Issue 017
September 2006
Chuck vs Wanderlei a reality!
UFC fans were treated to a shocking announcement between fights at UFC 61. The dream match-up of Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva is set to become a reality in November. Silva, the PRIDE middleweight champion, will travel to the US to face Liddell, the UFC light heavyweight champion in a long awaited clash.
This is the first time that two major promotional champions have met. Though it is not an official unification bout, the fight will determine who is the number one ranked 205lb fighter in the world.
The announcement came literally out of nowhere. Though Liddell hinted at wanting to face Wanderlei in an interview with Fighters Only (see Issue 15) political issues between the two promotions always left this match firmly in fantasyland. Speculation has arisen that this match has only been made possible due to the increasing problems PRIDE is facing in Japan. As reported in last issue, the yakuza scandal that cost them their free-to-air TV deal has left PRIDE in serious financial difficulty. While not necessarily putting the fate of the promotion at risk, it does ask questions as to whether they can afford to hang onto their major talent.
With the UFC poaching one of PRIDE’s most popular fighters, a senior executive within PRIDE was quoted as saying “This is all-out war”. It is thought that PRIDE bosses were actually unaware that Silva would even be appearing on the show. A press release was hastily put up on their website hours after the announcement came.
Whether there is genuine animosity between the two promotions is unknown. Since the deal was announced, two other PRIDE fighters have been reported as travelling to the US to fight, those being Phil Baroni and Kazuyuki Fujita. If the two promotions were not working together, then even hoping for a deal such as this would be unthinkable.
Wanderlei’s move to the UFC is said to be a single fight deal, similar to that when Dana White sent Chuck to fight in the PRIDE middleweight tournament in 2003.
HERO’S 2006 GP line up
ON AUGUST 5TH, 2006 the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo will see K-1 HERO’s hold an eight man tournament at 85kgs. This ‘lightheavyweight’ tournament will see the first K-1 appearance of long-time PRIDE star Kazushi Sakuraba
Sakuraba, who recently turned 38, will face the Lithuanian Kestutis Smirnovas in the first round. Smirnovas is a European Shooto champion.
The three other tournament bouts will see judo fighter Yoshihiro Akiyama take on the late replacement Taiei Kin (BJ Penn was scheduled to fight but pulled out due to a hand injury.) Shungo Oyama will take on his third Gracie in the shape of Rodrigo and Carlos Newton faces Cage Rage light heavyweight champ Melvin Manhoef.
Amanda Bucker vs Tara LaRosa
TWO OF THE top 135lb female fighters in the world will go head to head on Aug 19th in the MFC in America. Amanda Buckner (8-2-0) will face Tara La Rosa (9-1-0) in a battle to determine who is ranked no.2 in the world. Laura D’Auguste is widely seen as the top female fighter in this weight class. La Rosa is coming off big wins against Roxanne Modafferi and Hitomi Akano, and is on a six-fight winning streak. She has not lost since 2003. Buckner, who is fighting on July 22nd on another promotion, is also on a six-fight winning streak.
Cro Cop to the US, but not UFC?
MIRKO ‘CRO COP’ Filipovic, the PRIDE heavyweight fighter, has told Croatian newspapers he is considering a deal offered to him by a top
US promotion.
In an interview, Cro Cop stated that he could possibly soon be fighting on US soil, but that it would not be for PRIDE or the UFC. He said he has received an offer from a US promotion that is very lucrative, and he is seriously considering it.
Through a process of elimination, the only real possibility is that he has received an offer from the WFA, he resurrected promotion that host their comeback show on July 22nd.
Hughes will rematch St Pierre
SEPTEMBER 23RD will see UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes defend his title against number one challenger Georges St Pierre. The bout will take place in Anaheim
in California.
Hughes defeated St Pierre previously, submitting him with an armbar in October of 2004. St Pierre has since carved his way through a string of top welterweights, winning five straight fights since the loss to Hughes.
MARS 4 MW tourney in August
AUGUST 26TH 2006 will see the latest of the Japanese MMA promotions host a tournament, as MARS heads to the Ryogoku Sumo Arena in Tokyo for a middleweight tournament.
The first round of the eight-man tournament will take place in August and four fighters have been confirmed. They include the Brazilian luta livre sensation Lucio Leonardo ‘Chocolate’ Nascimento, Frenchman Bryan Rafiq, Spaniard Daniel Tabera and Dutch fighter Bastiaan Rejen.
Fledgling promotion MARS has held three shows to date, of which all
have taken place in 9000+ capacity venues, and have featured fighters
such as Rodrigo Gracie and Vitor ‘Shaolin’ Ribeiro.
Though the events were successful they were thought to be lacking somewhat. The tournament has been devised as a way of capturing attention in a fiercely competitive Japanese market.
MARS is also working to bring women’s MMA onto their card, with the announcement that Brazilian wrestling champion and MMA fighter Carrina Dam will appear in a
future card. An opponent has not yet been named.
ADCC UK Open
THE URBAN GORILLAZ tournament network has partnered up with the world submission grappling championship organisers ADCC to host the first ever ADCC UK Open. To be held on October 1st in London, the event will see the winners qualify for the European Finals which will be held in Finland in January. Registration for the event began online on July 15th 2006. Competitors for the Advanced divisions will have to hold a valid European passport, but this will not be the case for the other divisions.
More info can be found at www.bjj.eu.com
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua back in action
Five months after injuring his arm in a fight against Mark Coleman at PRIDE 31, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua is back in training.
His first training session took place at the end of May, and was reported by Brazilian media as a ‘kicks only’ workout. Now said to be recovered from his arm injury, Shogun is back in full training and is sharpening up his boxing. With no fights scheduled as yet, he will dedicate himself to a series of seminars in USA at the end of July. Though Shogun underwent elbow surgery earlier this year, he could be back in action as soon as September 10th.
There is a possibility that Shogun may participate on PRIDE’s American debut in October. Shogun has fought in the United States once before, when he competed in the IFC’s Global Domination tournament in 2003. He won his first fight by TKO, but lost by submission to eventual winner of the tournament Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral.
International TUF on the horizon?
THE UFC IS planning to take The Ultimate Fighter reality TV show to both the United Kingdom and Mexico next year, it has been reported. In a press conference call, UIFC officials said plans were to take the show abroad and to feature fighters from that country. There will not be a Canadian spin-off show for the time being, as Canadian fighters will continue to be part of the US version. No time scale has been announced as to when the shows will be filmed or broadcast.
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