Chute Boxe Academy holds first fight camp

The Chute Boxe Academy will hold its first fight camp in July. Giving foreign athletes and fans a chance to train with the world-famous team, they are opening their doors for two weeks of training with their highly qualified coaches and professional athletes.

The program will take place from 15th until 30th of July in Curitiba, which is south of Rio de Janeiro. Participants will receive full support and arrangements for lodging, food, translation and all the necessary assistance will be taken care of. This is an invaluable chance to benefit from the experience of the main masters of the academy, Rudimar Fedrigo and Rafael Cordeiro. Also offering their coaching skills will be Nino Schembri and Cristiano Marcelo among others. Some lessons will be shared with the professional fight team, a unique opportunity to train with fighters such as Wanderlei Silva, ‘Shogun’ Rua, ‘Ninja’ Rua, ‘Cyborg’ and many more. The complete schedule will be announced on the Chute Boxe website. Information and registration can be found via their website. In the words of Rudimar Fedrigo, “We are making possible a dream, that is to open the academy for foreigners who want to train with us. We’ve been receiving innumerable requests from around the world. Who knows, maybe we can find a new fighter that tomorrow could be part of the team.”

“We want to offer the chance for those that are looking for professional development and we also want to take care of MMA fans that want to have contact with the Academy,” said Rafael Cordeiro.

Visit the Chute Boxe website at www.academiachuteboxe.com.br

Mark Kerr return postponed

IN A BIZARRE sequence of events Mark Kerr pulled out of his planned fight with Wes Sims with an injured hand. Kerr, scheduled to fight on the Colorado-based promotion ACF, withdrew from the fight on the day of the event only hours before the fight.

He was said to have had concerns over his ability to fight- after being checked by a ringside doctor, the decision was left to him as to whether he wanted to compete. He chose to withdraw. Sims called Kerr out at the event, claiming the PRIDE and UFC veteran was scared to fight him. They were supposed to have fought in the main event for the HW title. This would have been Kerr’s first MMA fight since 2004. He has not fought on American soil since 1997. Kerr subject of the acclaimed documentary The Smashing Machine, claimed that he had a broken hand. He now faces being cleared by the State Athletic Commission before he can fight again.

Rumoured TUF Season 4 coaches

A French-Canadian promoter has leaked on the internet that Georges St Pierre has been in talks with the UFC about appearing on season 4 as a coach.

Posting on a French-language forum, the promoter said that GSP had recently come back from Las Vegas. He is said to have travelled there with Patrick Cote, who is thought to be a potential entrant in the reality TV show. This fuels existing rumours that the show will feature middleweights.

GSP is thought to be a coach along with the recently retired Randy Couture and jiu-jitsu ace Marc Laimon, who have both featured on the show already

Stevenson vs Edwards at UFC 61

‘Big Daddy’ Joe Stevenson, the welterweight winner of TUF 2, revealed on an MMA radio show that he will be facing Yves Edwards at UFC 61. The fight will take place at the lightweight limit of 155lbs. Scheduled to take place on July 8th, Stevenson and Edwards will be fighting each other for the first time. Both men are coming off losses in their last UFC bouts. Josh Neer beat Stevenson in an upset in April, and Canadian Mark Hominick submitted Edwards in March on UFC 58

Fedor unable to fight in GP, Wanderlei takes place

PRIDE HAS announced that Fedor Emelianenko has withdrawn from the PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix. The cause of his non-participation is his injured thumb, which has required several bouts of surgery this year.

In a bold move by DSE, his replacement will be PRIDE MW champion Wanderlei Silva. Silva was disputing his contract with PRIDE and was said to be looking elsewhere. Whether his appearance is part of a multi-fight deal in unclear at this stage.

PRIDE had hoped that Fedor would be ready to fight in time for the second round of the GP on July 1st. Fedor’s doctor has said that the metal plate in Fedor’s hand would not be removed until June.

Silva will now get the first-round bye that was originally earmarked for Fedor. The eight quarter-finalists are Wanderlei Silva, Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Hunt, Josh Barnett, Kazuyuki Fujita, Hidehiko Yoshida, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum. The quarterfinal match-ups have not yet been announced.

ACF Chief Jailed

CEO of the American Championship Fighting Rico Vecchiarelli, was jailed for four years after pleading guilty to one count of securities fraud. In a trial held in Denver, Colorado on May 19th, the chief executive officer pleaded guilty to the charges.

The charges had no relation to the ACF, and were related to dealings in the real estate business. The Colorado Attorney General’s Office said in its original statement that Vecchiarelli and his partner Zweifel “swindled Colorado investors out of thousands of dollars

In a press release by the ACF, Vecchiarelli admitted responsibility for his actions. “I made some mistakes that resulted in legal charges” said Vecchiarelli. “I accept personal responsibility for this and now I have to deal with the consequences. ACF had nothing to do with this; it is a completely separate matter.” “I want to reassure MMA fans that this in no way affects the operations of the ACF. American Championship Fighting was built from the ground up as a team effort from day one. There are a lot of great people at the ACF that will ensure that the company will continue to thrive.”

Rickson vs Sakuraba- the rumours are true?

For years fans have speculated how a fight between Kazushi Sakuraba and Rickson Gracie, who many consider to be the top fighter from the famous family) would have gone. Unconfirmed rumours and reports have been circulating recently that this may well actually be a possibility, and it may even happen this year. Sakuraba, nicknamed ‘The Gracie Hunter’, beat four of the famous clan in the rings of PRIDE, but recently jumped ship to K-1. Confirmed reports that Rickson Gracie is back in Brazil and regularly training have been around for a few months. It appears, thanks to the loud mouth of a Royler Gracie student, that Rickson may actually be training specifically for Sakuraba. Mario Aielo, a student of Royler Gracie at Gracie Humaita has leaked the info that Rickson Gracie has supposedly accepted an offer from K-1 of around $3,000,000. It is believed that this fight could happen as soon as Sakuraba’s K-1 debut on October 9th but the more likely option is that of December 31st for K-1’s New Year’s Eve spectacular.

Pequeno stripped of Shooto title

The International SHOOTO commission has announced on its official Web site that 143-pound champion Alexandre ‘Pequeno’ Nogueira has been stripped of his title.

Pequeno was unable to defend the belt within 18 months due to a severe and reoccurring knee injury. Titleholders must defend their belts in the mandatory time stipulated by the commission.

Nogueira was scheduled to defend his crown against the number two ranked challenger Antonio Carvalho, but was forced to withdraw once again due to his knee injury. The Brazilian submission machine has not defended his title since March 11, 2005 against fellow Brazilian Joao Roque.

Pequeno was originally scheduled to defend his belt against Gilbert Melendez, but Melendez signed to participate in the K-1 HERO’s Grand Prix. Choosing Carvalho to face Pequeno for the title, the commission scheduled the match, but Pequeno himself suggested the promotion strip him of his title, hinting the injury was be more serious than first thought.

This ends the longest championship reign in MMA history. Nogueira held the title for six years, eight months and two days. Currently 12-3-2 in MMA, Pequeno is known for his exceptional talent in using the guillotine choke. Seven of his wins have come by way of the trademark submission. Pequeno has not fought MMA since June of 2005, where he was knocked out by Hideo Tokoro in K-1 HERO’s.

Carvalho will fight for the title against lightweight rookie “Lion” Takeshi Inoue. The two previously met in August 2005, where Carvalho won by majority decision victory over the then-undefeated Inoue.