Issue 006
August 2005
World Extreme Fighting Controversy
The World Extreme Fighting promotion has featured numerous future superstars of Mixed Martial Arts. Antonio Rodrigo Nogeuira, Rich Franklin, Jens Pulver and Matt Hughes (just to name a few) have fought in WEF shows in the past on their way to the top levels of the sport. But recently the WEF has attracted attention for very different reasons.
As reported on the internet, the Atlantic City July 3 show (as well as an event planned in West Virginia) was cancelled after questions were raised about WEF practices and some participants in Las Vegas which did not conform to requirements of New Jersey State Athletic Control Board (NJSACB). According to MaXfighting the decision to cancel the New Jersey event follows allegations of rule violations connected to the show include the following:
• That co-promoter Jamie Levine reportedly tested positive for banned stimulants from a test taken for his fight on May 20 in Las Vegas
• That Levine inflated the win/loss record of his opponent for the May 20 fight
• That Levine acted as both a promoter and fighter on May 20
•That WEF failed to satisfy all financial obligations from the Las Vegas event
•It is also alleged that individuals involved with the event were not licensed as required by the NJSACB.
Deputy Attorney General of the NJSACB, Nicholas Lembo, said, “Some of the issues were resolved, others are still pending,” following a meeting between all the parties
Mr. Lembo continued, “…Cancelling an event is not something we ever want to do. It is not good for the promotion; it leaves an open date with the venue. And we have maintained a good relationship with the MMA community.”
“All of those issues but one has been cleared up. I can’t say which one, but there’s only one left, and it’s getting cleared up.”
Gomi Wants Silva & Sakuraba!
On July 10 at Kiguchi Work-out Studio in Machida, Tokyo, Takanori Gomi practiced in front of the media. Being a Sunday afternoon Gomi taught kid’s wrestling class and worked out with his master, 60-year old Yoshiaki Kiguchi.
Recently Gomi has been putting a little more emphasis on weight training and running to gain endurance. Since his professional debut Gomi has been fighting at Shooto’s welterweight (70 kg / 154.35 lbs). However at the press conference on June 16, Gomi declared, “If I win this GP, then I want this to be the last fight at 73 kg (160.97 lbs – lightweight in PRIDE Bushido)” and even mentioned fighting Wanderlei Silva as his ultimate goal.
After the work out, Gomi told the media, “I would like to fight Sakuraba while he is in good condition. I believe Sakuraba is the reason why we have PRIDE today.”
Pride GP Semi finals match ups
It looks like its going to be an all-Brazilian affair with Alistair Overeem being the spoiler. This could possibly the best middle weight GP. Wanderlei vs Arona is going to be a hard earned fight for both fighters no matter who the winner is and Mauricio Shogun vs Alistair Overeem looks to be a strike fest.
Takada confirmed at Bushido 8 that on the August 28 Wanderlei Silva will face Ricardo Arona, while Mauricio Shogun will meet the Dutch super star Alistair Overeem.
Mundial 2005
Its has been reported on Adcombatnews.com and graciemag.com that former World Champion Fernando Margarida is going to enter the 2005 BJJ Worlds in Roger Gracie’s weight division! This comes on the back of rumours that Jacare has also entered Rogers weight category.
Margarida has not competed in the Mundials since his win in 2001, but since then submitted Pe De Pano via an arm bar. But it has to be remembered that Saulo might want his revenge after the 2001 Mundials as he was the finalist that got beaten twice by Margarida. This is boiling up to be one of the best Mundials ever.
BJJ in marketing drive
Besides taking the BJJ World Cup to the second biggest city in Latin America, São Paulo, the Olympic Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Confederation is also making history this year by marketing its main stars, the black belt fighters. For the 2005 World Cup, all black belt fights were held on Sunday July 24, in an exclusive competition called BJJ Worlds Black Belt. Stars like Ronaldo Jacaré, Rodrigo Comprido, Fernando Margarida, Leonardo Santos and Michelle Tavares were fighting for a pool of prizes totalling $41000.
And for the first time, the competition was broadcast live all over the world. TATAME TV, associated with the biggest streaming server in Brazil, brought the show to an audience of 5000 lucky pay-per-viewers via the internet.
Mayhem At The Mirage
K-1 announced match-ups for the “Mayhem At The Mirage” set for August 13, 2005 from the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Former K-1 USA champion Michael McDonald from Canada takes on Swede Azem Maksutaj in the first quarterfinal and the always dangerous Mighty Mo will battle Francois Botha in a super fight match.
Abbott Rumoured to Debut in Pride
It is being reported that Tank Abbott has signed a deal with Pride to debut with the promotion on the August 28 show, which also features this year’s Grand Prix Finals. It is not known who Abbott will be facing, but it is likely that his opponent will be Japanese.
Abbott recently returned to MMA, taking on Wesley “Cabbage” Correira at Rumble on the Rock, after taking well over a year off. His knockout victory over Cabbage at ROTR a couple of months ago in Hawaii was said to have been a lucky performance for Abbott. It was his first win in nearly seven years, with Abbott’s last victory coming against Hugo Duarte at UFC 17.
Tank’s last long-term contract in MMA was of course with Zuffa for three fights in the UFC in 2003. Abbott, whose skill level was behind the times even in the late ‘90s before he left UFC to become a pro wrestler with WCW, lost all three fights. He was submitted by Frank Mir at UFC 41, submitted by Kimo at UFC 43 and stopped by Cabbage at UFC 45, all in the first round.
The reason Pride would have benefited more so than the UFC from having Tank in the company is that Tank fits the mould of being the monster foreign heel that Japanese fans love. It is a pro wrestling concept in Japan to bring in the monster heels, and that concept crosses over to mixed martial arts in that country. Pride could have booked Tank against lowly skilled Japanese fighters until they decided to do a big payoff match with him against someone like Hidehiko Yoshida, or maybe another Japanese fighter whom they would want to make a star out of.
It also would have been more beneficial for Tank to be in Pride than UFC, because he probably wouldn’t have lost so frequently.
UFC 55 Rumour: Mir not ready, Arlovski could hold heavyweight title
News that UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir would not be ready to return to the Octagon in October, the UFC will likely hold its interim heavyweight champion, Andrei Arlovski, off Fall’s UFC 55 card.
Budding superstar Forrest Griffin, who will be all over television thanks to Spike TV’s second season of the “Ultimate Fighter,” including an August appearance on CBS’s Late Show with David Letterman, could get the opportunity to headline the October card sherdog.com reports.
K-1 open tryouts in August
In an effort to acquire new blood for its world renowned martial arts fighting circuit, the K-1 organization will stage its second-ever open tryout at Las Vegas, Nevada’s Mirage Hotel and Casino on August 11 and 12 one day prior to its “Mayhem At The Mirage” mega-card.
The two-day trial will be open to all fighters who meet the weight requirements of either of K-1’s two weight divisions – the 154-pound limit “Max” class and the 200 pounds and above, super heavyweight group.
Participants will partake in various exercises that test a wide array of skills including speed, power, coordination, flexibility, and knowledge of the sport. They will also engage in sparring sessions with one another.
During its first open tryout in history last August, K-1 played host to over 100 contestants who hailed from various regions of The United States and whose combat sports training background included experience in a wide range of disciplines ranging from kickboxing to western boxing to wrestling. Both Max and super heavyweight finalists were later enlisted to compete in K-1 events held in Las Vegas, Hawaii, and Japan.
As he did last time around, K-1 USA Fight Coordinator Sven Bean will oversee and direct all activities during the two-day trial period. A group of judges as well as executives from K-1 Japan and K-1 USA will observe the tryouts and make recruiting decisions. Last year, judges included legendary K-1 competitor Sam Greco as well as three-time K-1 tournament champion, Michael McDonald, and “Big Daddy” Gary Goodridge.
Leading martial arts equipment supplier, Fairtex, will provide all gear necessary to conduct the tryout sessions.
Tall order...
Ey up lads and lasses, in old blighty (aka England) we may roll cheese down hills, dance round poles with bells on our shoes but over the pond in the new world – the good ‘ole US of A to you and me – they fight midgets (apologies to any vertically challenged fans and readers).
On September 17, at none other than the Indiana State Fairgrounds, Elite Cage Fighting will be hosting, wait for it, a Micro Division MMA contest between one Lynn ‘Toad’ Bateman and an as yet un-named opponent. According to their website the Micro Division is for fighters under five feet tall – there can’t be too many of them about but by heck it’s a long throwback to the frontier days of the wild west when Billy the Kid might have rolled into town to witness Dr Marvel’s amazing midget strong-man fantasy show!
No doubt there are some vertically challenged individuals, okay short fellas, out there who are fight fans and also want to fight but to be realistic few would ever get a bout given their height. So, good on Elite for accommodating and making such an event possible. We salute you.
Sakakibara talks Fedor vs Cro Cop
It’s been a long time in the making, some believe too long. Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko Cro Cop are on a collision course for August 28th at Pride’s GP Finals Event.
If this sounds familiar it is. In the UFC, Chuck Liddell chased Tito Ortiz for a couple of years before getting his shot in the Octagon. Now it appears Mirko Cro Cop will finally get his wish to face long time rival, Fedor Emelianenko, on August 28th. In what was expected to be announced at a press conference on Monday, the day after the Pride GP event, the CroCop Fedor fight was announced in the ring after Cro Cop’s fight. Cro Cop called out Takada to come into the ring, as the crowd responded to Cro Cop’s brashness. Cro Cop told Takada that he wanted Fedor, so Takada took the mike and called for Fedor to enter the arena and the ring with his championship belt. Fedor marched in with belt over shoulder and accepted the fight.
Sakakibara said “Mirko has at last, having gone the long way round, got his long sought after chance. I mean he’s really wanted and sought after this long and hard road, the right to challenge for the heavyweight title on August 28. And I really don’t think anyone can dispute it. Fedor is not running away and can’t run away--he’s also determined to do this fight. So, at last we will be able to have the heavyweight fight of the century on August 28.”
Both fighters have had to wait for this match-up because of injuries. Fedor assures everyone he will be healthy enough to fight by August. Cro Cop’s corner just wanted to make sure Mirko got out of this past weekend’s fight unscathed. Sakakibara said mission accomplished. “I spoke to Mirko after the fight and apart from the instep on his kicking leg hurting a little; he has said there is no damage, so over the next two months he’ll be training hard and getting ready for this century’s--well, this century has really just started, but as far as Pride is concerned, we expect this to be a truly history-making fight
