Issue 120

October 2014

Things we hear, things we see, things we know.

UFC’s ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira ‘saved’ female fighter's life

UFC and Pride legend ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira is being hailed a hero by Team Nogueira’s physio after his quick thinking helped save a female fighter’s life. Serbian-born 1-3 Duda Yankovich, a former boxing champion who’s lived in Brazil since 1999, started showing unusual symptoms prior to a training session at the gym in July.

Nogueira immediately phoned his physiotherapist, Angela Cortes, who realized it was a stroke and advised him which hospital to take her to. Cortes told agfight.com.br: “If Rodrigo hadn’t taken her to a good hospital so fast as he did, she would be dead.” Yankovich is already back to training.

Royce Gracie 'lost it' in UFC 1 rehearsal

UFC co-creator Art Davie has revealed MMA veteran Royce Gracie broke down during preparations for the first-ever UFC event in 1993. Recalling Royce’s training immediately prior to the show, Davie told MMA Junkie Radio: “Royce had lost it in the rehearsal. He was down on his knees crying, and Rickson (Gracie, brother) was cradling him like a father.” Royce went on to win UFC 1, as well as UFC 2 and 4.

Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA gets renamed

The world-famous, award-winning Jackson-Winkeljohn Mixed Martial Arts stable of reigning and former UFC champions in New Mexico will soon undergo a slight renaming, in line with the opening of a new facility. Named after head coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn, and home to fighters such as Jon Jones and Carlos Condit, it’s due to become Jackson-Wink MMA. Winkeljohn told Fighters Only the old moniker was “too much of a mouthful”.

Nakai's UFC wedding dress inspired by Madonna

According to recent UFC signee Rin Nakai, her choice to wear a wedding dress to a UFC press conference in Japan was inspired by pop queen Madonna’s famous Like a Virgin video. The 16-0-1 Japanese bantamweight, who will fight Miesha Tate in Tokyo in September, is known to be partial to unusual outfits. She wrote on her personal blog it was to reflect her purity as a UFC newcomer. “I will be the newbie, the freshman. How do you say, wet behind the ears. That is why I dressed up like a motif from Madonna’s Like a Virgin for the press conference.”