Issue 028
August 2007
NFL star Morton also positive
Johnnie Morton, the former National Football League (NFL) star who had made the much vaunted conversion to MMA, also tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone.
Morton, who lost to Bernard Ackah in 38 seconds of the first round, originally refused to take the post fight test and was indefinitely suspended and had his purse withheld.
Since then the CSAC released details of the positive test. Morton faces a suspension or withdrawl of his fighting license as punishment.
Morton enjoyed a career in the NFL before deciding to enter MMA. For his debut he trained with Mike ‘Joker’ Guymon of the Tapout crew.
Horwich and Vetell earn place on USA grappling world team
The Wrestling World Games, to be held in Ankara, Turkey in September, will see two American MMA fighters step on the mats. International Fight League (IFL) fighter and middleweight Matt Horwich of Portland, Oregon and Bryan Vetell of New York both earned spots on the first-ever USA Grappling Team.
FILA, the worldwide governing body for various forms of wrestling, has developed a form of competition that is based on popular submission grappling rules.
USA Wrestling, the body that promotes and develops grappling in America, has been working closely with the International Fight League to promote the growing sport.
The 2007 USA Wrestling Fan Fest saw IFL coach Matt Lindland conduct MMA clinics along with IFL fighters Matt Horwich, Roy Nelson, Jay Hieron: all demonstrating grappling techniques as they apply to wrestling and MMA. The four also signed autographs and met hundreds of fans over the two days.
“This weekend further strengthened the partnership between the IFL and USA Wrestling,” said Kurt Otto, IFL Commissioner, who attended the matches and Fan Fest. “It was gratifying to see how many folks were already regular followers of the IFL, and I think we’ve made quite a few new fans as well.”
Gracie tests positive after K-1 win
Brazilian jiu-jitsu pioneer Royce Gracie has tested positive for banned substances following his win over Japanese superstar Kazushi Sakuraba. Gracie, 40 years old and 14-2-3 (with one no contest) tested positive for the performance enhancing drug nandrolone. He has been suspended from fighting for one year and fined US$5000.
The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC), which regulated the ‘K-1 Dynamite!!’ event on which the fight took place, revealed that Gracie had such high levels of the substance in his test that “the level itself was so elevated that it would not register on the laboratory’s calibrator”.
Both samples provided by Gracie had a level of over 50 ng/mL. Nandrolone is a naturally occurring substance in the body, though 2 ng/ml of Nandrolone would be usual for a normal person, with athletes who had just completed rigorous exercise perhaps producing a level of 6 ng/ml.
Gracie has protested his innocence, stating that he has only ever taken over-the-counter supplements. The test followed the Brazilian’s rematch with Kazushi Sakuraba. Sakuraba was known as ‘The Gracie Killer’ for his four wins over members of the Gracie family.
Royce lost to Sakuraba via TKO (forfeit) in 2000 in Pride Fighting Championships, following a 90-minute battle. The rematch (report on page 70) was billed as a revenge match for Gracie, who won via decision.
Maximus joins UFC
The American Top Team (ATT) have announced that their lightweight prodigy, Marcus ‘Maximus’ Aurelio, has signed a four-fight contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
In a statement on their website, the ATT say: “Marcus is extremely excited about fighting for the UFC and competing in this talented division”.
Aurelio is a Brazilian fighter and black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Based in Florida, he is a team mate of fighters such as Din Thomas, Jeff Monson, and Thiago Alves.
With a record of 14-4 Aurelio has fought in Pride Bushido and is known for his shock defeat of Pride lightweight champion Takanori Gomi in April 2006. Aurelio choked Gomi unconscious with an arm triangle choke in the first round of the fight, but lost to a split decision in a rematch.
Aurelio joins former Pride fighters Mirko Cro Cop, Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira, Dan Henderson and Paulo Filho, who are now signed to fight in the Zuffa-owned UFC or World Extreme Cagefighting.
Marcelo Garcia to enter MMA
Brazilian jiu-jitsu and submission grappler extraordinaire Marcelo ‘Marcelinho’ Garcia, has signed with K-1 to fight mixed martial arts (MMA).
The multi-time Abu Dhabi champion Garcia is widely regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound grapplers in the world. It was announced in the pre-fight press conference of the K-1 ‘Dynamite!!’ event in Los Angeles that he would start his MMA career in Japan.
Garcia, a Brazilian now resident in New York, is a firm favourite among grappling fans for his unorthodox and exciting style. He is credited as a pioneer and developer of certain positions and strategies that are widely used in the sport.
He will make his mixed martial arts [debut] on September 17 in Japan. Garcie grapples at 170lbs but it is thought he will drop to the K-1 lightweight division of 155-161lbs.
Paulo Filho joins the WEC
Brazilian Top Team member Paulo Filho has joined the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion. The middleweight powerhouse grappler and Pride veteran has signed to appear on the August 5th event. He will face veteran fighter Joe Doerkson.
Filho, 14-0, is a strong grappler and he holds submission victories over fighters such as Kazuo Misaki, Ryo Chonan and Amar Suloev.
Doerkson is on a role of late with seven straight wins on his resume. This will be Filho’s first appearance in an American event.
Ninja makes it to the US
Murilo ‘Ninja’ Rua only just made it to the USA last month. His scheduled fight with Joey Villasenor was left in doubt when it appeared that Rua failed to pass the pre-fight medical checks. It arose that due to confusion between medical records being sent from Brazil to the US, Ninja was unnecessarily denied a license.
The 27-year old was granted permission to face Villsenor only days before the fight, which took place in San Jose on the undercard of Shamrock vs Baroni on 22nd June.
Rua won the contest by TKO in the second round.
