Issue 002
April 2005
MMA News: North America
At UFC 51 Tito Ortiz once again returned to the spotlight. This time with a controversial split decision win over Brazilian Vitor Belfort. Tim Sylvia failed to regain the UFC Heavyweight belt. while Andre Arlovski finally realised his potential. And long-time veteran Evan Tanner, Team Quest proved to David Terrell and everyone else why he deserved a title shot as he walked away with the UFC Middleweight strap.
The big fallout from UFC 51 was once again all about Tito Ortiz. There was controversy over the decision. There was controversy over his calling out of Chuck Liddell and Ken Shamrock. But probably the most notable controversy has come in the form of his contract demands.
Tito's fight with Belfort was the last for him on his UFC contract. Now a free agent, his management has said that they believe that Tito is worth $350,000 per fight... guaranteed. That is the money they want to sign him to a new contract. Although he is one of the most popular fighters in the UFC's history, it remains to be seen if the UFC really believes that Tito's popularity can provide a healthy return on a $350,000 investment. It's unlikely that they do.
Currently, the highest-paid fighter in the UFC is Randy Couture, who commands $150,000 guaranteed for a fight, with a $75,000 bonus if he wins. With his popularity on the rise due to the immensely successful Ultimate Fighter reality series, it would be hard for the UFC to justify paying Tito more than Couture.
Other in-ring action
The show garnering all of the attention was Mixed Fighting Championships 3: Euphoria USA vs The World' in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Quickly becoming one of the major attractions in North America, Euphoria featured a line-up of some of the top fighters in the world.
Although Joachim Hansen had to drop out due to injury, Yves Edwards still fought in the main event of the show in a rematch with Hermes França. They fought like the top lightweight fighters that they are, with Edwards eking out another split decision win just as he had done when the two fought at UFC 47.
Also at Euphoria, Jeremy Horn continued his winning ways in impressive fashion by knocking out Kazuki Okubo with body blows. The hot rumour is that Horn may now be going back to Pride to fight in this year's Middleweight Grand Prix. Team Quest standout Ryan The Lion' Schultz finished off Hiroyuki Abe in another TKO victory. On a 19-fight win streak, Travis Wiuff stayed on track for his return to the UFC with a unanimous decision win over Antoine Jaoude. Wiuff will square off with Renato 'Babalu' Sobral at UFC 52 on April 16.
The biggest news in North America recently has been the aforementioned reality series, The Ultimate Fighter. Before the series started, the UFC was hopeful that the show could draw at least a 1.0 rating. They would be very pleased if the show were to reach a 1.3 to 1.5 rating. (A rating point is basically a percentage of all the people that are watching television at that time.)
On February 26 Cleveland, Ohio played host to its first King of the Cage show. Surprisingly, the main event featured two fighters making their MMA debuts. Former NFL player Michael Westbrook ended up choking out fellow American football veteran Jarred Bunch with five seconds left in the first round. I understand King of the Cage trying to play off of the notoriety of Westbrook's football career, but it's moves like this that keep them from being recognised among the premier promotions in the world.
Two other fights of note at the King of the Cage: Payback event were Joey Villasenor vs Brendan Seguin and Jorge Gurgel vs Jay Ireland. Villasenor (16-3) continued to prove that he is ready to fight on shows like Pride and the UFC by scoring the TKO victory over Seguin. In the fight of the night, Gurgel and Ireland went back and forth before Gurgel landed the winning guillotine choke halfway through the third round.
MMA News: Brazil
It's fact! Brazil is known as a factory of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) talents and we can spread champions to MMA events around the world. However, we seem to have BIG problems when it comes to organising our own Brazilian MMA events. During January and February this year, two MMA events had similar characteristics-a total lack of divulgence, depriving fans of any type of information or enjoyment from watching a video of the events. The first happened in São Paulo on January 26 and I was unable to reach anyone who could provide any information about who fought. The second was the Octagon Fight on February 24, which was held in the north east of Brazil, but this time I did attain the full results. C'mon promoters, get organised!
DEEP 18th Impact
Roan 'Jucão' Carneiro lost to Ryo Chonan and stated: "I did think the fight didn't develop on the ground because the referee stood the action up all the time. I didn't understand why he did this, because Mishima fought his entire match [on the same show] at playing on the ground. I took Chonan down and immediately the referee put us back on our feet- it happened all the time. "I'd really like to come back to Japan because I have a lot to show there, and I want to fight at Bushido. I want to say that Chonan needs to take care because I'm hungry for a rematch under Bushido rules. I deserve it."
Full results
Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, February 12, Nobuhiro Obiyamouf defeated Yutaro Miyamoto by TKO at 4:48 of R1
Kosuto Umeda defeated Takenori Sato by TKO at 0:35 of R1
Yuya Shirai defeated Ryuhei Sato by unanimous decision after two rounds
Hiromitsu Miura defeated Hirohide Fujinuma by unanimous decision after two rounds
Taishiro defeated Jun Ishii by KO at 0:56 of R1
Satoko Shinashi vs Mari Kaneko, a draw after two rounds
Masakazu Imanari vs Yoshiro Maeda, a draw after three rounds
Dokonjonosuke Mishima defeated Tomomi Iwama by unanimous decision after three rounds
Ryo Chonan defeated Roan 'Jucão' Carneiro by TKO at 2:15 of R3.
Renato 'Babalu' Sobral at UFC 52
Renato Sobral, known as 'Babalu', signed a three-fight deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Babalu is going to face the wrestler Travis 'the Diesel Wiuff on April 22. Wiuff has become a bit of a specialist in beating Brazilian fighters. The first one was Carlos Barreto (Heat FC 2), the second Leopoldo Montenegro (Jungle Fight 2) and the last, at the MFC Euphoria USA vs World' event, was Antoine Jaoude. The Brazilian fans will root for revenge through Babalu's hands.
Another Luta Livre joins Brazilian Top Team
If you look at the Brazilian fight scene ten years ago this topic would be called insane. The rivalry between Jiu Jitsu and Luta Livre was very high and brawls on the street were usual. Nowadays, however, professionalism comes first and the rivalries have become an exchange of technique and a union between fighters from different martial arts. After the entry of Milton Vieira, Eraldo Paes and Alexandre 'Cacareco' Ferreira, the five-times Copa Budokan de Luta-Livre champion, Maicon Alarcão, joined too. "The rivalry is gone since the 90s, I'm proud to be here in BTT. They are the best and I can polish my game here. I was training just with students but here I meet the best fighters," stated Alarcão.
Shooto lightweight champion has a new team
Alexandre 'Pequeno' Franca Nogueira isn't a World Fight Centre member anymore. He didn't leave the team nor was he kicked out but one of the Muay Thai coaches of Chute Boxe, Sergio Cunha, left the team and joined forces with Pequeno at the Shooto Commission and formed a new partnership. It's called Shooto Brazil Dojo.
ATT's Gesias Cavalcanti meets Henry Matamoros
Recently, American Top Team (ATT) member and number one Shooto USA ranking Gesias Cavalcanti spent time training with the Brazilian Top Team (BTT) and visiting his parents in Brazil. Cavalcanti talked to us about his upcoming match in America, where he will face number five ranked Henry Matamoros for the Shooto Welterweight USA title on April 2. This is a very important step in Cavalcanti's career since he became an ATT member in August 2003 and he doesn't want to lose out on this chance. "I fought at Shooto Japan; that was an incredible opportunity, as I faced the former welterweight champion, Joachim Hansen [Shooto 2004 - July 16 in Korakuen Hall] and I lost to him in a tough fight. Now I'm going to be in the front of the biggest challenge of my career, fighting for the Shooto USA welterweight belt. I don't want to let this chance escape," said Cavalcanti.
Pedro Rizzo wants to kick some ass at Pride
MMA fighter Pedro Rizzo appeared on Brazilian TV to discuss his future in Pride. He stated that he was supposed to work the Saitama Super Arena show (February 20) against Fabricio Werdum, but that Werdum turned down the fight. Rizzo indicated that he didn't want to face other Brazilian fighters (he would if he had to, but they are not his preference but guarantees that he will fight in Pride in 2005. Rizzo had a message for opponents: "Don't stay in the four point position or I will soccer ball kick you."
MMA news: France
He's done it, a star is born! In France we've known for a while about Antony Rea's ability and especially his potential. Last weekend at Cage Rage he proved it, weathering the early storm and dominating Chute Boxe star Evangelista 'Cyborg' Santos with a TKO victory in the second round. Antony went into the fight knowing that Cyborg would start off hard and fast and put his strategy in place perfectly, coming back with strikes then taking down the Brazilian and putting a beating on him, Toulouse style. A match with Melvin Manhoef at Cage Rage 11 is next, for an eventual shot at Babalu's world title.
Cage Rage continue to give French fighters their shot as the Frenchies continue to impress. As well as Antony's fight with Manhoef, his training partner Kristof Midoux will take on lan Freeman in the main event, Damien Riccio will take on ex pro boxer Sol Gilbert and London's own Jess Liaudin will make a comeback against Cagewarriors champion Abdul Mohamed.
We've got the date for the UK vs France event to be held in conjunction with Cagewarriors. May 21 will see a ten-man French team, including fighters like Emmanuel Fernandez and Cyrille Diabaté, travel to the Coventry dome to take on their UK counterparts. Cagewarriors' Dougie Truman has secured this 4000-seat arena and the show promises to be the biggest ever held by a UK promoter.
After the success of the recent Pancrase French Open, Loic Pora and Fred Rado have formed the Federation for Pancrase and Associated Disciplines. Events are already planned for Paris and Biarritz in the coming months with an eventual French championship in the pipeline. Some potential pro fighters have already manifested at the smaller events and these shows should unveil some of the future stars of French MMA.
Both Jean François Lenogue and Daniel Quoniam have also run successful amateur MMA events in the last month. Under the guise of Vietnamese martial arts and Shooto respectively, both plan to continue running shows providing yet more platforms for up-and-coming fighters to test their skills.
The French Top Team (FTT) is recruiting. Following the recent announcement that Flavio Peroba, training partner of Shooto Champ Alexendra 'Pequeno' Nogueira, has joined the team. The FTT are also holding two selections. The selections will take place in Avignon in the South and in Paris during April.
Pequeno in Paris! Guillotine man Alexandre Nogueira is coming to Europe for a month or more and seminars in Paris and Belgium are already confirmed. If you're interested in hosting a seminar with arguably the most dominant Shooto champ ever, contact darragh. [email protected].
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