Issue 081
November 2011
Attention has turned to high-school football star Kevin Ferguson, the 16-year-old son of Kimbo Slice, when he was revealed to be the spitting image of his father, beard and all.
Local newspaper the Orlando Sentinel covered the former UFC heavyweight’s son as part of their local sport coverage. Remarking that his association gives him motivation to be better, Kevin said of his father: “He’s a cool dad. He’s more like a brother to me.”
Alaska, USA: Pride rules alive near Artic
Alaskan MMA gym owner Jeff Nielsen revived the rule set of defunct Japanese promotion Pride this summer when he held Midnight Sun Mayhem in Alaska with legal kicks, knees and stomps to a downed fighter. The outdoor event saw fighters compete in a six-sided ring under a tent after they prepared for their bouts in the affectionately, though accurately, named Fighter Barn.
Alaska has no athletic commission but Alaska’s other MMA promotions follow the Unified Rules. “I find myself leaving a lot of fight shows bored,” said Nielsen. “I wanted to put on a show that I wanted to see.”
San Francisco, USA: Elderly woman, 98, receives judo's highest rank
Japanese female judoka Keiko Fukuda has attained her 10th-degree black belt in the sport at the age of 98 years old. It took Fukuda 77 years to reach the milestone, shared by only 15 others, after beginning her tuition in 1934 with what she says was sexism preventing her progression since she received her fifth-degree black belt in the early ‘70s. Likely to be able to give fifth-degree black belt and UFC middleweight Yoshihiro Akiyama some trouble on the mats, Fukuda is even said to have learned under judo founder Jigoro Kano before his death in 1938.
Dream will stage NYE show
The leading Japanese MMA promotion, Dream, will hold a New Year’s Eve card this year according to event producer Keiichi Sasahara. The executive tweeted that the country’s annual MMA centerpiece show will go ahead. Due to poor financial conditions and low interest in the sport in Japan, a spiritual home nation of mixed martial arts, there was concern no event would be staged this year. No fights have been confirmed as yet.
Ex-ProElite boss blasts former company
The former president of MMA company ProElite, Gary Shaw, has blasted the organization’s current owners, saying they are “jokes” and the promotion is “laughable.” The publically traded ProElite was recently resurrected for the first time in three years after heavy debts and match-fixing rumours forced a cease of operations in 2008. Shaw said he wouldn’t have had any part in the promotion’s revival even if he was asked, and said no promotion could now operate against the UFC. He stated: “They’re too entrenched. They bought the next best thing out there, which was Strikeforce, Fedor’s gone from the scene so right now it’s only the UFC. They’re miles and miles ahead of anybody else. It’s like us trying to come up with some fast food franchise and beating McDonald’s and Burger King. It’s not going to happen.”
$400,000
Tito Ortiz crashed his Rolls Royce Phantom, worth about $400,000 in the showroom, only 12 days before he faced Rashad Evans at UFC 133
3
The cancellation of Alessio Sakara and Jorge Rivera’s UFC 133 showdown was the third time a bout between the two had been signed and then nixed. This time it was a Sakara ACL injury
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