  I said I’d put everything I had into it, you know, no partying no hanging out, no girls in that time period.  If I didn’t amount to anything or if the sport itself didn’t go anywhere I could go back to teaching.  I knew it would be tough going at first, but I also knew that with my work ethic and my drive I would be able to make something out of it, make some money.  If not, you know, its something that I tried.  I could move on and be happy with that.”

That decision has taken Fitch to the brink of MMA stardom.  With victories over Shonie Carter, Kyle Jensen and Jorge Ortiz among others, Fitch was given a shot in the UFC’s Ultimate Fight Night 2 in October of 2005, where he won a unanimous decision over the undefeated Brock Larson.  Next in line was the very tough Josh Burkman, who fell by rear naked choke at UFN 4 followed by a TKO victory over Thiago Alves at UFN 5.  Fitch capped 2006 with his fourth UFC victory in a row, winning a unanimous decision over Kuniyoshi Hironaka at UFC 64.  Currently ranked seventh overall in FCF’s top ten ranking and sixth among UFC fighters behind St. Pierre , Hughes, Penn, Sanchez and Parisyan, Fitch has garnered favorable attention among critics and hardcore fans, but he hasn’t completely shaken the “unknown” title off of his name.  With his upcoming bout on UFC 68 being slated as an undercard bout, and hence, not a PPV guarantee, the shadow, for now, remains cast upon him.

Regarding his current level of exposure, Fitch says, “It’s not hugely important to have a lot of people watch you, but it’s nice, it’s exciting, but I don’t have to have it.  I think a lot of guys do it just for the fame and to be in the spotlight.  If the spotlight wasn’t there I’d still be doing this.  But the money” he pauses a moment, “it’s good to pay the bills.”

His opponent for UFC 68 this Saturday is Luigi Fioravanti,   Fioravanti sports an overall record of 11-2 and is 2-1 in the UFC.  Following his unanimous decision loss to Chris Leben in his UFC debut at UFN 4, Fioravanti has won four in a row including a KO victory over Solomon Hutcherson at TUF 3 Finale and a TKO over Dave Menne at UFN 8.  Known for his heavy hands, expect Fioravanti to keep the fight standing where he can finish the fight.

“He hasn’t fought really tough guys, no one with huge name recognition or big wins.” says Fitch of his opponent, “Not to take anything away from him, he’s kind of a sleeper in that he is still a very dangerous opponent.  I think a lot of fighters might take him for granted but he still only has one loss, still has very heavy hands.  I don’t think he’s a top 10 guy but he could very well give me a hell of a fight and rank right up there afterwards.  I consider him a very tough opponent.  I kind of go into every fight now thinking my opponent is the best in the world.”

Despite the collegiate wrestling background and the comfort that gives him on the ground, Fitch feels he is more than capable of handling himself on the feet.  With the strong base of fighters at AKA, Fitch has spent a significant amount of time honing his stand-up game during training.

“We try to exploit weaknesses and build defenses against [opponent’s] strengths.  Luigi is extremely heavy handed so one of the things we’ve been working on is keeping everything really tight with my striking.  Not getting loose, not chasing, not dropping my hands, which is something you should be training anyways but we double it to make sure we don’t get caught.  I think that technically I’m a better striker but the power factor, man, it only takes one punch to change the course of a fight, so I can’t really say who’s the better standup fighter.  He’s got more power and more experience in the ring standing and throwing.”

Of course, if things go wrong on the feet, Fitch always has his ground game, where he feels his wrestling and jiu-jitsu compliment each other.

“I use a hybrid jiu-jitsu style.  I take what I learn from [BJJ instructor Dave Camarillo] and I come up with my own stuff that incorporates a lot of the wrestling background that I’ve had throughout my life.  Jiu-jitsu gives me outstanding control and positioning.  I use the two together so I can posture and deliver a lot of damage with the ground and pound.”

Fitch sees himself as the number five guy, behind St. Pierre , Hughes, Sanchez and Parisyan, and hopes that a victory over Fioravanti, will lead to a fight with Karo Parisyan.  “That would be a crazy fight, both of us don’t stop moving, don’t stop fighting.  It would be non-stop action” He insists, however, that his mind is not on Parisyan, that he is fully focused and ready for a battle with Fioravanti.

“From bell to bell I come out and I fight, always pushing forward putting pressure on my opponents.  If I’m not striking or grappling or doing something I don’t feel comfortable.  It could be a really good scrap, people should get their money’s worth.”

As for 2007, “Hopefully this will be my breakout year.  Hopefully I’ll fight mostly on PPV, maybe on Ultimate Fight Night.  Basically this is the year when the fans get to know who I am and I position myself in the top 2 or 3 in the division and put myself in a nice position to fight for the title next year.”

Will Jon Fitch step out of that far-reaching welterweight shadow and into the minds of an ever-growing legion of MMA hobbyists known as the average fan?  The UFC weekend warrior?  He’ll be one step closer to finding come Saturday night.

March 4, 2007
UNDERGROUND COMBAT LEAGUE RESULTS

Underground Combat League: “Self-Destruction”
Report by Jim Genia - Photo by Gaby Genia

(March 4^th, New York City )  Thanks to a recent New York Times article and a ton of industry insiders on hand, the latest Underground Combat League installment wasn’t so much of a fighting event as it was a “scene.”  From a film crew capturing everything for a documentary to a group of Hollywood producers, from mainstream media to talent scouts for an upcoming MMA reality show, this one had almost as much going on outside the ring as going on within it.  Yet the affair dubbed “Self-Destruction” was anything but a self-destruction, for despite serving up only three MMA bouts, the Big Apple’s only grassroots limited-rules combat event seemed to leave everyone satisfied.  Highlights of the night included:

 

• Team Balance’s Lamont Lister and his no-nonsense throw down with Anthony Congemi.  The game Congemi had his moments, but in front of those talent scouts, Lister was determined to come out on top.
• The seesaw battle between freestyle fighter Jose Rodriguez and Kaizen Dojo sensei Mike Mullero, which ended with Mullero redeeming his prior loss with a victory by tap out.  

Lister (right) laying into Congemi

Results:

 

• Mike Milian (Mendez Boxing Gym-170lbs) vs. Chris Coor (American Freestyle Fighting-175lbs)
  Milian via verbal submission at 2:23 of R3
• Lamont Lister (Team Balance-215lbs) vs. Anthony Congemi (Royce Gracie JJ-230lbs)
  Lister via ref stoppage due to unanswered strikes at 0:48 of R2
• Jose Rodriguez (freestyle-200lbs) vs. Mike Mullero (Kaizen Dojo-190lbs)
  Mullero via keylock at 2:45 of R2
  

March 4, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: MIKE PYLE, BENJI RADACH, AND JEFF MESZAROS

New episode of FCF Radio In our latest broadcast, we talk with Randy Couture's cornerman and Elite XC fighter Mike Pyle, UFC veteran and IFL fighter Benji Radach, and Jeff "Wombat" Meszaros. Click here to listen/download.

March 4, 2007
UFC 68 RESULTS

UFC 68: Couture Dominates Sylvia, Regains Heavyweight Title for Record Third Time
By Peter Parsons

March 3, 2007 - Randy Couture shocked the sold out crowd at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio as well as the MMA world with his dominant performance over Tim Sylvia to win the UFC heavyweight title for a record third time.  We shouldn’t be at all shocked that Couture won the fight; however who would have thought he would dominate the much larger and younger Sylvia, not only on the ground, but “The Natural” out-struck Sylvia on their feet as well. When Randy Couture dropped down to light-heavyweight and defeated Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz at the age of 40, it seemed nobody including himself could top that feat.  Being counted out by many going into this fight with Sylvia, the 43 year old once again proved all critics wrong by not only defeating the much larger and younger champion, but dominating Sylvia to once again become UFC champion of the world for an unprecedented fifth time.

Couture came out fast and surprised Sylvia with a big right hand that dropped the former two-time champion.  Couture followed Sylvia to the ground and scrambled to take Sylvia’s back.  The majority of the round was spent with Couture on Sylvia’s back with both hooks in and Sylvia hanging on desperately.  Unfortunately for Couture his back was to the mat and he was unable to unleash much of an offence.

Couture came out strong in the second round landing another solid overhand right.  Couture was able to get to the clinch and score the trip takedown where he landed some effective ground and pound inside Sylvia’s guard before being stood back up by referee Big John McCarthy.  Couture scored another takedown to end round two.

The third round did not hit the mat once and Couture surprisingly continued to out strike the striker Tim Sylvia.  For his efforts Sylvia did land a left punch and a solid knee that Couture took well.  “The Natural” utilized great head movement avoiding Sylvia’s punches while landing numerous punches of his own.  Couture looked like he was starting to tire dropping his hands and taking deep breaths, but continued to get the better of the stand-up exchanges.

Going into the championship rounds, it was apparent that Sylvia needed to finish the fight.  The question appeared to be whether or not Couture had enough in the gas tank to finish strong.  Couture got his second wind and poured it on the champion in the fourth round.  He set up the early takedown with some good strikes and landed some effective ground and pound within Sylvia’s guard before being stood up by Big John.  The challenger Couture kept Sylvia off balance mixing his takedown attempts with his strikes landing a couple big rights before taking Sylvia down once again this time into side control.  Couture advanced to full mount and landed some nice elbows before Sylvia gave up his back and escaped back to his feet where the round ended with Couture in complete control of the fight.

Couture came out strong in the fifth and final round scoring an early takedown.  He advanced to side control where he landed some effective knees to the body of Sylvia.  Randy showed his dominance in the fifth round advancing to full mount where he landed some big punches.  Sylvia once again gave up his back to escape only to be taken down once more.  Couture finished the fight strong pounding away at Sylvia to the final bell.

Couture pitched a shutout on all three judges’ scorecards that read 50-45.  Joe Rogan once said, “Randy Couture is my hero,” but was left speechless in the Octagon in the post fight interview.  Couture is a hero to many and with his awe inspiring performance proved many nay sayers wrong once again.  Couture’s response to a speechless Rogan was, “not bad for an old man.”

Rich Franklin proved to his hometown fans in attendance and to the world that he is back with a vengeance.   The former middleweight champ was too much for a very tough Canadian Jason MacDonald.

The first round saw Franklin defend the takedown well and land some solid punches on MacDonald.  MacDonald threw punches in order to close the distance to get in the clinch where he looked for the takedown.  It was Franklin however, who got the first takedown.  Franklin threw some big punches, but MacDonald defended well and got back to his feet.  MacDonald continued to work hard for the takedown and finally got Franklin to the mat with a single leg.  Franklin was able to sweep MacDonald near the end of the round and finished the round in top position.

MacDonald closed the distance quickly in the second round going for the single once again.  Franklin showed great balance hopping on one leg to defend and push MacDonald off.  Back in the clinch, MacDonald got to Franklin ’s back and dragged the former champ to the ground.  Franklin however scrambled to side control eventually advancing to full mount.  MacDonald gave up his back and took some big shots from Franklin .  Franklin got back to mount with 10 seconds remaining in the round and unleashed some big bombs on MacDonald who appeared to be saved by the bell.  A wobbly MacDonald made his way back to his corner where his corner man wisely stopped the fight.

Matt Hughes came to the octagon knowing that a victory over Chris Lytle would secure a rematch with welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.  Lytle, who looked tentative to pull the trigger in his last fight with Matt Serra, came out aggressive throwing big punches.  Hughes got the takedown but found himself in a Lytle guillotine attempt.  The choke looked pretty tight, however Hughes had one arm through and was able to escape and advance to side control.  Hughes came close to locking up a straight arm bar to end the round.

Hughes looked more like the Matt Hughes of old tonight coming out and getting the quick takedown in the second round.  He passed Lytle’s butterfly guard and landed some effective elbows from side control that cut Lytle.  Hughes moved into the mount near the cage.  Lytle re-established half guard before using the fence with his feet to sweep Hughes.  Hughes went for the Kimura and Lytle countered missing with a straight armbar attempt giving up top position to end the round.

Round three saw more of the same with Hughes getting the early takedown and dominating position on Lytle.  At the ten second marker Hughes attempted a straight armbar that missed.  Hughes however, did more than enough to grind out a unanimous decision victory.

Miletich fighter Drew McFedries came out throwing bombs against native Martin Kampmann.  After landing some hard left hooks, it was a right hand from McFedries that dropped Kampmann early.  Kampmann got back to his feet where it was looking like a matter of time before McFedries would land the punch to end it.  The 24 year old Danish Thai boxing champ, Kampmann hung tough on his feet with McFedries before landing a nice takedown that landed him in side control.  Kampmann looked to have an arm-triangle and hopped to the other side to secure it, choking McFedries unconscious at the 4:06 mark of the first round, running his UFC record to 3-0.

Light-heavyweights Jason Lambert and Renato “Babalu” Sobral opened up the live pay per view card.  Babalu came out fast taking down Lambert.  Sobral got to Lambert’s back and looked close to finishing with a rear naked choke.  Lambert got back to his feet and landed some nice uppercuts from the clinch.  The fighters disengaged where Lambert landed a big right and another uppercut that dropped Babalu with 10 seconds left in the round.  Lambert pounced on Babalu throwing big punches.  Babalu was saved by the bell.

Round two saw Lambert getting the takedown and wearing out Sobral with some solid punches within Sobral’s guard.  After a stand-up from referee “Big” John McCarthy, Lambert landed a big left hook to knock Sobral out at 3:26 of the second round.

In preliminary action, Matt Hamill defeated fellow Ohio native Rex Holman by TKO at 4:00 of the first round due to strikes on the ground.

American Kickboxing Academy standout and FCF top 10 welterweight Jon Fitch continues his impressive streak to 5-0 in the UFC defeating American Top Team fighter Luigi Fioravanti by rear naked choke at 3:05 of the second round.

In lightweight preliminary action, Brazilian Gleison Tibau defeated Ohio native Jason Dent by unanimous decision and Jamie Varner took just 1:34 to defeat Jason Gilliam by rear naked choke.

UFC 68 was a huge success with 19,000 plus in attendance at the sold out Nationwide arena for the UFC’s first stop in the Buckeye state.  It was a night of comebacks for former champion’s Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin who look to regain their titles against Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva respectively.  Everything else tonight was overshadowed by Randy Couture’s thrilling performance over Tim Sylvia.

UFC 68 “The Uprising” Full Results:

Randy Couture def. Tim Sylvia - Unanimous decision
Martin Kampmann def. Drew McFedries - Arm-triangle choke 4:06 R1
Rich Franklin def. Jason MacDonald - Corner stoppage 5:00 R2
Matt Hughes def. Chris Lytle - Unanimous decision
Jason Lambert def. Renato Sobral - KO (punch) 3:26 R2
Matt Hamill def. Rex Holman - TKO (strikes) 4:00 R1
Jon Fitch def. Luigi Fioravanti - Rear-naked choke 3:05 R2
Gleison Tibau def. Jason Dent - Unanimous decision
Jamie Varner def. Jason Gilliam - Rear-naked choke 1:34 R1

March 5, 2007
DIAZ TESTS POSITIVE FOR POT

I Want To Take You Higher: Nick Diaz Tests Positive for Marijuana
By Steven Marrocco

After receiving an "all clear" from the Nevada State Athletic Commission for performance enhancing drugs, Pride's "Second Coming" lightweight Nick Diaz has tested positive for Marijuana, according to NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer.

Kizer told FCF that "drugs of abuse" are part of the second round of testing and usually come in a few days after the test for performance enhancers.

Diaz (right) vs. Gomi at Pride 33

The positive test comes as a slight blemish to the Cesar Gracie student's star-making performance against Pride Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi last Saturday at the Thomas & Mack center.

FCF will post more details and reactions from Diaz's camp as they become available.

March 5, 2007
DAN HENDERSON

Pride Middleweight and Welterweight Champ Henderson Enjoying New Belt
By Derek Constable

March 3, 2007 - Wanderlei Silva’s not a man many people look forward to facing, but just five days after knocking out Silva in the third round of their middleweight title bout, Dan Henderson said that’s exactly how he felt going into PRIDE 33.

“I got excited every time I thought about it, I had goose bumps,” Henderson said.
The win over Silva unified Pride’s middleweight and welterweight title, making Henderson the first MMA champion to hold belts in two weight classes simultaneously.

“I didn’t realize that it was that big of a deal until I did it, and everyone started talking about the fact that it’s never been done before,” he said.

More amazing than the milestone itself was the fact that Henderson finished the fight after fracturing a hand in the very first round. He showed no sign of it bothering him from the start of Round 2 up until he KO’d the former champ with a ferocious left hook in Round 3.

“I don’t know exactly when I broke it. It was probably a lot of the adrenaline,” Henderson said. “I just focused on what I had to do after the first break between rounds. I felt so good in what I was doing, it never hurt me. I just kept fighting.”

Henderson is a former Olympic wrestler, who competed in 1992 and 1996, and while he’s known for his intensity and heavy hands in MMA, he said that it was his many years of wrestling that have made him the guy he is today.

 “There are a lot of guys that are good in cage fighting who haven’t [qualified for an] Olympic team, but if you’ve been on one, it shows you put in the work and your dedicated both mentally and physically – you’re going to be ready.”

Henderson was more than ready for this last fight in Las Vegas , a rare appearance by PRIDE on American soil. He said it was definitely a nice change as an American whose been fighting in for eight years.

“I definitely still want to fight in as well, but it was a welcome change to have my friends and family there, it made all the difference in the world.”

Silva defeated Henderson by decision in 2000, but Henderson said this rematch wasn’t about settling scores, saying, “It was so long ago the first time, obviously it felt good to beat him the other night, but it wasn’t about settling the score it was about making history and taking his belt. Either way it felt good.”

Henderson celebrates after beating Silva

 
Henderson joins Randy Couture in holding a title in two different weight classes, but Henderson holds both belts at the same time.

Couture became the newest UFC Heavyweight champion, and the UFC’s first five-time champion, after going the distance five rounds with Tim “The Mainiac” Sylvia on Saturday at UFC 68. Many questioned Couture’s decision to move up a weight class in his return from retirement, but Saturday’s performance solidified Randy Couture as one of the greatest MMA champions of all time, in addition to surprising a few fans and friends.

“I don’t think it was the smartest decision to fight someone like Tim his first fight out,” Henderson said of Couture two days before the big fight, “but I’m not involved in his training and am looking on it from the outside … he might know something that we don’t.”

 

 

March 5, 2007
VALLEY FIGHT 2 RESULTS

Valley Fight 2: Melting Point
Held March 3, 2007
At the Tzeachten Hall
Chilliwack, British Columbia
Report & photos by Mike Neva

Thousands of miles from the glitz and glamour of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the second edition of Valley Fight took place in the small working community of Chilliwack, British Columbia, about one hour east of Vancouver. With beer flowing and scantily clad ring girls making the rounds the rowdy crowd seemed completely unaware of the monumental event happening in Columbus, Ohio .

With a line-up comprised mainly of new faces none of the opening fours bouts made it out of the first round. Sahba Fabi opened the evening with a solid performance as he mounted and pounded his way to victory against Ajdin Nexic. In the second fight, Jake Ivan easily took out the ill-prepared Nathan Dunn via knee bar in only 24 seconds. Up next was the best of the undercard fights as team Aiki fighter, Steve Gilkes withstood a early onslaught of punches from Joel Gunther to finally end the fight with a heel hook late in the first round.

Gilkes tapping Gunther with a heel hook

In the co-feature, local favorite, Dominic Richard, took on first time fighter Chris Bilodeau. These heavyweights came out swinging and it was Richard who connected first as he sent Bilodeau crashing to the canvas. Referee Jason Williamson quickly ended the fight much to the chagrin on the blood thirsty crowd, but Bilodeau was clearly stunned and could have been seriously injured if the bout had not been stopped.

The main event pitted hometown boy Miles Merola against the undefeated Gary Wright from team Toshido in Kelowna, British Columbia . After a brief feeling out period both fighter locked up in the clinch with Wright getting the better of the action as he landed effective knees to the legs and body of Merola. From there Merola was able to score a takedown, but was immediately reversed. Wright then went to work with punishing strikes until Merola gave his back to avoid the barrage of punches. Unfortunately for Merola, there was no were to hide from the relentless attack of Wright as continued to bomb away for the remainder of the round. Round two was much of the same as Wright kept up his high paced assault of punches, which blooded and battered Merola. After four and half more minutes of punishment Merola finally succumbed to punches late in the second round. A dominate performance by Wright who kept his undefeated record in tact.

Wright pounding on Merola

Results

Sahba Fadi def. Ajdin Nexic by TKO referee stoppage from punches at 2:37 of R1

Jake Ivan def. Nathan Dunn by knee bar at 0:24 of R1

Steve Gilkes def. Joel Gunther by heel hook at 4:27 of R1

Jordan Bills def. Americo Pena by submission from punches at 1:08 of R1

Rick Hopp def. John Balzer by rear-naked choke at 1:28 of R2

Dominic Richard def. Chris Bilodeau by TKO referee stoppage from punches at 0:15 of R1

Gary Wright def. Myles Merola by submission from punches at 4:34 of R2

March 6, 2007
ACROSS THE POND: BRITISH MMA NEWS

Across the Pond: British MMA News

Results from Cage Rage: Contenders 4
Held March, 2007 - Hammersmith Palais - London, England

After unsuccessfully challenging Paul Daley for the British welterweight title last year, Sol “Zero Tolerance” Gilbert got his career back on track with his first fight of 2007, by stopping Darren Guisha in the third and final round of their fight at the top of the bill at Cage Rage’s fourth Contenders show. Gilbert stalked Guisha around the octagon, repeatedly landing leg kicks that turned Guisha’s left thigh dark purple and keeping him under constant pressure with some crisp boxing. In the third round Gilbert scored a takedown as Guisha rushed in, then took his back and pounded him until the referee stopped the fight to save the battered fighter. Gilbert advances to 9-4-1.

Sol Gilbert (left) punching Darren Guisha

After losing to the much more experienced Daijiro Matsui at the last Cage Rage, Tom “Kong” Watson came out mean and angry against Dorlan “The Dog” O’Mally from London Thai Fighters. O’Mally had no chance to employ his powerful stand-up as Watson took the kickboxer down from the bell and punished him on the canvas until the referee was forced to step in.

There was plenty of ground and pound on display throughout the night, including Michael Pastou’s stoppage of Jake Bostwick. A brawling middleweight on the rise, Bostwick was 3-0 coming in, opposite Pastou’s 0-1. Bostwick scored a takedown early, but Pastou took top position and went after him with a fury. Bostwick threw punches of his own from his back, but Pastou held nothing back and went for the finish, pounding like a man possessed until the referee stopped the contest as Bostwick was taking a pasting.

The submission of the night belonged to Alex Korsivich, from the Bloodline Fight Team, for his ankle lock tap-out of Cambridge Free Fight’s Afnan Saeed. Korsivich cut Saeed early in the fight and took mount when they hit the floor. As Saeed tried to escape by scooting out the back door, Korsivich latched on to his leg and cranked on the ankle lock for the submission.

Lloyd Clarkson, from Poole Jiujitsu, came from behind to stop Dan Movahedi, of the Elite Fighting System. Movahedi started strong, snapping Clarkson’s head back with punches over and over again, but Clarkson refused to go down and kept coming back for more, until he threw a left hook that caught Movahedi flush and dropped him. A brief burst of hammer fists on the ground and Clarkson got the KO in a gutsy performance.

Full Results

Sol Gilbert def. Darren Guisha by TKO (Referee stoppage – strikes) 2:24 R3
Tom Watson def. Dorlan O’Mally by TKO (Referee stoppage – strikes) 2:51 R1
Michael Pastou def. Jake Bostwick by TKO (Referee stoppage – strikes) 4:48 R1
Alex Korsivich def. Afnan Saeed by Ankle Lock 2:18 R1
Steven Elliot def. Deano Durant by Tap-out (strikes) 1:55 R1
Joe Mac def. Marvin Arnold Bleau by TKO (Referee stoppage – strikes) 4:08 R1
Jeff Lawson def. Mark Dayrell by Arm Bar 1:23 R1
Lloyd Clarkson def. Dan Movahedi by KO 3:15 R1
Sunnat Ilyasov def. Mindaugas Mockevicius by Guillotine 0:31 R1
John Hathaway def. Serge Ussanov by Rear Naked Choke 2:08 R1
Jeff Hayes def. Jamie Spooner by TKO (Referee stoppage – strikes) 1:33 R2
Luke Smith def. Jack Miles by KO 0:40 R1


Cage Rage 21 News

Vitor Belfort’s opponent for Cage Rage 21: Judgement Day will be ’s Ivan Serati. At 5-0, Serati has campaigned as a heavyweight and in his previous fights has shown an aggressive style, stopping all of his opponents in the first round. However, he’s never been in with anyone with a fraction of Belfort ’s experience and will find his chin sorely tested by the Brazilian Phenom.

In a slight shuffling of the card, Alex Reid’s rematch with Xavier Foupa-Pokam will have to wait for another day as Reid has been lined up to meet Murilo “Ninja” Rua, from Chute Boxe. Rua took a beating from Mark Weir in his last fight at Cage Rage 18 before he caught the Brit in an arm triangle in the second round. Reid’s best hope will be to pressure Rua in the standing exchanges and try to avoid going to the floor.

Foupa-Pokam’s replacement opponent looks like being Tom Watson, who just beat Dorlan O’Mally this past weekend. Foupa-Pokam has seen plenty of controversy in his career, with two losses by disqualification to Martin Kampmann and Sol Gilbert. In his match against Reid in December, Foupa-Pokam won a decision after the fight went to the scorecards in the second round when Reid was unable to continue after being struck in the eyes twice. Watson is an ex-professional boxer, so he should be able to hang with Foupa-Pokam on his feet and Watson brings plenty of passion into the cage.

Berik to Japan

Britain’s Sami Berik has announced that he is heading to to compete in Pride. For a time Berik was supposed to be meeting Takanori Gomi, but now Berik has announced that he’ll be facing Hayato Sakurai. A natural lightweight who has often fought at welterweight, Berik is a highly unorthodox fighter who likes to perform drunken kung fu during his matches but with his record at 8-16-0 against domestic opposition, he faces an uphill battle against the very dangerous Sakurai, whose record stands at 27-7-2 including wins over Joachim Hansen and most recently Mac Danzig.

March 6, 2007
MMA MOVIE
“Never Submit” Adds Another Fighter to its Already Impressive Cast
By Gaby Genia

Imperia Entertainment, Inc. and Muller Media, Inc. have issued a press release announcing the casting of legendary champion kickboxer, Michael Anthony McDonald, in a fighter role in the highly-anticipated MMA feature film, “Never Submit.”  Boasting an impressive resume, McDonald holds the Canadian, WKA Heavyweight and WKC World Cruiserweight Championship titles in kickboxing, as well has numerous K-1 titles.  Those titles notwithstanding, within this community, it is undoubtedly his win against Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic, that earns Michael McDonald the most distinction.

Said to be an inspirational story in the same vein as “Rocky”, “Never Submit” is set against the backdrop of the MMA world.  McDonald joins a distinguished MMA cast, including Ken Shamrock, Wanderlei Silva, Andrei Arlovski, Mauricio Rua and Josh Koscheck.  Offers to other name (and presumably mainstream) actors are currently being made by Imperia’s casting director, Rosemary Walden.  A cross country tour will include auditions at notable dojos and MMA events.  At the culmination of the tour, the movie’s principal will be announced.

March 6, 2007
THE NORTHERN TOUCH

Macdonald: “Quitting Never Entered My Mind!”

On the heels of his TKO loss to former middleweight champion Rich Franklin at the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s “Uprising” event this past weekend, FCF caught up with Jason “The Athlete” Macdonald to hear his thoughts on the fight. The loss was Macdonald’s first in 7 fights, and his first competing in the UFC, after the Pro Camp fighter defeated Chris Leben and Ed Herman on route to UFC 68. Macdonald’s corner threw in the towel after round two ended, as although the Canadian fighter managed to survive a vicious onslaught from Franklin to end the round, Macdonald’s vision was drastically reduced.

“The last two punches of the round hit me square in the right eye and my vision in that eye went black,” Macdonald tells FCF. “I was in a lot of trouble at the end of the round and was unsure if (referee) Herb (Dean) had stopped it or not, but I managed to make it through. As I got up I was on rubber legs and started back to my corner when the Doctor asked me something not sure what, like I said I was wobbled and could not see out of my right eye. I went to my corner and Mark (Pavelich) said look at me but I could not see him with out turning my head and looking through my left eye which was badly swollen. Let me be very clear at no time did I say I was done or to quote some of the people on the net I quit!”

Macdonald is referring to some of the comments and speculation that have been a topic of conversation on several internet MMA forums.

“Remember I was the one moving forward on Rich not running away! I was on rubber legs though and could not see out of my right eye. Mark saw this and made the decision to stop the fight. I did not even really know what went down but I never said I was done! Looking back Mark made the right choice because like I said I was in a lot of trouble and could not see out of my eye. I got 7 stitches in that eye and the doctor said it was probably just a broken blood vessel that caused the loss of vision. I can see now but I am having a lot of pain looking to the side so I am having another doctor look at it here at home and x-ray it. What is funny is the flack we are taking for this. Randy (Couture) stopped when Ricco (Rodriguez) busted his eye and (Jeremy) Horn stopped when Chuck (Liddell) busted his eye but when I get my eye busted by Rich, I'm all of a sudden a quitter! The fans of this sport can be crazy like that. Like I said I was the one moving forward the whole fight! Quitting never entered my mind!”

Despite the loss, Macdonald was quick to give credit to Franklin, who, by all indications, will face the man who defeated him for the title, Anderson Silva, in the near future.

“Well I thought Rich fought a very safe fight,” says Macdonald. “He was not as aggressive as we have seen him be in the past. I'm not sure if that was part of his game plan to not come after me for fear of being taken down, or if he was not taking any risks just trying to get the win and get back on track. My game was to go out there and to get the take down but not force it too much. I think Rich not coming after me got me trying to force the take down too much but he never hurt me standing or really landed anything clean standing. I feel I have pretty good stand up but just have not shown it yet in the UFC. The Herman fight was too fast and Leben and Rich were both lefthanders so I could not use my long reach as effectively against them. To Rich's credit I was not able to establish a good solid top position on him to work my ground and pound and open up a submission. Rich fought a good smart safe fight.”

As for his own future, Macdonald will first have to heal up from his injuries before returning to the Octagon.

“I'm real thankful to the UFC and to all the fans out there supporting me right now that have helped me in the rise to the top of this division in a short time. I have a huge fan following in the and actually got a louder cheer than Tim Sylvia, even being in Franklin 's home town. I really feel I am one of the top five in this division and will beat 90% of the guys in this division right now. I will take a little break and get healed up and then get back in the gym and get back to work improving my weaknesses and preparing for my next fight who ever it may be. There are a few good match ups the UFC could have for me like (Martin) Kampmann, (Dean) Lister; ( Kendall ) Grove's any of the top middleweights. I will be waiting for the call!”

Upcoming Canadian MMA Events

King of the Cage “Capital Chaos”- March 28^th, Robert Guertin Arena, Hull, Quebec
Extreme Cage Combat 5- March 31, Halifax Forum, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Ultimate Cage Wars- April 7th, Winnipeg Convention Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Maximum Fighting Championship “Unplugged 3”- April 20^th, Crowne Plaza, Edmonton, Alberta
King of the Cage- April 28^th, Vernon, British Columbia

March 6, 2007
TKO 29 CARD

TKO 29 Card Beginning to Take Form
By FCF Staff

TKO has announced several additions to the organization’s upcoming TKO 29 event, “Repercussion,” which will take place on June 1^st in Montreal , at the Bell Centre. Headlining the card will be a welterweight championship fight between Jonathan Goulet (16-7) and Steve Vigneault (11-6). The title fight was supposed to take place at TKO 28 last month, but was delayed due to an injury Vigneault incurred preparing for the bout. Goulet fought Greg Jackson fighter Thomas Schulte instead at the February 9^th event, a fight that has been declared a no-contest. As Goulet was striking a downed Schulte, the referee failed to hear the bell to end round one, stopping the fight originally in Goulet’s favor several seconds after the round had actually ended. The former lightheavyweight and middleweight TKO champ Vigneault, has not competed since last March, where he lost to Mike Swick at the Ultimate Fighting Championship 58.

TKO has also announced that UFC veteran Patrick Cote is scheduled to fight on the TKO 29 card, but as of yet, no opponent has been announced. Cote is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Scott Smith at UFC 67 in February.

In a heavyweight clash that has been announced, professional hockey player Steve Bosse will make his MMA debut against David Fraser (0-2). Bosse, who plays in the North American Hockey League for St.Jean, is known as an “enforcer” type of player. The 5’11 240 pound aspiring MMA fighter has recorded 175 penalty minutes in just 22 games this season. Bosse has been preparing for his upcoming MMA debut with Renzo Gracie purple belt Mark Colangelo and TKO fighter Stephane Dube.

March 6, 2007
FROM THE EVENT'S PROMOTER: IFL PRESS RELEASE

TIFFANY FALLON AND BAS RUTTEN TO CO-HOST “IFL BATTLEGROUND” ON MyNetworkTV

Legendary MMA Champion and 2005 “Playmate of the Year” to Give Viewers the Play by Play Inside and Outside of the Ring

NEW YORK, March 6, 2007 – The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, and MyNetworkTV today announced that Sebastian “Bas” Rutten and Tiffany Fallon will co-host “IFL Battleground.”   The two-hour show premieres on MyNetworkTV, Monday, March 12 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT).

”Tiffany and Bas are the perfect co-host team for ’IFL Battleground,’” said Greg Meidel, President, MyNetworkTV.  “His invaluable knowledge of the sport, coupled with her cunning personality makes them the ideal choice for this type of program.

“IFL Battleground” follows the athletes, coaches and personalities of the International Fight League, the world’s first professional mixed martial arts organization to compete in a team format.  Cameras will capture the stories both in and out of the ring, bringing fans all of the event and behind the scenes action.  Segments will take viewers up close during the competition and also into the locker rooms, training routines, and home lives of this diverse group that is part of the world’s fastest growing professional and recreational sport.

“We are very pleased to have two great personalities…an MMA expert like Bas and a rising star like Tiffany…to present this sport to the largest audience possible,” said IFL co-founder and CEO Gareb Shamus.  “New fans will be able to get Tiffany’s perspective on the goings-on of the lives of these great athletes and coaches, while Bas’ expertise in MMA will give both the MMA fan and the casual observer unique insight into what’s going on during the fight action.  It’s a very solid balance we think everyone will enjoy.” 

Known for her intelligence and quick wit on camera, Fallon is widely regarded as one of the great new faces in television.  The former Miss has been featured in dozens of commercials and has held on-camera roles for Spike TV, E! and TBS Rivals.com.  A graduate of Florida State University with a degree in Sports Management, Fallon was selected as Playboy’s “Playmate of the Year” in 2005.

Rutten is one of the most colorful and well-respected personalities in the MMA world.  The 41 year-old Dutchman competed professionally for over 20 years in various MMA disciplines, holding titles in the Pancrase (the Japanese precursor to MMA) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight division title. Following his retirement he moved on to coaching, acting and broadcasting, landing roles on TV shows, such as “Martial Law” and “The King of Queens,” as well as three movies, “The Eliminator,” “The Vault” and “The Kingdom of Ultimate Power.” He was also the color commentator on PRIDE’s Fighting Championship events, where his sense of humor and intimate knowledge of the sport immediately made him a fan favorite.

Each of the nine regular season IFL events consists of four teams – each with an athlete in all five weight classes competing – for a minimum of 10 bouts per card.   The team that wins the best three of five match setup will be declared the team winner for the match, similar to collegiate and high school wrestling meets. The IFL also differs from other MMA organizations in that the bouts are held in an oversized five-rope boxing ring with three, four-minute rounds, each designed to create the most compelling in-arena experience for local fans. 

Each of the 12 IFL teams for 2007 will compete in three regular season events; the teams with the top four overall win-loss team records will advance to the semi-finals, which will be held on Thursday, August 2, at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J.  The 2007 IFL Finals will then be held at The Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 15.

March 7, 2007
THE CARVALHO REPORT

The Carvalho Report:
The Life and Times of a Shooto Contender in Japan 
By Antonio Carvalho

Full Contact Fighter is honored to have Shooto contender Antonio Carvalho on our writing staff. Once a month, Antonio will be sending in his "Carvalho Report", a journal of sorts, which will tell readers about his experiences living, training and fighting overseas in Japan. The Team Shah Franco fighter recently relocated to Japan from Toronto, Canada, to pursue more training opportunities in the Nation where many of his greatest career successes have come thus far, competing in Shooto. Readers can also look forward to interviews that Antonio will be also sending in with various Japanese fighters, in addition to his monthly "Carvalho Report."

Waterfalls training

Japan! The longer I stay here, the more I love this beautiful country. Waking up in the morning is such a treat. I am the kind of person that appreciates small details. Japan is certainly a country of small details. Just take a walk down the street and everywhere you look is a feast for the eyes. Every street corner looks different. Nothing looks the same. Walk twenty feet and there is always something different to look at. There is this combination of the old with the new. It is quite fascinating. Then again, that is probably the reason why I get lost all the time! However, this morning, I would not get lost. It was 5:30am and I knew exactly where I was going. The day had come for me to travel to "Mitake" mountain with Hiroyuki Abe and the AACC kids wrestling team for some good "old fashioned" training. We are going to meet up with former Kyokushin world champion Sensei Hajime Kazumi and his karate team. We are to take part in a traditional Karate class first. Then after, travel up the mountain to the waterfalls. This is something that most people only see in movies. But this type of traditional training is alive and well in Japan. Now what does this have to do with MMA you ask? Well, to many, nothing. But see, that is the problem in MMA today. In my humble opinion, with the emergence of MMA, this kind of training is sorely lacking. You just go to a gym, lift weights, spar, grapple and drill. Then you go home and do it again the next day. While there is nothing wrong with that, I feel that what really makes the difference between world champions and other fighters is that they are mentally very strong people. At some point, from a physical level, every top fighter matches up well. Every fighter has strong physical and technical attributes. So at the highest level, being mentally tough is what many times make the difference in the end. How many times have we seen a fighter with all the physical attributes in the world never make it to the top? How do you explain a fighter with lesser physical attributes overcoming someone who is stronger, faster and more technical? It is very important for a fighter to have this balance of the physical aspect with the mental aspect. This is something that I always felt that I have had trouble with myself. I had always trained my body, but not always my mind and I believe that is why I have faltered in several of my fights. I am very happy to have an opportunity to experience this kind of training and I am sure I will be better for it.

Abe, Sensei Kazumi and I

After a two-hour bus ride, we arrived at our destination. We immediately made our way towards an old gymnasium where we would take part in the traditional Kyokushin karate class. It was a great feeling to line up with everyone and throw punches, kicks and blocks. I had a blast "Kiaiing" all the way through. After about an hour or so, we finished the class and then it was time for the long hike up the mountain. The hike took at least forty-five minutes and was all uphill! The kids didn't seem to mind at all and fought through the fatigue. The waterfalls were unbelievable. But it was freezing out there! Being the higher ranks, Sensei Kazumi, Abe, I and the other black belts lead the example. We took our gi off and walked straight into the water and circled under the falls. We got into our stance and began to "Kiai" and throw reverse punches. My initial thought was that it was freezing cold. But after fighting through the cold, my mind just stopped thinking about it and I just went into "automatic pilot" and continued to throw punches with the rest of the crew. Even though I am Canadian, I have never experienced cold like that. I could not feel my toes for at least a couple of hours after getting out of the water! I was quite proud of myself actually. After the higher ranks were finished, everyone else including the kids got in the water. Watching children between the ages of eight and ten battle the cold like that was quite incredible. Many adults could learn a lot from these courageous young samurai. They didn't cry or complain. They just endured and got through it. That is what the goal of such training is all about. You must carry through despite the hardship. It is certainly a trait every fighter needs to have. I believe that this is one of the reasons I am in Japan. I definitely need to work on "myself" so to speak.

In my last report, I mentioned something about an interesting training proposal that I had received from none other then Shinya Aoki and Masakazu Imanari. Both of these fighters are considered amongst the best in their respective weight classes. Imanari is a Pride veteran and the Deep Featherweight Champion. Not to mention a human highlight reel for leg lock finishes. If you have not had a chance to watch him in action, go to "Youtube" and watch a couple of the fan made highlight videos. Then you will fully understand what I mean. Aoki is the Shooto Middleweight Champion. Lately he has created quite a stir in Pride with his fantastic submission finishes off of his back. I certainly didn't want to miss out on such an opportunity to train with some of the best in the sport. Well, it was Tuesday and it was time to meet up with them at the official Deep training facility. The main instructor there is Masakazu Imanari. Every Tuesday and Thursday at noon, Imanari holds private training sessions for professional fighters. The fighters come from many different gyms and the goal is just to get some good hard training done. It is not a class. You pair up with someone and you grapple until the five minute round is up. After that, you square off with another person and do it again. The session would last for two hours straight. Usually in a regular class, where most people are recreational grapplers, it is sometimes okay to drop your guard a little and catch a breather while grappling. Normally I am quite a bit more experienced and can get away with it. Not with these guys. Any opening that was there they would take it. Your mind must stay sharp the whole time. Anytime you lose a little focus, you are caught. This is the kind of training that will improve your skills by leaps and bounds. Everyone at some point got "tapped". The room was full of very talented fighters. Not only did I get to train with the two mentioned before, but I also got a chance to train with Ryota Sakurai. People in Japan know him as the bigger Sakurai. Ryota is a Pride veteran and the former Deep Middleweight Champion. At the time, he was preparing to rematch Ryo Chonan to whom he had lost the belt too. When I got paired up with him, I thought for sure he was going to crush me. He is incredibly muscular and looks more like a body builder. He actually turned out to be a very gentle "roll". He only used technique and was playing very soft. It was like playing a fast paced game of chess with our bodies. It was nice to see such a big guy move around like that. After we were finished our "roll" I thanked him for being very gentle with me. There is no question he could have manhandled me if he wanted to. He smiled and very humbly told me that he is rolling soft because he really wants to better his technique. I certainly wasn't expecting that from him. He was a very soft spoken person and he turned me into a fan for sure.

After having a rough time with the heavyweight All-Japan Sambo champion, it was finally time to roll with Aoki-san. He is tall and lanky and has incredibly flexible hips. Everywhere I would move he would entangle something. His technique is beautiful to watch, and in my case, feel. There is no muscle being used when he rolls. He is pure technique and has so many tricks up his sleeve. I found out quickly that he is quite comfortable passing someone’s guard as he is playing from his own. I would chuckle at how he would use his long limbs and just lift his hips up, sprawl his legs out as far as possible, and proceed to walk around my butterfly guard like it wasn’t there. I knew it was happening the whole time, but I just couldn't stop him from doing it. I had a really good time rolling with him. He kept it intense, but was not afraid to take risks and try things. This kept the game open and I got a chance to try some fancy techniques myself. One time though, I failed miserably at a flying triangle and landed with my back flat on the mat. When I hit the mat it made a loud sound that caught everyone’s attention. Everyone had a good laugh including myself. Right after that, they applauded my efforts for at least trying.
 
Out of all the guys, Imanari-san was the one I was most interested in rolling with. He was the only guy who was actually my size! Imanari turned out to be a fun roll. The one thing you cannot do against him though is stand up in his open guard. If you do, consider yourself foot locked, heel hooked, reverse heel hooked, knee barred, or any other variation of foot lock or kneebar that may exist. The amazing thing is that this is something he does train. It is no fluke when he does a sliding tackle into a foot lock and catches his opponents. He actually has an instructional DVD where he explains in detail his techniques and tactics. If you love the foot lock game, I highly recommend that you check it out. Don't get me wrong though, while he is famous for his incredible leg locks, he does possess a complete game of grappling skills. It's just that his leg locks are so good that it overshadows the rest of his game. When I mentioned to him that people recognize him as the best foot locker on the planet, he was very modest and didn't seem to want to take such a moniker. In the end, I had a fun time training with such great fighters. My only concern was that they didn't think I was worth having around as a training partner. My concerns suddenly turned to joy as Aoki and Imanari were very pleased with my work ethic and invited me back to the gym to train with them every Tuesday and Thursday. Fantastic!

Official DEEP IMPACT Gym

Every weekend in Japan, there is always some kind of MMA or grappling event going on. In the next few weeks, I will have the opportunity to watch several of these MMA shows live. I will attend a ZST, Deep and Shooto event within a span of two weeks. These three organizations have been feeders for the bigger shows such as K-1 and Pride. For my next report, I will give you the lowdown on how each event differs and what kind of experience I got from each. I will also continue to report about my training experiences with some of the very best fighters of Japan and any other exciting experience that is MMA related. Until next time!

March 7, 2007
ART OF WAR PREVIEW

Art of War: Debut Event Set to go Friday
By Keith Mills

Dallas, TX -- Sun Production Group’s Art of War, the company’s first MMA show, takes place this Friday, March 9^th at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas .  UFC and Pride vet Guy Mezger serves as matchmaker, Bruce Buffer is the announcer, and the show is reportedly to be shown on HDNet television.  As of this writing the card is:

Pedro Rizzo vs. Justin Eliers
Carlo Prater vs. Anthony Lapsley
Alex Andrade vs. Klas Akesson
Jason Maxwell vs. Yuki Inoue
Damien Stelly vs. Mike Sheppard
Eric Schambari vs. Christian Smith
Anthony Njokuani vs. Kenneth Rosfort
Justin Wren vs. Justin Howard
Sonny Neilson vs. Armondo Valadez
Brian Russell vs. Tom East

The main event features two UFC vets on the comeback trail as Pedro Rizzo fights Justin Eilers for the newly-formed IFA Heavyweight title.  Rizzo’s counter-punching style has made for some lackluster fights in the past but he is said to be taking offense much more seriously, and Eilers’ swinging for the fences style is unlikely to draw Rizzo into a war of attrition.  The fight is an ideal match-up for both fighters and likely to live up to the “war” part of the event title.

Eilers (left) kicking Gary Marshall

The other fight getting a big push is the return of Carlo Prater.  Prater has solid standup from his time under Thugjitsu’s Yves Edwards and went toe to toe with Crafton Wallace in the World Combat League, a kickboxing event.  Prater is mainly known for his ground game which comes from his training in Brazil.  He has wins over Carlos Condit, Thomas Schulte, and Pat Healy but losses to Derrick Noble and Keith Wisniewski.  A measure of what insiders think of him is he was supposed to be Eddie Alvarez’s first title defense for Alvarez’s MFC belt, while both Noble and Wisniewski got their UFC debuts immediately after beating Carlo.  After the loss to Noble one year ago Carlo returned to and fell out of sight in Brazil.  Now he makes his return against Anthony Lapsley, a KOTC vet undefeated as a pro.

Prater (right) kicking Derrick Noble

Another fighter making his return to MMA is Alex Andrade, a long-time Lion’s Den fighter who hung it up back in 2002 to concentrate on his family.  Now this UFC and Pride vet returns to action, facing Klas Akesson.  Both Prater and Andrade have opponents one might think would be “tune-up fight” opponents but upon closer examination both these returning standouts could be viewed as having the odds against them.

Rosfort pounding on Christian Dellevag

Surprisingly not much emphasis is currently being given to Jason Maxwell’s fight against Yuki Inoue.  Maxwell defeated former UFC Champion Jens Pulver in HOOKnSHOOT but had a rough ’04 and ’05 seasons fighting in ZST.  Now coming off four straight wins this fight against Shooto vet Inoue is going to be a turning point for both fighters.

Maxwell finishing Jens Pulver

One would think this show would hold a lot of “ Dallas vs. regional fighters” to control payroll and bring in the fans but surprisingly the card is turning out to be much closer to “ Texas vs. the World”.  According to Mezger this is the first international card in TX history as he reveals “we have guys from England, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Japan, and Brazil.”  Shooto vet Inoue from Japan, Cage Warriors vet Smith from England, three European Vale Tudo vets … this card is actually turning out to be the first stop on this year’s European scouting trip continuing through the end of April.

Overall this is a solid looking card with international appeal and HDNet distribution, a lofty goal for a first-time promoter despite Mezger’s role.  Look for a full report from Full Contact Fighter in the near future.

March 7, 2007
FROM THE EVENT'S PROMOTER: IFL PRESS RELEASE

“IFL BATTLEGROUND” PREVIEW SHOW AIRS WEDNESDAY NIGHT ON MYNETWORKTV; FSN WEEK THREE SWITCHES TO SPECIAL SATURDAY NIGHT AIRING FOR THE DEBUT OF DON FRYE’S SCORPIONS AGAINST THE REVAMPED TOKYO SABRES

Special Sneak Preview of “IFL Battleground” to be seen Wednesday night at 8 p.m. EST/PST, 7 p.m. CST, while FSN show three moves to Saturday Night at 11 p.m.

NEW YORK, March 7, 2007- The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, will air two hours of original programming this week, as the league moves closer its full regular broadcast schedule next week.  In all, 66 hours of original IFL programming are scheduled to run on FSN and MyNetworkTV, which together reach more than 95% of television households, the largest consistent audience ever for the sport.

First on Wednesday night, MyNetworkTV will air a special one hour preview of “IFL Battleground,” entitled “Countdown to Battleground,” at 8 p.m. ET/PT, 7 p.m. CT/MT.  The show will give fans an inside look at the makeup of the weekly “IFL Battleground” show that will debut in its regular Monday night time slot this Monday, March 12, at the same time.  The preview show will explain the IFL and MMA in general to the casual fan, while also giving a very strong inside look to some of the athletes and fights that have helped push the IFL into rising prominence in the sport.

The coverage will continue with a special Saturday night version of “The IFL on FSN,” at 11 p.m.  This week’s matchup will see the debut of Don Frye’s Tucson Scorpions as they take on the new-look Tokyo Sabres.  Key matchups will include  the IFL debut of Tucson ’s Chad Griggs taking on John Marsh, as well as the return to the ring of MMA veteran Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko, an MMA veteran who has missed the last two years.  Ken Yasuda’s team will also feature the debuts of two Los Angelenos, Antonio McKee and Savant Young.
  
Start time for the show is 11 p.m. in most markets.  The only exception will be on the West coast, where the show will remain in its Friday night spot. The March FSN schedule, with dates and times on each Regional FSN network, can be seen at http://www.ifl.tv/TV-Schedule.html.  Viewers can also check their local schedule at http://msn.foxsports.com/tv/schedule.

The FSN schedule will follow the order of IFL events through early April.  Then, the battle at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., between two of the league’s two top teams, the Pitbulls, coached by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master Renzo Gracie and based in New York, and the Wolfpack, coached by Olympic Silver Medalist Matt Lindland and based in Portland, Ore., will be shown on same-night delay at 11 p.m. on Friday, April 13.

The 22 hours of original programming scheduled on FSN this year represents nearly 70% more than the 13 hours shown in 2006, when the network aired three hours of coverage of the IFL Legends Championship in May and June and followed up with 10 hours of IFL World Team Championship action, September through December.

The remaining schedule of matchups on each FSN debut date is as follows through April:

March 16, Anacondas vs. Silverbacks (Houston, Feb. 2)
March 23, Dragons vs. Wolfpack (Atlanta, Feb. 23)
March 30, Pitbulls vs. Red Bears (Atlanta, Feb. 23)
April 6, Condors vs. Sabres (Los Angeles, March 17)
April 13, Wolfpack vs. Pitbulls (Uncasville, Conn., April 13 same day show)
April 20, Anacondas vs. Razorclaws (Los Angeles, March 17)
April 27, Dragons vs. Scorpions (Uncasville, April 13 show)

Each of the nine regular season IFL events will consist of four teams – each with an athlete in all five weight classes competing – along with a special Superfight, for a minimum of 11 bouts per card.   The team that wins the best three of five match setup will be declared the team winner for the match, similar to collegiate and high school wrestling meets. The IFL also differs from other MMA organizations in that the bouts are held in an oversized five-rope boxing ring with three, four-minute rounds, each designed to create the most compelling in-arena experience for local fans.

Each of the 12 IFL teams for 2007 will compete in three regular season events; the teams with the top four overall win-loss team records will advance to the semi-finals, which will be held on Thursday, August 2, at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J.  The 2007 IFL Finals will then be held at The Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 15.

March 8, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: MATT SERRA AND JON FITCH

New episode of FCF Radio In our latest broadcast, we talk with Matt Serra and Jon Fitch. Click here to listen/download.

March 8, 2007
TAPIA, DIAZ, NEWALU UPDATE.

Tapia out, Newalu in to Face Ryan Diaz at King Of The Cage “Chaos” this Weekend
By FCF Staff

Manny Tapia has confirmed to FCF that he will not be defending his King of the Cage Flyweight Championship (135lbs.) against Ryan Diaz this weekend, due to the fact it appears he will be signing with World Extreme Cagefighting. According to Tapia, his imminent signing with the WEC will allow him to still compete for KOTC, but due to the fact he will be fighting primarily for the Zuffa owned promotion, he will be unable to carry on his responsibilities as KOTC flyweight champion.

“It was kinda getting bad, lawyers were coming into it, but we finally came to an agreement,” says Tapia in regards to his contract negotiations and his wish to sign with the WEC. “They were just offering so much on the table; they seem to think I’m a marketable guy. It looks like it’s going to be a 4 fight deal and I might be fighting Antonio Banuelos in May or June. I’ll still fight for KOTC a couple times a year, but I told them to strip me of my title because I’ll be fighting mostly for the WEC. Terry [Trebilcock] and everybody at KOTC have treated me so well, so I’m glad we worked something out.”

KOTC Canada’s Bantamweight Champion Diaz (12-10) will now face Ed Newalu ( 12-9-1 ), and is looking forward to the title fight despite the change in opponent. KOTC “Chaos” is set to take place at the Avi Casino, in Laughlin , Nevada , Saturday, March 10^th.

“Of course I’m disappointed I’m not fighting Manny.” Diaz tells FCF. “I’m still happy that I’m fighting for the title, I guess Manny got a deal somewhere else, that’s just the way it goes sometimes. I’m hoping that I’ll be the next KOTC world champion.”

Newalu has faced Tapia twice before, losing both fights by unanimous decision at KOTC 63 and KOTC 41 respectively. The Hawaiian fighter is undefeated in his last three fights, and most recently he defeated David Moreno at Extreme Wars Battlegrounds 5 in October. Over the year that intervened between his two fights with Tapia from September, 2004, until December, 2005, Newalu won 6 fights in a row. Diaz is keenly aware of Newalu’s abilities, and knows he’s in for a challenge Saturday night.

“He’s going to be a tough fight,” Diaz says. “He’s got a really good overhand right and he’s a good wrestler. I saw him fight when I was fighting in Hawaii once, so he’s probably seen me as well and knows to expect a real tough fight from me. I also saw one of his fights with Manny and it was really close, he was giving Manny a lot of trouble.”

In Diaz’s last fight he lost by unanimous decision to Nam Phan at KOTC “Rapid Fire” last August, the Canadian fighter went up to 155 lbs from 145 for that bout, a division above where he has typically fought at throughout his seven-year career. Over his last ten fights, Diaz has gone 7-3, with his only losses coming to Mark Hominick twice, and the aforementioned Phan.

March 8, 2007
KANG RETURNS THIS SUNDAY

Kang Makes Return This Sunday at Spirit MC
By FCF Staff

Pride welterweight contender Denis Kang (28-8-1) is scheduled to fight in South Korea this Sunday, March 11^th, at the Spirit MC’s Interleague 5 event. The American Top Team fighter will face Chae Jung Kyu, whom Kang described to FCF as a “tough Korean with an iron chin and good cardio.”  Kang will be looking to rebound this weekend after losing to Kazuo Misaki in the welterweight Grand Prix Finals last November at Pride Bushido’s Survival event. Kang injured his right arm defeating Akihiro Gono that same evening, and as a result, has not competed since that night.

Kang is virtually a “household name” in South Korea in, and is featured prominently in an Everlast advertising campaign throughout the country. The 29-year-old fighter’s Father is Korean, and as a result, fans in that country have embraced Kang as one of their own. Kang is 8-0 with one no contest competing for the Spirit MC promotion in South Korea, and in his most recent fight there, he defeated Albert Basconcelles by KO in just 12 seconds at Spirit MC 8 last April.

Prior to the finals of the welterweight Grand Prix last November, Kang had gone 5-0 competing in Pride, a streak that included wins over Murilo Rua, Amar Suloev and Andrei Semenov.

March 8, 2007
ECC PRESS CONFERENCE

ECC 5 “Night of Champions” Press Conference
Three new champions will be crowned and first female MMA fight to hit the Maritimes
By Peter Parsons

Halifax, Nova Scotia - March 7 – Combat Productions held a press conference today at the Palace Night Club in downtown Halifax to announce their Extreme Cage Combat 5 card, taking place on Saturday, March 31^st, at the Halifax Forum.  ECC 5 “Night of Champions” will boast three ECC Canadian title fights as well as the first ever female MMA fight in Atlantic Canada.

Peter Martell, promoter of the ECC, Hubert Earle, director of combat sport for the Nova Scotia Boxing Authority, along with several local ECC fighters, were on hand to field questions from the local media.  Much of the interest was placed on the first female MMA fight in the Maritimes, featuring Tannaya Hantelman of Team Titans who will be taking on Debbie Richards of Hamilton, Ontario . When questioned about the safety and skill level of female fighters, promoter Peter Martell responded, “There’s no reason why females shouldn’t fight in mixed martial arts, she has the skills that any mixed martial artist has and she will represent the sport very well.”

Hantelman training

Hantelman doing padwork

Having anticipated the interest, Martell quickly put Hantelman to work showing off her skills as she hit the pads with Titans teammate Jason McKay, who will be fighting for the lightweight title on the 31st.

Also on display was one of the three new championship belts that will be awarded at ECC 5.  In the main event, the ECC light-heavyweight title will be up for grabs as local favorite Roger Hollett (4-0) of Team Titans will fight Team Nestor’s Ricardeau Francois (12-7) of Montreal .  The ECC Canadian lightweight title will be on the line in a battle of 4-0 lightweights as Pictou County, Nova Scotia native Jason McKay will battle fellow ECC and Apex veteran Sean Krysa of the Boreland Combat Team in Georgetown, Ontario .  Apex Canadian Welterweight Champion Rowan Cunningham (4-1), fighting out of Abhaya MMA in Kentville, Nova Scotia, looks to add the ECC Canadian welterweight title to his collection as he takes on Cory MacDonald (4-1) of Team Nestor. 

ECC 5 “Night of Champions” Full Card:

205 lbs: Roger Hollett vs. Ricardeau Francois
155 lbs: Jason MacKay vs. Sean Krysa
170 lbs: Rowan Cunningham vs. Cory MacDonald
135 lbs: Tannaya Hantelman vs. Debbie Richards
220 lbs: Ryan Jimmo vs. Robert Haynes
185 lbs: Travis Axworthy vs. Chester Post
170 lbs: Matt Dutkoski vs. Matt Hamilton
145 lbs: Mike Skutter vs. Chris Barbeau
175 lbs: Adam MacDonald vs. Michael Waugh
185 lbs: Aaron Jollimore vs. Andrew Belyea
185 lbs: Craig Skinner vs. Curtis Fiander
150 lbs: Peter McGrath vs. Kristian Ndur
185 lbs: Tim Kelly vs. Tim Skidmore

 

 

March 9, 2007
FCF SURVEY

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March 9, 2007
MELVIN MANHOEF

Melvin Manhoef: FCF Interviews Dutch Striker as He Prepares for K-1 Hero’s Fight
By Antonio Carvalho

Melvin Manhoef is a 30-year-old fighter from Amsterdam, Holland that currently fights for the K-1 organization.  He is widely known as a devastating striker with many of his wins coming by way of KO.  He will be fighting Yoshiki Takahashi at the next K-1 Hero’s event, March 12th, in Nagoya, Japan. I had a chance to catch up with him and discuss his training, his goals and what he plans to do in his next fight.

When did you get started in martial arts?

I started when I was eighteen years old and I started in Muay Thai. So I started a little bit late. I trained for a couple of years and fought for a couple of years.  Then I stopped fighting for maybe about six years and then took it up again. So now I am training seriously and for the last two years I have had a least fifteen or sixteen fights. I only lost two out of all of those fights and many of my wins have been by knock out. So now I am under contact with K-1 Hero’s and have an eight fight deal with them. So I do both the regular K-1 and the K-1 Hero’s part as well.

How did you get the nickname "Marvelous"?

Manhoef (right) with Passenier

In Japan they call me "The Cannibal". My trainer Mike Passenier calls me Marvelous, in the Dutch magazines they call me "No Mercy," so in Japan, I will be the Cannibal. In Holland, I will be No Mercy and Marvelous. I am cool with that because I like all three nicknames. The nickname Marvelous came about because I had a ton of knock outs on my record. So my trainer named me after Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Actually, it was right before one of my fights where he told me if I knocked the guy out that he would call me Marvelous so I did! In the Dutch magazines they call me No Mercy because of my relentless style. I would not stop attacking my opponents and keep coming after them. In Japan, they call me the Cannibal because I fight like (pauses) I don't know why they call me that! (laughs) I got to find out myself. I'll have to get back to you on that one.

How did you get involved with K-1 Hero’s promotion?

Originally, I was fighting in Cage Rage in England and I defended my title three times against Fabio Piamonte, Cyborg [Evangelista Santos] and Ian Freeman. After that, K-1 came to me with an offer. My manager Simon Rich from "Showtime" promotions already had a little connection with the K-1 promotion and I got a good contract with the K-1.

At this point, what is your goal? Is there any particular championship or anywhere else you would like to fight?

Well, in my last fight, I lost to Akiyama in the K-1 tournament finals. That was my goal before. So that goal had to be postponed for one year. So now, in 2007, I am going to be doing more work on my ground skills and mixing everything. So my first goal is to be a world champion in Hero’s and after that, I will set another goal. Also, I want to participate in regular K-1.

So you still want to go back and do regular K-1 kickboxing?

Well, I do prefer MMA right now. It is what I have been practicing the most now. I do like them both though. Muay Thai is what I started with and it is my first love. But it is difficult to combine the two sports and get full determination to be the best at both. So having to train for an MMA fight and then going back to kickboxing can get a little difficult. I do my best and I train both kinds of styles. So I do think I can manage. I am doing well now. Only my last fight with Ray Sefo I had a little bad luck. But that is all part of the game you know. You can't always win.

Do you have aspirations to be a regular K-1 champion as well?

Well, you have to be realistic. I am only a meter seventy-five (5'8) and the biggest guy Hong-man Choi is like a two meters and twenty-two (7'3) at one hundred and sixty kilos. So I am realistic about it and realize that that would be very difficult to beat guys like Semmy Schilt and many of the other big guys. Now, there is a one hundred kilos and under division in the K-1. So now that is something that interests me. I think I could manage in that division. However, that would be a goal for another year. For now, it’s MMA and becoming a champion in Hero’s.

Let’s go back to your last fight. What went wrong in the fight against Akiyama?

Against Shungo Oyama, I smashed him up and I actually broke my hand. But the fight did go well for me. In the second fight against Akiyama, he was tentative, so I got aggressive and kept going after him. I got greedy. I must have landed nine strikes in a row with the same hand. Then we got close and he grabbed me and I tried to drop him to the floor with a slam. Like a suplex or something, but I really didn't know how to do it. So I landed on my own head and was a little disorientated. Next thing I know I am caught in an arm bar and forced to tap. For me, it's just experience. Just because the first fight goes well does not mean the second one will be the same as well. So you must be careful. Now I know for the tournament for next year. I have nothing against Akiyama. He did a great job and he is the champion. Next year, it will be my turn.

Do you feel that in the tournament format, not always do the best fighters win? Sometimes one fighter might have an easier time in there first fight and have an advantage going into the second fight?

Yes, absolutely. It is about luck as well. I don't really know how K-1 does the draw and matches people up. I don't think it is random. I think they just chose who fights who.

Would you prefer to fight a rematch with Akiyama in a straight super fight and not in a tournament format?

Of course I would. No problem. I would love to fight him. I will fight anyone. I like fighting. Fighting is my profession and my hobby. I really enjoy it and that is why I don't mind who I have to fight. I am getting better all the time. I am getting better on the ground game too. This is really good for me. So as I grow as a fighter, I can challenge the bigger fighters like Sakuraba. He is one of the most well known MMA fighters and he is really good. For me, it would be an honor to fight him. He has a good background on the ground and that would be a test for me to see if I am at that level and can handle the skills. I am slowly getting there. That is why I want to fight better and better opponents every time.

When did you begin to work on your ground skills?

About two years ago. So it has not been for very long.

So right now, you are also focusing on the ground a lot more. So is that something you feel you need to work on in order for you to get to that next level?

Yes. When you are comfortable and good on the ground, you can let it go more from the standing position. I can give it more and I won't panic and think to myself, oh no, I am on the ground! So I will know what I need to do next. If I get the rest of that part of the game, there will be a lot of problems for a lot of people. I am that confident in myself. So if my opponent wants to go to the ground I will give it my all there. If they keep it standing, that is obviously fine with me too. After a while my opponent will just get confused and just stop fighting altogether! (laughs) I am joking, I am joking. I like to fight spectacularly you know. I like to fight to just to keep going all over the place. Either he goes down or I go down. I like to brawl it out for sure!

You would like to put on a show for the crowd every time.

Yeah. They are paying to watch the fight. On top of that, I like it for myself as well. So not just for the crowd. I love to brawl and the crowd loves it too. Even when I go watch fights, I don't like to watch boring fights. I understand that there are high skills involved, but the people come to fights for the blood and aggression. Also, I like that kind of fight and enjoy fighting like that myself.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is getting big in North America. What is you opinion of them and do you have any aspirations to fight in the UFC and in North America at some point?

Of course I would love to fight there. The UFC puts on a great show and I would really enjoy fighting in Las Vegas. However, K-1 is going to be in L.A as well. So the K-1 is getting bigger and bigger as well and is coming back to America. As of now, I am under contract with the K-1 and I must serve my contract. K-1 has been good to me and I don't want to be ungrateful to them. So right now, fighting in the UFC is not possible. If after my contract is finished with K-1 and I am still part of the big picture, then yes, I might go to the UFC. After all, fighting is my profession and I still have a wife and kids to feed. But if K-1 offers me a good contract again, I may just stay with them.

Is there anyone outside of K-1 that you would like to fight?

I like fighters who can brawl. Guys like Dan Henderson and Wanderlei Silva. I know that is too early for me to fight them right now. They are great fighters and an inspiration for me. Eventually I want to be at that level and challenge them as well. That's the same way I feel about Sakuraba too. I also want to be the best and I want to fight and beat the best. I don't go looking for anyone in particular. So it is not a problem of who I would like to fight. I think I would fight anyone. So it is hard for me to say I want to fight a particular person. I'll fight anyone who comes in my way. I don't choose who I fight. I am a fighter and I just fight.

In the next K-1 Hero's event, you are fighting Yoshiki Takahashi. What do you know of your opponent?

I don't know much. I watched some shorts clips of him. I originally was supposed to fight an American fighter. But two weeks before the show, they changed my opponent. So I really haven't seen too much of him and didn't study him too much. There are no problems for me. I am just going to go there and fight him.

Any particular way you want to end the fight?

Of course by knock out. This is my game and this is what I do best. I want to make it quick. But if it does go for ten or fifteen minutes, I have the energy and the power to do it. I am very confident and I feel good. I am not afraid of him. So, let's brawl!

Is there anything you would like to add? Something for your fans?

Yes, please check out my website www.melvinmanhoef.com for news and results of my fights. Also, thank you for the support and please keep watching me fight. I will never disappoint. You can always expect a spectacular fight from me.

Thank you very much Melvin and good luck!

Thank you!

March 10, 2007
ART OF WAR RESULTS

Rizzo Victorious Over Eilers in Art of War Debut
By Keith Mills

American Airlines Centre, Dallas, TX-Sun Production Group’s first MMA event “Art of War” for the most part exceeded expectations of its ambitious goals, as the first international dominated card in Texas.  In the main event, Brazil’s Pedro Rizzo won a three-round decision over fellow Ultimate Fighting Championship vet Justin Eilers, to take the vacant International Fighters Association Heavyweight belt in a war that showed Rizzo return to his aggressive style.  Using powerful punches and accurate kicks, Rizzo punished Eilers for all three rounds proving Rizzo may indeed be ready for another shot at the top.

Going into this show perhaps the most anticipated fight was the return of Carlo Prater, one of the most scouted welterweights up until last year.  Carlo recently returned from Brazil for another run at the spotlight himself however this performance wasn’t quite what is necessary for the main shows.  Surprisingly Carlo won a unanimous decision despite receiving most of the damage in his fight against the much less experienced Anthony Lapsley. 

If Rizzo/Eilers was a clear decision and Prater/Lapsley was a surprising one then Jason Maxwell/Yuki Inoue was almost too close to call.  For three rounds Maxwell and Inoue went back-and-forth doing roughly equal damage and taking each other down as if they had been training partners for years.  In the end the judges saw it mixed, with one seeing Inoue win all three, one seeing Inoue win two out of three, and one see Maxwell winning two out of three.

The rest of the main card continued the “Texas vs. the World” theme with mixed results.  Shooters MMA’s Klas Akesson and Kenneth Rossfort were both caught with punches standing that lost them their fights against Alex Andrade and Anthony Njokuani respectively, while fellow teammate Sonny Neilson won his fight with the quickest TKO of the night against Armondo Valadez.  A fourth Shooters MMA fighter representing the London location, Christian Smith, lost by submission.
 
Not all the fights were “Texas vs. the World” as Georgia’s Damien Stelly made quick work of West Virginia’s Mike Sheppard via what was announced as armbar but what was actually a keylock, Dallas’ own Justin Wren picked up a TKO over San Diego’s Justin Howard, and local standout Tom East made San Antonio’s Brian Russel submit to strikes. 

One aspect that made this show stand out was the non-fight entertainment.  At one break in the show about two dozen army volunteers surrounded the cage and took their inauguration vows, while some of the costumes of the ring girls and go-go dancers could best be described as “unique,” making up for possibly the worst National Anthem performance in the history of MMA (and believe me, I’ve seen some pretty bad ones).  This show reportedly will air on HDNet although details are still coming. Give this show five stars for concept, four for matchmaking, and three for production. 

Look for a full report in an upcoming issue of Full Contact Fighter. 

Complete results:

Tom East def Brian Russell 1:51 R1 by submission to strikes
Sonny Neilson def Armondo Valadez 1:16 R2 by TKO
Justin Wren def Justin Howard 1:32 R2 by TKO
Anthony Njokuani def Keneth Rosfort 2:12 R1 by KO
Eric Schambari def Christian Smith 3:12 R1 by head/arm choke
Damien Stelly def Mike Sheppard 1:35 R1 by keylock
Yuki Inoue def Jason Maxwell by split decision (29-28, 30-27, 28-29)
Alex Andrade def Klas Akesson 3:15 R2 by TKO
Carlo Prater def Anthony Lapsley by unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
Pedro Rizzo def Justin Eilers by unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)

March 10, 2007
HERO’S PREVIEW

Long List of Notable Fighters Highlight March 12th K-1 Hero’s Card
By Kelsey Mowatt

Nagoya, Japan, will host K-1 Hero’s this Monday, March 12th, and an impressive list of fighters are scheduled to compete, lending further evidence to the fact that Pride’s competition is not limited to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Factor in that several notable Japanese fighters including the legendary Kazushi Sakuraba will be taking to the ring, and it’s likely that this next event for K-1 Hero’s will garner widespread attention throughout the island nation. The promotion has announced 11 fights for the card, a line-up that includes Gary Goodridge, Caol Uno, Hideo Tokoro, Melvin Manhoef, Shaolin Ribeiro, and the aforementioned Sakuraba. Despite the more notable names that are scheduled to compete, it remains to be seen whether the fighters that have been signed for their competition Monday will make for compelling bouts.

The main event will once again feature Hero’s prize attraction Sakuraba (19-9-1), taking on Yuri Kiselov (0-2). In what is well documented history, the Pride veteran’s last fight against Yoshihiro Akiyama, at Hero’s New Year’s Eve card, was finally declared a no-contest due to the alleged “greasing” of Akiyama’s legs. In Sakuraba’s debut fighting for Hero’s last August, the 37 year old fighter survived a vicious and lengthy beating early on from Kestutis Smirnovas, only to go on and submit his opponent with an armbar at 6:41 of Round 1. Kiselov has only two professional MMA fights on his record, both losses competing at K-1 Hero’s Lithuania events.

UFC veteran Caol Uno (22-9-4) is scheduled to fight Egypt’s Ali Ibrahim. Uno is coming off a successful run in Hero’s middleweight tourney (155lbs.) last year, where the Japanese fighter advanced to the finals by defeating Kultar Gill and Ivan Menjivar. Uno was finally stopped by Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante in the finals last October, losing to the American Top Team fighter by unanimous decision. Since his signing with K-1 in 2004, Uno has gone 7-3, with his only losses during that time coming to Joachim Hansen, Norifumi Yamamato and the aforementioned Calvacante.

One of K-1 Hero’s increasingly more popular fighters, Hideo Tokoro (16-11-1) will take on Kazuya Yasuhiro (0-2). Tokoro’s performances against Royce Gracie and Royler Gracie have certainly contributed to raising the Japanese fighter’s profile considerably. Tokoro fought to a draw with Royce at the promotion’s 2005 New Year’s event, and defeated Royler by unanimous decision in his last bout at the 2006 “Dynamite” card. Yasuhiro, who is regarded to be more of a striker, has been defeated in both of his K-1 Hero’s appearances, losing to Rani Yahira and Norifumi Yamamoto.

Dutch fighter Melvin Manhoef (15-3-1) will look to further his own growing reputation as a force to be reckoned with in the MMA world, as he will face Yoshiki Takahashi (28-20-3). In Manhoef’s last fight at K-1 Hero’s lightheavyweight tournament finals last October, he was knocked out by Yoshihiro Akiyama in the first round. Prior to that, Manhoef had been a wrecking machine, winning 9 straight fights, 8 of which came way via strikes. Several of the accomplished kick-boxers stoppages were against notable fighters during the streak, including Shungo Oyama, Ian Freeman, “Cyborg” Santos and Crosley Gracie. Former King of Pancrase Champion Takahashi has struggled somewhat of late, albeit against several world class fighters. The Pride veteran Takahashi has lost 5 of his last 10 bouts, including losses to Vitor Belfort, Heath Herring, Igor Vovchanchyn and Josh Barnett. For more on Manhoef, check out the interview below that FCF’s Antonio Carvalho had with the Dutch fighter.

Heavyweights Gary Goodridge (22-15-1) and Jan Nortje (1-4) are set to battle, in what all likelihood will be a stand up war between two kickboxing vets. In saying that however, Goodridge did defeat Nortje by armbar in 2001 at K-1’s Andy Hug memorial event. In Goodridge’s last MMA fight, the Canadian resident defeated Tadas Rinkevicius by TKO at Hero’s Lithuania event in November. Prior to that, Goodrige was stopped by Heath Herring at K-1’s event last March. The appropriately named, 6’11 tall, “Giant” Nortje has had little success competing in MMA fights thus far, and has lost his last 2 fights. His only victory came in 2002, when the South African fighter defeated Tadao Yasuda by TKO.

FCF’s 7th ranked lightweight Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro (17-1) is set to face Ryuki Ueyama (9-10-4). Ribeiro is yet another world class fighter that Hero’s has signed, further bolstering that organization’s bid to become a true competitor to Pride. Ribeiro has won 7 fights in a row, and has been impressive while fighting in the United Kingdom for the Cage Rage promotion. Ribeiro’s only loss came against Tatsuya Kawajiri in 2004, when the highly regarded Japanese lightweight stopped the Brazilian grappling wizard in the second round. Ribeiro also holds a victory over Kawajiri, as well as such notable fighters as Joachim Hansen, Gerald Strebendt, Ivan Menjivar, Jean Silva, and Mitsuhiro Mishida. Ueyama on the other hand, has been unable to win a fight in 4 years, and has lost his last 4 bouts. The veteran fighter has competed against many well know fighters however, including Hayato Sakurai, Sean Sherk, Ryuta Sakurai and Kazuo Misaki.

BodogFight competitor, the lightweight Kultar “Black Mamba” Gill (8-4), will look to rebound from his recent loss to Rodrigo Damm during the second season of the Bodog television show, against Kazuyuki Miyata (3-4). Gill has gone 1-1 competing in Hero’s, stopping Tokoro in the first round by TKO last May, before losing to Uno by rear naked choke in the opening round of the middleweight tourney. Miyata is coming off a TKO win over Ian Schaffa in October, but is perhaps, unfortunately for him, likely remembered by many for his loss to Norifumi Yamamoto. At just 4 seconds of the first round in their Hero’s bout last May, Yamamoto caught Miyata with a thunderous flying knee, in what would become one of the greatest highlight reel demonstrations of the acrobatic technique.

Also scheduled for the March 12th card, Mighty Mo will fight Kim Min Soo, Hiroyuki Takaya meets Andre Dida, Shin Hyunpyo will battle Bernard Ackah, and Yoshihisa Yamamoto is set to fight Katsuyori Shibata.

March 11, 2007
ACROSS THE POND: BRITISH MMA NEWS

Across the Pond: British MMA News
By David West

Results from FX3 Fight Night 4
Held  March 10, 2007 - Rivermead Leisure Complex - Reading, England

Paul Daley had little difficulty completing his first defense of his FX3 World Welterweight Title tonight against challenger Daniel Weichel from Germany. Weichel tried unsuccessfully to get the fight to the floor but Daley sprawled on his shots and took the fight to the German in the standing exchanges. Weichel tried to shoot again, but Daley caught him with a perfectly timed knee that dropped Weichel face down on the floor, out cold. Daley landed one more hammer fist for good measure before referee Marc Goddard jumped in, concluding an impressive performance from the defending champion.

Submission fighter Alex Owen claimed the vacant World Featherweight Title by tapping out France’s Frederick Fernandez. Owen never let Fernandez into the fight, taking him down and controlling the action on the ground throughout the first round, then trapping the Frenchman in a triangle that forced the tap out in round two.

Andre Winner, from the Rough House team in Nottingham, had a tough three-round battle with Wesley Felix, from Pancrase London. Felix scored several impressive takedowns, but was unable to strike effectively on the floor and often found himself working hard to escape Winner’s submissions. When they were on their feet, Felix unsettled Winner with powerful kicks that prevented Winner from setting himself to punch, but the Rough House fighter dominated the clinches where he landed knee strikes to the mid-section and head. It was a very close contest, with the split decision going to Winner.

Polish export Przemslaw Mysiala continued to work his way up the heavyweight ranks with a stoppage of London’s Lance King. Mysiala, who holds a win over “The Ultimate Fighter” star Ross Pointon, was too sharp for King, knocking him down with a straight right and punching King on the floor before the referee jumped in.

Local favorite Nigel Whitear avenged his loss to Jason Barret at Cage Rage Contenders 2 by breaking Barret’s arm with an arm bar halfway through round one. Barret refused to tap the first time Whitear caught him in the submission, so Whitear grabbed the same limb again, cranking on the arm bar a second time and getting the tap out, but it came too late to prevent Barret’s arm being broken. 

Full Results

MMA
Paul Daley def. Daniel Weichel by KO 2:55 R1
Nigel Whitear def. Jason Barret by Arm Bar 2:27 R1
Alex Owen def. Frederick Fernandez by Triangle 2:21 R2
Przemslaw Mysiala def. Lance King by TKO (Ref Stoppage – strikes) 2:12 R1
Andre Winner def. Wesley Felix by Split Decision (29:28, 29:28, 28:29)
Lawson Tenant def. Ben Vickers by TKO (Ref Stoppage – strikes) 2:10 R2
Azran Quasid def. Dion Oakes by TKO (Ref Stoppage – strikes) 2:52 R1
Brendan Flanagan def. Steve Baggaley by TKO (Ref Stoppage – strikes) 4:28 R1
Paul Reed def. Rob Neesham by TKO (Ref Stoppage – strikes) 0:55 R1
Jarred Farre def. Pete Brake by Tap-Out (strikes) 1:31 R1

Kickboxing
Damien Hamilton def. John Healey by Split Decision
Pete Mercer def. Kazys Grigaliunas by Unanimous Decision


Brad Pickett Talks About His Return to Cage Rage

Brad “One Punch” Pickett was cage-side at FX3 to see Alex Owen win his first championship belt. The two featherweights are scheduled to meet on April 21st at Cage Rage, which will mark Pickett’s return to the promotion since losing his British title to Robbie Olivier in September 2006. Since then Pickett won three fights in a row and then went to Costa Rica to compete in BodogFight against J.R. Simms, the results of which are being kept secret until the series is broadcast.

FCF: You just watched Alex Owen in action here at FX3. What are your thoughts on fighting him in April?
Brad Pickett: I respect his ground game, he’s very slick. I believe he ain’t got the tools to beat me. I’ve trained at American Top Team numerous times; I’ve trained with black belts in jiu-jitsu so I’m very aware of the submission game. He has very limited striking; he throws one kick all the time to set up his takedown. I’ve got a game plan and I’m looking forward to the fight. I believe I’ll be his toughest fight – if he fights me. I’ve got an inkling he’ll pull out for some reason, I don’t know why. It would be a good win to have on my record. If he beats me, hats off to him, but I don’t think he can.

FCF: You’re not intimidated by his ground game?
BP: Not at all. It’s not a fight where you get scared. You’re not fighting some bad ass who’s going to knock you out and hurt you. You’re fighting a guy where if you lose, you get submitted. So what? It don’t hurt. He’s in a fight, I’m going to hit him hard. He even said to me, ‘Man, just don’t break my nose.’ He’s intimidated about getting hit. He says he’s not a very violent person but it’s a violent sport and he’s going to get hit, so we’ll see how he weathers the storm. I don’t think in any of his fights he’s fought anyone with really good stand up or aggression. He’s been quite selective with his fights, which is good, you want to build yourself up as a fighter, and I’m really looking forward to this fight.

FCF: You made your American debut last year at the Absolute Fighting Championship. How was that?
BP: My fight in the AFC last year was my first fight after getting beat by Robbie. You fall off the horse, you want to get straight back on. I won the fight and since then I’ve had two other fights that I’ve won by arm bar and then I had my last fight which was in Costa Rica, but I can’t say what the outcome was. I had a very good trip and I really enjoyed it.

FCF: You started your career knocking people out, but you won your last three in a row by armbar.
BP: My last three in a row were by submission. It was important in my last fight [at BodogFight] that I did something different, but you won’t find out what until it’s aired.

March 12, 2007
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March 12, 2007
BODOGFIGHT “ST. PETERSBURG” WEEK 5

BodogFight “St. Petersburg” Week 5:
Welterweights Take to the Ring Once Again
By FCF Staff

After last week’s episode of BodogFight’s Season Two “St. Petersburg” featured some great MMA action in the women’s bracket, the men’s welterweight division will once again be the focus for Tuesday night’s broadcast. Episode two of this second season also featured welterweight fighters, as Tyler Jackson and Dmitry Samoilov battled out to a draw, while Jorge Masvidal defeated Steve Berger by unanimous decision. For the international bout in episode 5, the United Kingdom’s Matt Thorpe (6-5) will take on Sweden’s Diego Gonzalez (7-3). Thorpe is coming off a first round submission win via strikes over Peter Angerer at Cage Warrior’s “Showdown” in September.  Gonzalez is on a 2 fight winning streak, and recently defeated Leslee Ojugbana with a first round triangle choke at the U.K. Strike and Submit event on January 28th, to lay claim to the promotion’s European Welterweight Championship.

On the American side of competition, the two welterweights that will do battle to meet the winner of Thorpe, Gonzalez at the BodogFight April pay per view, have considerably more MMA ring experience. Derrick Noble (21-9-1) will face off against Jake Ellenberger (14-1). Noble has won three fights in a row, most recently, a first round rear naked choke victory over Kenneth Allen in November. During his 7 year career, Noble holds victories over such notable fighters as Carlo Prater, Pat Healey, Jason Medina and Thiago Alves. Several of his losses have also come against some very highly regarded fighters including, Chris Lytle, Jorge Santiago, Josh Neer, Eddie Alvarez and also, the aforementioned Alves.

Ellenberger is an International Fight League veteran, and has won his last two fights, including a recent KO victory over Ben Uker at the IFL’s Championship event on December 29th. His only loss was to Jay Hieron by unanimous decision at the IFL’s “Legends” event last June, prior to that, Ellenberger was undefeated in his first 12 MMA fights. The fighter, who now trains with Team Quest, also has wins over Ryan Stout, Laverne Clark, and Gil Castillo.

BodogFight Season 2 “St. Petersburg” episode 5 is set to air, March 13th on ION Television in the U.S. and The Fight Network in Canada. It is also available for viewing at the BodogFight website.

March 12, 2007
UFC FIGHT NIGHT CARD

April 5th UFC Fight Night Card Continues to Take Form
By FCF Staff

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s website is now reporting 7 confirmed fights for the upcoming April 5th Fight Night, which will take place at the new Pearl Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Headlining the card will be a lightweight fight between “Ultimate Fighter” competitors Joe Stevenson (27-6) and Melvin Guillard (20-6-1), in a bout that will feature a classic grappler vs. striker match-up. The highly regarded grappler Stevenson is coming off a guillotine choke submission win over Dokonjonosuke Mishima at UFC 65 in November, while Guillard stopped Gabe Ruediger with a crippling body punch at UFC 63 last September.

The Japanese fighter Mishima (17-5-2) will look to rebound from his loss to Stevenson when he returns to the Octagon to fight Kenny Florian (6-3). The April 5th event will mark the first time that Florian will fight since losing to Sean Sherk in a lightweight championship bout at UFC 64 in October.

“The Master” Drew Fickett (29-5) will take on Japanese welterweight Keita Nakamura (13-1-2), in a fight that features two fighters both coming off a loss. In what was a thrilling encounter, Fickett dropped a unanimous decision to Karo Parisyan at UFC Fight Night 8 in December, while Nakamura lost via unanimous decision to Brock Larson that very same night.

A lightweight bout between Wander Braga (7-0) and Kurt Pellegrino (8-2) will feature two highly accomplished Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners. Braga will look to impress in his UFC debut, and has not competed in North America since 2004, when he defeated Joe Camacho at King of the Cage 36. Pellegrino is coming off a rear naked choke victory over Cleuder Assuncao at UFC 64.

Lightheavyweight Seth Petruzelli (9-4) will face American Top Team fighter Wilson Gouveia (7-4). Both fighters were victorious in their last bouts, as Petruzelli knocked out Bernard Rutherford at the Ultimate Warrior Challenge on February 2nd, while Gouveia submitted Wes Combs with a rear naked choke at UFC 62 last August.
 
In two other fights that have been confirmed for the card, Justin McCully (7-3-2) will meet heavyweight Antoni Hardonk (4-1) and lightweights Naoyuki Kotani (17-5-4) and Thiago Tavares (5-0) will battle.

March 12, 2007
GILBERT ADANA DROWNS

UFC Veteran Gilbert Aldana Drowns
By FCF Staff

Phoenix news stations KPHO and KSAZ are reporting that Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Gilbert Aldana has drowned while boating on Lake Pleasant in Arizona.  According to the reports, the 29-year-old Aldana jumped into the water in an attempt to get his t-shirt that flew out from the boat, but he was unable to swim back to safety. As of 3:00 pm Monday afternoon, Aldana’s body had not yet been recovered.

The Aldana went 6-2 during his MMA career and competed in Rage in the Cage as well as in UFC 57 and UFC 61 last year.

Full Contact Fighter extends its sincerest condolences to all of Aldana’s family and friends.

March 12, 2007
UNTAMED X RESULTS

Untamed X Talent Spills Over From the Ring to the Corners
By Derek Constable

Full Force Productions returned to Plymouth, Massachusetts on March 10, filling three tiers of Memorial Hall with mixed martial arts fans eager to see Untamed X unfold.  Randy “The Savage” Rowe unleashed two new super-heavyweights on the game and it was a night of new and old faces as Ultimate Fighting Championship veterans Ken Florian and Joe Lauzon were corner men and five fighters on the card made their MMA debuts.

Paul Gorman defeated Dan Ferrer in the night’s main event, but before any of the fights got underway; promoter and emcee Mike Varner brought young “Dougie” into the ring and introduced him to the crowd as the night’s guest of honor. Douglas, who is no more than 10 years old and a neighbor of Mike True (another member of the FFP team), will be flying to Disney World before long as part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Full Force Productions decided to use Untamed X as a platform to help raise a little spending cash for the young lad before he take’s his trip.

Regardless of the town or venue, Varner, True and Mike Littlefield always do their best to find a worthy cause they can help out, knowing full-well the number of people they can reach at each one of their shows.

-Jerry Spiegel (Lion Kill) won with an inverted heel hook in his first fight back from a tough loss to Nate Kittridge (Burgess) at the last Reality Fighting show in New Hampshire. Spiegel came out the aggressor against Chris Rondeau (Fightzone) and defeated him after little standup by dropping for a heel hook and working the hold tighter until Rondeau was forced to tap 1:38 R1.

-Josh Grispi (SSS) was a late addition to the fight card and stepped in for Bobby McAndrews (IMAS) to face Fernando Bernardino (CCFA). This was one of the closest battles of the night, the only match to reach overtime and either man could have easily been called the winner after three rounds.

Bernardino connects with a hard punch to the head of Grispi

-Matt Smith (Dragon Warrior) defeated Chris Snow (Boneyard) by using his superior ground came to make flawless transitions around Snow’s guard and ended the fight by guillotine choke.

Smith tries hold off Snow with a choke

-Gorman (AMMA) and Ferrer (Santos) capped off a great night of fights with a back-and-forth battle that paired off two very skilled super-lightweights. Gorman won by unanimous decision and helped earn the judges favor with a spectacular high-crotch slam in the first round. The two fighters both stayed extremely active and never lost their wind, but Gorman took the edge with several submission attempts and his powerful takedown.

Results

Main Event
Super-Lightweight/ Paul Gorman (AMMA) def. Dan Ferrer(Santos) by majority decision (20-18, 20-18, 19-19).

Brian Conrad (Bishops) def. Jason Papas (Savage) by TKO 2:44 R2
Greg Rebello (CCFA) def. Shawn DePaul (MSA) by TKO 3:50 R2
Jerry Spiegel (Lion Kill) def. Chris Rondeau (Fightzone) by inverted heel hook 1:38 R1
Eric Foley (SSS) def. Charlie Thomas (Savage) by unanimous decision
Darron Andrew (MSA) def. Dan Savery (Santos) by unanimous decision
Matt Smith (Dragon Warrior) def. Chris Snow (Boneyard) by guillotine 1:27 R1
Troy Tondalo (Savage) def. Darryl Paquette (Independent) by TKO 1:31 R1
Josh Grispi (SSS) def. Fernando Bernardino (CCFA) by majority decision (10-9, 10-9, 10-9)
Don Amarasinghe (MSA) def. Josh Spearman (Dragon Warrior) by straight arm bar 2:07 R1

March 12, 2007
JOE STEVENSON UPDATE

Stevenson Prepared to Take on Guillard
By Steven Marrocco

When FCF last spoke to The Ultimate Fighter Season 2 alum Joe Stevenson, he was awaiting a call from the Ultimate Fighting Championship with good news:  he would be fighting Caol Uno early this summer.  Unfortunately, Zuffa couldn't lure the K-1 star away, but their counter offer of Melvin Guillard was intriguing.

Stevenson quickly signed the fight, the main event at the UFC's upcoming Fight Night on April 5th.

"I really wanted that fight," Stevenson said of Uno.  "I thought he would be a great person to beat.  But Melvin's not a bad name to beat either.  People seem to like him and think he's in contention.  I have to show them he's not."

With Hermes Franca's shot at the champion Sean Sherk looking imminent, this battle of lightweights would likely determine the next contender for the lightweight title.  Both fighters hit a roadblock in their careers when they faced Miletich product Josh Neer, and have recovered to take home wins in their last two appearances. 

As a short-lived roommate of Guillard, Stevenson was well aware of his strengths when he signed on the dotted line. The terms "explosive" and "athletic", two words that appear to be married to Guillard's reputation, weigh heavily in his assessment.

"That's what he brings to the table," the Cobra Kai fighter said.  "I think I'm his worst nightmare as far as ideal opponents.  I have respectable hands, but I don't need to use them unless it's someone's strongpoint."

Clearly, Stevenson's biggest obstacle is Guillard's KO power, as evidenced by his recent fights with Gabe Ruediger and Rick Davis.  The two knockouts, a pair of highlight reel punches, have motivated Stevenson to take Guillard's weapons away from him. 

"I'm definitely going to be a little bigger," Stevenson said.  "He's probably going to have the explosiveness, but I'm definitely going to have the ‘no you don't' strength, just to grab him and hold him.  That's not what I'm looking to use, but what I'm looking to do is to use my strength to jump into a dominating position that he can't muscle his way out of.  If I mount him, he's not going to bridge me over to my back.  Where he thinks I'm going to look for submissions, I'm going to hit him.  I'm going to hit him hard, and he's going to have nowhere to go."

"I like to think of myself as a smart fighter," Stevenson concluded.

Another possible motivator may be Guillard's brashness, a trait that quickly made him stand out on the reality show. More immediate however, is the inclusion of Josh Burkman in Stevenson's camp, a choice that Guillard was apparently not happy about.

"He's a nice guy when you get to know him," Stevenson said of his opponent.  "But he feels like he has to represent this other guy to the public, and that just sucks.  Josh and I started to be friends right off the bat on the show.  I asked him to come up here when I was going to fight Uno.  Things change, and Josh kept his word and came up [to Big Bear] as a friend.  I was aware that they were friends, but Josh and I have always been friends.  We expected to fight each other in the finals."

While Stevenson was clear that he didn't mean to cause a conflict, Guillard's reaction didn't faze him.  "He can take it as personally as he wants….this is the fight game, Stevenson said.  "We're supposed to beat each other up, entertain the fans, achieve our goals, and be friends afterwards.  If he's the type of fighter that has to take something personal, I respect that.  That's you."

When asked to give a message to "The Young Assassin", Stevenson simply said, "Good luck, may the best man win."

March 12, 2007
EXPLOSION 2 RESULTS

Explosion 2 Rocks Chicagoland
Report by Dustin Lee DePue - Photo by Riley Kerestes

Tinley Park, IL—Quick finishes marked the evening as the Explosion MMA promotion held its second event on Saturday, March 10th.  Over a thousand fans packed into the Holiday Inn Convention Center for the eleven-fight card which featured ten pro bouts.  A much improved presentation (including a coherent and knowledgeable ring announcer) showed that the promoters are serious about making their event one of the best in the area and Saturday night’s show was certainly a step in the right direction.

Harris knees Kucala

Headlining the card was a 205 pound bout between experienced fighters Jason Guida (15-16) and Mike Van Meer (23-17).  Guida wasted no time in dispatching his opponent, overwhelming Van Meer with punches on the feet and the ground as his furious assault forced Van Meer to tap just forty seconds into the first round.  If Explosion ever has a belt made for 205, they best take Guida’s measurements.

After tagging Ron Faircloth in the opening seconds of the fight, Aaron Praschak’s heavy hands were used mostly in defense as Faircloth smothered Praschak for the remainder of the first round, securing a trip takedown early and landing plenty of punches from on top.

At the start of the second, Praschak came out like a man on fire, swinging for the fences as he tagged Faircloth at will.  Faircloth tried several times to get the fight back on the ground but Praschak would have none of it, as he stuffed several takedown attempts and continued to pour it on his opponent, chasing Faircloth around the ring while connecting with heavy shots. Finally, the referee was forced to step in at 1:11 of the second round, giving Praschak the TKO win. A fight with Jason Guida for the 205 pound title seems to be in Praschak’s future.

Steve Kinnison was in another war, this time with Killing Fields’ fighter Tyler Combs.  They opened the fight swinging and Kinnison got the better of the exchanges, prompting Combs to shoot in for double leg takedowns.  Kinnison repeatedly stuffed these attempts, either bringing the fight back to the feet, where he scored with patient counter punches, or ending in Combs’ guard, where his ground and pound left a welt near Combs’ eye.

Round two saw Combs land several hard leg kicks as he picked up the pace, scoring several takedowns while avoiding Kinnison’s many submission attempts on the ground.  He survived having Kinnison on his back and was the overall aggressor in the round.

In the final round, Combs landed a loud smacking kick right on Kinnison’s kisser.  Far from hurt, Kinnison brushed it off.  Combs, however, doubled over in pain, as Kinnison had thrown a low kick at the exact same time and inadvertently struck Combs in the groin.  Combs was given time to recover and when the fight resumed he came out guns blazing.  They engaged in a furious exchange with both fighters landing punches and the crowd kicking up into a frenzied howl as either fighter was likely to go down.  Instead, Combs shot in for a double leg after Kinnison missed with a wild hook.  Kinnison quickly slapped on a guillotine, which, despite Combs’ best efforts to escape, finished the fight.

Matt Kristufek marked his debut MMA fight with a win over Matt Garber.  Kristufek weathered Garber’s aggression, showing poise from the bottom after two Garber takedowns while avoiding any real damage. The Dino Costeas-trained fighter then calmly worked a triangle choke before switching to an armbar that finished the fight late in the first round.

Jacob Hey used his explosiveness to defeat Brian Sohnery.  After a quick takedown, Hey was inside Sohnery’s guard, where he picked him up and slammed him down onto the mat, stunning Sohnery.  Hey followed up with heavy leather for the stoppage.  This was a repeat performance for Hey, who knocked out Mike Higgins in the last Explosion event in similar fashion.

Brian McGinnis nearly lost a fight he was easily controlling when his opponent Jasper Mayfield caught him late in the first round with a series of wild haymakers that left McGinnis nearly out on his feet.  McGinnis had controlled the majority of the round, taking Mayfield to the ground and wearing him down with punches.  Saved by the bell, McGinnis was hurt again in the second by a similar set of haymakers before taking Mayfield down again.  Outclassed on the ground and exhausted, Mayfield eventually gave up in the third round.

Full Results

Professional (3 x 5-minute rounds)
Jason Guida def Mike Van Meer by submission due to strikes 0:40 R 1
Ryan Stonitch def Grant Sarver by KO 0:10 R 1
Aaron Praschak def Ron Faircloth by TKO (ref stoppage due to strikes) 1:11 R 2
Joey Benoit def Billy Stamp by rear naked choke 2:49 R 1
Matt Kristufek def Matt Garber by armbar 3:56 R 1
Brian McGinnis def Jasper Mayfield by verbal submission (exhaustion) 2:37 R 3
Brandon Munson def Ken Allen by triangle choke 1:05 R 1
Jacob Hey def Brian Sohnery by TKO (ref stoppage due to strikes) 0:59 R 1
Steve Kinnison def Tyler Combs by guillotine choke 0:56 R 3
Dan Hutton def Karl Knothe by TKO (ref stoppage due to strikes) 1:49 R 1
Ryan Bixler def Aaron Benson by verbal submission due to strikes 1:15 R 1
Mitch Shuman def Duke Oursler by armbar 1:31 R 1
Billy Vaughn def Johnny Bedford by heel hook 1:31 R 1

Amateur (3 x 3-minute rounds)
Matt Kucala def Jordan Harris by unanimous decision (30-27,29-28,30-27)

March 14, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: KURT PELLEGRINO AND JOHN ALESSIO

New episode of FCF Radio In our latest broadcast, we talk with Kurt Pellegrino and John Alessio. Click here to listen/download.

March 14, 2007
THE NORTHERN TOUCH

TKOMMA Tourney Set to Go on St. Patty’s Day

The Colisee Desjardins in Victoriaville , Quebec , will host the first card in TKO’s new event series the TKOMMA Tourney, this Saturday, March 17^th. Headlining the night will be Victoriaville ’s own Jonathan Goulet (16-7) taking on Canadian Martial Arts Centre veteran Jesse Bongfeldt (pro-am 14-6). The fight features two of ’s better welterweight fighters, however, Goulet is likely the more experienced of the two, having fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship 4 times. During his tenure competing for the American promotion, “The Road Warrior” went 2-2, defeating Luke Cummo and Jay Hieron, while losing to Duane Ludwig and Josh Koscheck. Goulet’s last fight against Thomas Schulte at TKO 28 in February was declared a no-contest, after the referee failed to hear the first round ending bell, instead declaring Goulet the winner via TKO stoppage several seconds after the round had officially ended.

Despite not fighting in the UFC as of yet, Bongfeldt is a well known commodity in Western Canadian MMA circles, and has recently been on fire, winning his last 5 fights in a row. During that stretch in 2006, Bongfeldt defeated Canadian veterans Jason St.Louis and Elmer Waterhen, and has not lost a fight since September 2005, when he was defeated by Garrett Davis at Rumble in the Cage 12. Bongfeldt previously submitted Davis by armbar at the Extreme Fighting Challenge 3 in 2004.

The Vernon MMA instructor, St.Louis (10-9) will meet Dave Pariseau ( 5-3-1 ) in a lightweight battle, which will feature two fighters looking to get back on the winning track. In his last fight at TKO 28, St.Louis was submitted with a triangle choke by Steve Claveau in the first round. At the same February 9^th event, Pariseau lost via first round TKO to Martin Grandmont.

41 year old Stephane Dube (4-1) will look to make it 5 wins in a row against Jacob Macdonald (2-4) in another welterweight bout. The Martial Arts instructor Dube has not been defeated since his MMA debut in 2003 at TKO 13, when he lost to David Goulet by rear naked choke. Most recently at TKO 28, Dube defeated James Martinez for the second time in his career, stopping him in the first round with strikes. Macdonald has forged a reputation in just a few bouts for being an aggressive and resilient fighter, despite his losing record. In his last fight at King of the Cage “Amplified”, he lost by unanimous decision to Elmer Waterhen.

Sean “The Pimp Daddy” Pierson (4-3) will finally make his MMA return against middleweight Chester Post (6-7-1). In Pierson’s last fight back at TKO 13 in 2003, he was defeated by Steven Vigneault by unanimous decision, marking the third time the two would do battle, as Pierson defeated Vigneault twice in 1999 and 2000. Post is coming off a win over Markhaile Wedderbrun by guillotine choke at KOTC Freedom Fight in January, and has only lost once in his last six fights.

Other notable fights scheduled for the TKO St.Patrick’s Day card include Ray Penny (1-1) taking on lightheavyweight Yan Pellerin (8-9) and Bob Landry (1-0) is scheduled to fight Sebastian Gauthier (1-1). The undercard also has 3 bouts scheduled with fighters set to make their MMA debuts.

Wright Continues to Cruise At Valley Fight 2

Team Toshido welterweight Gary Wright continued to impress at Valley Fight 2 on March 3^rd, by stopping Myles Merola with punches in the second round. The win, which came against the 8-3 Merola, extends Wright’s record to 5-0.

“ Gary 's win against NFC (National Fighting Challenge) Welter-Weight Champion Myles Merola was the biggest win of his career,” says David Lea, Wright’s instructor, “and certainly solidifies his position as one of the top 10 welterweights in the country. Gary implemented his game plan perfectly which was to mount a fast pace relentless attack on Myles for the entire fight. Gary is a cardio machine.”

Team Toshido will send 3 fighters to KOTC Canada’s upcoming April 28^th card in Vernon , BC , including Wright, Tim Jenson and Rory Macdonald. Jenson who holds a record of 4-0 so far in his professional career, is also undefeated like Wright, as is their 17 year old teammate Macdonald, at 3-0.

Upcoming Canadian MMA Events

TKO “TKOMMA Tourney”- March 17^th, Colisee Desjardin, Victoriaville , Quebec
King of the Cage “Capital Chaos”- March 28^th, Robert Guertin Arena, Hull , Quebec
Extreme Cage Combat 5- March 31, Halifax Forum, Halifax , Nova Scotia
Ultimate Cage Wars- April 7th, Winnipeg Convention Centre, Winnipeg , Manitoba
Maximum Fighting Championship “Unplugged 3”- April 20^th, Crowne Plaza , Edmonton , Alberta
King of the Cage- April 28^th, Vernon , British Columbia

March 14, 2007
ACROSS THE POND: BRITISH MMA NEWS

Across the Pond: British MMA News
By David West

Buzz Out, Smiler Steps In To Meet The Beast

Robert “Buzz” Berry has pulled out of his scheduled fight against Bob Sapp that was due to take place at Cage Rage 21 on April 21^st. Promoter Dave O’Donnell said that Berry cited family commitments behind his decision, which apparently heralds his retirement from MMA. Berry ’s withdrawal from competition will leave a big gap in the British heavyweight scene as he was a charismatic and exciting fighter who liked to knock people out. He’ll be missed.

Stepping in to face Sapp will be Gary “Smiler” Turner, a veteran of the K-1 circuit. Turner has only a handful of MMA matches under his belt, but a wealth of experience in kickboxing and jujitsu. Turner has been in the ring with world class opponents in K-1 including Michael McDonald, who he held to a draw in 2004, and Carter Williams, who he defeated in March 2006. A two-time British K-1 champion, Turner will give up over one hundred pounds in weight to the giant Sapp. FCF spoke to Turner about his mission to defeat the American giant.

Gary Turner

FCF: When were you approached to fight Bob Sapp?
GB:   The discussions took place over the weekend when it was clear that Buzz had pulled out of the fight. Talks took place between Dave O’Donnell and my manager Jerome Winters and it was put to Bob Sapp to fight me. He agreed so the contracts are being signed as we speak.

FCF: What’s your background in martial arts?
GB:  I’ve got a complex history. I started with judo from 1976 through to 1991, traditional jujitsu from ’84 to about 1990, Lau Gar Kung Fu was the start of my striking in ’88. That developed into points kickboxing, then light-continuous, then full contact kickboxing. Around ’93 I started competing in sports jujitsu, which is like continuous kickboxing combined with wrestling, wearing a gi top. In 1991 I had my first foray into Mixed Martial Arts. I won the Golden Dragon Cup in Rimani, , in shootfighting. I did two of Less Hasdell’s shows in the late 90s in which I did RINGS rules shootfighting. Then my kickboxing developed into K-1 and Thai boxing.

FCF: Many years ago at one of Andy Jardine’s Extreme Brawl events you said you wanted to fight Bob Sapp in K-1 ...
GB:  I’ve always said that standing up, I’d want to get him up onto my shoulders in a shoulder wheel position, smile for the camera and then slam him into the ground and get the point deducted. But that was in stand-up; this is submission fighting, so the stance is slightly different. Bob Sapp is a media superstar and he’s a very, very scary opponent, especially for someone as small as me, so the challenge is immense. If I win comfortably, people will say it’s because Bob Sapp is a blow-out. If I lose, they’ll say Bob Sapp used his size. I want to get out there and let everyone see that Bob is not just a big guy, he has got technique and skills and he’s a very dangerous opponent, then I want to beat him with technique, strategy and skill.

FCF: What’s your fight weight?
GB:  My fighting weight has been around 108 kilos [237 pounds] recently, but I’ve dropped down and I expect to come in around 102 kilos (225 pounds).

FCF: What do you think are Sapp’s strengths?
GB:  His sheer size, not necessarily his weight, but the sheer size he carries with it. If he tries to shoot to take you down, he’s got the American Football tackling background, you’ve got to move one hell of a long way laterally just to clear his bulk. I’ve fought people of similar weight that are nowhere near the width of him. Obviously he’s got the weight and he can displace an opponent if he catches you with a punch. He’s sixty kilos heavier than me, but he’s also learning technically. He’s been doing some good kickboxing work, some good grappling work and he does have some technical ability which people don’t give him credit for.

FCF: When was your last MMA contest?
GB:  You could say it was 2003 when I won the World Jujitsu Championships in , because it was sport jujitsu so technically that’s a mixed martial arts match. Apart from that it would have been back in 1996/1997 on Lee Hasdell’s show. Last May I was due to fight Martin Lidberg, who’s an Olympic and World wrestling star, on K-1 Scandinavia. I trained up for my return to Mixed Martial Arts and then he dislocated his knee in his last training session before the fight, so we both watched from ringside instead.

FCF: Do you have a good submission game?
GB:  I feel I’ve got an excellent submission game if my opponent is wearing a gi. If you take that away, I’m more limited. I’m working on changing my instincts for no gi, rather than getting a grip on a jacket and I’m now getting in the habit of underhooks, overhooks. I’m satisfied that I have a competent ground game but obviously it’s nowhere near as good as my gi game.

FCF: No doubt Sapp will be only too happy to stand and bang with you.  Given the size disparity, are you ready for that?
GB:  No problem whatsoever. In sport jujitsu I’ve fought and thrown guys who are around Bob Sapp’s weight. There’s a giant New Zealander I used to fight on the circuit and I’ve thrown him a couple of times, got him nice and high with a hip throw and got him up to my head height before slamming him into the ground. As for weathering the storm of Bob’s punches, he will displace me but that’s the one side of my fight game that I’m not worried about. I’m 100% confident that I can stand toe-to-toe with him if I decide to.

FCF: You’re being thrown in at the deep end in terms of the public spotlight. Is there any added pressure from that?
GB:  No, not at all. I’ve fought in front of 18,000 people. I fought the American champion Carter Williams at the Arnold Classic on his home turf and even then I didn’t feel any pressure. You’re more worried about the guy in front of you trying to club you.

FCF: What have been some of the highpoints of your K-1 career?
GB:  I was the champion twice. I came up against a little bit of ageism in K-1. I was looking for a better contract and they said you need to fight some better people. So I said give me better people. I then beat Azem Maksutaj, who bust up K-1 Las Vegas that year and was a rising star, so I took his world title. Then they gave me Gregory Tony, the French champion. He didn’t come out for the fourth round, so I stopped him. Then they gave me Carter Williams and I comfortably beat him on points. Then they turned around and said we think you’re too old. They thought I’d win a qualifying tournament, go to , they’d invest their money in me and I’d turn around and say I’m retiring now. However, I’ve never been fitter, never been stronger, never been better, never been more successful and never enjoyed it as much, so I’m not looking at quitting any time soon.

March 15, 2007
RING OF COMBAT PREVIEW

Ring of Combat 13 Preview
by Jim Genia

When: March 16^th.
Where: Tropicana Ca sino & Resort, in Atlantic City .
What: Ring of Combat 13, featuring the second round of the Tournament of Champions.

It’s time for the second round in promoter Lou Neglia’s Tournament of Champions – which means more of Jay Coleman’s deadly hands, more of Ian Loveland’s submission skills, and more of Landon Showalter’s heart.  Ring of Combat returns to the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City on Friday night, promising another action-packed -- and sold out -- event for Garden State-area fight fans.  Featuring an undercard with the likes of Muay Thai champ Shennen Maceo (in his MMA debut), jiu-jitsu stud Carmine Zocchi, a hard-hitting bruiser Jordan Pergola, it’s undeniably a “can’t miss” event.  Here’s a look at the match-ups

Lightweight Tournament
James "Binky" Jones (Team Renzo/Ground Control) vs. Jay Estrada (Gilbert Grappling)
Rich Boine (Team Tiger Schulmann) vs. Ian Loveland (Team Quest) 

Welterweight Tournament
Jay Coleman (Rhino Fight Team) vs. Phillipe Nover (Insight)
Colin O’Rourke (Team Renzo) vs. Todd Moore ( Houston BJJ/Revolution Dojo)


Middleweight Tournament
Landon Showalter ( Arlington Kickboxing Academy ) vs. Marc Stevens (Tai Kai Jiu-Jitsu) 
Jason House (Janjira Gym) vs. Mike Dolce (Team Quest)

Preliminary Bouts
Shennen Maceo (Team Tiger Schulmann) vs. Khristian Geraci ( Pittsburgh Fight Club)
Anthony LaDonna (Team Serra/Longo) vs. Seth Tiringer ( Bellmore Kickboxing)
George Sullivan (Rhino Fight Team) vs. Dave Porter ( East End Martial Arts)
Ca rmine Zocchi (Rhino Fight Team) vs. Don Wagner (Shido Seimei Martial Arts)
Alexis Aquino (TNT Fight Club) vs. Tenyeh Dixon (Team Renzo/Ground Control)
Jordan Pergola ( Bellmore Kickboxing) vs. Joe Diamond (Atlantic City MMA)

March 15, 2007
SOKODJOU VS. ARONA

Sokodjou to Face Arona at Pride “Kamikaze” 
By FCF Staff

Thierry Sokodjou’s (3-1) introduction to competing for the Pride organization will get no easier, as the Japanese promotion has announced that the Team Quest fighter will face Ricardo Arona, (13-4) at Pride’s upcoming “Kamikaze” event on April 8^th. Sokodjou shocked many in the MMA world at Pride 33 last month, when he knocked out Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in 23 seconds. Nogueira is currently the 7^th ranked light-heavyweight in the Full Contact Fighter world rankings. In Arona, Nogueira’s Brazilian Top Team training partner, Sokodjou will face yet another top ranked 205 pound fighter, in fact the fifth best LHW in the world according to the FCF rankings. After losing back to back bouts to Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio Rua in 2005, Arona rebounded against Alistair Overeem last September, stopping the Dutch fighter in the first round with strikes.

Pride’s website is also reporting two other confirmed fights for the upcoming Kamikaze card. Rising star Shinya Aoki (10-2) will look to make it 8 wins in a row against Dutch fighter Brian Lo-A-Njoe (3-5-3). Aoki recently defeated Akira Kikuchi by split decision last month to defend his Shooot Middleweight title. Lo-A-Njoe is coming off a rear naked choke victory over Oktay Karatas in November’s 2 Hot 2 Handle event.

Many North American fans will finally have an opportunity to watch one of Europe’s more notable MMA prospects, as Zelg Galesic (5-1) will take on Japan’s Makoto Takimoto (2-3). Galesic has won his last four fights, and knocked out Mark Weir in his last bout at Cage Rage 19 in December. Takimoto, who has only competed in Pride thus far in his MMA career, has lost his last two bouts, most recently a TKO stoppage to Gerard Mousasi at Bushido 11 last June.

 

March 15, 2007
GRIFFIN OUT

Griffin Out, Heath in to Face Machida at UFC 70
By FCF Staff

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s website is reporting that Forrest Griffin has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming scheduled fight with Ryoto “Lyoto” Machida , due to a severe staph infection.  Taking his place will be the Oklahoma fighter David Heath.  The light-heavyweight bout, which will take place on April 21^st in Manchester, , will now feature two fighters who are undefeated in their professional MMA careers thus far.  Heath (9-0) is coming off a split decision victory over Victor Valimaki at UFC Fight Night 8 in December, and defeated Corey Walmsley by rear naked choke in his UFC debut last August.

Lyoto Machida, who also holds a record of 9-0, most recently defeated Sam Hoger by unanimous decision at UFC 67 last month. Over the course of his four-year career, Machida has defeated such notable names as Stephan Bonnar, BJ Penn, Vernon White and Rich Franklin.

 

 

March 16, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: DENIS KANG AND BRAD IMES

New episode of FCF Radio In our latest broadcast, we talk with Denis Kang about his recent fight in South Korea and the hand injury he incurred competing for Spirit MC. Also on the show, Brad Imes discusses his upcoming UFC bout with Heath Herring. Click here to listen/download.

March 16, 2007
IFL PREVIEW

IFL LA Regular Season Preview
by Steven Marrocco

The IFL continues on their whirlwind tour of the United States when they touch down at the world famous Forum in Los Angeles, California on St. Patty’s day, Saturday, March 17th.  Scheduled to do battle on the green-beer soaked day are the Tokyo Sabres, in their second outing in 2007 as an almost completely re-tooled team.  Facing off with them are the California Condors, who are coming off an impressive team victory against the Seattle Tiger Sharks in the IFL’s first season event in Oakland. 

A superfight between MMA veterans and coaches Marco Ruas and Maurice Smith was before the Oakland event ever took place; age and time away from the ring were CSAC director Armando Garcia’s stated reasons.  IFL Commish Kurt Otto vowed to take the match to another state, most likely Connecticut in April. 

Until then, LA fans will satiate themselves with the two team match-ups, which present many intriguing fights throughout the night.

TOKYO SABRES vs. CALIFORNIA CONDORS

Lightweights:
In his IFL debut, 155lb’er Adam Lynn was the unfortunate recipient of an early stoppage at the hands of a former boxing referee.  Skilled both on the ground and on his feet, he gave Armory standout Rich Crunkilton all he could handle before being caught in a rear naked choke.  He faces Savant Young, who is coming off a dominating win over Ed West at the IFL’s second show in Houston, Texas.  Young holds victories over TUF 3 winner Kendall Grove, but has faltered at the hands of former WEC champ Gabe Ruediger and Chris Lytle. 

Welterweights:
Condor Rodrigo Ruas, coach Ruas’ son, makes his IFL debut on Saturday, having suffered an eye injury that forced him to back out against Tiger Shark Brad Blackburn.  He has not fought professionally since the Absolute Fighting Championships held in Rio De Janeiro back in 2004, losing a decision to Roan Carneiro.  With a number of yearlong breaks on his resume, he will have his hands full with Sabre Antonio Mckee, one of the most experienced fighters on the IFL roster.  With over 20 fights on his resume, he has flown under the mainstream radar most of his career, but holds impressive victories over Ronald Jhun, Marcus Aurelio, and Edwin Dewees. 

Middleweights:
In his last outing for the IFL, Condor Jeremy Williams slapped a triangle on Tiger Shark Bristol Marunde so fast, the referee was caught flatfooted as Marunde lost consciousness within the first five seconds of its application.  Not long after winning a decision over Yves Edwards in 2001, Williams took a five year break from MMA before stepping back into the ring for the IFL.  He is another fighter on the Condors who lay dormant until coach Ruas put the spark back in his step.  His opponent, Sabre Kazuhiro Hamanaka, fell straight into a tight guillotine against Anaconda Alex Schoenauer in his debut.  Though he has two wins against “Cabbage” Correira and Antonio Schembri, his concern should be for Williams submission prowess as the fight goes to the ground. 

Light-Heavyweights:
Condor Justin Levens will attempt to rebound from a disappointing loss to Tiger Shark Reese Andy in his first outing for the IFL.  If you’ve seen his highlight reel floating around YouTube, his aggressiveness has carried him throughout his career.  After suffering a string of three losses at the hands of very talented fighters, he rebounded with two TKO victories in the WEC and Pangea before encountering the patient and tactical style of Andy.   This fight will truly be a benchmark of what he’s learned from his fight with Andy.  Reason?  Opponent Vladimir Matyushenko is virtually a carbon copy of Andy’s wrestling pedigree and will surely take the fight to the ground to avoid Levens’ bombs.  Though he claimed he would stand and trade with Levens, “The Janitor” will fall back on his comfort zone after he catches some leather with his face.  The only hope is that it isn’t too late by then.

Heavyweights:
Condor Antoine Jaoude is a jiu-jitsu based fighter who excels in taking his opponents down and grinding them out.  The Tiger Shark’s technical striker Curtis Crawford could never get a bead on him as Jaoude consistently shot in and put Crawford on his back in their respective IFL debuts.  His opponent, Sabre Wayne Cole, is a highly athletic fighter with a wrestling background who makes his debut at the forum.  As with many fights between ground specialists, this fight could be determined by who gets top position first.  With Cole possessing KO power with his hands, he could take Jaoude out early if he lands the first bomb.  But most likely, we will see a war on the ground. 

ANACONDAS vs. RAZORCLAWS

Lightweights:
Undoubtedly the breakout star of the IFL, Anaconda Chris Horodecki puts his undefeated streak on the line against Razorclaw Josh Odom.  At only 19, Horodecki lives a double life as a student and KO artist in the MMA world.  Rightly so, he has generated a ton of buzz with his relentless standup attack and his saavy groundwork.  However, he narrowly escaped his last appearance with a split decision victory over Silverback Bart Palaszewski, standing on the razor’s edge of a loss by guillotine choke.  Odom, who was dominated by Lion John Gunderson at IFL Oakland, will be in for the test of his career.  Coach Frank Shamrock will definitely craft a gameplan that involves taking Horodecki’s standup weapons away from him.  Unless he gets caught early, Odom will most likely take the fight to the ground and look for a submission.

Welterweights:
Anaconda Jay Hieron is also an Anaconda MVP with his blend of wrestling ability and heavy hands.  Wolfpack fighter Chris Wilson was nearly knocked out by one of Hieron’s bombs in the second round.  In the post fight press conference, Wilson said it took him half a round to hear his corner again.  His opponent is Razorclaw Donny Liles, a submission specialist with decent hands, making his debut in the IFL.  Unless one of them gets caught early with a punch or kick, Hieron will spend most of the fight fending off Liles submission attempts.

Middleweights:
Anaconda Benji Radach’s much publicized return to the ring continues as he attempts to build on the success he had against Silverback Ryan McGivern at the IFL in Houston.  Radach’s hands are excellent, and should he keep opponent Brian Foster at a distance, it could be a short night for Foster.  Foster was impressive in his last fight with Dan Molina (especially since they fought through a power outage) but will need to bring his A game against the dangerous striker.

Light-Heavyweights:
Anaconda Alex Schoenauer has hit a skid recently, dropping his last two fights to Silverback Mike Ciesnolevicz and Wolfpack fighter Aaron Stark.  He’s not been given an easy test in Brian Ebersole, another one of the IFL’s most experienced fighters, recently reinstated after a controversial fight against Shannon Ritch at an MMA event in San Francisco.  Alex’s best chance in the fight is to submit Ebersole, who has proved vulnerable to such attacks.

Heavyweights:
Anaconda Krzysztof Soszynski makes his return to the Anacondas after missing his last fight with Silverback Ben Rothwell due to an injury sustained in training.  Soszynski is batting .500 in the IFL, having pulled out a sneaky armbar against Wolfpack fighter Devin Cole in his debut, but dropping a decision against Mike Whitehead at the IFL finals last year.  It will be a tough night for him against Razorclaw Dan Christenson, fresh off Randy Couture’s training camp for UFC 68.  The recently inspired Christenson is taller, has more reach, and is better on his feet than the Anaconda, but has questionable ground skills.  Soszynski could exploit that to balance the scales.

March 17, 2007
RING OF COMBAT RESULTS

Ring of Combat 13: A Night of Brawls and Upsets
By Jim Genia

Sullivan pounding out a win over Porter

(March 16^th, Tropicana Casino & Resort, Atlantic City )  Though the weather outside was frightful, inside the Tropicana, the second round of Ring of Combat’s Tournament of Champions was delightful.  Providing MMA fans with a serious dose of brawls and upsets, it was an exciting night that saw some local heroes shine while others fell short.  Highlights included:

• The always-entertaining Shonie Carter, in attendance to provide color commentary for the video on-demand broadcast.
• The nonstop slugfest between bruisers Jordan Pergola and Joe Diamond.  Both men had their moments, but in the end it was all about Pergola’s superior boxing and wrestling skills - and the fact that he was on the verge of caving Diamond’s head in with punches!
• Marc Stevens and Landon Showalter’s bout.  Stevens really poured it on and got a well-deserved referee stoppage just one second before the bell rang.  Stevens advances to the final round of the middleweight tournament.
• Jason House’s come-from-behind win against a tough Erick Tavares.  House survived an early beating using a combination of skill and heart, then wielded sharp Muay Thai to chop Tavares down and eventually drop him.  House advances to the middleweight finals to face Stevens in what promises to be a thriller.

Stevens standing over Showalter

Full results:

LaDonna working in a choke on Tiringer

Lightweight Tournament

James "Binky" Jones (Team Renzo/Ground Control) vs. Jay Estrada (Gilbert Grappling)
Jones via unanimous decision - Binky swept Estrada like a broom.

Rich Boine (Team Tiger Schulmann) vs. Ian Loveland (Team Quest)
Loveland via guillotine at 1:22 of R1.


Welterweight Tournament

Jay Coleman (Rhino Fight Team) vs. Phillipe Nover (Insight)
Nover via kimura at 3:00 of R1 - technique over raw power.

Colin O’Rourke (Team Renzo) vs. Todd Moore ( Houston BJJ/Revolution Dojo)
Moore via verbal submission at 3:06 of R1.


Middleweight Tournament

Landon Showalter ( Arlington Kickboxing Academy ) vs. Marc Stevens (Tai Kai Jiu-Jitsu)
Stevens via ref stop due to unanswered strikes at 3:59 of R1.

Jason House (Janjira Gym) vs. Erick Tavares (Rhino Fight Team)
House via ref stop due to strikes at 2:42 of R2.


Preliminary Bouts

Shennen Maceo (Team Tiger Schulmann) vs. Khristian Geraci ( Pittsburgh Fight Club)
Maceo via ref stop due to unanswered strikes at 2:11 of R1.

Anthony LaDonna (Team Serra/Longo) vs. Seth Tiringer ( Bellmore Kickboxing)
LaDonna via unanimous decision.

George Sullivan (Rhino Fight Team) vs. Dave Porter ( East End Martial Arts)
Sullivan via ref stop due to strikes at 2:08 of R1.

Carmine Zocchi (Rhino Fight Team) vs. Don Wagner (Shido Seimei Martial Arts)
Zocchi via rear naked choke at 2:28 of R1.

Jordan Pergola ( Bellmore Kickboxing) vs. Joe Diamond (Atlantic City MMA)
Pergola via verbal submission at 3:44 of R2 – a crowd-pleasing brawl.

March 17, 2007
UFC ANNOUNCES TUF TRYOUTS

UFC Announces TUF Season 6 Tryouts, Confirms Season 5 Roster
By FCF Staff

The Ultimate Fighter Season 6 tryouts will take place at the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas Nevada , on Tuesday, April 10^th, at 8:00am, according to the promotion’s website. The sixth installment of the popular television show will feature welterweight fighters, as was the case in both seasons 2 and 4.

After months of speculation, the UFC site also confirmed this week the list of competitors for the upcoming Season 5 of the Ultimate Fighter, set to air April 5^th on Spike TV. The roster of lightweight fighters includes:

Allen Berube, Nate Diaz, Matt Wiman, Robert Emerson, Wayne Weems, Andy Wang, Brandon Melendez, Gray Maynard, Manuel Gamburyan, Gabe Ruediger, Brian Geraghty, Corey Hill, Joseph Lauzon, Marion Sims, Noah Thomas and Cole Miller.

Of course, in what has been well documented by now, Jens Pulver and BJ Penn will take over this season’s coaching duties, with the two highly regarded fighters set to do battle again after the season concludes. Pulver previously defeated Penn by majority decision at UFC 35 in 2002.

March 18, 2007
IFL L.A. RESULTS

IFL L.A.:
Sabres Rise To The Challenge Against Condors,
Anacondas Decimate Razorclaws
By Steven Marrocco

Saturday, March 17 -- Los Angeles, CA:  A surprisingly well behaved audience took in the International Fight League's fourth regular season offering this St. Patrick’s Day at the world famous Forum.  Anacondas’ coach Bas Rutten relinquished his role of coach for the team, stepping in as a post-fight interviewer and on-air personality for the league.  In his place stood Shawn Thompkins, who has quickly risen to notoriety for his own brand of striking coaching.  With no superfight scheduled for the evening, the night was all about the teams as the season creeps ever towards the Finals and first ever IFL Grand Prix.

Anacondas Vs. Razorclaws

After falling one fight short of a team victory against the Nevada Lions, the Razorclaws were looking for redemption against the Anacondas, who were fresh off an upset of the Quad Cities Silverbacks.  Unfortunately, redemption wasn’t even on the table as the San Jose based fighters fell one after another on the road to giving the Anacondas their second team sweep in the IFL.

Light heavyweight Razorclaw Brian Ebersole led off the evening with a Sakuraba-like display of theatrics, flailing at Anaconda Alex Schoenauer with double hammer fists after a daring cartwheel kick attempt deposited the two on the mat. 

After retorting with a toe hold attempt, Schoenhauer drifted back in the scorecards as Ebersole controlled from the top.  It was the Anacondas never say die striking and a nearly sunk guillotine that edged him ahead on the scorecards, drawing a split decision win for Schoenhauer and first blood for his team.

Coach Thompkins later confirmed that Schoenhauer had severely injured his knee, prompting a trip to the hospital that night.

Middleweight Benji Radach followed up the victory with a quick submission of his own, backing Razorclaw Brian Foster into the ropes with strikes.  As Foster became entangled with the ropes from the backward momentum, Radach slapped on a quick guillotine choke, which put Foster out on his feet at 1:04 of the first round.

“The Polish Hammer” Anaconda Chris Horodecki continued on his winning ways, staging a three round batting practice on the overmatched Razorclaw Josh Odom.

Cooped up in his team’s corner, Odom sat and absorbed a bevy of body punches, jab-cross combinations, leg kicks, and knees as coach Shamrock attempted to talk him out of trouble.  Horodecki signaled his frustration with his opponent many times, rolling his eyes and backing away to give the fans more of a show.  It may not have been the highlight reel finish of his dispatch of Ryan Schultz, but it still impressive nonetheless.

Anaconda Jay Hieron made quick work of Razorclaw Donny Liles, exploiting Lile’s open neck as he attempted to take the top position on the ground.  After falling short on the first attempt, Hieron made the second one count and brought the tap out at 2:49 of the first frame.

Heavyweight Anaconda Krzysztof Soszynski fought a gutsy three round battle against The Ultimate Fighter alum and new Razorclaw Dan Christison, sneaking under Christison’s formidable reach advantage to out-hustle the 6’8” giant. 

Soszynski works to free himself from Christison's armbar attempt

Though Christison came extremely close to locking in an armbar in the second round, Soszynski pulled out of it at the last moment and preceded to outpunch him throughout the second round, netting his second victory in the IFL. 

Afterwards at the press conference, Soszynski snagged himself a big challenge when he asked Tigershark coach Maurice Smith for a crack at heavyweight Allan Goes, and Smith quickly accepted.

Sabres Vs. Condors

As a completely new team, Japanese strength/fitness guru Ken Yasuda took the helm of a deeply troubled team and gave it new direction, as the Ameri-centric Sabres inched out a 3-2 victory over Marco Ruas’ California Condors. 

South Central native and Sabre Lightweight “Savant” Young fulfilled his dream of bringing MMA to his home, overpowering Condor Adam Lynn through most of their battle.  Though he was unable to let his hands go for most of the first, as Lynn wisely clinched with Young and attempted to take the fight to the ground, Young found his mark in the second.

As Lynn shot in for a takedown, Young connected with a beautifully timed right that dropped Lynn to the canvas, opening a nasty gash on Lynn ’s left eye.  A few more punches to the downed Lynn sealed the deal, prompting a stoppage at 0:21 of the second round.

Welterweight Condor Rodrigo Ruas’ bout with Sabre Antonio McKee seemed to bring MMA judging criteria back into focus as the two fought a Groundhog Day fight.  For fifteen minutes, the audience witnessed the same pattern.  Ruas wound charge forward with punishing leg kicks only to be taken down by McKee.

Over and over this scenario played out, with Ruas even knocking McKee down with a brutal leg kick in the second before being taken down yet again.  All three judges awarded McKee a 30-27 nod, but afterwards, both sides were quick to respond to criticism.  Coach Ruas plainly stated his disapproval at the decision, while McKee openly defended his choice, stating the takedowns were part of his game plan and he would continue to fight as he did.

If wrestlers haven’t learned not to charge directly for a double leg against middleweight Condor Jeremy Williams, they surely will after this night.  Just as Tigershark Bristol Marunde, Sabre Kazuhiro Hamanaka went straight for the takedown and walked right into a triangle that rendered him unconscious at 0:59 of the first round. 

UFC vet and light heavyweight Sabre Vladimir Matyushenko, completely streamrolled Condor Justin Levens, who dropped to 0-2 in the IFL.  Revealing a weakness for traditionally trained wrestlers, Levens did manage to back Matyushenko off with a flurry of strikes, but was quickly taken down and manhandled by “The Janitor”. 

Matyushenko (top) dominating Levens

After fighting his way from being mounted, Levens covered up on his knees as Matyushenko wailed away from his back.  Rolling onto his side to attempt an escape, the Olympic wrestler unleashed a series of devastating rights that KO’d Levens at 3:53 of the first round.

Sabre heavyweight Wayne Cole looked to be well on his way to a victory over Condor Antoine Jaoude, conrolling the Brazilian on the ground with an explosive mix of wrestling and ground and pound.  A slight drop of his hands proved otherwise, as a right cross from Jaoude knocked him out cold at 0:56 of the second. 

IFL Los Angeles Full Results:

Alex Schoenhauer def. Brian Ebersole at 4:00 of R3 by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

Benji Radach def. Brian Foster at 1:04 of R1 by submission (guillotine choke)

Chris Horodecki def. Josh Odom at 4:00 of R3 by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Jay Hieron def. Donny Liles at 2:49 of R1 by submission (guillotine choke)

Krzysztof Soszynski def. Dan Christison at 4:00 of R3 by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Savant Young def. Adam Lynn at 0:21 of R2 by KO

Antonio McKee def. Rodrigo Ruas at 4:00 of R3 by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Jeremy Williams def. Kazuhiro Hamanaka at 0:59 of R1 by submission (triangle choke)

Vladimir Matyushenko def. Justin Levens at 3:53 of R1 by KO

Antoine Jaoude def. Wayne Cole at 0:56 of R2 by KO

March 18, 2007
X-1 RESULTS

X-1 6 : Xtreme Fighting 2
Held March 17, 2007
Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii
Results by Chris Onzuka

Vitale gets Harvey's back

MMA: 3 Rounds – 3 Minutes
Paco Woods (BJ Penn’s MMA) def. Kaipo Gonzales
Unanimous decision [(30-26), (30-26), (30-26)] after 3 Rounds.

MMA: 3 Rounds – 3 Minutes
“Dirty” Dave Moreno (BJ Penn’s MMA) def. David Padilla (Jesus Is Lord)
Submission via rear naked choke at 1:54 in Round 1.

MMA: 3 Rounds – 3 Minutes
Harris Sarmiento (808 Fight Factory) def. Henry Martinez
Unanimous decision [(30-27), (30-27), (30-27)] after 3 Rounds.

MMA: 3 Rounds – 3 Minutes
Fernando Gonzalez def. Jay Carter (BJ Penn’s MMA)
Unanimous decision [(29-28), (29-30), (29-28)] after 3 Rounds.

Women’s MMA match: 3 Rounds – 3 Minutes
Tonya Evinger def. Shonie Plagmann
KO at :10 in Round 2.

XMA: Stand & Bang Match: 3 Rounds – 3 Minutes
Brett Rogers def. Deutsch Pu’u
TKO via referee stoppage at 2:23 in Round 2.

X-1 Lightweight (155lbs) Championship
MMA: 3 Rounds – 5 Minutes
“Sugar” Shane Nelson (BJ Penn’s MMA) def. Kolo Koka (M.M.A.D)
Unanimous decision [(27-24), (29-28), (29-28)] after 3 Rounds.
Shane Nelson becomes the new X-1 Lightweight Champion.

X-1 Welterweight (170lbs) Championship
MMA: 3 Rounds – 5 Minutes
Mark Moreno (Bulls Pen) def. Nik Lentz
TKO via doctor’s stoppage after the end of Round 1.

K1 rules Kickboxing: 3 Rounds – 3 Minutes
Kaleo Kwan (Eastsidaz) def. Danny Steele
Unanimous decision [(30-27), (30-27), (30-27)] after 3 Rounds.

MMA: 3 Rounds – 5 Minutes
Falaniko Vitale (808 Fight Factory) def. Mavrick “Soul Collector” Harvey
Submission due to strikes from the back mount at 2:41 in Round 1.

MMA: 3 Rounds – 5 Minutes
Chris “Monster” Marez def. Wesley “Cabbage” Correira (BJ Penn’s MMA)
Unanimous decision [(30-27), (29-28), (29-28)] after 3 Rounds.

March 18, 2007
ARONA WANTS TO AVENGE MINOTORO

Arona Wants to Avenge Minotoro
By Marcelo Alonso

A few weeks after declaring that he is only interested in returning to the Pride ring to face Wanderlei (for the third time) in a title match,  Ricardo Arona has totally changed his mind after what happen at Pride 33.  Very upset with Rogério “Minotoro” Nogueira’s loss to Thierry Sokoudjou, Arona asked DSE for an opportunity to avenge his friend.  “Minotoro is like my brother, I want to avenge him. Minotoro was surprised.  He didn’t have enough time to show his game.  Sokoudjou was pretty clever and I think he already knew Minotoro’s blow, I want to see how it will be against me,” challenged the Brazilian Tiger.  Asked about Wanderlei Silva’s loss to Dan Henderson, Arona said that he doesn’t have any interest in fighting the Chute Boxer anymore.  “In my opinion, I already defeated him twice.  Now I will just fight him if he wins the belt again or in some Grand Prix accidentally,” said Arona, who also showed a great desire to rematch Henderson .  “Dan Henderson and Shogun are two opponents that I really want to face this year.  If I have the opportunity to fight for the middleweight belt, I would like to face Henderson , because I already defeated him. In the welterweight class, I believe nobody can beat Paulo Filho,” finished Arona.

March 19, 2007
THE NORTHERN TOUCH

“Pimp Daddy’s” Return a Successful one at TKO MMA Tourney 2007

Sean “Pimp Daddy” Pierson returned to MMA action for the first time in over 3 years Saturday night, at TKO MMA Tourney 2007 in Victoriaville, Quebec. The Shah Franco fighter had not fought since September, 2003, when he lost by unanimous decision to Steven Vigneault at TKO 13. The Ontario fighter is likely remembered by many older Canadian MMA fans, as Pierson began competing in 1999 during the sports fledgling days here in Canada. During his career, he has also defeated Vigneault twice, Mark Colangelo, and Charles Nestor. Pierson had originally hoped to return to action earlier this year when he was scheduled to fight for the Apex organization, however, the event eventually wound up being postponed. After several months of training, preparing for his return, Pierson was able to make his comeback a successful one Saturday night, stopping Chester Post in the first round with strikes.

“Game plan was pretty simple on this one,” Pierson tells FCF. “We just wanted to get the feel back since it had been so long since I had fought, bring the fight to the ground and look to strike from side and mount for the victory.  We wanted to avoid going for any subs or any real stand up exchanges unless we felt that it was necessary.”

Returning to competition after several years away from the sport is likely to be unsettling for any fighter under those circumstances, but ring rust or nerves did not seem to affect Pierson’s comeback performance.

“It has been about 4 years since my last bout and I was a little nervous,” says Pierson. “I wasn’t really nervous about fighting again but just trying to perform to the expectations I put on myself.  I usually have a lot of support from the fans and a lot of friends and family that come to watch, putting on a good show for everyone is always a goal for me.  I thought under the circumstances the night went great, massive snowstorms and horrid driving conditions, but the show still seemed pretty packed and was well run.  I guess with the win and just the overall rush I was extremely happy to be back.”

With the comeback fight out of the way, Pierson is hoping to reassert his name once more in the Canadian MMA rankings.

“Talking with Stephane (Patry) he is interested in having me fight on his next card which is June 1st at the Bell Center in Montreal,” Pierson says in regards to his future plans with the TKO promotion. “We will be talking about possible opponents in the next couple of weeks. It looks like I will most likely be making my way back down to 170 lbs where I feel I can really make an impact.”

The win for Pierson extends his record to 5-3, while Posts falls to 6-7-1. In the TKO MMA Tourney main event Saturday night, UFC veteran Jonathan Goulet defeated Lethbridge’s Jesse Bongfeldt by TKO in the first round, leaving Goulet with a 17-7 record. Bongfeldt’s record drops to 8-4.

Davis Ready To Fight Bocek At King of the Cage “Capital Chaos”

Garrett Davis will hope to extend his 7 fight winning streak to 8, March 28th, when he takes on Mark Bocek in the main event of King of the Cage Canada’s “Capital Chaos.” The event will take place at the Robert Guertin Arena in Hull, Quebec. Davis is replacing Jake Short, who had originally been scheduled to compete against the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black belt instructor Bocek.

“I fluked in to getting the fight with Bocek,” Davis concedes to FCF. “I called up Ken (Kupsch) from King of the Cage and asked him if I could get a copy of the fight I did in KOTC last summer.  He said sure. Then he said "how heavy are you?" I told him I was walking around at 170.He asked me if I could make it to 155 in three weeks and if so, would I want to fight Bocek. I told him that I would love to fight Bocek but 3 weeks wasn’t enough time to make 155.I told him that I could make 160. He said he would check it out and get back to me.  Next day he called and said it was on. And that was it. My first reaction was, "shxx, I only have 3 weeks to get ready, better hit the gym."

Bocek has created somewhat of a stir in Canadian circles due to the fact the highly regarded grappling and submission competitor has gone 3-0 to begin his MMA career. Bocek has defeated Mark Colangelo, Kevin Manderson and most recently John Mahlow by armbar, at KOTC Freedom Fight in January. Bocek hype aside, Davis has also been garnering some considerable attention himself over the last couple of years, winning 7 fights in a row to bring his professional record to 10-6. The streak has been a remarkable turn around for the Marcus Soares trained fighter, who up until 2005, had a record of 3-6. During his winning streak, Davis has defeated such notable fighters as Myles Merola, Jesse Bongfeldt and Derek Downey. The Vancouver fighter has not been as active as of late compared to his 2006 schedule, having not fought since September.

“Yeah, I was training for a fight in November but it got cancelled because people kept dropping out,” Davis tells FCF. “I got frustrated and took the rest of the year off. Then I was really busy with work during January and February of the new year so I didn't train then either. Job finished at the end of Feb. So I started training again at the beginning of March. I feel fresh. Time of is always good for the body.”

Upcoming Canadian MMA Events:

King of the Cage “Capital Chaos”- March 28th, Robert Guertin Arena, Hull, Quebec

Extreme Cage Combat 5- March 31, Halifax Forum, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Ultimate Cage Wars- April 7th, Winnipeg Convention Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Maximum Fighting Championship “Unplugged 3”- April 20th, Crowne Plaza, Edmonton, Alberta

King of the Cage- April 28th, Vernon, British Columbia

March 19, 2007
BODOGFIGHT UPDATE

Light-heavyweights Head to Ring for BodogFight “St.Petersburg” Episode 6
By FCF Staff

Episode 6 of BodogFight’s season two, “St.Petersburg”, will feature two light-heavyweight match-ups, as Bill Mahood will face Khalil Ibrahim in the international bracket, and Steve Steinbess will fight Jeff Ford on the American side. The next episode will air Tuesday night, March 20^th on ION Television in the and the Fight Network in . The winners of each bout will then face off against each other in the upcoming BodogFight pay per view on April 14^th, an event which will be headlined by Fedor Emelianenko taking on Matt Lindland.

Bill “The Butcher” Mahood (14-5-1) will look to get back on the winning track against Khalil Ibrahim, after the Canadian fighter lost his last fight against Patrick Cote in February last year. Prior to losing four of his last six fights, two of which came against Cote and one to Forrest Griffin at the Ultimate Fighting Championship 53 in 2005, Mahood had been on a 11 fight undefeated streak. Of his 14 victories, the 40 year old fighter has won 13 of them via TKO or KO. According to the BodogFight site, Ibrahim hails from Palestine and has a record of 6-0. The 5’10, 206 pound fighter has a 3^rd degree Black belt in karate, and is a kick-boxing instructor.

Jeff Ford’s record is listed as 7-2 by the BodogFight site however the FCF database has the Missouri fighter at 3-1. The Muay Thai expert has trained with the Frank Shamrock team, and won his first three MMA fights, two of which by TKO. Ford’s opponent Steinbess has a record of 7-0, and is a member of the Arizona Combat Sports club.

In episode 5 last week, Diego Gonzalez looked impressive, negating Matt Thorpe’s extensive reach advantage throughout the contest by consistently taking the British fighter to the mat. Gonzalez was awarded the unanimous decision victory to advance to the April 14^th PPV. On the American side, despite a solid performance by Jake Ellenberger, Derrick Noble was able to work his way to a unanimous decision win over the Team Quest member. Each fighter demonstrated solid standup and wrestling abilities, but in the end, it was Noble who was able to score more telling blows to earn his 23^rd professional victory.

In week 7 of BodogFight’s season two, the action will once again involve heavyweight fighters, as Fin Jarno Nurminen will take on South Korean Sang Su Lee, while Americans Roy Nelson and Josh Curran will do battle.

March 20, 2007
MERCER VS. KIMBO

Former Heavyweight Boxing Champ to Take on Kimbo Slice
By Jim Genia

Kimbo

(March 30^th, New York City )  “Merciless” Ray Mercer, a former WBO heavyweight boxing champ and gold medalist in the 1988 Olympics, will take on bare-knuckle boxing and Internet legend Kimbo Slice in a three-round exhibition bout utilizing professional MMA rules at the Ca ge Fury Fighting Championship 5 show, said matchmaker Gary Marino today.  Dubbed “Brawl at the Hall”, CFFC 5 will take place on June 16^th at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey .

“I’m very, very excited,” said Marino.  “I’ve been working on trying to get Kimbo a fight for the last year.  He’s a great draw, and he’s got a huge following for his fights.”  Marino added: “Ray Mercer was at the Ca ge Fury Fighting Championship 3 show and speculated that he’d like to try [MMA], and he called me a couple weeks ago asking me to get him a fight.  It’s perfect for both guys, for their style and who they are.  Kimbo’s a big banger and so is Mercer.”

Known for their heavy-hands and raw power, this will be the first time either man has fought under full MMA rules – though Slice purportedly has been training in the sport for some time now at Miami ’s Freestyle Fighting Academy .  However, the former boxing champ, who lost his WBO belt to Wladimir Klitschko in 2002 before stepping into the ring for Japan’s K-1 promotion in 2004 and 2005, will likely enter the cage ready to defend the takedown should the need arise.  Said Marino: “Ray Mercer told me he has a bit of a wrestling background, and he’s aware Kimbo has been training down in Florida .  He’s been talking about MMA for a while now… so he’ll be prepared.”

With this bout, Mercer will become the highest-profile boxer to have taken the MMA plunge.  “It’s very, very intriguing.  I think it’s a fantastic fight,” said Marino.  “Ray Mercer is definitely going to be the hardest hitter Kimbo has ever faced… I think if they both stand in front of each other, someone is definitely going to get knocked out.”

March 20, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: STEPHANE PATRY AND MARK BOCEK

New episode of FCF Radio In the latest edition of FCF Radio, we talk with TKO owner Stephane Patry about his organization's St.Patrick's Day event over the weekend, the upcoming TKO 29 card, his client Georges St.Pierre, and the recent rumors surrounding the alleged imminent sale of Pride. Also on the show, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and instructor Mark Bocek, who discusses his upcoming King of the Cage fight with Garrett Davis. Click here to listen/download.

March 20, 2007
ERIK APPLE

Apple Ready For Tough Test Against Larson At this Saturday’s WEC
By Derek Constable

This Apple might not fall far from the tree, but he could kick one down with his outstanding Ruas Vale Tudo background. Erik Apple’s philosophy – if he can land three or four good leg kicks in a fight, it will make all the difference in the world. That’s how he defeated “Magical” Ray Elbe in his most recent battle in the cage at Total Combat 16: Annihilation. The fighter showed freakish strength for a welterweight escaping a solid armbar attempt by Elbe and wore down his opponent over three rounds with solid leg kicks, defeating him by TKO 2:00 Rd3. Apple doesn’t consider himself a fighter, but for a guy just having fun, he’s certainly off to a good start, earning nine consecutive victories with no losses.

“I’m not a fighter,” Apple said. “I have a [regular] job where I make money. I’m doing this just because I enjoy it.”

It was four years ago that Apple debuted on the mixed martial arts scene in Gladiator Challenge 15, and he’s still yet to meet his match. With five wins by submission and three by TKO, this “Bad” Apple is ready for any challenge and this Saturday, the former pro surfer and current commentator for Supercross and X Games, will enter the cage to take on a proven veteran in Brock Larson, at the next World Extreme Cagefighting event. The card is scheduled to take place, Saturday, March 24^th at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas , Nevada . Larson is 19-1 as a professional with 14 wins coming from submissions, including one by keylock at Extreme Challenge 63 over current Iowa Silverback Ryan McGivern. Larson was the last of the two fighters to get in the cage with a fight last December, but both fighters are coming off of solid wins. Apple will undoubtedly try and rely on his strong stand-up, but he’s more than prepared for the kind of fight Larson is bringing.

 “He’s a straight wrestler. He’s got some jiu-jitsu in his game, but he’s not a black belt of any kind,” Apple said. “He is definitely knowledgeable in submission and is going to be looking to take me down. He was a successful college wrestler at the University of Minnesota . He’s going to try to do what he does.”

When Apple isn’t in the cage, he sometimes lends a hand as a commenter for King of the Cage. Here, his television background certainly comes in handy, but Apple credits his athleticism as a major contributor to his success as a color commentator.

“I can speak from experience and sometimes I have more experience to dwell on then other commentators,” he said. “Even if I’m commentating for a sport I’ve never done, I still, as an athlete, can understand how they would feel.”

His rise to fame on television was a case of being in the right place at the right time. Apple was asked to step in for a broadcaster at a surfing contest when the regular guy stepped out for lunch, but the television crew took to Apple’s raw talent immediately and asked him to continue to do work for them. This later spurred more opportunities for the young southern California native thanks to his fresh face, a little charisma and growing up around some extreme sports.

Apple grew up in Orange County doing everything from surfing to skateboarding. He’s got a good knowledge of a variety of sports and a healthy competitive attitude. He loves to challenge himself and while he isn’t chasing down any dreams of becoming an Ultimate Fighting Champion, he is excited about fighting with UFC-caliber talent in the World Extreme Cagefighting.

Scott Norton (7-0) is another undefeated fighter Apple is sure to lock horns with eventually and fighting for the WEC Welterweight title Saturday will be two veterans in Carlos Condit (19-4) and John Alessio (18-9). With 10 wins by submissions and nine from TKO’s, Condit is just as likely to get the best of his opponent standing as he is on the ground. In 2006, he defeated Frank Trigg with a triangle armbar at Rumble on the Rock 9. Alessio has fought the best-of-the-best in the welterweight class, never backing down from a challenge. Despite losing half as much as he wins, three of his losses are to Thiago Alves, Pat Miletich and Diego Sanchez. Rounding out the division is Russian native Alex Serdyukov (3-4). He may have the least wins and the fewest fights under his belt, but with one win by triangle and another by first-round TKO he is unpredictable, and that can be a dangerous quality in itself.

Apple’s match with Larson this weekend will be a good test for the undefeated 170-pounder. He’s taken his career one fight at a time and it’s a strategy which seems to be working for him.

“This is something that I got into for fun; just to learn and enjoy it … it just turned into something I never thought it would be. I’m just fortunate. I happen to be doing well and happen to be making money.”

March 21, 2007
CAGE RAGE 21

Cage Rage 21 To Be Aired Live on Sky Sports
By FCF Staff

The Cage Rage website is reporting that the British MMA promotion has reached a deal with the Sky Sports network that will see Cage Rage Championships 21, “Judgment Day”, telecast live on April 21^st. The event, which is scheduled to take place on that date at Wembley Arena in London City , will be broadcast live on Sky from 9pm until 11pm. According to the site, the live broadcast will be a first for British MMA.

The announcement certainly reflects the fact that the sport of MMA continues to grow in popularity within the , and that Cage Rage continues to extend its presence across the U.K. Ultimate Fighting Championship 70 is scheduled to take place that same April 21^st night in Manchester , at the MEN Arena.

March 21, 2007
EXTREME CHALLENGE 75 PREVIEW

Extreme Challenge 75 Preview
By Jim Genia

When: March 23^rd
Where: Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, New Jersey
What: Extreme Challenge 75

It’s a new venue (the Sovereign Bank Arena) and a new name (Extreme Challenge), but it’s still the same promoter providing top-notch match-ups.  Ed Hsu, re-branding his Combat in the Cage show after pairing up with Monte Cox, has put together a rock-solid card featuring three titles bouts, plus more than a few promising up-and-comers.  Here’s a look at the some of the fighters:

Tim Troxell – Evolutionary Martial Arts
From tentative amateur to aggressive pro, this Evolutionary Martial Arts fighter has polished his jiu-jitsu and evolved before our eyes.  But at EC75 Troxell will be facing a very dangerous (and very hungry) Steve Mc Cabe in what promises to be his toughest test yet.  Will the Fight Factory representative be too much for him?

Hazem Ibrahim – Team Renzo/Almeida
At the last Reality Fighting, Ibrahim and Boetsch squared off and traded punches, and when the dust settled Ibrahim was down and clutching his eye.  On Friday, these scrappy grapplers will pick up where they left off – this time with a USKBA belt on the line. 

John Doyle – MFS/Daddis
Doyle and Brendan Barrett get a do-over for their World’s Best Fighter fiasco, which ended abruptly when Doyle fell through the ropes and onto the floor of Boardwalk Hall (the ringside physician took one look at Doyle and said, “No way”, much to Doyle’s chagrin).  Look for the MFS/Daddis fighter to continue on his quest for the takedown, and for Barrett to try to land strikes.

Jon Murphy – Anthracite Combat Club
Apparently, there’s no such thing as taking an easy fight in Murphy’s world.  But what would you expect from a former amateur boxer-turned promising MMA heavyweight?  Coming off an impressive submission victory over Team Renzo’s Carlos Cline, Murphy will certainly open a lot of doors for himself if he takes out UFC vet Sherman Pendergarst.  The big question is, “ Can he?”

Sherman Pendergarst – MFS Elite
His only venture into the Octagon ended in defeat, but don’t count this Baltimore wrestler and MFS Elite fighter out yet, as Pendergarst can bang.  Look for him to try to put Murphy on his back and force-feed the Anthracite Combat Club rep some leather.

The full card as of 4/21:

Don Wagner (Sheido Seimei Martial Arts) vs. George Sullivan (Rhino Fight Team)

Branden Bice (PA Posse) vs. J.A. Dudley (Team Endgame)

Mike Schenk (Team Quiet Storm) vs. Dominic Tafuri (Edson Ca rvalho)

Chris Reedy (XFC Fight Club) vs. Tom Gallechio (Rhino Fight Team)

Leandro Escobar (American Top Team) vs. Zach Makowski(Fight Factory)

Shane Ott (Anthracite Combat Club) vs. Allen Royster (Pitts Penn)

Sergio Vinagre (Renzo Gracie/Ricardo Almeida)-blue vs. Jose Sulsona (Ultimate Dragon MMA)

Diego Jimenez (Andrenaline Gear/Julio Rodriguez) vs. Steve DeAngelis (Rhino Fight Team)

Garrett Carmody (Pitts Penn) vs. Aaron Miesner (MFS/Daddis)

Tim Troxell (Evolutionary MA) vs. Steve Mc Cabe (Fight Factory)

USKBA Northeast Light-Heavyweight Championship
Hazem Ibrahim (Renzo Gracie/Ricardo Almeida) vs. Tim Boetsch (Ramsey BJJ)

Extreme Challenge Northeast Light-Heavyweight Championship
Brendan Barrett (Ronin Grappling/WAT) vs. John Doyle (MFS/Daddis)

Extreme Challenge Northeast Heavyweight Championship
Jon Murphy (Anthracite Combat Club) vs. Sherman Pendergarst (MFS Elite)

March 21, 2007
ANACONDAS UPDATE

Anacondas Continue To Impress During the Early IFL 2007 Season
By Kelsey Mowatt

The Los Angeles Anacondas swept the San Jose Razorclaws this past weekend at the International Fight League’s event in Los Angeles, California, to push the team’s record to 2-0 for the 2007 season. Not only was the fact that they won all five fights against the Razorclaws impressive, but consider that the Anacondas defeated the 2006 IFL Champions, the Quad Cities Silverbacks in February, and the team certainly appears to be on a roll. In 2006, the Anacondas made it to the leagues semi-finals last November, but lost out to the Matt Lindland coached Wolfpack.

The team’s roster remained virtually intact going into the 2007 season; the only change came at middleweight, where Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Benji Radach (13-3) replaced Mike Pyle, who felt he was better suited for competition at welterweight. Pyle left to compete at 170 lbs. at the Elite XC in February, where he defeated Ross Ebanez by rear naked choke. Radach returned to MMA competition for the first time in nearly 3 years against Ryan McGivern last month, when the Anacondas took on the Silverbacks. After incurring a broken jaw in a fight against Chris Leben at Sport Fight 4 in the summer of 2004, Radach continued to incur a series of horrific injuries that prevented the fighter from active competition for several years. Radach stopped the highly regarded McGivern in the second round, to make his comeback fight a victorious one. This past weekend on St. Patrick’s Day, Radach submitted Brian Lee Foster from San Jose in the first round with a guillotine choke, and certainly appears ready to make a statement in the IFL middleweight division.

At 170, the Anacondas are well equipped with yet another UFC veteran in Jay Hieron (11-3). Since losing to former Wolfpack welterweight Chris Wilson by unanimous decision in a very competitive affair in the semi-finals last November, Hieron has won 2 fights in a row. Most recently this past weekend he defeated Donnie Liles with a first round guillotine choke. Fans were robbed of a great match up however when the Anacondas faced the Silverbacks in February, as highly acclaimed slugger, Miletich fighter Rory Markham, was unable to compete due to injury. Hieron defeated Markham ’s replacement, Chris Moreno with a first round rear naked choke. The New York native has gone 4-1 so far in the IFL, and also has wins over Jake Ellenberger and Amos Sotel competing in the team orientated league.

The Anaconda’s were also not 100% percent healthy however, when they faced the current Quad Cities Champs in February, as the teams usually heavyweight, Krzysztof Soszynski, was unable to fight Ben Rothwell due to injury. Rothwell, whom many regard as the most dominant IFL heavyweight fighter, defeated Soszynski’s replacement Matt Thompson in the first round with strikes. Similar to the Hieron, Markham situation, fans were once again robbed of a potentially great match-up because of injuries. Rothwell defeated Soszynksi by TKO last April, however, up until January of this year, the Anaconda heavyweight had gone 4-1, and many were looking forward to a return engagement between the two. Soszynski’s 4 fight winning streak was ended by Mike Whitehead in December, when the former Ultimate Fighter participant defeated his Canadian opponent by unanimous decision in an IFL Superfight. Soszynski returned to winning form this past weekend against another TUF veteran, Dan Christison, working his way to a unanimous decision win.

Arguably one of, if not the IFL’s brightest up and coming star, is Anaconda lightweight Chris Horodecki (9-0). The undefeated 19 year old fighter continued to impress in his last fight on Saturday, getting the unanimous decision victory over Josh Odom in the Anaconda sweep. Against the Silverbacks in January Horodecki faced his toughest opponent to date, in another young rising star Bart Palaszewski. The Team Tompkins fighter eked out a split decision victory over the Polish fighter for his 4^th IFL win. Horodecki has been training in striking for years, and it shows, the former amateur kickboxing champion in has won 6 of his 9 fights by KO or TKO.

Rounding out the Anaconda roster is former TUF competitor Alex Schoenauer (11-7). The team’s lightheavyweight fighter defeated Brian Ebersole by split decision this weekend to stop a two fight losing skid. Against the Silverbacks in January, Schoenauer lost by split decision to Mike Ciesnolevicz, one of the two losses the Anacondas dropped in their 3-2 win over the Quad Cities club that night. Prior to that, at the IFL semifinals against Portland , Schoenauer lost via a second round guillotine choke to Aaron Stark. The Las Vegas fighter has gone 3-3 so far competing in the IFL, and despite his .500 record, he does have notable victories over Travis Wiuff and Kazuhiro Hamanaka.

News came Saturday night that the Anacondas Head Coach, the legendary Bas Rutten, has stepped down from the position to pursue a role with the IFL broadcast team. The team’s assistant coach, Shawn Tompkins, will assume the head coaching duties. Don’t look for this to affect the Anacondas adversely or affect the teams approach to the game, as Tompkins has been training and learning under Bas Rutten for years. The Team Tompkins’ mentor, has impressed such notable fighters as Dan Henderson with his coaching abilities, so much so Tompkins has been brought into teach at the California Team Quest facility.

Next up the Anacondas will face the Seattle Tiger Sharks on June 1^st, at the Everett Events Center in Everett , Washington . Their performance that night will likely give great insight as to whether or not IFL fans can expect the Los Angeles club to contend for the championship this year.

March 22, 2007
WEC PREVIEW

Three Title Fights Highlight this Saturday’s WEC
By Kelsey Mowatt

It’s not often any longer that well established MMA promotions hold cards that feature 3 title fights, but this Saturday’s, March 24^th, World Extreme Cagefighting event, which will take place at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, is slated to do just that. Factor in that some of the undercard bouts are set to feature a couple of notable Ultimate Fighting Championship veterans, and fans that attend the latest WEC offering under Zuffa ownership, could very well be treated to a great night of MMA action.

In the main event of the evening, John Alessio (18-10) will meet Carlos Condit (19-4) for the WEC Welterweight Championship, in a bout that features two well traveled fighters. Alessio is coming off a recent win over Brian Gassaway at WEC 25 in January, and is 3-2 in his last 5 fights. The Canadian born fighter lost to Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves during that stretch, with his wins coming over the aforementioned Gassaway, Alex Serdyukov, and Trenell Young. Alessio recently made the move to Randy Couture’s Xtreme Gym in Las Vegas for his training.

Condit has won his last 4 fights in a row, including a recent rear naked choke victory over Kyle Jensen at WEC 25. The New Mexico fighter was somewhat of an unknown commodity in the wider MMA world, until he defeated Renato Verissimo and Frank Trigg at Rumble on the Rock 8 and 9 last spring. After losing to Jake Shields at the ROTC Welterweight tournament finals last April, Condit was defeated by Pat Healey at Extreme Wars 3 in June. Condit also has victories in his impressive record over Brad Gumm, Takuya Wada, and Koji Oshi.

One of the more highly regarded 145 pound fighters in the world, WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber (17-1) will look to defend his title against undefeated Dominick Cruz (9-0). Faber secured his belt at WEC 25 by stopping Joe Pearson in the first round with strikes. Also the Gladiator Challenge and King of the Cage champion at 145 lbs., Faber has now won 9 fights in a row. Faber’s only career loss came against Tyson Griffin at Gladiator Challenge 42 in September of 2005.

Cruz most recently defeated Shad Smith by unanimous decision at Total Combat Entertainment 18 in November to maintain his perfect record. The Arizona fighter has 6 wins competing in Rage in the Cage, with his other 3 victories competing for the TC promotion. Despite his unblemished record, Cruz will be taking a step up in competition when he faces Faber Saturday, and a Cruz victory would be considered by most to be huge upset.

The third and final title bout of the evening will pit WEC Bantamweight Champion (135pds) Eddie Wineland (12-4-1) against Chase Beebe (8-1). In Wineland’s last WEC performance in May last spring, he knocked out Antonio Banuelos in the first round. Since then, Wineland worked his way to a unanimous decision victory over Dan Swift at Total Fight Challenge last month. Wineland has won his last 9 fights in a row, and has not lost since he was defeated by Brandon Carlson at Xtreme Kage Kombat in August of 2004.

Beebe has also had considerable success as of late, winning his last 4 fights. Most recently, he submitted Sam Jackson in the first round with a rear naked choke at Xtreme Fighting Organization 14 in December. Beebe’s only career loss thus far was to the noted up and comer Matt Fiordirosa at XFO 12 last August.

In what may be the sleeper hit of the evening, Brock Larson (20-1) will take on undefeated welterweight Erik Apple (9-0). Larson’s entrance into the WEC certainly bolsters the promotion’s 170 lb. division considerably, as the Minnesota fighter has only been defeated once by UFC contender Jon Fitch. Since that loss, Larson has won 6 fights in a row, including a recent victory over Keita Nakamura at Ultimate Fight Night 8 in December.

Apple’s entrance into the WEC also further demonstrates the promotion’s intention to deliver high quality fights, as the Marcus Ruas trained fighter comes with a solid reputation for striking. Most recently Apple stopped Ray Elbe in the first round at TC 16 in September, the 4^th fight Apple has won via TKO or KO. Of his 9 wins, Apple also has three submission victories, showing the fighter is no stranger either to action on the mat.

Joe “Diesel” Riggs (25-9) will head back to the middleweight division when he takes on Hiromitsu Miura (3-3). The UFC veteran Riggs will look to rebound from his devastating KO loss to Diego Sanchez at UFN 8 in December against his less experienced Japanese opponent. Riggs, despite some recent losses, still has a record that can boast of victories over Joe Doerksen, Nick Diaz, Chris Lytle, Kendall Grove, and Jason Von Flue.

In Miura’s last bout, the K-1 Hero’s competitor defeated Ryo Takigawa by TKO at that promotion’s event in October last fall. Prior to that, Takigawa was stopped by Kestutis Smirnovas in the first round at K-1 Hero’s in November of 2005.

Rounding out the rest of the scheduled bouts for Saturday’s WEC; welterweight Tiki Ghosn meets Dave Terrel, Tommy Lee takes on featherweight Cub Swanson, Charlie Valencia fights Antonio Banuelos at 145 lbs, Scott Norton will battle Alex Serdyukov in another welterweight fight, Jesse Moreng meets featherweight Micah Miller, and light-heavyweight Steve Cantwell will take on Brian Stann.

March 22, 2007
JOE RIGGS

Riggs Makes Stop in WEC but  Not to Rebuild
By: Derek Callahan

He used to seem cocky in a formidable way. But even in his most arrogant, all-too-forward moments, it never seemed to get lost that Joe Riggs (25-9) is a pretty nice guy. As a newer foot soldier in the army of middleweights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in August of 2004, Riggs was a heavy-handed, eager addition to the fray. On the 24^th he fights Hiromitsu Miura (3-3) in a random pairing for the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion. Going into the bout Riggs sees it as something of a throwback, at least in terms of how he’s studied his opponent.

“I don’t know too much about him,” he says, but quickly amends his opinion. “I know nothing about him.” But with Miura’s six total fights it seems like it may not be ignorance that holds Riggs back from being too knowledgeable about him. “I’ve tried to get tape on him,” says Riggs. “I’m not fighting the best known opponent.”

And it’s a reminder, perhaps back to the Rage in the Cage days of small Arizona arenas and last minute opponents. It’s happened before for Riggs, “maybe way back in the day.” So the bout becomes a blast from the past, but also represents the gateway to a new beginning for Joe Riggs. He makes his debut in the new WEC, now that Zuffa owns and runs the event.

With a 2-1 record in the show, the setting isn’t new for Riggs. “It’s not different,” he says. The fight has the same rules as the others and similar implications. Because of Miura’s record and because of his own 2-3 mark in his last five bouts, it’s a must win situation for Riggs. Still, he sees nothing imperative about the fight. “It’s not different, just going to be a different network, smaller cage.” That’s just the attitude that a fighter needs, especially when he’s seen by some as in the middle of a comeback.
 
He “never expected in a million years that it could happen,” but getting knocked out by Diego Sanchez was the type of result that a fighter has to put behind him. “I felt good going in, just got caught on my heels,” says Riggs. Now back up to 185 pounds, he looks to carve a niche for himself in the new WEC.

“I’m excited to be part of it. Now that Zuffa bought it it’s a big show,” he says. “I like it, it’ll be good for me.” For Riggs, the timing is also a positive factor. “In the beginning of my career I was trying to make a name for myself,” he says. Wins over Joe Doerksen and Nick Diaz among others will help for that; the heavy hands and intensity that he brings every time out have sealed him a reputation as a tough assignment for anyone to take. It’s earned him enough of a reputation so that in the WEC, he has the luxury of starting at the top. “It’s nice to be the biggest name down there so far,” he says.

In an up and down pattern that has seen him drop nine fights total, but more significantly four in the UFC, Riggs has proven resilience as much as anything in his active career. When he’s lost, he’s been able to strike back with impressive wins and stay in the picture. According to him, he does it by improving.

“I’m ten times better than I was when I first started. Now I’m dangerous on my back, I’m a technical striker,” says Riggs. To get by Miura he may not need all of that, but the Miura fight is more about coming out as a primary face of the new WEC. From there on out, it’s up to how much potential Riggs can fulfill as a young, experienced middleweight who’s had enough time to learn, and has enough time to teach someone a thing or two as well.

March 22, 2007
PAULO FILHO UPDATE

Paulo Filho Challenges Shogun

Filho

After recovering from a knee surgery, Paulo Filho has already returned to his training sessions.  "I cannot wait to return to the ring," said the BTT Pitbull who commented on the amazing win of Dan Henderson over his personal enemy Wanderlei Silva.  "A fight is like a game if it doesn’t fit ... Henderson is a much more rounded fighter than Wanderlei and I was expecting this result.  Now Wanderlei is below and I want to look ahead," guaranteed Filho.  When asked to who he’d like to face, Filho did not hesitate: "Now I want to fight Shogun.  I want to prove that a fighter that has a good ground game can fight anyone," the Carlson Gracie black belt challenged.

Filho also revealed that he has started to improve his jiu-jitsu with renowned master Oswaldo Alves.  "While other jiu-jitsu fighters are looking for other styles, I’m intensifying what is already working, looking to a great master from the past for help.  I trust in Oswaldo Alves’ techniques a lot," said Filho.  Asked about his possible return to the Pride ring, the jiu-jitsu black belt showed some disappointment with the Japanese event.  "I really would love to be fighting for the 83kg belt soon, I hope my situation with Pride gets defined as soon as possible, otherwise I’ll fight in the USA."

March 22, 2007
K-1 HERO’S, PROELITE AND SHOWTIME TO ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP

K-1 Hero’s, ProElite and Showtime to Formally Announce Partnership
By FCF Staff

The Fight Entertainment Group, the parent company of K-1 Hero’s, ProElite and the Showtime Network officially announced today that the 3 organizations will be teaming up to promote the first American Hero’s event Dynamite!! USA. The press release also stated that there will be a media conference on March 27th, where further details concerning the upcoming pay per view event which will take place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, will be announced.

The release also stated that the press conference would take place “with some of the world's best mixed martial arts fighters, including 7-foot-2 South Korean Hong Man Choi, mixed martial arts legend Royce Gracie, former pro-wrestler Brock Lesnar and former USC Trojan and Detroit Lion football star Johnnie Morton.”

The media conference is scheduled for 10:30AM, March 27th, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

March 23, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: KENNY FLORIAN AND KRZYSZTOF SOSZYNSKI

New episode of FCF Radio This latest edition of FCF Radio features interviews with Kenny Florian and Krzysztof Soszynski. Click here to listen/download.

March 23, 2007
TWO MORE BOUTS CONFIRMED FOR PRIDE 34

Two More Bouts Confirmed for Pride 34 “Kamikaze”
By FCF Staff

The Pride website has confirmed two more bouts for the organization’s upcoming “Kamikaze” card that will be held on April 8th, in the Saitama Super Arena, in Saitama, Japan. In a heavyweight clash of considerable proportion that will feature two fighters weighing over 300 pounds, Eric “Butterbean” Esch (9-3-1) will take on Wagner “Zuluzino” Martins (2-2). Butterbean is coming off a knock out win over James Thompson at Cage Rage 20 last month, while Zuluzino has not competed since last May, when “Minotauro” Nogueira submitted his Brazilian opponent in the first round at Pride Absolute Total Elimination 2006.

Gilbert Yvel (29-12-1) will make his return to the Pride ring to face Bazigit "Volk" Atajev (12-1). Yvel is coming off a knock out victory over Rodney Faversus at 2 Hot 2 Handle in November. In his last Pride appearance, the Dutch fighter was KO’ed by Roman Zenstov at Pride Absolute last May. The Russian Top Team member Atajev will hope to duplicate his countrymen’s efforts against Yvel in his second Pride appearance. Atajev was knocked out by Alistair Overeem in his Pride debut over 4 years ago at Pride 24. Since that time, Atajev has won 3 fights in row, including a recent TKO win over Valdas Pocevicius at K-1 Hero’s Lithuania in November.

5 fights have now been confirmed for the Kamikaze card including, Zelg Galesic taking on Makoto Takimoto, Shinya Aoki fighting Brian Lo-A-Njoe, and Thierry Sokodjou meeting Ricardo Arona.

March 23, 2007
GARY SHAW

Gary Shaw Says He’s Ready to Work with Fishman
by Steven Marrocco

From the beginning, Elite XC has touted its willingness to collaborate with other MMA promoters to grow the sport and create true champions.  “[MMA promotion] has been an exclusive situation.  We are an inclusive organization,” CEO Doug Deluca stated in Elite’s inaugural press conference for “Elite XC: Destiny” this February.   President Gary Shaw echoed that sentiment, and followed with a promise:  “With Showtime, we will create true world champions.”

After narrowly dodging a legal confrontation with the promoters of Strikeforce, Shaw has quickly seen his wish come to fruition as Elite partnered with the San Jose based promotion for a second Showtime offering.  With a target date of June 22nd, Shaw is positive about his new partners.  “We’re going to live up to our commitments,” Shaw recently told FCF.  “It’s been great working with Scott Coker.”

In the wake of Ed Fishman’s lawsuit against Pride FC, and his stated intentions of entering the MMA market with the millions he had reserved for the purchase of the Japanese organization, a collaboration with Elite would seem a logical choice.  When asked about a joint venture with the casino/entertainment magnate, Shaw stated he hadn’t been in touch with Fishman, but would be open to working with him.

“If Ed’s got a product that works, definitely,” he said.  “If we’re going to create these Super Bowls of competition, we’ve got to work together.  If he calls, I’d be happy to talk with him.  I’d love to put him on Showtime.”

With Zuffa’s purchase of Pride continuing to be widely expected, it appears that Shaw and co. are one of the few US organizations left that will have the chance to compete with the Las Vegas based promotion.  UFC president Dana White quickly dismissed Elite and other new promotions as “Johnny-come-latelys”, but to Shaw, that’s a good sign.

“He’s said some negative things about me already, so that shows me that we’re on the radar,” Shaw said. 

On Tuesday, Elite XC will announce the details of another collaboration, a co-promotion with K-1 Hero slated to take place at Los Angeles’ Memorial Coliseum.

FCF will be there to cover the press conference and bring you details as they arise.

March 23, 2007
FROM THE EVENT'S PROMOTER: IFL PRESS RELEASE

“IFL BATTLEGROUND” LETS VIEWERS MEET WORLD JIU-JITSU MASTER RENZO GRACIE AND THE NEW YORK PITBULLS THIS MONDAY ON MYNETWORKTV 

Two Never Before Seen Fights Among Nine Featured, Fans To Vote Online As To Which Is the Dominant MMA System- Gracie Jiu Jitsu or Miletich Fighting Systems; Boxing Champion Holyfield Makes Special Guest Appearance 

NEW YORK, March 23, 2007- The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, will take fans into the ring and behind the scenes this Monday, March 26 at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. CT/MT), with world jiu-jitsu champion Renzo Gracie (Holmdel, N.J.) as he trains his Pitbulls team and readies himself for fights against fellow IFL coaches Pat Miletich, Carlos Newton and Frank Shamrock.  “IFL Battleground,” the new series chronicling the league, airs every Monday night over-the-air on MyNetworkTV.

The Pitbulls, who train at the Gracie Academy on 30th Street in Manhattan, have rebuilt their 2007 team following a sub-par start in 2006.  Featured athletes in and out of the ring in this episode will include:

•    Heavyweight Brian Vetell (Elmont, N.Y.), a former collegiate wrestler at Hofstra University who majored in philosophy and recently made his IFL debut.
•    Light Heavyweight Jamal Patterson (Hoboken, N.J.), a former Colgate University football star who works as a pharmaceutical salesman by day.
•    Lightweight Eric Owings (Cincinnati) a personal trainer in Manhattan who lived in trained in jiu-jitsu in Brazil for several years and speaks fluent Portuguese. 

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield also makes a special guest appearance on the show, as he was in attendance at the recent IFL event in Atlanta.  Among the nine bouts featured in the show will be two never before seen fights, one between rising Brazilian star Delson Heleno and Dennis Hallman, and the second one between Brazilian Eduardo Pamplona and UFC veteran Robbie Lawler.

Viewers can locate their respective local MyNetworkTV affiliate at www.mynetworktv.com/local_stations.html.

The show will also compare the fighting styles of Gracie jiu-jitsu and Pat Miletich’s Miletich Fighting System, and go behind the scenes with both the Pitbulls and the Silverbacks for all the events that led up to their rematch in Moline, Illinois.  Fans will also get a chance to vote for their favorite training system online, as “IFL Battleground” presents the various contrasts of the two most dominant camps in Mixed Martial Arts.

Each of the 12 IFL teams for 2007 will compete in three regular season events; the teams with the top four overall win-loss team records will advance to the semi-finals, which will be held on Thursday, August 2, at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J.  The 2007 IFL Finals will then be held at The Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 15.

March 24, 2007
EXTREME CHALLENGE RESULTS

Extreme Challenge 75: Rising Stars Shine Bright
By Jim Genia

(March 23rd, Trenton, New Jersey)  It was all about the rising stars here at the Sovereign Bank Arena tonight, as Extreme Challenge 75 paired some relative newcomers against some veteran "tough bastards."  Highlights of the evening included:

Makowski (top) vs. Escobar

Boetsch

• The nonstop donnybrook between Zach Makowski and Leandro Escobar.  Escobar is a stud, but Makowski showed everyone he’s a force to be reckoned with as well en route to his split decision victory.  
• The impressive debut of Aaron Miesner, who used razor-sharp Muay Thai to out-strike the dangerous veteran Garrett Carmody.  The end came as a result of Miesner’s knee against Carmody’s noggin’.
• The brutal knockout heavyweight star Jon Murphy dealt to UFC vet Sherman Pendergarst.  As predicted, Pendergarst took the Anthracite Combat Club fighter down, but the MFS Elite rep couldn’t keep him there, and in no time Murphy was feeding him the mother of all right hands.

Full results:

Extreme Challenge Northeast Heavyweight Championship
Jon Murphy (Anthracite Combat Club-232lbs) vs. Sherman Pendergarst (MFS Elite-245lbs)
Murphy via KO at 2:16 of R1 – a spectacular finish!  Murphy is the new Extreme Challenge Northeast Heavyweight Champ.

Murphy

Extreme Challenge Northeast Light-Heavyweight Championship
Brendan Barrett (Ronin Grappling/WAT-204lbs) vs. John Doyle (MFS/Daddis-205lbs)
Doyle unanimous decision.  Doyle is the new Extreme Challenge Northeast Light-Heavyweight Champ.

USKBA Northeast Heavyweight Championship
Hazem Ibrahim (Renzo Gracie/Ricardo Almeida-208lbs) vs. Tim Boetsch (Ramsey BJJ-208)
Boetsch via tap out due to strikes at 1:10 of R1.  Boetsch is the new USKBA Northeast Heavyweight Champ.

Tim Troxell (Evolutionary MA-154lbs) vs. Steve McCabe (Fight Factory-155lbs)
Troxell via rear-naked choke at 1:57 of R1.

Garrett Carmody (Pitts Penn-186lbs) vs. Aaron Miesner (MFS/Daddis-186lbs)
Miesner via KO at 3:21 of R1.

Diego Jimenez (Andrenaline Gear/Julio Rodriguez-148lbs) vs. Steve DeAngelis (Rhino Fight Team-148lbs)
Jimenez via rear naked choke at 3:55 of R3.

Sergio Vinagre (Renzo Gracie/Ricardo Almeida-175lbs) vs. Jose Sulsona (Ultimate Dragon MMA-176lbs)
Vinagre via kneebar at 0:59 of R1.

Braden Bice (PA Posse-248lbs) vs. J.A. Dudley (Team Endgame-262lbs)
Bice via unanimous decision.

Leandro Escobar (American Top Team-142lbs) vs. Zack Makowski (Fight Factory-140lbs)
Makowski via split decision – a great fight!

Chris Reedy (XFC Fight Club-174lbs) vs. Tom Gallicchio (Rhino Fight Team-172lbs)
Reedy via Kimura at 2:18 of R1.

Mike Schenk (Team Quiet Storm-155lbs) vs. Dominic Tafuri (Edson Carvalho-154lbs)
Tafuri via armbar at 1:54 of R1.

Shane Ott (Anthracite Combat Club-264lbs) vs. Allen Royster (Pitts Penn-250lbs)
Ott via ref stop due to unanswered strikes at 1:06 of R1.

March 24, 2007
WHAT'S IN THE CURRENT ISSUE OF FCF

Check out what's in the current issue of FCF ... A night of electrifying upsets signal Pride's "Second Coming" - Dan Henderson takes out an Axe Murderer. A look at Team Quest's Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. We continue our look at the Top-10 UFC Appearances. Three-time world boxing champion Bobby Czyz talks MMA. Play Me or Trade Me: Trading fighters in MMA today. Tiger Sharks' Reese Andy talks about age, money, and the IFL's Team Format. Art of War 1: Rizzo and Prater lead world team. UFC 68: Couture dominates Sylvia and regains HW title for record third time. FX3 Fight Night 4 Revolution Fight Team: Canada's latest success story looks to overthrow the MMA world. Cage Rage Contenders 4 "El Matador" Roger Huerta: The upstart fighter has taken life by the horns. Lyoto Machida: The Brazilian Samurai. ADCC 2007 Brazilian Trials Açaí: The jiu-jitsu fruit. Icon Sport "All In" Valley Fight 2 Fighters without a state to call their own: Bombsquad carries the torch for New York. In our monthly columns... FCF MMA Trivia. Physical Therapist and Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach Paul La Bounty talks about Caffeine - Does it Help Exercise Performance? In Matt Hume's techniques, Matt Hume & Luis Guillen demonstrate Front Choke Trap. Fight fans make their predictions on the upcoming UFC Welterweight Championship between Georges St-Pierre and Matt Serra. Every issue of Full Contact Fighter is jam-packed with fight news from the U.S. to Brazil to Japan. FCF travels the globe to bring the fights to you. Get yours today! Click here to order securely online with your credit card or print off the order form & mail it in with your payment

March 25, 2007
WEC 26 RESULTS

WEC 26:  Faber Retains Belt, Condit and Beebe Pick up New Titles
By Steven Marrocco

Las Vegas, Nevada, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino; In the World Extreme Cagefighting’s second installment under the Zuffa banner, three title fights capped off a night of exciting bouts.  Unfortunately, middleweight Joe Riggs re-aggravated an old back injury in the lead up to the event and was forced to withdraw from his fight with Hiromitsu Miura.

In the highly anticipated battle for the WEC Welterweight Championship, Carlos Condit took the fight to John Alessio, attacking the Canadian standout with a blitzkrieg of body shots that wounded him midway through the first.  Alessio proved adept at clinching with Condit, taking him to the mat, but couldn’t do much damage as Condit twice swept him by grabbing Alessio’s ankles as he stood up to strike.

Alessio began to fade late in the first as Condit landed several knees from his strong Muay Thai clinch.  As Condit reversed another attempted takedown, he pounded the former Shark Tank fighter until he gave his back.  At 4:59 of the first, he cinched the rear-naked choke and took home the WEC Welterweight Title.

In the Featherweight title bout, Urijah Faber once again dominated, slapping on a tight guillotine that had opponent Dominic Cruz in trouble early in the first.  Though Cruz stayed in the pocket with the Featherweight champ, tagging him with a couple of hook combinations, he neglected to defend his neck after ducking under Faber’s strikes and quickly found himself in the choke.  Unable to wrench himself free, the Total Combat veteran tapped at 1:38 of the first.

Chase Beebe and WEC Bantamweight Champion Eddie Wineland staged a five round war that taxed both fighters to their limit.  Early on, it was apparent that Beebe’s wrestling was his ace in the hole, as he faked going upstairs before taking Wineland down.  By the second, Wineland was seconds away from a stoppage, fighting for his life for over two minutes as Beebe fired down elbow after elbow from the mount.

Having used eight of his nine lives in the second, Wineland was able to recover and give Beebe some trouble in the third.  Though Beebe took him to the ground early, Wineland fought back with his own assault of elbows from the mat as the two hammered away at each other.  Wineland tasted his one chance at victory, nearly sinking a guillotine to close the round.

Wineland continued to improve in the final rounds, connecting with a series of left and right hooks, but once again, Beebe took the fight to the mat, going so far as to swing Wineland’s body into the cage by his locked legs.

Even after landing a huge right cross that snapped back Beebe’s neck, Wineland was unable to hurt his opponent.  In the end, the decision was clear, with Beebe taking away a Unanimous Decision from the judges to become the new WEC Champ at 135 lbs.

Brock Larson was impressive in his fist WEC bout, dispatching the undefeated Erik Apple early in the first.  Apple initially charged forward with an overhand right, but Larson quickly took him down and pounded him from the top position.  After Larson nearly sunk in a rear naked choke, he quickly transitioned to a Kimura as Apple attempted to escape from the bottom.  Apple tapped to the hold at 3:43 of the first.

Everything was on schedule for Team Punishment original Tiki Ghosen as he battered opponent Dave Terrel with knees and elbows.  By the end of the second, Terrel was fighting for his life as Ghosen connected with a right superman punch and a right knee to end the first.

Coming into the second, Ghosen may have underestimated the size of the fight in Terrel, as it quickly became apparent that Terrel’s hands were a threat to the Huntington Beach fighter.  As a straight left buckled Ghosen legs, Terrel jumped on the opportunity flurrying with hook after hook as Ghosen backpedaled.  After falling once again, Ghosen turned his back, prompting a stoppage from ref Herb Dean at 1:46 of the second.

Featherweight Cub Swanson quickly took advantage of Tommy Lee’s exposed neck, sinking in a guillotine at 3:17 of the first.

The Pit’s Antonio Banuelos got the surprise of his life after he slammed former King of The Cage champ Charlie Valencia to the ground.  Valencia quickly rolled underneath Banuelo’s body and stood back up, flattening Banuelos with a short right and following it with more bombs until ref Josh Rosenthal called it at 3:12 of the first.

Welterweight Alex Serdyukov also took advantage of a lazy shot from Scott Norton to sink a guillotine in at 0:57 of the second.

Featherweight Micah Miller stayed patient through a war with Jesse Moreng and sunk in a triangle choke at 3:29 of the third.

Brian Stann brought home his second win in the WEC, dropping Light Heavyweight Steve Cantwell with an overhand right to his ear, prompting a stoppage at 0:41 of the first.

WEC 26 FULL RESULTS:

Brian Stann def. Steve Cantwell at 0:41 of R1 by TKO

Alex Serdyukov def. Scott Norton at 0:57 of R1 by submission (triangle choke)

Micah Miller def. Jesse Moreng at 3:29 of R3 by submission (triangle choke)

Charlie Miller def. Antonio Banuelos at 3:12 of R1 by KO.

Cub Swanson def. Tommy Lee at 3:17 of R1 by submission (guillotine)

Dave Terrel def. Tiki Ghosen at 1:46 of R2 by TKO.

Brock Larson def. Erik Apple at 3:43 of R1 by submission (Kimura)

Chase Beebe def. Eddie Wineland at 5:00 of R3 by unanimous decision.

Urijah Faber def. Dominic Cruz at 1:38 of R1 by submission (guillotine)

Carlos Condit def. John Alessio at 4:59 of R1 by submission (rear-naked choke)

March 26, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: BEN ROTHWELL AND DERRICK NOBLE

New episode of FCF Radio In the latest edition of FCF Radio, we talk with IFL Heavyweight Ben Rothwell as he prepares for his upcoming fight on April 7th, and BodogFight welterweight, Derrick Noble. Click here to listen/download.

March 26, 2007
JACKSON TO FACE LIDDELL

UFC Confirms: Jackson to Face Liddell May 26th
By FCF Staff

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s website is finally confirming recent reports that stated Quinton Jackson would meet UFC Light-heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell at UFC 71, on May 26th, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The fight will give Liddell (20-3) his much awaited chance to avenge his TKO loss to Jackson at Pride Final Conflict in November of 2003. Since that defeat, Liddell has gone on to win seven fights in a row, and has avenged his other two career losses to Jeremy Horn and Randy Couture (twice).

Jackson (23-6) has gone 7-3 since his first meeting with Liddell, losing to Wanderlei Silva twice and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua once. During that stretch, Jackson has defeated such notable fighters as Ricardo Arona and Matt Lindland. In his most recent performance at his UFC debut, Jackson knocked out Marvin Eastman at UFC 67 in February, to avenge his first career loss to Eastman seven years ago.

March 26, 2007
BET MMA REALITY SHOW TRYOUTS

BET’s MMA Reality Show Tryouts: Was It Worth It?
By Jim Genia

(March 25th, New York City)  Celebrity coaches, like rapper Ludacris and actor/comedian Eddie Griffin, governing teams of hand-picked fighters.  The drama of team versus team, plus all that goes into those competitors getting in there and mixing it up.  And, of course, plenty of action.  Black Entertainment Television’s (BET) “Iron Ring” MMA reality show promises to deliver all these things, and it could be a fantastic opportunity for a bunch of well-deserving fighters.  But based on anonymous reports from the team tryouts in New Jersey two weeks ago, there’s definitely some interesting footage in the can.  Just ask up-and-coming heavyweight Jared Palmer, who was scheduled to face UFC veteran Kevin Jordan at the Cage Fury Fighting Championship on April 13th but squared off against a former Ring of Combat champ for one five-minute round at a team selection session.  Palmer’s now sidelined with a broken jaw.  Was it worth it for him, and the other fighters that put it all on the line, most of whom ultimately did it for nothing?

At those sessions, fighters stepped into the ring knowing their only compensation might be a $1,000 bonus, doled out at the whim of the celebrity whose team they were trying out for (a select few did get the discretionary bonus).  By all accounts, also in there with the fighters was a referee – chosen by the organizers – who had no business officiating.  Did that referee’s inexperience in MMA lead to Palmer’s broken jaw, or to the other knockouts and the dislocated shoulder?  Did the allegedly hard canvas play a role (boxing rings generally have less give to their canvases, making for an unforgiving surface when the fight goes to the ground)?  Were the blatant mismatches, one of which had a very seasoned fighter in Jose Rodriguez take on an aikidoka new to MMA, at all avoidable?

“If I see this again I’ll take a more-active role,” said Nick Lembo, of the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, whose office was kept abreast of these sessions, and made sure there was a licensed ringside physician present and an experienced referee advising on the sidelines.  “But I didn’t want to push [the organizers] around too far because I thought this would be a good opportunity for the fighters.  A bout of one five-minute round, you have a doctor there, you have a referee – our referee besides their referee – and Paul Rosner [of the USKBA], all keeping an eye on things.  Obviously, if it came back for a tryout again, we’d say, ‘you’re not fighting on this canvas, and no way are we letting Jose [Rodriguez] fight this guy or that guy.’”

For all its faults, however, there are still a ton of good things that might come out of this – namely, the opportunity it will give to those who made the final cut.  One such fighter, the aforementioned Rodriguez, has been toiling in MMA shows for years.  In 2005 he destroyed a Japanese karate champ at the Mixed Fighting Championships, and last year he defeated a jiu-jitsu fighter with a crowd-pleasing submission. 

“Jose deserves an opportunity and I think he can compete with anyone else they’re going to select for this show,” said Lembo.  “Hopefully they do have a good audience. The exposure and extra notoriety can only benefit fighters like Jose who are lesser known.”

“It was the first time we encountered this type of situation,” said Lembo.  “The vast majority of the fighters that were used were fighters that have been licensed, competed and had medicals done in New Jersey previously.  That being said, we had an opportunity to review the situation, and would act accordingly next time.”

Allegedly, six fighters were chosen for teams as a result of these sessions, and the cameras then moved on to tryouts in Atlanta, Georgia for more.  What the finished product will be, and if it will culminate in some sort of live pay-per-view or BET fight show finale, remains to be seen.  But as to whether Palmer and Rodriguez believe it was all worth it, you’d likely get two very different answers.

For more on the BET MMA reality show, including a few words with the man at the helm – UFC co-founder David Isaacs of Zilo Network – check out the next issue of Full Contact Fighter.

March 26, 2007
THE NORTHERN TOUCH

Carvalho to Fight Hioki at Shooto “Back To Our Roots 3” May 18th

Antonio Carvalho informed FCF this week that the Shah Franco fighter will take on Hatsu Hioki (12-1-1) at the May 18th, Shooto “Back To Our Roots 3” event in Tokyo, Japan. Carvalho (9-2), who recently relocated to Japan to live and train, will be returning to action for the first time since last May, when he injured his knee in a TKO loss to “Lion” Takeshi Inoue. Carvalho had previously defeated Takeshi in 2005 by majority decision, before failing in his bid against the current 143 lb. Shooto champ last year. Carvalho’s only other career loss was to Jeff Curran at Ironheart 9 in November of 2005, a fighter Hioki defeated by decision in his Pride debut at Bushido 12 last August. Perhaps Carvalho’s most notable victory was last February, when the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black belt stopped the legendary Rumina Sato in the second round with strikes.

Carvalho will have no “warm up” fights for his return to competition, as in Hioki, he is facing a fighter who many consider to be one of the world’s better bantamweights. (143-145lbs.) Most recently, Hioki defeated Mark Hominick by majority decision at TKO 28 in February, to defend his TKO Featherweight Championship. In his first encounter with the highly regarded Team Tompkins fighter at TKO 25 in May 2005, Hioki relied on his ground skills to win the TKO belt, knocking out Hominick in the second round with a triangle choke. In their most recent encounter however, the Japanese fighter surprised many, demonstrating a marked improvement in his stand up skills on route to his title defense. Hioki has not lost a fight since 2003, when he was defeated by Hiroyuki Takaya by unanimous decision. The winner of the Hioki, Carvalho fight will likely retain the number one contender status in Shooto’s 65 kg division.

Diaz Enjoying Life as KOTC World Flyweight Champion

FCF caught up with Gibson Pankration fighter Ryan Diaz last week to get his thoughts on his recent championship victory over Ed Newalu at King of the Cage “Chaos” on March 10th. Diaz submitted Newalu in the first round at 3:11 to lay claim to the KOTC World Flyweight Championship. Diaz had been scheduled to fight Manny Tapia, however the former champ relinquished his KOTC title to pursue opportunities elsewhere. Diaz says he knew that he was still in for a tough fight, despite the change in opponent.

“Yes,” Diaz tells FCF in acknowledging he expected Newalu to be a worthy adversary. “I knew he was going to take me down and was going be a tough and strong opponent. I had attempted 3 armbars and on two occasions I got slammed on my head.  So after the third attempt I heard Lance Gibson yell to go for triangle.  I went for it and remember squeezing so hard and thinking I’m not going to let go even if my legs cramp up and fall off!”

The win extends Diaz’s record to 13-10, and adds a second KOTC title to his collection, as the Port Moody fighter is also KOTC Canada’s Bantamweight Champion (145 lbs.)

“It’s a great feeling and makes it feel like hardwork does pay off,” says Diaz in discussing his recent title win. “Now I want to focus on exposing myself to the whole world and letting everyone know how exciting a fighter I am.  Last words, I want to thank my trainer Lance Gibson for sticking by me all the years and my family, my fans, and all my friends that have stuck by me all the years.  And of course my sponsors Sinister Skin Tatoo and Sacred Souls Clothing.”

Extreme Cage Combat 5 “A Night of Champions” This Saturday

This Saturday, the Halifax Forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, will host Extreme Cage Combat 5, “A Night of Champions”. The appropriately named event will include 3 title fights. Facing off for the ECC Canadian lightweight title will be Jason Mackay vs. Shaun Krysa, Corey Macdonald will take on Rowen Cunningham for the ECC welterweight Canadian belt, and Roger Hollet will meet Ricardeau Francois for the promotion’s Canadian lightheavyweight championship.

King of the Cage “Capital Chaos” Wednesday Night

It’s a busy week for Canadian MMA, as Hull, Quebec will be hosting King of the Cage Canada’s “Capital Chaos,” Wednesday night March 28th. The cards main event will see grappling stand-out Mark Bocek (3-0) look to end Garrett Davis’ (10-6) 7 fight winning streak.

Upcoming Canadian MMA Events

King of the Cage “Capital Chaos”- March 28th, Robert Guertin Arena, Hull, Quebec
Extreme Cage Combat 5- March 31, Halifax Forum, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Ultimate Cage Wars- April 7th, Winnipeg Convention Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Maximum Fighting Championship “Unplugged 3”- April 20th, Crowne Plaza, Edmonton, Alberta
Rumble in the Cage 23- April 21st, Exhibition Pavilion, Lethbridge, Alberta
King of the Cage- April 28th, Vernon, British Columbia

March 27, 2007
ZUFFA BUYS PRIDE

It’s Official: Fertittas Announce Pride Purchase
By FCF Staff

At a press conference at the Roppongi Hills Arena in Tokyo, Japan today, Dream Stage Entertainment and Zuffa representatives ended all the rampant rumors and speculation that have swirled around the MMA world now for months. In a move that will drastically alter the landscape of MMA, the announcement came that Pride has indeed been acquired by Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, the owners of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Zuffa. According to the official Pride website, Lorenzo Fertitta will be assuming all the duties of DSE President and CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara when he resigns from his position after the upcoming April 8th Pride “Kamikaze” card.

Pride will continue on as a separate entity in Japan, however, cross promotion match-ups with the UFC that fans have dreamed about now for years will finally occur, the report on the Pride site stating: “This momentous event will similarly resemble baseball's World Series, soccer's World Cup, and football's Super Bowl.”

Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White, Pride Executive Director Nobuhiko Takada, as well as a plethora of Pride fighters, media, and fans were all in attendance today to witness the historic announcement.

According to a report posted on the official UFC website by Kevin Iole from the Las Vegas Review Journal, Dana White was quoted saying that Pride would adopt the rules currently used in New Jersey State and Nevada. The same rules currently utilized by the UFC. This would seem to indicate that soccer kicks and knees to the head of a grounded opponent might no longer be legal in future Pride events. The story by Iole also reported that White maintained Pride fights would continue to occur in a traditional ring, while UFC fights would remain being held in its trademark Octagon. White also remained committed to a “Super Bowl” like MMA card in keeping with today’s press conference, where Lorenzo Fertitta announced plans to hold such a cross-promotional event.

For more insight into today’s press conference, check out today's “Carvalho Report” by Antonio Carvalho, who was in attendance.

March 27, 2007
THE CARVALHO REPORT

The Carvalho Report:
The Life and Times of a Shooto Contender in Japan
By Antonio Carvalho

Attending the Historic Press Conference: Fertitta Pride Purchase Confirmed

As a fighter, I was fortunate enough to attend the private fighters meeting before Pride would make its official public announcement. There had been speculation for weeks now that Zuffa had bought the Pride Fighting Championship. Today, at 6:00pm in the Hyatt Hotel, the speculation was revealed to be in fact true. Every top fighter in the Pride organization was at this meeting. Everyone sat around wondering if in fact, Zuffa had bought Pride. As soon as Lorenzo Fertitta walked in the room, there was no doubt that the Pride Fighting Championship would no longer be a Japanese-owned company. 

First up, Dream Stage Entertainment and Pride CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara quickly gave his speech. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Fertitta himself spoke to the Pride fighters. He said that his decision had nothing to do with financial gain, but because he was a fan of MMA first. He wanted to see the best fighters compete against each other. Later during the meeting, Dana White entered the room and addressed the fighters also. He mentioned that finally he will get to see the matches that he had been trying to set up for years now. Also, with the two companies working together that people would see a true "Super Bowl" of MMA. It is interesting to note that Dana White at one point jokingly asked the Pride fighters if any of them wanted to fight in the UFC. Only one fighter raised his hand (Ryo Chonan) and the rest just sat very quietly.

Mr. Sakakibara

The mood in the air was very serious. Talking to the fighters, there was a lot of uncertainty at that time. I asked Takanori Gomi what his thoughts were. He said he was taking the wait and see approach to everything. Not sure as to what was going to happen. Once Dana was done speaking, he proclaimed that it was time to make the big announcement. We were all escorted outside into Ropongi Hills where anxious fans awaited a big announcement. Mr. Sakakibara addressed the crowd first. Clearly very emotional, he discussed the big change to the fans. Then he introduced Mr. Fertitta to the crowd and he said the same thing that he told the fighters. Dana White also did the same. The reception was a good one. The fans were happy that they could still see their favorite fighters compete. At one point, Mr. Fertitta asked for a video to be put on the big screen so the crowd could get a small taste of things to come. The video depicted a World Cup, a World Series, a Super Bowl. The crowd got the point and were very excited at the prospect of seeing Gomi fight Georges St. Pierre, Wanderlei Silva against Chuck Liddell or Fedor Emelianenko versus Randy Couture. The fans cheered every time they saw the heavy hitters of Pride versus those of the UFC.

Takada, Fujita, Fertitta, Monson & White

Dana also had a big announcement for the next Pride 34 card. It was announced that Jeff Monson and Kazuyuki Fujita would do battle in the Pride ring. Jeff Monson addressed the crowd in saying that he happily represented the UFC and believes that the UFC has the better fighters. Fujita also spoke and said that he would be more then happy to represent Pride and beat a UFC fighter. Also, in a letter addressed to the crowd, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic mentioned his unfinished business in Pride, clearly referring to another showdown with current Pride heavyweight title holder Fedor Emelianenko.

The cross-over has already begun folks. UFC President Dana White made it very clear that despite the Fertittas having bought Pride, he still felt the UFC was his preferred brand and that they have the better fighters. He even proclaimed that the UFC is coming to Pride to kick some ass! The press conference finished off with every Pride fighter announced and all eventually were on stage in front of the Japanese fans. It was clearly a show of unity between the Pride fighters. The crowd loved it. I think things are going to get very interesting from here on.

A couple of points worth mentioning, the upcoming April 8th, Pride 34 is the last Pride under the DSE brand and Pride will also become known as Pride Worldwide. It is my understanding that Nobuhiko Takada will remain employed with Pride under Zuffa. Mr. Sakakibara, on the other hand, will no longer be with Pride under the Zuffa ownership.

A lot of questions remain unanswered. Particularly questions from the fighters. Will the rules remain Pride rules? Will there still be ten-minute rounds and knees, kicks and stomps on the ground? Or will the rules be unified under the same rules as the UFC? Only time will tell. One thing is certain though, we are going to see the greatest fights in MMA history finally happen. No more "what if's" now. The future of MMA looks very bright indeed.

March 28, 2007
ELITE XC / K-1

Six Davids to Merge into One Goliath:
Elite XC Hosts K-1 and Invites Friends
By Steven Marrocco

Tuesday, March 27 -- Los Angeles: As an unseasonably windy hum resonated in the microphones, cascading down the enormous rows of empty seats in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Olympic icon hosted a significant announcement in the world of MMA.

After signing on to collaborate with Strikeforce on June 22nd, the minds behind Pro Elite will host an even larger undertaking, announcing a strategic partnership with Japanese promoters Fighting Entertainment Group for a June 2nd show at the Coliseum. 

As the purveyor of K-1 Hero’s, the MMA wing of the popular kickboxing organization will make its first incursion into the U.S. market.  Japanese digital information magnates Softbank will provide the financial support for the massive undertaking. 

“There will be 100,000 audience [members] that day and it will be a historic event,” FEG president Sadaharu Tanikawa stated.  “Our target will not just be hardcore fans, but all sports fans.”

Pro Elite CEO Doug DeLuca also announced the involvement of several prominent MMA organizations on the world scene, including BodogFight, Strikeforce, Cage Rage, and Spirit MC, who will provide fighters and footage for the event.  It remained to be determined whether their participation would include logistical or promotional support, but DeLuca once again cited his ambitions to create world champions.

“It’s a spirit of cooperation,” DeLuca told reporters.  “It’s a way to help other people succeed in the sport.  It does not just need to be one.”

The June 2nd show will take place in two segments.  A one-hour Showtime presentation will kick off the evening, followed by a pay per view entitled Pro-Elite presents: Dynamite USA!  The one-hour special will serve as a teaser for the Pay Per View with three undercard fights, featuring Gina Carano, Jake Shields, and Antonio Silva.

Hong Man Choi (left) and Brock Lesnar

Gracie

Occupying at last half of the stadium will be the 7’2”, 355lb K-1 World Champ Hong Man Choi, who will take on former WWE wrestler Brock Lesnar in the night’s main event.  MMA legend Royce Gracie will return to competition after his loss to Matt Hughes at UFC 60, and former NFL wide receiver Johnnie Morton will make his MMA debut. 

Despite K-1 star Bob Sapp’s much publicized contractual problems with the organization, President Tanikawa stated that they considered him under contract and offered him a slot in the show.

“If he is available and interested to fight, we’d like to offer him a fight,” Tanikawa said.

With the ink still drying on the Fertittas’ acquisition of Pride Fighting Championships, the issue of mergers was not far from the FEG president’s mind.

“I have a personal alliance with Pride, and we’d been doing some matchmaking for them at the early stage,” Tanikawa said.  “It is a pretty big issue.  It is a very powerful organization.  Therefore, this event will work positive to us.  We have big power as well as they do, so we will do a lot of collaboration for the development of mixed martial arts events.”

The roots of K-1’s foray into the US trace back to Rumble World CEO Jay Dee Penn and Elite COO Billy Kelly.  As founding members of the Elite XC production team, their relationship with K-1 served as the bridge for communication between the two promotions. 

“It came to our attention that they wanted to come to the U.S. and do the largest mixed martial arts event ever,” CEO DeLuca elaborated.  “At the end of it, we decided that it would make a lot of sense for us to do this together.  We said we’d gladly lend whatever resources we could to make it work.”

The record for live attendance at an MMA event in the U.S. was recently set by UFC 68, which drew 19,079 fans to the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.  As to the alliance’s gameplan for filling the seats, DeLuca acknowledged they face an uphill road.

Lesnar, Gracie, Choi and Morton

“We plan on working very hard to do that,” DeLuca said with a smile.  “I will defer to my friends at FEG to answer the question.  We are working with many different organizations.  We know what we are up against.”

Fighters pose with reps of FEG, ProElite and SHOWTIME

President Tanikawa quickly chimed in. “We have support from the Korean community which is about 800,000 in Los Angeles,” he said.  “And 400,000 in the Japanese community.”

It is unclear whether the promotion’s resources will lean towards revenue from live gate attendance or pay per view buys, but June 2nd will mark the largest collaboration of organizations in MMA’s year of explosive growth.

March 28, 2007
ACROSS THE POND: BRITISH MMA NEWS

Across the Pond: British MMA News
By David West

Cage Rage for Sale?

Hot on the heels of the announcement about the Fertittas’ purchase of Pride, rumors have been flying around the UK that Cage Rage is in the process of being sold. Cage Rage Production Manager Rob Nutley has confirmed that promoters Andy Geer and Dave O’Donnell are currently in Los Angeles involved in discussions with a potential buyer, but Nutley is not at liberty to reveal the identity of the prospective purchaser. The two names that have popped up are Zuffa and the Fighting and Entertainment Group, the owners of K-1. Zuffa has been buying up the competition like Bill Gates on a shopping spree recently, with first the World Fighting Alliance and now Pride. However, Cage Rage has confirmed that a K-1 rules bout has been added to the card on their upcoming show on April 21st. While kickboxing matches are commonplace on fight cards at UK MMA promotions, Cage Rage has never had a kickboxing fight on the bill in any of their previous events, so the inclusion of the K-1 contest certainly lends credence to the assertion that K-1 is the mystery party. The two K-1 fighters scheduled to appear in April are Canada’s Michael McDonald and Britain’s James McSweeney, who hails from Slough and has held the British Super-Heavyweight title in Muay Thai.
 
K-1 has announced an alliance with Cage Rage, BodogFight, Pro Elite, Strikeforce and Spirit MC, but whether that will remain the extent of their involvement with the British promotion remains unanswered. In the past Cage Rage was an official feeder show for Pride, but fighters from Cage Rage have gone on to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (Jess Liaudin, David Lee), and K-1 Hero’s (Melvin Manhoef, Vitor Ribeiro). If the Fighting and Entertainment Group does buy Cage Rage it will open up numerous opportunities for the British fighters and give Cage Rage the financial clout to compete with the UFC on more even terms as Dana White and Zuffa move into the British market.

Cage Rage have poached at least one fighter from White, with Ross Pointon, from The Ultimate Fighter Season 3, facing Abdul Mohamed in April. The match will be at welterweight, so Mohamed’s British Lightweight title won’t be at stake. This marks the fourth weight class that Pointon has competed in. He started his career as a Heavyweight, moved down to Light-Heavyweight to unsuccessfully challenge Michael Bisping for his title at Cage Warriors. Pointon joined The Ultimate Fighter’s third season as a middleweight and despite losing all of his fights on the show, Pointon was a fan favorite. Since his appearance on TUF 3, Pointon has lost fights to Rory Singer and Rich Clementi, taking his record to 4-8-0. Abdul Mohamed (12-4-2) started his career as a welterweight, before making the drop to lightweight, so should be comfortable at the weight and Mohamed is an excellent wrestler with powerful takedowns. Pointon is primarily a stand-up fighter, with a background in San Shou, so he may have his hands full with Mohamed, but win or lose, Cage Rage has announced that Pointon will be on the card of their show in July when he’ll meet London’s Dean Bray.

March 28, 2007
AMANDA BUCKNER PART 1
  Amanda Buckner Part 1:
Ready for BodogFight PPV on April 14th
By Keith Mills
From multiple angles, Amanda Buckner's next fight in BodogFight on April 14th in St.Petersburg, Russia, is going to be one fans will be talking about. Amanda trains and teaches with her husband Jay Jack at the Academy of Mixed Martial Arts in Portland, Maine and has a verifiable MMA record of 9-4-1, plus an extensive submission wrestling background including the Abu Dhabi Combat Club '05 Worlds.

Buckner taking down Jaqueline Andrade

The first reason to track Buckner is that in the last six months a new wave of interest in the women's 135-pound division has hit the "startup" shows. Gina Carano, for instance, has proven to be a goldmine for both Strikeforce and EliteXC while BodogFight's first pay-per-view featured Tara LaRosa. Looking ahead, BodogFight started a 125-pound division as well, while smaller shows are featuring all-women's cards similar to HOOKnSHOOT Revolution back in April '02. From that perspective, Amanda is one of the only women who fought back in the women's 135 lb. weight class breakout of 2002 that is still fighting today. Along the way, Buckner has won several titles including the International Fighting Championship's United States Women's Middleweight Championship, the Ring of Fire Women's Lightweight Championship, and the Smack Girl Open Weight Championship of '06. Amanda was the one Jaqueline Andrade beat at 145 lbs. to become the Women's Light-Heavyweight Champion and Tara LaRosa beat in the first season of BodogFight's "reality" show to earn her PPV shot.

Another reason is BodogFight's reality series. No matter what your feelings about the promotion, BodogFight is making big waves with its second season currently airing and the Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Lindland PPV in April. On Season 2, which taped in St. Petersburg, Russia in December, Amanda beat Julie Kedzie and earned the right to fight on the PPV against Hitomi Akano. Akano beat Tama Chan on Season 2 to earn her spot. From that perspective, Amanda is one of the only fighters to fight on both Season 1 and Season 2 and one of the only people that can accurately compare them. Amanda's fight against Julie Kedzie can be viewed on bodogfight.com.

The real reason to track Buckner though is she is, plain and simple, an exciting fighter. Watch her fight against LaRosa in BodogFight Season 1 or former HOOKnSHOOT Champion Jennifer Howe in Extreme Challenge for what was widely cited as being fight of the night on those cards. Amanda's win over Julie Kedzie was more cut and dry, but Akano is a closer matchup to Amanda just as LaRosa was.

FCF: How do you feel about being part of BodogFight?
AB:   The organization is something I'm really enjoying being a part of. It is definitely a place I'd like to make my home so to speak as long as they want me around. I have a pretty good relationship with them so far I think. I think they like the way I come to fight and hopefully they will keep me around for a while. I've never been treated as well as by them, I'll put it that way.

FCF: What do you mean by "never been treated as well"?
AB:   A lot of it is money based. I haven't had really bad experiences like you get there and don't have a place to stay. I've had pretty good luck at Sven [Bean's] shows, fighting in Ring of Fire. I fought in some other really good shows and had some good experiences but Bodog is just on another level as far as backing and budget. It makes you feel like you are being taken care of more as a professional athlete. You can actually live off it as opposed to having to fight once a month to pay your food bills.

FCF: Most of your fights have been in relatively established shows, such as Extreme Challenge and IFC. BodogFight has only been around since the "reality show" taping last August but is basically Euphoria MFC who you have fought for bought by a larger group. The question is how do you view BodogFight?
AB:   I don't really think of them as a startup show because they are so large in scale and the fighters they have on the show are established names like Yves. It is not like a startup show where you haven't heard of any of the people. They have good money behind them, people like Miguel [Itturate] doing the matchmaking, and Jeff Osborne just getting hired [as Commissioner]. The people are way beyond anything you could consider startup but it is a whole different thing that the MFC too. It was a whole different experience. So far I've only done the two TV shows and that is a whole different experience as far as the filming and then the fights themselves are on a closed set. MFC [Mixed Fighting Championship] was run really well but was a regular event. I'm not sure, maybe it will feel a lot different doing this next one which is an actual live event with people watching and whatnot.

Click here to continue the article

March 28, 2007
FROM THE EVENT'S PROMOTER: IFL PRESS RELEASE

PITBULLS VS. RED BEARS INTERNATIONAL FIGHT LEAGUE MATCHUP DEBUTS ON FRIDAY NIGHT ON FSN

Renzo Gracie’s New Yorkers Battle Expansion Red Bears Squad

NEW YORK, March 28, 2007- The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, and television partner Fox Sports Net present last month’s crowd-pleasing bouts between the Pitbulls, based in New York and coached by Renzo Gracie and the Red Bears, making their inaugural IFL appearance under the tutelage of Russian MMA star Igor Zinoviev.  The show debuts across the FSN Regional Networks on Friday, March 30, at 11 p.m. in most markets. 

Friday’s show features five bouts, including the charged battle between New York rival heavyweights Bryan Vetell of the Pitbulls and Mo Fowzi of the Red Bears and Brazilian sensation Delson Heleno taking on Red Bears standout Mark Miller in the welterweight division.  The event was contested at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in suburban Atlanta.

The upcoming IFL on FSN schedule, with dates and times on each Regional FSN network, can be seen at http://www.ifl.tv/TV-Schedule.html. Viewers can also check their local schedule at http://msn.foxsports.com/tv/schedule.

The FSN schedule will continue each Friday, following the order of IFL events in the first third of the regular season.  Then on April 13, the battle at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., between the Pitbulls and 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist Matt Lindland’s Wolfpack will air on same-night delay at 11 p.m. in most markets.

The 22 hours of original programming scheduled on FSN this year represents nearly 70% more than the 13 hours shown in 2006, when the network aired three hours of coverage of the IFL Legends Championship in May and June and followed up with 10 hours of IFL World Team Championship action, September through December.

The FSN coverage is in addition to the 22, two-hour episodes of “International Fight League Battleground,” seen on over-the-air MyNetworkTV nationwide every Monday (8 p.m. ET/PT).

In all, 66 hours of original IFL programming are scheduled to run on the two networks, which together reach more than 95% of U.S. television households.

The remaining schedule of matchups on each FSN debut date is as follows through April:

April 6, Condors vs. Sabres (Los Angeles, March 17)
April 13, Wolfpack vs. Pitbulls (Uncasville, Conn., April 13 same day show)
April 20, Anacondas vs. Razorclaws (Los Angeles, March 17)
April 27, Dragons vs. Scorpions (Uncasville, April 13 show)

Each of the nine regular season IFL events will consist of four teams – each with an athlete in all five weight classes competing.   The team that wins the best three of five match setup will be declared the team winner for the match, similar to collegiate and high school wrestling meets. The IFL also differs from other MMA organizations in that the bouts are held in an oversized five-rope boxing ring with three, four-minute rounds, each designed to create the most compelling in-arena experience for local fans. 

Each of the 12 IFL teams for 2007 will compete in three regular season events; the teams with the top four overall win-loss team records will advance to the semi-finals, which will be held on Thursday, August 2, at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J.  The 2007 IFL Finals will then be held at The Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 15. 

March 29, 2007
MMA IN APRIL

April “Fools’” Month?
How Much Money Are You Going to Drop on MMA In April?
By Kelsey Mowatt

Now before anyone sends me an angry email about the above title (radio@fcfighter.com), because in no way am I implying that MMA fans are fools, otherwise I’d be the biggest moron out there, take a step back and examine what’s coming up in April. In a span of 14 days, there are three notable pay-per-view events alone, not to mention a plethora of other events you might be heading out to.  For some, dropping 120 bones on MMA in three weeks is no biggy, for others, it might mean a steady diet of bread and water for a month.  There’s always the option of inviting the whole office over to pitch in, or maybe you’ve got a gang of buddies who always do that helps reduce the costs.  In any case, for those reclusive MMA fans that can’t pass on any big event, April’s cable bill isn’t going to be cheap. For those gentlemen, or ladies too, who have a “special someone” in there life who hates MMA, there’s going to be trouble. Have fun convincing your significant other that you can’t make that dinner party, “because tonight’s fights are going to be even better than last nights, I swear.”

April 5th is Ultimate Fight Night 9, headlined by Joe Stevenson and Melvin Guillard, and despite that great event, probably the best thing about UFN 9 is that it’s free on Spike TV. Throw in the premiere of The Ultimate Fighter Season 5 right after, and it’s a great night of MMA action, at a very affordable non-existing price.

Two nights later on April 7th, the pocket book begins to take a hit. The Ultimate Fighting Championship is hosting its 69th event in Houston, Texas, and there are some interesting match-ups, no question. Georges St.Pierre defending his welterweight title for the first time against Matt Serra is hard to pass on. Josh Koscheck taking on Diego Sanchez and Yushin Okami meeting up with Mike Swick are another 2 compelling bouts with title shot implications. Belcher, Grove, Imes, Herring, and Leites fighting Sell, are some other bouts that should entertain.

The very next night is Pride 34 “Kamikaze” on April 8th, the last Pride event that will operate under Dream Stage Entertainment direction. As of today, there have only been 6 fights confirmed for the card, and so far, this event from the surface, might only draw in the most avid of MMA fans. Of course Ricardo Arona looking to avenge Rogerio Nogueira’s recent KO loss to Thierry Sokoudjou should be a good fight, and anytime you have an opportunity to watch the submission wonder Shinya Aoki, it’s going to be tempting. Jeff Monson taking on Kazuyuki Fujita will probably grab the attention of a lot of diehards out there, and there’s some hype surrounding Zelg Galesic’s Pride debut. There is still some time for Pride to add some other big names to the card, and the promotion is well known for its late additions. If Wanderlei Silva is cleared to fight by doctors and gets the okay from the Las Vegas Athletic Commission, he is tentatively scheduled to fight, an occurrence that would no doubt put more numbers in the buy column.

Six days later, on April 14th, BodogFight will host its second PPV event from St. Petersburg, Russia, with an extremely interesting main event fight. Again, for no other reason than this alone, you know a lot of hardcore MMA fans will cough up the dough for any chance to see the Pride Heavyweight Champion, Fedor Emelianenko, get in the ring. Consider that his opponent is one of the world’s best middleweight fighters in Matt Lindland, and you’ve got some viewers. It might appear to some at first glance, to be somewhat of an odd fight, Lindland moving up two weight classes to take on the fighter who most consider to be the best on the planet. But that’s part of the attraction isn’t it? What if Lindland wins? What will it mean to the landscape of MMA? The event’s appeal is not just limited to the main event, Eddie Alvarez vs. Nick Thompson should be a great welterweight fight, plus Aleksander Emelianenko taking on Eric Pele could also be a slugfest. Throw in all the finalist fights from BodogFight Season 2, and once again, you might start envisioning another $40 disappearing.

Then finally, the bank breaker for some of you could be UFC 70 on April 21st in Manchester, England. If you get Spike TV, then it looks like your bank balance won’t have to take another hit, as UFC 70 is slated to air that night on the network at 9pm. If Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic can defeat Gabriel Gonzaga then champion Randy Couture is next up, a fight that has record breaking sales numbers written all over it. Of course, Gonzaga, an excellent grappler, stands in the way of that fight and I would suspect many will tune into to see Cro Cop in his second UFC appearance. Former champion Andrei Arlovski will meet Cro Cop’s jiu-jitsu trainer Fabricio Werdum in another compelling heavyweight match-up, and despite the fact Forrest Griffin is unable to fight Lyoto Machida due to a staph infection, his replacement David Heath will offer the Brazilian solid competition. The loss of Griffin on this card may hurt ratings somewhat, particularly in the U.S., but with U.K. fighters like Michael Bisping and David Lee scheduled to compete, interest in Britain should remain high.

The hectic April schedule also includes two International Fight League events, Cage Rage 21 and host of other smaller shows throughout the month. For us MMA addicts, it’s going to be a fantastically busy, entertaining, and costly month.

March 29, 2007
NEW EPISODE OF FCF RADIO: MATT LINDLAND

New episode of FCF Radio In the latest edition of FCF Radio, we talk with Matt Lindland. Click here to listen/download.

March 29, 2007
ACROSS THE POND: BRITISH MMA NEWS

Across the Pond: British MMA News
By David West

Cage Rage Not For Sale

Returning from his trip to LA, Cage Rage promoter Dave O’Donnell has confirmed that the promotion has not been sold and that there are no plans on the table to sell the show any time soon. Instead, the LA trip was to finalize the alliance with K-1, BodogFight, Pro Elite, Strikeforce and Spirit MC which will make it easier for the promotions to share fighters and tap into each others TV markets. The alliance with K-1 should be a boom for Cage Rage and may open the door for their former Light-Heavyweight World Champion, Melvin Manhoef, to return to the show. Similarly, Cage Rage’s Lightweight World title holder, Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro recently signed with K-1 but should now be able to defend his Cage Rage belt while pursuing a title in Japan. The inter-promotion alliance raises the highly intriguing prospect of the six organizations gradually working towards unified titles, although it creates potential problems for Cage Rage fighters with Pride contracts, like James Thompson and Zelg Galesic, now that Pride is owned by the Fertitta brothers.

Enter The Joker...

Jess “The Joker” Liaudin will be making his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut on their April 21st show in Manchester, England, facing Germany’s Dennis Siver. Liaudin, who is originally from France but has been based in London for many years, is the head coach at the Pancrase London gym. With his MMA record standing at 8-8-0, Liaudin has fought in King of the Cage and in Japan at Greatest Common Multiple and is coming off three consecutive wins, most recently an impressive victory over Ross Mason at Cage Rage 19 last December. FCF spoke with Liaudin about his upcoming debut in the UFC.

Jess Liaudin

What do you know about Dennis Siver?
“I saw five or six of his fights. He pretty much does the same thing all the time but he’s very good at it, so it’s hard to stop him. He is very explosive, he’s very fast and he always throws the left hook, right cross, leading leg round house kick a bit like over-the-waist kickboxers do. It’s very fast and powerful when he does it, so if he catches you, you’re probably going to get knocked out. He’s got a very good clinch due to his judo background and his ground game is half decent, so potentially he’s a dangerous opponent.”

How do you think you match up?
“I think I’m a lot more experienced. I looked at his record and he fought a lot of average fighters. He fought Daniel Wiechel, the guy that Paul Daley just knocked out, who’s a very good fighter and he lost against him. He lost by arm bar to Arni Isaksson. He hasn’t got my experience, I’ve had a lot more fights than him, I’ve fought bigger names, so I think that’s going to show in the fight. I’m not going to give anything away but I’ve got my game plan and I’m very confident I’m going to win that fight.”

Prior to this you were competing in Cage Rage, what tempted you to go to the UFC?
“I applied to the UFC back in 1994, right in the beginning. I think everybody aspires to fight in a big, big show. While Cage Rage is the number one in Europe, the UFC and Pride are still the two biggest organizations in the world. In life, you always want to go up and for me fighting in the UFC will be a step up. They offered me a good deal. If Cage Rage had offered me a contract, maybe I would have signed with them, but they didn’t so I’m fighting for the UFC. It’s a standard three fight deal, like everybody else. The money is not exceptional, but potentially it could be because behind the scenes there are a lot of bonuses for best fight, best knockout, so there is good money to be made. It’s up to the fighters to go out there and work for it. I’m still making more money than I was making at Cage Rage.”

With the UFC buying Pride, what effect will that have on the level of fighters in the UFC?
“The way I see it, the UFC doesn’t have a clue how to run a show in Japan. They’ll probably employ Japanese people to run the show over there. Since it’s a new owner there’s a good chance they’ll be able to regain TV coverage which would mean Pride will be making money again. I think they’ll run Pride on one side and UFC on the other and occasionally do a superfight between two champions from both organizations. People think now the Fertitta brothers own the two biggest organizations, they own pretty much everything, but I think it’s a good thing personally. Now we’re really going to find out who are the best fighters. If everything is run well it could be very good for the whole MMA scene.”

How do you see the welterweight division in the UFC?
“I think the welterweight division in the UFC is, without a shadow of a doubt, the hardest division there is. Every single fighter, even the ones at the bottom of the division, is very, very strong. It’s very hard to make a mark in the UFC welterweight division. The top ten in the division are all in the UFC. Especially in America, all the guys are such good wrestlers, they’re all big. Most of the welterweights in America are around 90kg, they’re massive guys. For me it’s the hardest competition there is. People like Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes are talking about going up in weight to challenge the middleweight champion, which they are more than capable of doing. That shows how good they are and how difficult it is to climb the welterweight ladder.”

Tell me about your martial arts background.
“I started with traditional martial arts when I was eight, like a lot of kids with judo, then moved in to karate. In the late 80s I went in to Thai Boxing, by the age of sixteen I was competing in Thai Boxing and Kick Boxing. I travelled from an early age all across the world so I trained in different martial arts in different countries and competed in a lot of different styles. Right now I’ve had about eighty full contact fights. I’ve been fighting MMA since 1998 as an amateur. In 2000 I started fighting as a professional, so I’ve been active in the UK MMA scene for quite a while now.”

Liaudin in action

What are your strengths?
“Nobody has seen my full potential. I know a lot of fighters say that but for some reason I’ve never been able to show everything I can do. I think I’ve got fairly good, strong stand-up. I’ve not used it as much as I’d like to. In MMA because the gloves are so small you can get knocked out by someone who is nowhere near as good as you, so stand-up is always a bit risky. In grappling, if the guy is not as good as you, he’s not going to get a lucky submission. I think I’m quite well-rounded, I’m not scared of going for spectacular or crazy submissions which makes me dangerous for any opponent.”

You had some trouble with your nose for a while...
“I had my nose broken when I was very young, I’ve always had problems with my nose from an early age, but what happened was when I fought Matt Ewin he broke my nose in the second round. After that, I took fight after fight without letting my nose heal properly, I was going into fights with a broken nose, so people just had to catch it a couple of times and my nose would move to the side and start bleeding and the fight would be stopped. Even though my record doesn’t look so good, I got screwed over a couple of decisions and lost a few fights due to that bloody broken nose. It’s been broken so many times, it’s a bit of a weakness, it’s fragile. No opponent can go into a fight and say, ‘I’m going to hit his nose’, that’s what Ross Mason was thinking about. That’s not a real game plan. That’s ridiculous.”

March 30, 2007
FRANK TRIGG

Trigg Talks About Comeback, Lawler, and Pride
By Steven Marrocco

Frank Trigg is enjoying a renaissance.  Only a year ago, the veteran fighter was sitting on his couch, watching TV and eating junk food.  He was retired as could be.  Like many competitors who bow out, his training partners and colleagues brought him back into the fold. 

After tasting the MMA life once again, he fully reinvested himself, signing on to fight Jason “Mayhem” Miller for the ICON sport middleweight title.  “Mayhem” had just taken the title from Miletich fighter Robbie Lawler in September 2006, and had built a huge following in Hawaii.  After fighting his way out of a rear naked choke, his historical kryptonite, he went on to beat Miller via TKO in the 2nd round.

Trigg continued in his winning ways in 2007, defeating Kazuo Misaki via Unanimous Decision at Pride’s second US show.  While Trigg had definitely made a statement with the defeat of the Grand Prix 2006 champ, he acknowledged it wasn’t the most dazzling of fights to watch.

“He wasn’t doing much on the bottom and wasn’t letting me move, Trigg told reporters.  “They talked about how good his striking was and it really wasn’t all that good.  Mediocre at best.  He was just so passive on the ground, and then I couldn’t knee him [in north-south position].  I couldn’t finish the fight the way I wanted to finish it.”

When FCF spoke to Trigg, he was ramping down his training camp, getting much needed rest in preparation for the fight.  “It’s been going really good,” Trigg said of his preparation.  “We’ve kept things moving forward.  This week, we shut things down a little bit, as far as everything else, it’s all about fight week.”

Not surprisingly, his preparation has included a lot of boxing.  For the last 8 years, Trigg has been refining his striking technique with pure boxers to develop his finesse.  “I’ve gotten responses from a couple of pro boxers last week,” he boasted.  “Even the pro boxers are like ‘We’re really impressed with how good you are.  Your defense, how you throw straight punches.’” 

Trigg duking it out with LaVerne Clark at WFA 1

Robbie Lawler, his opponent this Saturday, March 31st, has proven striking credentials.  Lawler has never been accused of being passive in his fights, nor shying away from throwing hands.  Trigg was quick to assess the threat he poses.

“Big haymaker thrower, big right hook, big left hand,” he said of his foe.  “Likes to go for knockout power, he’s definitely got one punch dropping power.  He’s one of those guys that can drill.”

In the post-Pride press conference, Trigg claimed that he was hit with a hard right hand before taking Misaki to the ground.  With the anvils in Lawler’s hands, it would be a reasonable assumption that he would deposit the Miletich fighter on the mat if things got too hairy.

“I can stand with Robby if I need to, but believe me, if I get hurt one time, I’m definitely going to jump in there and get this fool to the ground,” he said curtly.  “He’s a guy that tends to like to move a lot more and likes to do stuff.  He gets pretty nervous, he’s a nervous fighter and if you put him in a weird spot he’ll try to jump on it.”

Trigg concluded, “I’m not really sure on what he’ll do on the ground, but I’m definitely sure he’ll try to fight.  Of course he’s from the Miletich team, so they know what the hell they’re doing over there.  I think there will be a lot more action and a lot more opportunities for me to finish the fight.”

As one of the busiest men in the fight business, Trigg must constantly stay on top of his obligations.  Owner of several businesses, Trigg opened up about the skills it takes to make his hectic life work.

“It’s all time management,” he said.  “You gotta realize that you can only train really hard, super intense, for about four to six hours a day.  But to keep that intensity, to keep things moving the way you want them to move, you can’t do much more. You realize if hey, this is all I can train, then I’ve got so much other time to do other things.  I work on my broadcasting, try to work up on my Spanish.  Then I realize it’s time to go work out, go get a little nap in, and then we’re off and running again. If you do things right you have a lot more time in the day than you think.  If you shut off the TV, get away from the BS, don’t sit around and hang out with your boys and get stuck on Playstation 2, you can really get a lot of stuff done.”

At the time FCF spoke to Trigg, the buyout of his employer, Pride FC, had not been completed yet.  In the dark about the specifics of the deal, he was in the same boat as MMA fans, but was clear about the repercussions such a deal could have.

“If UFC buys it, I’m out of a job,” Trigg said flatly.  “In my mind, I think that they would, they’d clean house and start all over again.”

His deal with ICON sport is solely for his next fight this Saturday, so, like his fighting career, his broadcasting future appears to be up in the air as well.  But for now, Trigg is okay with that, especially if it means holding on to the ICON middleweight belt.  This Saturday, we’ll see if the renaissance continues.

March 30, 2007
ECC 5 WEIGH-INS

ECC 5 “Night of Champions” Weigh-in Report
Report and Photos by Peter Parsons

Halifax, NS – March 30 – The weigh-ins for Extreme Cage Combat 5 “Night of Champions” were held today at the Peel Pub in downtown Halifax.  The ECC will crown it’s first ever champions tomorrow night at the Halifax Forum as ECC 5 boasts three ECC Canadian title fights.

In the main event Halifax’s own Roger Hollett (4-0) will take on Ricardeau Francois (12-7) of Montreal for the ECC Canadian light-heavyweight title.  Hollett, 3-0 in the ECC in Halifax, is coming off an impressive first round KO over Edmonton Eskimos football player Mike Mauer at the MFC 11 event last month in Edmonton.  Hollett is stepping up in competition facing the much more experienced Francois who is known for his win over Wes Simms and his split decision loss against Patrick Cote.

Francois (left) vs. Hollett

In a battle of 4-0 lightweights, Pictou County, Nova Scotia’s Jason MacKay will face Shawn Krysa of Georgetown, Ontario for the ECC Canadian lightweight title.

MacKay vs. Krysa

Apex Canadian Welterweight champion Rowan Cunningham (4-1), fighting out of Kentville, Nova Scotia, looks to add the ECC Canadian Welterweight title to his collection as he takes on Cory MacDonald (4-1) of Montreal.

Cunningham vs. MacDonald

In the first ever female fight in Atlantic Canada, Team Titans’ Tannaya Hantelman of Halifax will do battle with Valerie Letourneau of Montreal.  This will be the professional debuts for both ladies.

Hantelman vs. Letourneau

ECC 5 Weigh-in Results:

• Ricardeau Francois (205.0 lbs) vs. Roger Hollett (204.0 lbs)
• Shawn Krysa (155 lbs) vs. Jason MacKay (153.0 lbs)
• Cory MacDonald (168.9 lbs) vs. Rowan Cunningham (168.0)
• Valerie Letourneau (140.0 lbs) vs. Tannaya Hantelman (138.0 lbs)
• Shawn Marchand (184.0 lbs) vs. Travis Axworthy (183.6 lbs)
• Matt Hamilton (167.6) vs. Matt Dutkoski (170.0)
• Adam MacDonald (169.2) vs. Michael Waugh (172.6)
• Andrew Belyea (183.0) vs. Stjepan Vujnovic (184.6)
• Craig Skinner (183.8) vs. Curtis Fiander (191.0)
• Peter McGrath (145.0) vs. Mike Scudder (147.4)
• Tim Skidmore (181.4) vs. Tim Kelly (183.6)

March 30, 2007
IFL TELEVISION RATINGS

IFL Report: Television Ratings Go Up on MyNetwork TV and Fox Sports
By FCF Staff

According to a press release today from the International Fight League, the promotion’s television ratings have increased substantially over the last few weeks, as well as, during the crucial February sweeps period. The statement reports that the “IFL Battleground” program that airs on MyNetwork TV, every Monday night, has increased its viewership by 60% over the last three weeks, and 250% during the same period with the key 18-49-year-old male demographic. The release also reported that the February 26th, “IFL Battleground” broadcast drew an overall rating of 0.7, in the 18-49-year-old demographic.

The promotion’s ratings on the Fox Sports Network have also improved, the statement reporting that “Overall the program rose in all key male demos, with men 18-34 up 41%, men 18-49 up 15% and men 25-54 up 27%.”

‘”The proof of growth is in the numbers,” IFL CEO and co-founder Gareb Shamus was quoted as saying in the statement. “The sport of Mixed Martial Arts, and the International Fight League model, is resonating more and more each week with both the male and female audiences through our efforts with our broadcast partners.  As we reach our one-year anniversary, all the numbers point to a very bright future ahead for the IFL, both in and out of the ring.”

March 31, 2007
GARDEN ISLAND CAGE MATCH RESULTS

Garden Island Cage Match 5
Held March 24, 2007 - Hanapepe Stadium, Hanapepe, Kauai, Hawaii
By Chris Onzuka

Kawamura punching Moreno

Kauai’s only MMA event returned to Hanapepe Stadium and fight fans packed the outdoor venue.  Every seat was a great one as the promoters brought in talent from Oahu in addition to tapping into talent from veteran fighter Charlie Pearson’s camp in Seattle and the 702 Fight Team out of Las Vegas.  The night started out with debut fighters that made up for their lack of experience and technique with pure aggression.  Every fighter went for the finish and only one fight went to a decision.  There were two women’s matches and three titles were on the line with all three belts having new owners.  One of the matches featured Kauai’s first women’s MMA match that ended with fireworks.  The fight of the night was Jamaiah Williamson and Tesai Seamster.  Seamster pressed the take down and followed up with some ground on pound.  Williamson answered back by defending many of the take downs and punishing Seamster by pounding on him, while he was finishing the take downs.  There were fierce struggles and reversals throughout the three-round bout in the only match to go the distance.  In the upset of the night, Keoni Bryant surprised Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and local favorite Kaeo Lopez with a knee bar.  And in the co-main events, the two local boys fought valiantly, but C3’s fighters kept relentless pressure and consistent damage wearing down their opponents.  Buck Bisbey gutted out two painful looking arm locks by Eben Kaneshiro on his way to a referee stoppage.  Mario Miranda and Taurus Cabbab fought at a furious pace for the entire four minutes with Miranda controlling the bout, but Cabbab was not going down easy.  At the end of the night local fight team Kauai Technical Institute and Charlie Pearson’s C3’s team went undefeated and some fighters made a name for themselves in an exciting night of fights.

Ephan (left) vs. Alvarez

155-160lbs: MMA: 3 Rounds x 3 Minutes
Kaimi Bermoy (Freelance, Kauai) def. John Rosario (Freelance, Kauai)
Submission via rear-naked choke at 0:45 of R1

160lbs: MMA: 3 Rounds x 3 Minutes
Chuck Rapozo (Quicksilva) def. Keoni Bigno (Freelance, Kauai)
TKO via doctor stoppage after end of R2

190-195lbs: MMA: 3 Rounds x 3 Minutes
Hunter Seelbinder (Bulls Pen) def. Jason Aldridge (702 Fight Team, LV)
Submission via rear naked choke at 2:42 of R1

155-160lbs: MMA: 3 Rounds x 3 Minutes
John Felix (Freelance, Oahu) def. Nestor Honarato (Quicksilva)
Submission via triangle choke at 1:18 of R1

140-145lbs: Women’s Kickboxing: 3 Rounds x 1.5 Minutes
Lynn Alvarez (702 Fight Team, LV) def. Sherri Ephan (Kenn Firestone)
TKO via referee stoppage at 1:16 of R2

Amateur Welterweight Kickboxing Championship
155-160lbs: 3 Rounds x 2 Minutes
Isaac Josiah (Quicksilva) def. Marcus Moreno (Bulls Pen)
TKO via referee stoppage at 0:46 of R2.
Isaac Josiah becomes Amateur Welterweight Kickboxing Champion

150lbs: Women’s MMA: 3 Rounds x 3 Minutes
Emma Bush (C3, Seattle, WA) def. Heather Eichens (Freelance, Oahu)
TKO via referee stoppage at 1:26 of R1.

135lbs: MMA: 3 Rounds x 3 Minutes
Pauly Kawamura (Kauai Technical Institute) def. Julio Moreno (Bulls Pen)
Submission via rear naked choke at 2:42 of R3

150-155lbs: MMA: 3 Rounds x 3 Minutes
Shane Kahananui (Kauai Technical Institute) def. Zack Rapal (Fighters Union)
Submission via arm bar from the guard at 1:15 of R1

205lbs: MMA: 3 Rounds x 3 Minutes
Jamaiah Williamson (Valor Fighting, Ca) def. Tesai Seamster (Kamole)
Majority Decision [(29-28), (29-29), (29-28)] after 3 rounds

170lbs: MMA: 3 Rounds x 3 Minutes
Keoni Bryant (Jus Rush) def. Kaeo Lopez (Kamole)
Submission via knee bar at 0:35 of R1

Lightweight Championship Match
145-150lbs: MMA: 3 Rounds x 5 Minutes
Buck Bisbey (C3, Seattle, WA) def. Eben Kaneshiro (Kamole)
TKO via referee stoppage due to strikes at 2:37 of R2.
Buck Bisbey becomes the new Lightweight Champion

Light Heavyweight Championship Match
205lbs: MMA: 3 Rounds x 5 Minutes
Mario Miranda (C3, Seattle, WA) def. Taurus Cabbab (Team MMAD)
TKO via referee stoppage due to strikes from the mount at 4:13 of R1.
Mario Miranda becomes the new Light Heavyweight Champion

March 31, 2007
ONZUKAS TO RECEIVE AWARD

Onzuka Brothers to Receive Icon Achievement Award
By FCF Staff

Chris and Mike Onzuka will receive the Icon Achievement Award at the promotion’s “Epic” event tonight at the Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii. According to a press statement the organization released earlier this week, “the twin brothers Chris and Mike Onzuka, have been part of Hawaii’s mixed martial arts landscape since the sport’s inception. “The Twins,” as they are often called by Hawaii MMA insiders, have been selected to receive the Icon Sport Achievement Award at the Saturday, March 31st Icon event “EPIC.”

The two Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belts are well known in the State for their tireless efforts to assist and further the Hawaii MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community. The Icon release stating, “Chris and Mike Onzuka either referee or assist with almost every grappling and mixed martial arts competition in Hawaii.” The release going on to state, “The Icon Sport Achievement Award is given to pioneers, contributors, and diplomats of mixed martial arts athletics. Haru Shimanishi of Honolulu’s HMC Academy was the first recipient of this award.”

The Onzuka brothers have been a part of Full Contact Fighter for many years, and we would like to extend our congratulations to them on their achievement.