Issue 025
May 2007
Just as was the case in 2003 when UFC 38 rolled into town, the UFC have recruited a number of ‘local’ lads to help flesh out the card.
Terry Etim vs. Matt Grice
Terry Etim
Age: 21
Height: 6' 1" (185 cm)
Weight: 155 lbs. (70 kg)
Record: 9-0-0
One of the most fitting candidates for inclusion in the UFC, Terry Etim rose to popular attention thanks to his involvement in Mike Tyson’s dabble as an MMA referee. Undefeated and with excellent ground and striking skills, Etim is from Liverpool and is sure to bring plenty of vocal fans with him.
Matt Grice
Age: 25
Height: 5' 8" (173 cm)
Weight: 155 lbs. (70 kg)
Record: 9-0-0
Grice is another UFC debutant, but has solid wrestling credentials. A four-time Oklahoma state champion and three-time outstanding wrestler, he went to the University of Oklahoma on a wrestling scholarship but was plagued with injuries throughout his career there.
David Lee vs. Junior Assuncao
David Lee
Age: 28
Height: 5' 10" (178 cm)
Weight: 155 lbs. (70 kg)
Record: 5-2-0
Lee is making a return to the Octagon — he unsuccessfully took his brand of jiu-jitsu to the cage in 2006 when he faced Tyson Griffin. A purple belt in jiu-jitsu, he is a submission specialist but is known to bust out plenty of crazy antics — watch out for flying knees.
Junior Assuncao
Age: 25
Height: 5' 9" (175 cm)
Weight: 155 lbs. (70 kg)
Record: 5-2-0
This Atlanta, Georgia resident will fight for the second time in the UFC. Like Lee, his first appearance was less than successful and memorable for the wrong reasons when Kurt Pellegrino choked him to submission. A former capoeira practitioner, he has never had a fight go past the first round.
Paul Taylor vs. Edilberto Crocota
Paul Taylor
Age: 27
Height: 6' 0" (183 cm)
Weight: 170 lbs. (77 kg)
Record: 7-1-1
Paul ‘Terminator’ Taylor is a veteran of the UK scene and is known as a fearsome kickboxer. He started out life as a middleweight and was a terror on the UK scene but fell to Japanese grappler Yuki Sasaki in 2006.
Edilberto Crocota
Age: 24
Height: 6' 0" (183 cm)
Weight: 170 lbs. (77 kg)
Record: 10-0-1
A state boxing champion in Brazil, Crocota has also placed among the medallists at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships and is an undefeated BJJ brown belt from the same team as Minotauro.
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