MMA News Thread
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Cancellations and Changes to Cage Force Tournaments
Contract difficulties and injuries have beset this weekend's Cage Force card, causing event promoter Greatest Common Multiple to radically revamp its plans for this year's featherweight and bantamweight tournaments.
Sherdog.com has confirmed that Antonio Carvalho (Pictures)'s featherweight tournament opponent, Yuji Hoshino (Pictures), has pulled out of the bout due to injury. GCM has decided to postpone their tournament encounter to June 22.
According to Carvalho, Hoshino had pulled out approximately one week prior after sustaining a rib injury during training. Since then, promoter GCM has been attempting to find the Canadian featherweight a suitable replacement for a non-tournament fight on the April 5 card.
The search hasn't been without difficulty, however, given the lateness of the change and Carvalho's "high profile" status, GCM explained Tuesday.
In addition to the rescheduling of Carvalho-Hoshino, the featherweight tournament bout pitting Armando Sanchez against Australian prospect Adrian Pang (Pictures) has also been removed from the latest lineup on GCM's Web site.
GCM said the Pang-Sanchez cancellation was a casualty of "being unable to come to an agreement for both fighters' contracts on the promoter's side." The promotion did note that in spite of the setback, it is looking forward to bringing in both fighters on future cards.
With the cancellation of the Pang-Sanchez bout in the featherweight tournament, there are only three potential semifinalists should no other tournament bout be arranged for June 22. February saw the tournament's first two semifinalists in Akiyo Nishiura (Pictures) and Takeshi Yamazaki (Pictures), who defeated Jong Man Kim by knockout and Daiki Ozaki (Pictures) by rear-naked choke, respectively.
The current bracket structure would have the winner of Carvalho-Pang face Yamazaki in the next round of the tournament, though GCM has yet to decide how it will proceed on Nishiura's side of the bracket in light of the Pang-Sanchez cancellation.
Complicating things further, this weekend's bantamweight tournament bout pitting Katsuya Toida (Pictures) against Daichi Fujiwara (Pictures) has been nixed as well.
Toida, who was looking to make his debut at bantamweight, has been sidelined by an injury sustained during training. However, his opponent, Fujiwara, will continue to participate in the event against Wajyutsu Keisyukai's Tetsu Suzuki (Pictures) in a non-tournament fight.
Suzuki is fresh off a win over Hiroyuki Tanaka (Pictures) just a week before in Shooto and should prove a challenge to Fujiwara in the grappling department, provided he can bring the fight to the canvas.
Like Carvalho-Hoshino, Fujiwara and Toida's tournament bout is tentatively rescheduled for Cage Force's June 22 event.
Last but not least, Robson Moura (Pictures) -- who was originally expected to face Takeya Mizugaki (Pictures) at an April Cage Force -- will also not be participating in this year's bantamweight tournament. With Mizugaki also catching the injury bug, GCM apparently looked to reschedule their bout to June as well, but difficulties between Moura's management and GCM have apparently caused contract negotiations to dissolve and prevent the Brazilian from participating.
GCM has yet to determine an opponent for Mizugaki in June.
The current Cage Force 06 lineup for Saturday is as follows:
Yuta Nezu (Pictures) vs. Tomoaki Ueyama
Yasutaka Shimizu vs. Kenji Ikeda
Antonio Carvalho (Pictures) vs. TBA
Daichi Fujiwara (Pictures) vs. TBA
Naoya Uematsu (Pictures) vs. James Doolan
Wataru Miki (Pictures) vs. Yoshihiro Koyama (Pictures)
Cage Force Lightweight Championship:
Tomonari Kanomata (Pictures) vs. Mizuto Hirota (Pictures)
Bantamweight Tournament:
Masahiro Oishi (Pictures) vs. Paul McVeigh (Pictures)
Taiyo Nakahara (Pictures) vs. Ryota Uozomi
Contract difficulties and injuries have beset this weekend's Cage Force card, causing event promoter Greatest Common Multiple to radically revamp its plans for this year's featherweight and bantamweight tournaments.
Sherdog.com has confirmed that Antonio Carvalho (Pictures)'s featherweight tournament opponent, Yuji Hoshino (Pictures), has pulled out of the bout due to injury. GCM has decided to postpone their tournament encounter to June 22.
According to Carvalho, Hoshino had pulled out approximately one week prior after sustaining a rib injury during training. Since then, promoter GCM has been attempting to find the Canadian featherweight a suitable replacement for a non-tournament fight on the April 5 card.
The search hasn't been without difficulty, however, given the lateness of the change and Carvalho's "high profile" status, GCM explained Tuesday.
In addition to the rescheduling of Carvalho-Hoshino, the featherweight tournament bout pitting Armando Sanchez against Australian prospect Adrian Pang (Pictures) has also been removed from the latest lineup on GCM's Web site.
GCM said the Pang-Sanchez cancellation was a casualty of "being unable to come to an agreement for both fighters' contracts on the promoter's side." The promotion did note that in spite of the setback, it is looking forward to bringing in both fighters on future cards.
With the cancellation of the Pang-Sanchez bout in the featherweight tournament, there are only three potential semifinalists should no other tournament bout be arranged for June 22. February saw the tournament's first two semifinalists in Akiyo Nishiura (Pictures) and Takeshi Yamazaki (Pictures), who defeated Jong Man Kim by knockout and Daiki Ozaki (Pictures) by rear-naked choke, respectively.
The current bracket structure would have the winner of Carvalho-Pang face Yamazaki in the next round of the tournament, though GCM has yet to decide how it will proceed on Nishiura's side of the bracket in light of the Pang-Sanchez cancellation.
Complicating things further, this weekend's bantamweight tournament bout pitting Katsuya Toida (Pictures) against Daichi Fujiwara (Pictures) has been nixed as well.
Toida, who was looking to make his debut at bantamweight, has been sidelined by an injury sustained during training. However, his opponent, Fujiwara, will continue to participate in the event against Wajyutsu Keisyukai's Tetsu Suzuki (Pictures) in a non-tournament fight.
Suzuki is fresh off a win over Hiroyuki Tanaka (Pictures) just a week before in Shooto and should prove a challenge to Fujiwara in the grappling department, provided he can bring the fight to the canvas.
Like Carvalho-Hoshino, Fujiwara and Toida's tournament bout is tentatively rescheduled for Cage Force's June 22 event.
Last but not least, Robson Moura (Pictures) -- who was originally expected to face Takeya Mizugaki (Pictures) at an April Cage Force -- will also not be participating in this year's bantamweight tournament. With Mizugaki also catching the injury bug, GCM apparently looked to reschedule their bout to June as well, but difficulties between Moura's management and GCM have apparently caused contract negotiations to dissolve and prevent the Brazilian from participating.
GCM has yet to determine an opponent for Mizugaki in June.
The current Cage Force 06 lineup for Saturday is as follows:
Yuta Nezu (Pictures) vs. Tomoaki Ueyama
Yasutaka Shimizu vs. Kenji Ikeda
Antonio Carvalho (Pictures) vs. TBA
Daichi Fujiwara (Pictures) vs. TBA
Naoya Uematsu (Pictures) vs. James Doolan
Wataru Miki (Pictures) vs. Yoshihiro Koyama (Pictures)
Cage Force Lightweight Championship:
Tomonari Kanomata (Pictures) vs. Mizuto Hirota (Pictures)
Bantamweight Tournament:
Masahiro Oishi (Pictures) vs. Paul McVeigh (Pictures)
Taiyo Nakahara (Pictures) vs. Ryota Uozomi
Strikeforce/EliteXC official salaries: Le and Shamrock share $500,000
Main event winner and new Strikeforce world middleweight champion Cung Le ($200,000) and former title-holder Frank Shamrock ($300,000) split 75 percent of the total fight purse from Saturday's Strikeforce/EliteXC main event.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today obtained the total fighter payroll from the California State Athletic Commission.
Saturday's event, which took place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., drew 15,192 attendees (14,710 paid) for a total live gate of $1,117,855.
The total disclosed payroll for the show was $667,850.
The full amounts included:
Cung Le ($200,000) def. Frank Shamrock ($300,000)
Drew Fickett ($10,000) def. Jae S. Lim ($3,000)
Gilbert Melendez ($50,000) def. Gabe Lemley ($7,000)
Wayne Cole ($10,000) def. Mike Kyle ($10,000)
Joey Villasenor ($36,000) def. Ryan Jensen ($6,000)
Billy Evangelista ($10,000) def Marlon Sims ($2,500)
Tiki Ghosn ($8,000) def. Luke Stewart ($6,000)
Darren Uyenoyama ($4,000) def. Anthony Figueroa ($2,000)
Jesse Jones ($2,150) def. Jesse Gillespie ($1,200)
"Win" bonuses went to Fickett ($5,000), Cole ($5,000), Villasenor ($18,000), Evangelista ($5,000) Ghosn ($2,000), Uyenoyama ($2,000) and Jones ($500).
Now, the usual disclaimer: the figures do not include deductions for items such as insurance, licenses and taxes. Additionally, the figures do not include money paid by sponsors, which can oftentimes be a substantial portion of a fighter's income. In other words, these are simply base salaries reported to the commission and do not represent the total amounts earned by each fighter.
Main event winner and new Strikeforce world middleweight champion Cung Le ($200,000) and former title-holder Frank Shamrock ($300,000) split 75 percent of the total fight purse from Saturday's Strikeforce/EliteXC main event.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today obtained the total fighter payroll from the California State Athletic Commission.
Saturday's event, which took place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., drew 15,192 attendees (14,710 paid) for a total live gate of $1,117,855.
The total disclosed payroll for the show was $667,850.
The full amounts included:
Cung Le ($200,000) def. Frank Shamrock ($300,000)
Drew Fickett ($10,000) def. Jae S. Lim ($3,000)
Gilbert Melendez ($50,000) def. Gabe Lemley ($7,000)
Wayne Cole ($10,000) def. Mike Kyle ($10,000)
Joey Villasenor ($36,000) def. Ryan Jensen ($6,000)
Billy Evangelista ($10,000) def Marlon Sims ($2,500)
Tiki Ghosn ($8,000) def. Luke Stewart ($6,000)
Darren Uyenoyama ($4,000) def. Anthony Figueroa ($2,000)
Jesse Jones ($2,150) def. Jesse Gillespie ($1,200)
"Win" bonuses went to Fickett ($5,000), Cole ($5,000), Villasenor ($18,000), Evangelista ($5,000) Ghosn ($2,000), Uyenoyama ($2,000) and Jones ($500).
Now, the usual disclaimer: the figures do not include deductions for items such as insurance, licenses and taxes. Additionally, the figures do not include money paid by sponsors, which can oftentimes be a substantial portion of a fighter's income. In other words, these are simply base salaries reported to the commission and do not represent the total amounts earned by each fighter.
UFC Fight Night 13 fighters make weight
All 24 fighters taking part in tomorrow's UFC Fight Night 13 event have made weight, including headliners Kenny Florian (155.5 pounds) and Joe Lauzon (156 pounds).
The weigh-ins took place at the Broomfield Event Center near Denver, Colo. The same venue hosts Wednesday's 12-fight event.
The three-hour main card of UFC Fight Night 13 airs on Spike TV beginning at 7 p.m. ET and precedes the debut episode of "The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest." Join MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) for live scoring and round-by-round updates of the preliminary and main-card fights beginning at approximately 4:45 p.m. ET tomorrow.
The full weigh-in results from today included:
MAIN CARD (TELEVISED)
Kenny Florian (155.5) vs. Joe Lauzon (156)
Thiago Alves (171) vs. Karo Parisyan (170)
Tim Boetsch (206) vs. Matt Hamill (204)
Nate Diaz (156) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (155.5)
Houston Alexander (205) vs. James Irvin (205)
Frankie Edgar (155.5) vs. Gray Maynard (155) -- swing bout
PRELIMINARY CARD (NOT TELEVISED)
Josh Neer (156) vs. Din Thomas (155)
Marcus Aurelio (154.5) vs. Ryan Roberts (155.5)
Jeff Cox (155) vs. Manny Gamburyan (155.5)
Clay Guida (156) vs. Sam Schiavo (155)
Rom Mitichyan (170.5) vs. Goerge George Sotiropoulos (169.5)
Anthony Johnson (169.5) vs. Tommy Speer (170)
All 24 fighters taking part in tomorrow's UFC Fight Night 13 event have made weight, including headliners Kenny Florian (155.5 pounds) and Joe Lauzon (156 pounds).
The weigh-ins took place at the Broomfield Event Center near Denver, Colo. The same venue hosts Wednesday's 12-fight event.
The three-hour main card of UFC Fight Night 13 airs on Spike TV beginning at 7 p.m. ET and precedes the debut episode of "The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest." Join MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) for live scoring and round-by-round updates of the preliminary and main-card fights beginning at approximately 4:45 p.m. ET tomorrow.
The full weigh-in results from today included:
MAIN CARD (TELEVISED)
Kenny Florian (155.5) vs. Joe Lauzon (156)
Thiago Alves (171) vs. Karo Parisyan (170)
Tim Boetsch (206) vs. Matt Hamill (204)
Nate Diaz (156) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (155.5)
Houston Alexander (205) vs. James Irvin (205)
Frankie Edgar (155.5) vs. Gray Maynard (155) -- swing bout
PRELIMINARY CARD (NOT TELEVISED)
Josh Neer (156) vs. Din Thomas (155)
Marcus Aurelio (154.5) vs. Ryan Roberts (155.5)
Jeff Cox (155) vs. Manny Gamburyan (155.5)
Clay Guida (156) vs. Sam Schiavo (155)
Rom Mitichyan (170.5) vs. Goerge George Sotiropoulos (169.5)
Anthony Johnson (169.5) vs. Tommy Speer (170)
Dana White won't permit Silva-Jones Jr. fight
Although preliminary discussions are underway for a boxing match between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and boxing champion Roy Jones Jr., UFC president Dana White would not permit the fight to happen if terms are reached.
White, who would have veto power over such an event because of Silva's contract with the UFC, made the comments to Dave Meltzer in the print edition of Wrestling Observer.
The potential fight has been discussed since last month's UFC 82 event, when Silva mentioned that he'd welcome the challenge.
Last month NBCSports.com quoted a Don King Productions representative who said talks were ongoing and that the 39-year-old Jones, owns a career boxing mark of 52-4 with 38 knockouts, was interested in the bout. Silva's manager, Ed Soares, also confirmed their interest in the fight to various media outlets.
However, according to Meltzer, White told Silva's camp essentially to quit talking about the fight since it won't be permitted.
The fight would have required Silva to get a boxing license because it would be an official bout, not an exhibition.
Silva owns a 1-1 career boxing record compared to a 21-4 mark (including 6-0 in the UFC) in MMA.
Jones won titles in the middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight classes before defeating John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight championship in 2003. He was named the Boxing Writers Association of America's "Fighter of the Decade" for the 1990s, and he held the WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO, NBA, WBF, and IBA light heavyweight championships at the same time.
The fight was always a longshot since the UFC stood to have its most dominant champ defeated by an aging boxer star. Additionally, there would have been the risk of injury, potentially putting the UFC's 185-pound title on hold.
However, the fight could have netted Silva and Jones millions of dollars.
Although preliminary discussions are underway for a boxing match between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and boxing champion Roy Jones Jr., UFC president Dana White would not permit the fight to happen if terms are reached.
White, who would have veto power over such an event because of Silva's contract with the UFC, made the comments to Dave Meltzer in the print edition of Wrestling Observer.
The potential fight has been discussed since last month's UFC 82 event, when Silva mentioned that he'd welcome the challenge.
Last month NBCSports.com quoted a Don King Productions representative who said talks were ongoing and that the 39-year-old Jones, owns a career boxing mark of 52-4 with 38 knockouts, was interested in the bout. Silva's manager, Ed Soares, also confirmed their interest in the fight to various media outlets.
However, according to Meltzer, White told Silva's camp essentially to quit talking about the fight since it won't be permitted.
The fight would have required Silva to get a boxing license because it would be an official bout, not an exhibition.
Silva owns a 1-1 career boxing record compared to a 21-4 mark (including 6-0 in the UFC) in MMA.
Jones won titles in the middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight classes before defeating John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight championship in 2003. He was named the Boxing Writers Association of America's "Fighter of the Decade" for the 1990s, and he held the WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO, NBA, WBF, and IBA light heavyweight championships at the same time.
The fight was always a longshot since the UFC stood to have its most dominant champ defeated by an aging boxer star. Additionally, there would have been the risk of injury, potentially putting the UFC's 185-pound title on hold.
However, the fight could have netted Silva and Jones millions of dollars.
Dana Goes Mainstream
NOTE: The following story appears to have been pulled as the original link is no longer valid, click here: http://209.85.207.104/search?q=cach...&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-afor a cached version of the page.
According to ESPN the Magazine's Ryan Hockensmith, UFC President Dana White is about to go mainstream with a feature in Rolling Stone and the cover of Men's Fitness. From Hockensmith's blog at ESPN.com:
I sat down with UFC president Dana White for lunch last week. Over the past couple years, I've spent a lot of time with the UFC president. Love him or hate him, he's never dull.
A few months ago, Rolling Stone sent a reporter to spend time with White, and got the full Dana-White-in- Vegas treatment. He's been very candid about his alcohol troubles and going sober 15 years ago, but he's also been candid about flopping off the wagon now and then. And Rolling Stone caught him in the midst of a four-month bender of drinking and over-eating.
"I was a real slob," White says.
Interestingly enough, Men's Fitness contacted him about a possible cover story and photo shoot a month ago. White was apprehensive. "Like I said, I looked like a slob," he says.
He asked for a month to prepare. Now, he says he's dropped almost 20 pounds and is set to pose for the cover—possibly shirtless. White has become militant about training and dieting. At lunch, he had some crazy meal specially delivered. I say "some crazy meal" because I have no idea what he was eating. It looked way too healthy to actually be edible.
Can't wait to see those dueling stories hit around the same time. It just shows how complicated White is. He admits he's not even sure who the real Dana White is sometimes.
NOTE: The following story appears to have been pulled as the original link is no longer valid, click here: http://209.85.207.104/search?q=cach...&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-afor a cached version of the page.
According to ESPN the Magazine's Ryan Hockensmith, UFC President Dana White is about to go mainstream with a feature in Rolling Stone and the cover of Men's Fitness. From Hockensmith's blog at ESPN.com:
I sat down with UFC president Dana White for lunch last week. Over the past couple years, I've spent a lot of time with the UFC president. Love him or hate him, he's never dull.
A few months ago, Rolling Stone sent a reporter to spend time with White, and got the full Dana-White-in- Vegas treatment. He's been very candid about his alcohol troubles and going sober 15 years ago, but he's also been candid about flopping off the wagon now and then. And Rolling Stone caught him in the midst of a four-month bender of drinking and over-eating.
"I was a real slob," White says.
Interestingly enough, Men's Fitness contacted him about a possible cover story and photo shoot a month ago. White was apprehensive. "Like I said, I looked like a slob," he says.
He asked for a month to prepare. Now, he says he's dropped almost 20 pounds and is set to pose for the cover—possibly shirtless. White has become militant about training and dieting. At lunch, he had some crazy meal specially delivered. I say "some crazy meal" because I have no idea what he was eating. It looked way too healthy to actually be edible.
Can't wait to see those dueling stories hit around the same time. It just shows how complicated White is. He admits he's not even sure who the real Dana White is sometimes.
IFL & ProElite File NT 10-Ks
The IFL and ProElite both filed NT 10-Ks in the last three days. The respective statements concerning each company's delay:
International Fight League, Inc. (the “Company”
is unable to file Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 within the prescribed time period because the Company could not complete the preparation of the required information without unreasonably effort and expense due to shortage of finance staff, changes in senior management and time delays to complete an internal control assessment.
In March 2008, ProElite, Inc. (the “Company” changed management, including the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer. This new management is gathering information to make certain decisions, which require significant judgment, relating to the Company’s financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2007. The analysis of this information could result in non-cash charges to operations that could be significant in total. However, management has not yet completed its analysis and decision making. Therefore, the Company requires additional time to file its Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2007. It is anticipated that these financial statements together with the Form 10-KSB will be filed by April 15, 2008.
The IFL and ProElite both filed NT 10-Ks in the last three days. The respective statements concerning each company's delay:
International Fight League, Inc. (the “Company”
is unable to file Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 within the prescribed time period because the Company could not complete the preparation of the required information without unreasonably effort and expense due to shortage of finance staff, changes in senior management and time delays to complete an internal control assessment.In March 2008, ProElite, Inc. (the “Company”
changed management, including the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer. This new management is gathering information to make certain decisions, which require significant judgment, relating to the Company’s financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2007. The analysis of this information could result in non-cash charges to operations that could be significant in total. However, management has not yet completed its analysis and decision making. Therefore, the Company requires additional time to file its Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2007. It is anticipated that these financial statements together with the Form 10-KSB will be filed by April 15, 2008.
Buscapé waits for Japanese at Dream
The only Brazilian to win at Dream’s lightweight GP, Luis Buscapé told TATAME about his fight and his possible opponent on next stage. "My fight was good, I was without fighting for a long time and I’m sure the event will put me to fight against a Japanese fighter", said Buscapé, that may face Tatsuya Kawajiri, Katsuhiko Nagata or Mitsuhiro Ishida at May 11th.
After his fight, Buscapé commented the polemical fight of the night, the No Contest at the two times Hero’s champion Gesias Cavalcante and Shinya Aoki. "I was at the side of the ring and the Japanese was really scared and didn’t wanted to fight. I believe that there’s no way they stay out of the GP. Gesias is the two times Hero’s champion and Aoki is idol at Jaan, they may set another fight between them", said Buscapé.
The only Brazilian to win at Dream’s lightweight GP, Luis Buscapé told TATAME about his fight and his possible opponent on next stage. "My fight was good, I was without fighting for a long time and I’m sure the event will put me to fight against a Japanese fighter", said Buscapé, that may face Tatsuya Kawajiri, Katsuhiko Nagata or Mitsuhiro Ishida at May 11th.
After his fight, Buscapé commented the polemical fight of the night, the No Contest at the two times Hero’s champion Gesias Cavalcante and Shinya Aoki. "I was at the side of the ring and the Japanese was really scared and didn’t wanted to fight. I believe that there’s no way they stay out of the GP. Gesias is the two times Hero’s champion and Aoki is idol at Jaan, they may set another fight between them", said Buscapé.
YSA & KRAZY BEE Opening Reception
Father of KID Yamamoto opens his sports gym, "Yamamoto Sports Academy"(YSA). Miyu Yamamoto, Seiko Yamamoto as well as Kid cooperate with YSA. YSA has 3 different courses which are Fitness, Childrens, and Professional Training. KID represents Professional Training course, "KRAZY BEE". Also, YSA is assigned as a place children can run into whenever they are in danger and need help by the city.
Before officially opening on April 1st, YSA had a reception for the press. At first, Ikuei Yamamoto,who is KID's father and an Munchen Olympian, said YSA has facilities needed for everyone to enjoy workouts and to have intensive training. I will put all my knowledge to raise top level athletes. Next, KID said, my dad took care of my food, training and treatment whenever needed, then I could be a strong enough to defeat wrestlers who are 2 classes heavier than me. I would like to be stronger and prove what my dad does works great. YSA had an amateur fight, KRAXY BEE vs AACC. KID showed his wrestling sparring with his nephew.
After the reception, KID talked about Kotetsu Boku and his next fight.
"He should do all he could do in his fight and it's not acceptable to have a fight to regret later."
"I don't know when my next fight is yet, but I'm sure I fight in DREAM and I hope I can fight in Jun or July."
"At first, I want DREAM to have a lighter weight class than the light weight class. 63 to 64 kg is ideal. "
"I want to give my full support to raise good amateur wrestlers. I want to have events regularly and create something new and unique from here."
"I was brought up by people in my gym for long time. It's time for me to repay for what I got in the ring before by raising young people.
Father of KID Yamamoto opens his sports gym, "Yamamoto Sports Academy"(YSA). Miyu Yamamoto, Seiko Yamamoto as well as Kid cooperate with YSA. YSA has 3 different courses which are Fitness, Childrens, and Professional Training. KID represents Professional Training course, "KRAZY BEE". Also, YSA is assigned as a place children can run into whenever they are in danger and need help by the city.
Before officially opening on April 1st, YSA had a reception for the press. At first, Ikuei Yamamoto,who is KID's father and an Munchen Olympian, said YSA has facilities needed for everyone to enjoy workouts and to have intensive training. I will put all my knowledge to raise top level athletes. Next, KID said, my dad took care of my food, training and treatment whenever needed, then I could be a strong enough to defeat wrestlers who are 2 classes heavier than me. I would like to be stronger and prove what my dad does works great. YSA had an amateur fight, KRAXY BEE vs AACC. KID showed his wrestling sparring with his nephew.
After the reception, KID talked about Kotetsu Boku and his next fight.
"He should do all he could do in his fight and it's not acceptable to have a fight to regret later."
"I don't know when my next fight is yet, but I'm sure I fight in DREAM and I hope I can fight in Jun or July."
"At first, I want DREAM to have a lighter weight class than the light weight class. 63 to 64 kg is ideal. "
"I want to give my full support to raise good amateur wrestlers. I want to have events regularly and create something new and unique from here."
"I was brought up by people in my gym for long time. It's time for me to repay for what I got in the ring before by raising young people.
Interview with undefeated UFC Lightweight contender Frank Edgar
Tim Ngo: This is Tim Ngo from 5thRound.com speaking with Frankie Edgar. The last time we spoke, you mentioned that Takanori Gomi was one of the best in the world, then it was rumored that you offered yourself up to be Gomi’s first opponent in the UFC. Can you tell us what happened?
Frank Edgar: Well actually, you know there were rumors going around that he was my next opponent. I knew it wasn’t true because the UFC didn’t say anything to me. I didn’t think that he was signed to the UFC, but I told my manager Steve Rivera to inquire about Gomi to see if he was available to fight. Like I thought, he wasn’t even signed to the UFC so nothing ever amassed
TN: Now that Gomi’s in World Victory Road, your focus shifts to Gray Maynard from the Xtreme Couture camp. How do you break down his fighting style?
FE: You know, Gray’s tough dude. He’s a hell of a wrestler, I think our styles are pretty similar you know? So it’s going to be an exciting fight for me, definitely different and I’m going to approach it a little differently than my last ones.
TN: It’s well known that wrestling is one of Gray’s strengths, are you going to test how good he is at wrestling, or are you going to keep it standing?
FE: You know, I don’t know man. I guess I know I don’t need to test his wrestling, I know it’s good. I don’t know how it’s going to go to tell you the truth, I’m sure he wants to stand a little bit I want to stand a little bit. I’m sure it’ll hit the mat some too so I’m expecting it to go everywhere.
TN: Do you think there’s any advice that Tyson Griffin can actually give Gray that would affect your chances in winning?
FE: Nah no more than anybody can give him you know what I’m saying? I think I’m a different fighter now, it’s been more than a year since I fought Tyson. I’m sure he’ll give him some pointers but I don’t know. I’m pretty simple, I don’t think there’s too many secrets anybody can give about me [laughs].
TN: How important do you think a fighter’s record is to their success? I mean if you look at Randy Couture, his record isn’t one of the most impressive records if you look at it from top to bottom but he’s considered one of the best of all time. Is your record something you take a lot into account?
FE: Yeah I mean I guess it kind of goes hand in hand you know. I don’t want to lose so of course I want to have an undefeated record just because I don’t want to lose but if losses come, they come. You just have to deal with them as they come.
TN: If you had to pick right now, what would you be more afraid of your first loss or just losing in general?
FE: Uh losing in general man, you know you can’t really sit there and worry about the first one. You just have to worry about training for your fights and approaching your fights and trying to get the W’s. You know sometimes people say it’s inevitable but I’m trying to push it back as far as I can [laughs].
TN: When you’re fighting on a stacked card like the one that you are on April 2nd, do you ever actually watch the fights before yours? Or are you completely focused on your own fight?
FE: Yeah I’m pretty focused on my fight. I just stay in the back until my fight. You know you can’t really focus too well when you’re watching other fights. So I pretty much just hang out in the back and get mentally prepared and ready to go, after my fight I can relax and enjoy some of the other fights.
TN: What about the main event fight on your card, which is the Kenny Florian/Joe Lauzon match-up?
FE: It’s a toss-up. If I’m going to have to pick someone I guess I’ll go with Florian just cause of experience but Lauzon’s best bet is to get Florian on his back you know. Lauzon has pretty good top position so we’ll see if he can do that. If he can do that, that’s his best bet. If not, I mean I guess it’ll go Florian’s way a little easier.
TN: Who do you think wins between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard?
FE: Uh you know I gotta go with the kid from Jersey [laughs].
TN: Alright cool [laughs], any final things you want to say before we let you go?
FE: Nah, just don’t forget to tune in on April 2nd.
TN: One last thing Frankie, I need you to do us a favor on 5thRound.com. We got a bad streak that we want to break. We’re 0-2 when interviewing fighters before an upcoming fight. Is there anyway that you can break this streak for us?
FE: Hey I’ll do my best [laughs]. I’ll do my best.
Tim Ngo: This is Tim Ngo from 5thRound.com speaking with Frankie Edgar. The last time we spoke, you mentioned that Takanori Gomi was one of the best in the world, then it was rumored that you offered yourself up to be Gomi’s first opponent in the UFC. Can you tell us what happened?
Frank Edgar: Well actually, you know there were rumors going around that he was my next opponent. I knew it wasn’t true because the UFC didn’t say anything to me. I didn’t think that he was signed to the UFC, but I told my manager Steve Rivera to inquire about Gomi to see if he was available to fight. Like I thought, he wasn’t even signed to the UFC so nothing ever amassed
TN: Now that Gomi’s in World Victory Road, your focus shifts to Gray Maynard from the Xtreme Couture camp. How do you break down his fighting style?
FE: You know, Gray’s tough dude. He’s a hell of a wrestler, I think our styles are pretty similar you know? So it’s going to be an exciting fight for me, definitely different and I’m going to approach it a little differently than my last ones.
TN: It’s well known that wrestling is one of Gray’s strengths, are you going to test how good he is at wrestling, or are you going to keep it standing?
FE: You know, I don’t know man. I guess I know I don’t need to test his wrestling, I know it’s good. I don’t know how it’s going to go to tell you the truth, I’m sure he wants to stand a little bit I want to stand a little bit. I’m sure it’ll hit the mat some too so I’m expecting it to go everywhere.
TN: Do you think there’s any advice that Tyson Griffin can actually give Gray that would affect your chances in winning?
FE: Nah no more than anybody can give him you know what I’m saying? I think I’m a different fighter now, it’s been more than a year since I fought Tyson. I’m sure he’ll give him some pointers but I don’t know. I’m pretty simple, I don’t think there’s too many secrets anybody can give about me [laughs].
TN: How important do you think a fighter’s record is to their success? I mean if you look at Randy Couture, his record isn’t one of the most impressive records if you look at it from top to bottom but he’s considered one of the best of all time. Is your record something you take a lot into account?
FE: Yeah I mean I guess it kind of goes hand in hand you know. I don’t want to lose so of course I want to have an undefeated record just because I don’t want to lose but if losses come, they come. You just have to deal with them as they come.
TN: If you had to pick right now, what would you be more afraid of your first loss or just losing in general?
FE: Uh losing in general man, you know you can’t really sit there and worry about the first one. You just have to worry about training for your fights and approaching your fights and trying to get the W’s. You know sometimes people say it’s inevitable but I’m trying to push it back as far as I can [laughs].
TN: When you’re fighting on a stacked card like the one that you are on April 2nd, do you ever actually watch the fights before yours? Or are you completely focused on your own fight?
FE: Yeah I’m pretty focused on my fight. I just stay in the back until my fight. You know you can’t really focus too well when you’re watching other fights. So I pretty much just hang out in the back and get mentally prepared and ready to go, after my fight I can relax and enjoy some of the other fights.
TN: What about the main event fight on your card, which is the Kenny Florian/Joe Lauzon match-up?
FE: It’s a toss-up. If I’m going to have to pick someone I guess I’ll go with Florian just cause of experience but Lauzon’s best bet is to get Florian on his back you know. Lauzon has pretty good top position so we’ll see if he can do that. If he can do that, that’s his best bet. If not, I mean I guess it’ll go Florian’s way a little easier.
TN: Who do you think wins between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard?
FE: Uh you know I gotta go with the kid from Jersey [laughs].
TN: Alright cool [laughs], any final things you want to say before we let you go?
FE: Nah, just don’t forget to tune in on April 2nd.
TN: One last thing Frankie, I need you to do us a favor on 5thRound.com. We got a bad streak that we want to break. We’re 0-2 when interviewing fighters before an upcoming fight. Is there anyway that you can break this streak for us?
FE: Hey I’ll do my best [laughs]. I’ll do my best.
IFL Fighter Jamal Patterson Featured in the NY Times
This is a major breakthrough for media coverage of the sport. The nation's top newspaper, which really does set the tone for the rest of the corporate media has written a very evenhanded piece on Jamal Patterson of the IFL. Patterson is challenging Vladimir Matyushenko for the IFL 205lb belt this weekend.
The piece focuses on Patterson's life as a part-time MMA fighter, part-time corporate worker.
There were two weeks left to train and 14 of his 219 pounds left to cut before the mixed martial arts match of his life, billed as New Blood, New Battles, on Friday at the Izod Center in East Rutherford. Patterson is scheduled to fight Vladimir Matyushenko, the light heavyweight champion of the International Fight League who is known as the Janitor. In preparation, Patterson was squeezing in workouts between his sales calls.
"They have this bloodlust for seeing people get knocked out here in America," Martin Rooney, one of his trainers, said. "But they don't see the guy behind the fighter is somebody who's trained to do this as his job -- almost somebody like you and me."
That is, if you spend your days selling orthodontic supplies and your nights engaging in hand-to-hand combat. The event's promoters had taken to calling Patterson the Suit, a nickname that made for a handy gimmick on the undercard, a blue- and white-collar showdown, the Janitor versus the Suit.
But in truth Patterson is not such an oddity. Generations of boxers labored as night watchmen or warehouse hands or bookmakers' enforcers. Mixed martial arts leagues have found some competitors in more rarefied quarters.
"M.M.A. guys are usually collegiate wrestlers, so they have better day jobs," said Mike Smith, a boxing trainer to Patterson and other mixed martial arts fighters at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn.
And all but the name-brand fighters of the most popular league in the United States, Ultimate Fighting Championship, will most likely depend on those day jobs for some time. International Fight League, one of several upstarts, posted a $9.6 million loss in its most recent annual report. Citing its team structure, the league promised investors "a substantial competitive advantage in that our organization is not dependent on a single athlete's success."
For Patterson, who tries to fight four or five times a year, the title shot promised an $8,000 appearance fee and another $8,000 if he wins. He has no illusions about quitting his day job.
This is a major breakthrough for media coverage of the sport. The nation's top newspaper, which really does set the tone for the rest of the corporate media has written a very evenhanded piece on Jamal Patterson of the IFL. Patterson is challenging Vladimir Matyushenko for the IFL 205lb belt this weekend.
The piece focuses on Patterson's life as a part-time MMA fighter, part-time corporate worker.
There were two weeks left to train and 14 of his 219 pounds left to cut before the mixed martial arts match of his life, billed as New Blood, New Battles, on Friday at the Izod Center in East Rutherford. Patterson is scheduled to fight Vladimir Matyushenko, the light heavyweight champion of the International Fight League who is known as the Janitor. In preparation, Patterson was squeezing in workouts between his sales calls.
"They have this bloodlust for seeing people get knocked out here in America," Martin Rooney, one of his trainers, said. "But they don't see the guy behind the fighter is somebody who's trained to do this as his job -- almost somebody like you and me."
That is, if you spend your days selling orthodontic supplies and your nights engaging in hand-to-hand combat. The event's promoters had taken to calling Patterson the Suit, a nickname that made for a handy gimmick on the undercard, a blue- and white-collar showdown, the Janitor versus the Suit.
But in truth Patterson is not such an oddity. Generations of boxers labored as night watchmen or warehouse hands or bookmakers' enforcers. Mixed martial arts leagues have found some competitors in more rarefied quarters.
"M.M.A. guys are usually collegiate wrestlers, so they have better day jobs," said Mike Smith, a boxing trainer to Patterson and other mixed martial arts fighters at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn.
And all but the name-brand fighters of the most popular league in the United States, Ultimate Fighting Championship, will most likely depend on those day jobs for some time. International Fight League, one of several upstarts, posted a $9.6 million loss in its most recent annual report. Citing its team structure, the league promised investors "a substantial competitive advantage in that our organization is not dependent on a single athlete's success."
For Patterson, who tries to fight four or five times a year, the title shot promised an $8,000 appearance fee and another $8,000 if he wins. He has no illusions about quitting his day job.
MMAWEEKLY WORLD MMA RANKINGS UPDATED
The latest MMAWeekly World MMA Rankings were released on Wednesday, April 2. This system ranks the Top 10 MMA fighters from all across the world in each of the six most widely accepted weight classes, as voted on by MMAWeekly.
We take into consideration a fighter's performance in addition to his win-loss record, head-to-head and common opponents, difficulty of opponents, and numerous other factors in what is the most comprehensive rankings system in the sport.
Fighters who are currently serving drug-related suspensions are not eligible for Top 10 consideration until they have fought one time after the completion of their suspension.
Fighters must also have competed within the past 12 months in order to be eligible for Top 10 consideration.
Below are the current MMAWeekly World MMA Rankings, which are up-to-date as of April 2.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (over 205 pounds)
#1 Heavyweight Fighter in the World: Fedor Emelianenko
2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
3. Randy Couture
4. Josh Barnett
5. Tim Sylvia
6. Andrei Arlovski
7. Fabricio Werdum
8. Gabriel Gonzaga
9. Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic
10. Aleksander Emelianenko
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (205-pound limit)
#1 Light Heavyweight Fighter in the World: Quinton Jackson
2. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
3. Chuck Liddell
4. Lyoto Machida
5. Keith Jardine
6. Forrest Griffin
7. Wanderlei Silva
8. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
9. Ricardo Arona
10. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION (185-pound limit)
#1 Middleweight Fighter in the World: Anderson Silva
2. Paulo Filho
3. Rich Franklin
4. Denis Kang
5. Robbie Lawler
6. Nathan Marquardt
7. Kazuo Misaki
8. Yushin Okami
9. Dan Henderson
10. Frank Trigg
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION (170-pound limit)
#1 Welterweight Fighter in the World: Georges St. Pierre
2. Matt Serra
3. Jon Fitch
4. Matt Hughes
5. Josh Koscheck
6. Karo Parisyan
7. Jake Shields
8. Diego Sanchez
9. Carlos Condit
10. Marcus Davis
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION (160-pound limit)
#1 Lightweight Fighter in the World: Takanori Gomi
2. Tatsuya Kawajiri
3. Shinya Aoki
4. Gesias "JZ" Calvancante
5. Mitsuhiro Ishida
6. Gilbert Melendez
7. B.J. Penn
8. Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro
9. Joe Stevenson
10. Joachim Hansen
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION (145 pounds and under)
#1 Featherweight Fighter in the World: Urijah Faber
2. "Lion" Takeshi Inoue
3. Akitoshi Tamura
4. Antonio Carvalho
5. Hideki Kadowaki
6. Masakazu Imanari
7. Hatsu Hioki
8. Jeff Curran
9. Rafael Assuncao
10. Wagnney Fabiano
The latest MMAWeekly World MMA Rankings were released on Wednesday, April 2. This system ranks the Top 10 MMA fighters from all across the world in each of the six most widely accepted weight classes, as voted on by MMAWeekly.
We take into consideration a fighter's performance in addition to his win-loss record, head-to-head and common opponents, difficulty of opponents, and numerous other factors in what is the most comprehensive rankings system in the sport.
Fighters who are currently serving drug-related suspensions are not eligible for Top 10 consideration until they have fought one time after the completion of their suspension.
Fighters must also have competed within the past 12 months in order to be eligible for Top 10 consideration.
Below are the current MMAWeekly World MMA Rankings, which are up-to-date as of April 2.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (over 205 pounds)
#1 Heavyweight Fighter in the World: Fedor Emelianenko
2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
3. Randy Couture
4. Josh Barnett
5. Tim Sylvia
6. Andrei Arlovski
7. Fabricio Werdum
8. Gabriel Gonzaga
9. Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic
10. Aleksander Emelianenko
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (205-pound limit)
#1 Light Heavyweight Fighter in the World: Quinton Jackson
2. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
3. Chuck Liddell
4. Lyoto Machida
5. Keith Jardine
6. Forrest Griffin
7. Wanderlei Silva
8. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
9. Ricardo Arona
10. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION (185-pound limit)
#1 Middleweight Fighter in the World: Anderson Silva
2. Paulo Filho
3. Rich Franklin
4. Denis Kang
5. Robbie Lawler
6. Nathan Marquardt
7. Kazuo Misaki
8. Yushin Okami
9. Dan Henderson
10. Frank Trigg
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION (170-pound limit)
#1 Welterweight Fighter in the World: Georges St. Pierre
2. Matt Serra
3. Jon Fitch
4. Matt Hughes
5. Josh Koscheck
6. Karo Parisyan
7. Jake Shields
8. Diego Sanchez
9. Carlos Condit
10. Marcus Davis
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION (160-pound limit)
#1 Lightweight Fighter in the World: Takanori Gomi
2. Tatsuya Kawajiri
3. Shinya Aoki
4. Gesias "JZ" Calvancante
5. Mitsuhiro Ishida
6. Gilbert Melendez
7. B.J. Penn
8. Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro
9. Joe Stevenson
10. Joachim Hansen
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION (145 pounds and under)
#1 Featherweight Fighter in the World: Urijah Faber
2. "Lion" Takeshi Inoue
3. Akitoshi Tamura
4. Antonio Carvalho
5. Hideki Kadowaki
6. Masakazu Imanari
7. Hatsu Hioki
8. Jeff Curran
9. Rafael Assuncao
10. Wagnney Fabiano
KARO PARISYAN EXPECTING FIREWORKS IN COLORADO
Karo Parisyan’s quest for the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title has been a long one. In the last two years, “The Heat” has dispatched many quality opponents including a victory over current champion Matt Serra. Only one blemish stands out in his last seven fights, a very close decision loss to Diego Sanchez.
“I’m going to get my title shot some day,” Parisyan told MMAWeekly.com. “It’s just a matter of time. Right now I’m only worried about Thiago.”
The opponent he is referring to is Thiago Alves. At UFC Fight Night 13, Parisyan will take on the tough Brazilian from American Top Team. A big win over Alves would add another credible name to his list of victories and could put Parisyan into title contention.
“He’s got very good standup; very good kicks,” commented the 25-year-old fighter. “I want to say he’s one dimensional, but he’s not; compared to me, he’s more one dimensional than I am. I got to keep my hands up and go.
“He’s going to try and stand up with me and I’m going to try and take him on the ground. If I have to stand with him, I will. I train to be comfortable in every aspect of the fight.”
Fans have clamored at the prospect of seeing a showdown between Karo Parisyan and Jon Fitch. Both fighters have been dominant in the division and it seemed like a matter of time before the two would meet. Fitch has openly asked for a fight with Parisyan, but a meeting between the two has yet to materialize.
“This is like a stupid soap opera. People challenge people every day,” said Parisyan with a sense of frustration. “I have a lot of respect for Jon Fitch as a fighter. He seems like a very humble guy. The deal is, I’ve never been offered to fight Jon Fitch. It’s absurd to think that I would ever back out of a fight, especially against a guy like Jon Fitch. Why would I do that? I would love to fight Jon Fitch.”
UFC Fight Night 13 marks the return of the promotion to Colorado for the first time since 1995. The very first UFC was held in Denver. Some fighters in the past experienced some difficulties fighting at a higher altitude. Parisyan, however, seemed unfazed.
“If you’re in shape, you’re in shape. If it’s going to be hard for me, it’s going to be hard for Thiago too. We’ll see,” responded the six-time Judo Jr. National Champion.
“Thiago has beaten so many good guys. There’s no way that someone can say that Thiago will be an easy fight. Thiago is a very, very tough opponent. If everything goes well and I beat Thiago, then I can face Fitch, rematch St. Pierre and Serra.”
The road to the welterweight crown may be a long one for Karo Parisyan, but he is determined to move one step closer to title contention with a big victory this Wednesday.
“Expect fireworks.”
Karo Parisyan’s quest for the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title has been a long one. In the last two years, “The Heat” has dispatched many quality opponents including a victory over current champion Matt Serra. Only one blemish stands out in his last seven fights, a very close decision loss to Diego Sanchez.
“I’m going to get my title shot some day,” Parisyan told MMAWeekly.com. “It’s just a matter of time. Right now I’m only worried about Thiago.”
The opponent he is referring to is Thiago Alves. At UFC Fight Night 13, Parisyan will take on the tough Brazilian from American Top Team. A big win over Alves would add another credible name to his list of victories and could put Parisyan into title contention.
“He’s got very good standup; very good kicks,” commented the 25-year-old fighter. “I want to say he’s one dimensional, but he’s not; compared to me, he’s more one dimensional than I am. I got to keep my hands up and go.
“He’s going to try and stand up with me and I’m going to try and take him on the ground. If I have to stand with him, I will. I train to be comfortable in every aspect of the fight.”
Fans have clamored at the prospect of seeing a showdown between Karo Parisyan and Jon Fitch. Both fighters have been dominant in the division and it seemed like a matter of time before the two would meet. Fitch has openly asked for a fight with Parisyan, but a meeting between the two has yet to materialize.
“This is like a stupid soap opera. People challenge people every day,” said Parisyan with a sense of frustration. “I have a lot of respect for Jon Fitch as a fighter. He seems like a very humble guy. The deal is, I’ve never been offered to fight Jon Fitch. It’s absurd to think that I would ever back out of a fight, especially against a guy like Jon Fitch. Why would I do that? I would love to fight Jon Fitch.”
UFC Fight Night 13 marks the return of the promotion to Colorado for the first time since 1995. The very first UFC was held in Denver. Some fighters in the past experienced some difficulties fighting at a higher altitude. Parisyan, however, seemed unfazed.
“If you’re in shape, you’re in shape. If it’s going to be hard for me, it’s going to be hard for Thiago too. We’ll see,” responded the six-time Judo Jr. National Champion.
“Thiago has beaten so many good guys. There’s no way that someone can say that Thiago will be an easy fight. Thiago is a very, very tough opponent. If everything goes well and I beat Thiago, then I can face Fitch, rematch St. Pierre and Serra.”
The road to the welterweight crown may be a long one for Karo Parisyan, but he is determined to move one step closer to title contention with a big victory this Wednesday.
“Expect fireworks.”
Exclusive Pre-Fight Interview With Manny Gamburyan
By Jason Perkins | April 02, 2008
Manny Gamburyan is one of the most exciting young fighters in the UFC. He recently fought his way to the finals of TUF 5 where he lost via medical disqualification to Nate Diaz after suffering a dislocated shoulder. Gamburyan made a successful comeback with a first round stoppage of Nate Mohr just six months later and now finds himself facing Jeff Cox at The Ultimate Fight Night 13 in Denver, Co. Gamburyan was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule, just a day before his fight, to discuss his opponent, his rift with Nate Diaz and his future.
Fightline.com: There have been rumors floating around about a possible rift between you and your cousin Karo Parisyan. Are there any truth to those rumors?
Gamburyan: That's just people talking. We're training together right now. He's actually right there [points].
Fightline.com: How are you feeling on the eve of this fight?
Gamburyan: I feel great man. I worked out really hard...like I never worked out before. I never take any one easy so every time I fight I just want to come out here and do my thing. I don't care what people say. People used to say, 'Your to small for this weight'. I just want to prove everyone wrong you know. I'm not small. I'm just going to go out there and do my thing. That's all.
Fightline.com: Everyone knows about the "loss" you suffered via medical DQ to Nate Diaz. How are you planning to recover from that setback?
Gamburyan: All I got to do is just take every fight one at a time. I don't want to jump any fights or put anyone down. My next opponent is Jeff Cox. I'm just gonna try to whip his ass, you know and move on and then next is Diaz; not to prove anything it's just a continuation. I'm going to continue where I left off.
Fightline.com: What have you improved about your game since the last time we saw you?
Gamburyan: I've improved a lot on my stand up, my wrestling. I wrestled a lot with world class wrestlers. I do a lot of judo with my training partners; there all a lot of tough guys so I'm ready to fight.
Fightline.com: How's the shoulder?
Gamburyan: The shoulder's getting better. Hopefully it's not going to give me any problems. Anything could happen. I took a chance, rehabbed it, but I feel comfortable with it. The doctors told me I had the choice to rehab it or get the surgery. The doctor said, 'Manny, if you take that chance if you do the rehab it's gonna take a while. But, if you do the surgery it's gonna be six to nine months.' I thought I had a great year in 2007, I had a great fighting year. I went to the finals. I was fighting for the finale, unfortunately I popped my shoulder out. When Joe Silva (UFC Matchmaker) called me he asked 'Manny, are you ready to go for next year. And I said, 'Why not this year.' So he called me and told me he was going to put me on the New Year's show.
http://www.fightline.com/news/2008/42/manny_gamburyan_320721.shtml
By Jason Perkins | April 02, 2008
Manny Gamburyan is one of the most exciting young fighters in the UFC. He recently fought his way to the finals of TUF 5 where he lost via medical disqualification to Nate Diaz after suffering a dislocated shoulder. Gamburyan made a successful comeback with a first round stoppage of Nate Mohr just six months later and now finds himself facing Jeff Cox at The Ultimate Fight Night 13 in Denver, Co. Gamburyan was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule, just a day before his fight, to discuss his opponent, his rift with Nate Diaz and his future.
Fightline.com: There have been rumors floating around about a possible rift between you and your cousin Karo Parisyan. Are there any truth to those rumors?
Gamburyan: That's just people talking. We're training together right now. He's actually right there [points].
Fightline.com: How are you feeling on the eve of this fight?
Gamburyan: I feel great man. I worked out really hard...like I never worked out before. I never take any one easy so every time I fight I just want to come out here and do my thing. I don't care what people say. People used to say, 'Your to small for this weight'. I just want to prove everyone wrong you know. I'm not small. I'm just going to go out there and do my thing. That's all.
Fightline.com: Everyone knows about the "loss" you suffered via medical DQ to Nate Diaz. How are you planning to recover from that setback?
Gamburyan: All I got to do is just take every fight one at a time. I don't want to jump any fights or put anyone down. My next opponent is Jeff Cox. I'm just gonna try to whip his ass, you know and move on and then next is Diaz; not to prove anything it's just a continuation. I'm going to continue where I left off.
Fightline.com: What have you improved about your game since the last time we saw you?
Gamburyan: I've improved a lot on my stand up, my wrestling. I wrestled a lot with world class wrestlers. I do a lot of judo with my training partners; there all a lot of tough guys so I'm ready to fight.
Fightline.com: How's the shoulder?
Gamburyan: The shoulder's getting better. Hopefully it's not going to give me any problems. Anything could happen. I took a chance, rehabbed it, but I feel comfortable with it. The doctors told me I had the choice to rehab it or get the surgery. The doctor said, 'Manny, if you take that chance if you do the rehab it's gonna take a while. But, if you do the surgery it's gonna be six to nine months.' I thought I had a great year in 2007, I had a great fighting year. I went to the finals. I was fighting for the finale, unfortunately I popped my shoulder out. When Joe Silva (UFC Matchmaker) called me he asked 'Manny, are you ready to go for next year. And I said, 'Why not this year.' So he called me and told me he was going to put me on the New Year's show.
http://www.fightline.com/news/2008/42/manny_gamburyan_320721.shtml
Din Thomas on knee injury, UFC Fight Night 13 bout
by John Morgan [john-morgan] on Apr 02, 2008 at 10:20 am in - News
With tonight's UFC Fight Night 13 card stacked with developing talent, the undercard bout featuring UFC veterans Din "Dinyero" Thomas (20-7 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and Josh "The Dentist" Neer (23-6-1 MMA, 2-3 UFC) has garnered relatively little attention. That's OK with Thomas, who plans to put on a good show in front of the Broomfield, Colo. crowd regardless of pre-fight build-up.
Thomas discussed the match-up while a guest on Monday's edition of TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com), a content partner of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
"It's all about performing and putting on a good show," Thomas joked. "I just go fight, do my thing, and see what happens."
The bout will be the 31-year-old's first since suffering a torn meniscus and stretched ACL in a loss to Kenny Florian in a UFC Fight Night 11 main event this past September. Thomas said the injury is not a concern.
"(The knee) was never 100 percent," Thomas said. "It's not 100 percent now, but it never was. But who fights at 100 percent?"
With an impressive track record in the UFC, including wins over current welterweight champion Matt Serra and lightweights Clay Guida, Rich Clementi and Jeremy Stephens, Thomas seems to be perennially on the cusp of a title shot. But Thomas isn't concerned with determining where a win would leave him in the division.
"I've been in this game for so long, always trying to fight for that title," Thomas said. "If a title shot comes, it comes. If not, I'm still going to get paid. I'm still going to try and put on a good show."
Thomas also discussed his preparation for the challenges of competing at a high altitude, as well as the status of his 2007 Florida arrest for running unsanctioned MMA fights. To hear the full interview, as well as interviews with Gray Maynard, Gilbert Melendez and Cung Le, download Monday's edition of TAGG Radio, available for free in the TAGG Radio archives.
by John Morgan [john-morgan] on Apr 02, 2008 at 10:20 am in - News
With tonight's UFC Fight Night 13 card stacked with developing talent, the undercard bout featuring UFC veterans Din "Dinyero" Thomas (20-7 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and Josh "The Dentist" Neer (23-6-1 MMA, 2-3 UFC) has garnered relatively little attention. That's OK with Thomas, who plans to put on a good show in front of the Broomfield, Colo. crowd regardless of pre-fight build-up.
Thomas discussed the match-up while a guest on Monday's edition of TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com), a content partner of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
"It's all about performing and putting on a good show," Thomas joked. "I just go fight, do my thing, and see what happens."
The bout will be the 31-year-old's first since suffering a torn meniscus and stretched ACL in a loss to Kenny Florian in a UFC Fight Night 11 main event this past September. Thomas said the injury is not a concern.
"(The knee) was never 100 percent," Thomas said. "It's not 100 percent now, but it never was. But who fights at 100 percent?"
With an impressive track record in the UFC, including wins over current welterweight champion Matt Serra and lightweights Clay Guida, Rich Clementi and Jeremy Stephens, Thomas seems to be perennially on the cusp of a title shot. But Thomas isn't concerned with determining where a win would leave him in the division.
"I've been in this game for so long, always trying to fight for that title," Thomas said. "If a title shot comes, it comes. If not, I'm still going to get paid. I'm still going to try and put on a good show."
Thomas also discussed his preparation for the challenges of competing at a high altitude, as well as the status of his 2007 Florida arrest for running unsanctioned MMA fights. To hear the full interview, as well as interviews with Gray Maynard, Gilbert Melendez and Cung Le, download Monday's edition of TAGG Radio, available for free in the TAGG Radio archives.
Report: Mir vs. McCully at UFC 86
Heavyweights Frank Mir (11-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) and Justin McCully (8-3-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will meet at UFC 86, an event that features a title fight between 205-pound champ Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin on July 5 in Las Vegas.
The report comes from MMAWeekly.com, citing sources close to both fighters.
Mir is riding high after a come-from-behind victory over Brock Lesnar in February. McCully, meanwhile, will return from injuries and fight in the octagon for the first time since his successful UFC debut nearly a year ago.
Mir, a former UFC heavyweight champion, earned co-main-event status during his UFC 81 fight with former NCAA Division I wrestling champion and WWE performer Lesnar. On the verge of suffering a TKO early in the fight, Mir got a break when Lesnar was deducted a point for blows to the back of the head. Lesnar continued to deliver brutal strikes, but Mir survived to slap on a fight-ending kneebar just 90 seconds into the fight.
Mir, who suffered a devastating motorcycle accident in 2004, picked up his second straight victory and his third win in his past four fights.
With his victory over Antoni Hardonk a year ago, McCully, a member of Tito Ortiz's Team Punishment, is now 3-0 since returning to MMA after a three-year break from the sport. He has a four-fight win streak and has won five of his past six fights overall.
Heavyweights Frank Mir (11-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) and Justin McCully (8-3-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will meet at UFC 86, an event that features a title fight between 205-pound champ Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin on July 5 in Las Vegas.
The report comes from MMAWeekly.com, citing sources close to both fighters.
Mir is riding high after a come-from-behind victory over Brock Lesnar in February. McCully, meanwhile, will return from injuries and fight in the octagon for the first time since his successful UFC debut nearly a year ago.
Mir, a former UFC heavyweight champion, earned co-main-event status during his UFC 81 fight with former NCAA Division I wrestling champion and WWE performer Lesnar. On the verge of suffering a TKO early in the fight, Mir got a break when Lesnar was deducted a point for blows to the back of the head. Lesnar continued to deliver brutal strikes, but Mir survived to slap on a fight-ending kneebar just 90 seconds into the fight.
Mir, who suffered a devastating motorcycle accident in 2004, picked up his second straight victory and his third win in his past four fights.
With his victory over Antoni Hardonk a year ago, McCully, a member of Tito Ortiz's Team Punishment, is now 3-0 since returning to MMA after a three-year break from the sport. He has a four-fight win streak and has won five of his past six fights overall.
Dennis Siver returns at UFC 86
German fighter Dennis Siver (11-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) will return at UFC 86, an event that takes place July 5 in Las Vegas.
Siver announced the bout at the Outsider Cup 8, an event held in Germany this past Saturday. Our friends from the site groundandpound.de were there to confirm the news.
An opponent may have been decided, but Siver couldn't confirm because bout agreements hadn't yet been signed.
Siver's fight will likely end up on the un-televised preliminary card of UFC 86, which features a headline bout between UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin.
The 29-year-old Siver made his octagon debut at UFC 70 and suffered an 81-second submission loss to Jess Liaudin. He bounced back for a second-round knockout of Naoyuki Kotani at UFC 75 before a unanimous-decision loss to Gray Maynard earlier this year at UFC Fight Night 12
German fighter Dennis Siver (11-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) will return at UFC 86, an event that takes place July 5 in Las Vegas.
Siver announced the bout at the Outsider Cup 8, an event held in Germany this past Saturday. Our friends from the site groundandpound.de were there to confirm the news.
An opponent may have been decided, but Siver couldn't confirm because bout agreements hadn't yet been signed.
Siver's fight will likely end up on the un-televised preliminary card of UFC 86, which features a headline bout between UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin.
The 29-year-old Siver made his octagon debut at UFC 70 and suffered an 81-second submission loss to Jess Liaudin. He bounced back for a second-round knockout of Naoyuki Kotani at UFC 75 before a unanimous-decision loss to Gray Maynard earlier this year at UFC Fight Night 12