Issue 010

December 2005

NORTH AMERICA

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

It was more than a decade ago when Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock battled in the Octagon at UFC 1 (Ultimate Fighting Championship), setting the tone for future generations. More than eight years ago, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz debuted at UFC 13 and it has been more than seven years since Chuck Liddell made his Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) debut.

In most sports, seven or eight years or more is a lifetime. Not too many professional athletes’ careers span that much time, let alone do they remain at or near the top. But every one of the aforementioned fighters is still active and each is still playing a pivotal role in the MMA world. Royce Gracie isn’t nearly as active a fighter as he was when he used to fight three or four times in one night to win a tournament, but he is still stepping into the ring… twelve years later! He is slated to fight for K-1 on their big New Year’s Eve extravaganza. Not only is he still active as a fighter, Royce has now thrown his hat into the ring as a promoter. In December he heads up Royce Gracie’s ‘Fightfest’ with a main event featuring Abu Dhabi champion and Pride veteran Dean Lister. 

Even bigger may have been the announcements made by UFC President Dana White at their last Pay-Per-View show in Las Vegas. Randy Couture and champion Chuck Liddell will step into the cage for a rubber match at the UFC’s Super Saturday show on Feb 4. With a victory apiece against each other, the two may finally set their rivalry aside. Also announced was a proposed return by Frank Mir and an apparent fight with champion Andre Arlovski sometime 06.

The biggest announcements, though, involved some fighters who we thought would probably never return to the UFC. In a couple of moves that must have left Dana White gagging on his own words, the year ahead just got a lot more interesting. After banishing Tito Ortiz from the UFC’s web site, White announced that Tito is slated to return in 2006 as one of the coaches for ‘The Ultimate Fighter Season 3’. And you get one guess as to who his coaching counterpart will be. Of course, it is Tito’s arch nemesis Ken Shamrock.

That will definitely make for exciting television, but still, after all of the animosity between Tito and White, it had to be very painful for the prez to bring him back. The inside word is that after a lackluster response to season two of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, SpikeTV brass put the pressure on White to bring Ortiz and Shamrock back… a guaranteed ratings grabber.

The other big bomb that White dropped at UFC 56 was the return of BJ Penn to the UFC welterweight division. If you remember, Penn was the welterweight champ after choking out current champion Matt Hughes. When he signed to take a fight in K-1, the UFC stripped him of his title and the two parties have been in litigation ever since. With the case set to hit the courts in December, the UFC apparently saw it to be in their best interests business-wise to bring back the 

spirited Hawaiian.

Another Hawaiian Grand Prix?

Not to be outdone by the Japanese organizations, Hawaii’s Rumble on the Rock appears to be jumping all over the tournament format for their next big show in January. With a lot of crowding in the 170–185lb range of fighters, the promotion is looking to seize an opportunity to bring in many of the world’s top fighters.

On January 20 Rumble on the Rock returns to the Blaisdell Arena with a 175lb Welterweight Grand Prix. With the weight set to 175lb, they are looking to bring in fighters from the upper end of the 170lb weight class and the lower portion of the 185lb division.

Already confirmed for the tournament are Jake Shields, Charuto Verissimo and Chris Lytle. Just as impressive is the list of fighters that have not yet been announced, but are likely to appear in the tournament. Shields’s expected opponent in the first round is Dave Menne. Other possible fighters for the Grand Prix are Frank Trigg and Matt Serra. Dennis Hallman was also close to being confirmed, but has apparently made other commitments.

With such a stable of talent getting ready to grace Rumble on the Rock, it appears that the promotion has locked itself in as the number two promoter in the US, but may be starting a run for number one. The Penn family runs Rumble on the Rock, but even though BJ Penn is returning to the UFC, they haven’t stopped gunning for the top fighters in the world.

UNITED KINGDOM

The Ultimate Fighter Auditions come to the UK

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) reality TV show ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ came to London this December, auditioning for fighters for its planned third series! 

Dana White, president of the UFC, along with Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar, winners from the first series, came to London to recruit middle and light heavyweight fighters for ‘The Ultimate Fighter 3’. Two British fighters will be chosen for the show, and already guesses are firing back and forth between followers of UK Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as to who will fill the vacant spots. 

The downside to this is that the announcement that auditions were to be held was not made until the third week of November, and the timing of the audition comes only days after Cage Rage 14 and one week after Cagewarriors, which both featured many top UK fighters. There are concerns that many fighters will miss out due to the possibility of sustaining injuries prior to the audition. 

Regardless of the awkward timing of the event, the news that UK fighters could potentially appear on the famed TV show has inspired much interest in UK fans. Many are hoping that satellite TV channel Bravo, who have always featured plenty of UFC coverage, will make this available to UK viewers.  

CageWarriors FC and The Wrestling Channel announce new deal

In other TV related news, MMA in the UK is poised to hit our screens with more gusto than ever before! 

Cagewarriors FC has announced a new partnership with The Wrestling Channel (TWC), a satellite TV channel for professional wrestling that until now has not featured MMA. In a groundbreaking move, the two companies have aligned to bring MMA to the screens of UK fans as of December in an on-going agreement. 

Every Sunday TWC airs a super-card that features an entire event. Until now this has only ever been pro wrestling, but now Cagewarriors is also set to appear on future super-cards. At first Cagewarriors will appear on TWC on an irregular basis, as events will be broadcast approximately four to six weeks after the live show. 

TWC have also obtained broadcast rights to the entire back catalogue of Cagewarriors events and are set to bring this to viewers in an as-yet-unannounced capacity. It is thought the footage will be broadcast in a number of ‘Best Of’ shows, featuring full fights cherry picked from the various events. 

From talking with those at TWC it is very interesting that they are so keen to bring MMA to the potentially lucrative pro wrestling crowd. There has long been a crossover in interests from the fan’s perspective, and the very action of an until-now professional wrestling-only channel to tap into the power of this emerging market says much for the appealing nature of MMA. 

Cage Rage reality TV show no longer a rumour, now a reality!

Rumours abound in this game, and in recent weeks none have been so strong as the ones concerning the possibility of a new TV show featuring MMA coming to our screens. Rumours like these have been circulating for the last couple of years and various projects have come and gone but nothing concrete has ever materialised.

Recently though, the rumour mill stepped up a gear as people in the know were keeping extraordinarily quiet, leaving those in the dark craving information and pumping every possible source for details.

This was until Cage Rage’s chief official Grant Waterman went public and teased those in the UK MMA community by releasing only the most tantalising of details.

The premise: 16 top welterweights, one house, and a six-figure contract for the winner in a reality TV show called ‘House Rage’! I spoke with Cage Rage promoter Andy Geer to try and find out more details of his organisation’s connection with the show, but also found out plenty of information about the revival of their own popular show on free-to-view TV, the possibility of UK MMA reaching an international audience, and what the future holds for Cage Rage.

The first thing that came out of Andy’s mouth about the TV show was a straight answer. “Its not us! It is an independent company who are making it — I’ve signed a confidentiality agreement so I can’t say too much, but I can confirm the rumours are true. The fighters will be competing for a Cage Rage contract as a prize, and I can’t say how much, but I can advise that it will be for serious money, 

UFC-type money.” “Myself and Dave will be involved with the various tasks on the show but I must stress, this is not a Cage Rage product; this is an independent product using the Cage Rage brand.”

The fighters said to appear on the show are Paul Daley, Paul Jenkins, Ross Mason, Sol Gilbert, Jess Liaudin, and Suley Mahmoud.

James Thompson in a Pro-wrestling bout!  

Bristol-based James ‘The Colossus’ Thompson is currently Britain’s biggest MMA star — literally. At 6’4” and 120kg, he has been busy impressing Japanese fans by notching up two wins from three appearances in Pride FC. The UK fighter, nick-named the Mega Punk by his fans, is rumoured to be fighting on the New Year’s Eve card against Mark Coleman. 

While his last MMA fight was with the Romanian Alexandru Lungu, James has been keeping busy by appearing in a ‘worked’ professional wrestling bout in Japan. Facing the Brazilian giant Ricardo Morais (all 6’10” of him) James ‘won’ the match with a KO. Thompson’s trainer confirmed the appearance in the fixed match one week prior to the event, saying they were keen to keep James busy prior to his fight on NYE. James will enjoy a short holiday after the pro wrestling match, before travelling to the US for one month of training prior to his fight in Pride. 

BRAZIL

Kazuhiro Nakamura polishing his game in Brazil again

This year Yoshida Dojo representative and Japanese star Kazuhiro Nakamura is once again training in Brazil for an upcoming match against Yuki Kondo. The fight will take place on Pride’s New Year’s Eve Saitama Super Arena show. This is the third chance that Nakamura has had to train with Nova União’s fighters on his ground game and striking skills with Pedro Rizzo. After two 1/2 hour training sessions with Nakamura experts such as Vitor ‘Shaolin’ Ribeiro and Jose Aldo Jr, we had a chance to get some statements from Andre Pederneiras and Shaolin about their impressions of Nakamura and his third trip to Brazil.

”This is my first chance to train with him,” said Shaolin. “He’s a nice guy and this was an excellent opportunity to work with him because Nakamura is a top fighter from Pride and it brings us the impression that our academy is well-known outside of Brazil. Even though we have a lot of lightweight fighters, Nakamura came here and joined in with our training routine. If anyone from any weight class comes here to train, he’ll also feel our high-level training. We’re exchanging experiences with Nakamura and hope that he beats Kondo on New Year’s Eve. He’s searching for techniques such as arm triangles and triangle holds to change his game. He’s a little heavy and it sometimes slows him down, but at the same time he is very strong. By December 31 he will be in perfect shape and have a high-level of skill.”

Andre Pederneiras, head coach at Nova União, said, “He’s always developing his game. When he started to come to Rio de Janeiro to train he stayed under our supervision here in Nova União. You see that the Japanese fighters are looking to improve their techniques by adding Brazilian techniques. The Japanese fighters are good. They train and study a lot, so you can be sure that their game is being polished perfectly here. He trains twice a day with the best fighters here at Nova União and the Ruas Vale Tudo gym. The first two times he came here he tested some new striking techniques. This time he’s focusing more on his ground game because it’s where I think the fight against Kondo will go.” 

About Nova União fighters going into Pride, Shaolin has this to say: “We already showed that our team deserves a place in the Pride ring. I think that the politics haven’t given us a chance. However, once one of us goes to the Pride ring, other fighters will have a chance as well. We just need the opportunity. It doesn’t matter if it is Thalles Leite, Jose Aldo Jr or myself. If the opportunity appears, we’ll grab it with four arms, even if we only have two!”

I think that the politics haven’t given us a chance. However, once one of us goes to the Pride ring, other fighters will have a chance as well. We just need the opportunity. It doesn’t matter if it is Thalles Leite, Jose Aldo Jr, or myself. If the opportunity appears, we’ll grab it with four arms, even if we only have two!”

Rogerio ‘Minotoro’ Nogueira wins an amateur boxing competition

The smaller of the Nogueira twins, Rogerio ‘Minotoro’, won the regional trials of the Brazilian Olympic Boxing Championship, fighting in the super-heavyweight division. Minotoro defeated Eliomar Conceicão in the Trials, which were held in his home state, Bahia, on November 20. With this victory Minotoro will be the Bahia super-heavyweight representative in the national Brazilian tournament. 

Gracie Barra’s Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral competes in a BJJ event

If you had read this topic a few years ago you’d have called me crazy, as Babalu was always seen as one fighter who would never wear a gi. Well, things have changed and now Babalu, for the first time in his life, has taken part in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) competition Brasileiro de Equipes 2005, which was held on October 30. He fought in the heavyweight black belt and only just lost his semi-final fight by one advantage. This is an impressive achievement for Babalu, as to come from a wrestling background and fight wearing a gi in such a tough division is no easy job! 

Congratulations Babalu. 

Johil de Oliveira leaves the Budokan 

Luta-Livre Team

Cage Rage 9 veteran Johil de Oliveira has split with João Ricardo from the Budokan Luta-Livre Team. After many years there, Johil has decided to begin his own team — the Johil Team. Many see the partially-sighted fighter’s plans to leave and establish a new team as risky.  

Shooto Brazil returns in December 3rd

Shooto Brazil is moving into its third edition this year with a show on December 3, in São Jose dos Pinhais, a city 15km from the Chute Boxe home town of Curitiba. The event will feature three B- Class fights, four A-Class fights and three super fights. Alexandre ‘Pequeno’ Nogueira’s brother Leonardo Nogueira will make his debut at A-Class, facing the toughest challenge of his short Mixed Martial Arts career against the Gracie Barra Combat Team fighter Aloisio Barros.  

FRANCE

CFC 6 - Team CFC vs. Team France

On December 4 six French fighters, lead by Frederic Fernandez and members of the French Top Team (FTT), will take on six fighters from Team CFC at the Cage Fighting Championships in Liverpool. Alongside Fred will be Team Fernandez and FTT team-mate Emmanuel Gaey (who makes his return to CFC), Bushido Academie’s Laurent Bonnafoux, Laurent Colombeau and Kamel Nacer. Last, but certainly not least, the 130+ kilogram fighter known simply as ‘Commando’ makes his long awaited Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) debut.  

Antony Réa vs. Vitor Belfort – Cage Rage 14

Although Antony Réa has a history of falling when he reaches the big hurdles, many fans believe that he has what it takes to make an impact and shoot French MMA into the worldwide spotlight. Unfortunately, every time he has faced a top opponent (Rich Franklin, Marvin Eastman) he has fallen at the last hurdle. Antony gets another chance on December 3 at Cage Rage 14, this time against Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) and Pride Veteran Vitor Belfort. A major difference between this and Antony’s other high profile fights is that this fight takes place in the UK, where Antony has an undefeated record and doesn’t have to cope with the problems of travel or jet lag. How Antony will cope with the biggest fight of his career will be of interest to many big promotions around the world, and could have a major impact on his future career prospects.

France vs. Russia – M1 Mix Fight

While the November 3 event resulted in a 5-2 loss against the Russians, not all is negative after this show. Many pundits predicted a whitewash by the Russians, and even more still picked Gregory Bouchelaghem to lose. Against all odds the middleweight fighter won a unanimous decision against UFC and Pride veteran Andrei Semenov. More shocking still, is that most of the fight took place on the feet, where the noted ground fighter Gregory was thought to be at his weakest. The other winner on the French team was Boris Jonstomp, who won by TKO when his opponent Said Khalilov was unable to continue after the second round.

Rimbon vs. Voorn – 2Hot 2Handle

Coming off a decision loss to Arman Gambaryan, FTT fighter Moise Rimbon is set to take on Bob Schreiber student Milco Voorn in Too Hot 2 Handle on December 17. Voorn has a 13-6-1 record with wins over Ulysses Castro, Rob Broughton and Dave Vader; his losses have mostly come against top fighters such as Mark Coleman, Antony Rea or Ibragim Magomedov. 

BTT France, alive and well

Despite the closure of the Brazilian Top Team (BTT) France academy in Ivry sur Seine, Roan ‘Jucão’ Carneiro and his students (including fighters Johnny Frachey and Antony Rode) have found a new academy in Paris and are actively looking for MMA fights. Jucão has been keeping busy in Europe, with wins in ‘Fight for Respect’ in Portugal and a double whammy at the Brussels International Grappling where he won the -80kg weight class and Absolute competitions. Jucão is expected to make the permanent move to France early in 2006 to run the new academy.

Snake Team riding high in Japan

Snake Team members Cyrille Diabaté and Xavier Foupa-Pokam travelled to Osaka, Japan, to fight in DEEP Real Rhythm. As was to be expected, both fighters dominated the stand up portion of their fights, impressing the crowd and the judges. Xavier showed incredible toughness when mounted and held tough to win a split decision against Kim Hamamura, while Cyrille KO’d his Korean opponent Mi Jin Nah in the first round. Xavier takes on Sol Gilbert in Cage Rage 14 on December 3. Coming off a decision loss to Arman Gambaryan, FTT fighter Moise Rimbon is set to take on Bob Schreiber student Milco Voorn in Too Hot 2 Handle on December 17. Voorn has a 13-6-1 record with wins over Ulysses Castro, Rob Broughton and Dave Vader; his losses have mostly come against top fighters such as Mark Coleman, Antony Rea or Ibragim Magomedov.